Well,
smoke anyway. The mountains surrounding Redding, have been vanishing in
the haze of smoke from the wildfires, then reappearing when the smoke
lifts, a fire is temporarily contained, or the wind changes direction.
Happy Bees
That one bee is really tiny
The catnip,
or I should say, “bee-nip”, effect of this rose’s pollen is once again
attracting bees, this year. I happened to notice this bee, yesterday,
that just couldn’t keep from rolling around and rubbing its face in the
interior of the roses on this bush. I took a few pictures;
Amazing Pictures Of Isaac
If you
haven’t seen these satellite images yet, be amazed. If you have seen
them already, be amazed again. What wonderful technical marvels we have
today.
Kits In The Night
I was
out taking pictures of the moon last night, when I saw what looked like
a couple of graceful cats coming up the driveway. When they got closer,
I realized that these were the fox babies that were born under the tool
shed last spring.
I didn’t
have the TZ3 with its automatic intelligent setting feature, but I
pointed the FZ5 in their general direction and hoped for the best. I
watched them for awhile, then as I went to go get the other camera, they
went on their way.
I will
have to remember to take both Lumix cameras when I go out at night.
Just in case I encounter some more of nature’s magical beings in the
moonlight.
Another Cactus Flower
Dorothy advised
me on Monday, that her cactus was about to bloom. She pointed out that I
would have to get up in the morning to take pictures before it went
away. I did get up and take pictures, and it did dry up and go away in
the afternoon.
Today’s smoke
was coming from the north and west of Redding, as well as the east, out
near Big Bend. I was able to open the windows in the early morning
without too much smoke in the air. The temperature was mild enough, at
8am, that I didn’t need to run the A/C for a couple of hours.
Tonight
was the Jefferson State Blues Society Jam. It was fun. I really enjoy
being part of the first band to play. I get to play at a reasonable
volume and the other players are happy to have me lead the band.
There were some really nice flowers to photograph this weekend, so I participated happily in accomplishing the flora depictions as needed.
Capturing
the color density of some brilliantly toned roses, this afternoon, seemed to be
encouraging. The yellows were thick with color, and I caught one of the
deep frequencies that I sometimes see in this red driveway rose,
today...
Here are some more;
I also got
lucky with some closeups of a tiny butterfly, pumping nectar up the
tubes that are part of the inner flower design. I tried making a little
movie/slideshow in Picasa3, and uploaded it to Flickr, just to see how
that works.
That sort of
works. I will have to try a few more little movies and see what the
parameters are for sparkling, flawless, eye catching, entertaining
videos on Flickr.
This vulture
performed acrobatics above me for about 10 minutes while I was standing
in the middle of the Treehouse parking lot. At least that’s how I
interpreted its behavior. There wasn’t any prey or other food items
around, so I think it saw me following its every move with my camera
lens, and thought it would be fun to play along.
The tomatoes keep on plumping up in the gardens here.
And,
to complete the weekend moon series, I went out and took this pic of
tonights moon while the Flickr flower slideshow was processing,
(Efficiency would be my middle name, except I already have the name, Alan, in that
spot).
I didn't realize
that after an extended period of days, the breathing of smoke filled
air, would have me feeling like I'm running out of oxygen, (or steam,
pep, gumption, go power).
Of course, it could be something completely unrelated to the smoke-filled skies over Redding. Maybe I need to eat more spinach.
I stopped
by John's shop and asked him about a bay area violin seller that Marian
had sent me a newspaper clipping about. She thought it might be of
interest to John.
John told me
the story of leaving one of his violins with that violin shop on
consignment, a few years ago. They sold it, but it took several months
before they admitted it and paid John without telling him how much it
sold for, or who they sold it to. After that experience, he told me he
felt that it was a shady operation and he would have nothing to do with
them again.
Small world, isn’t it?
Here, (above), is a little yellow rose that I took a picture of on Thursday.
This next picture is the same rose photographed today.
Last night,
just before I played at Lulu’s for the Shasta blues Society, someone
came up and handed me a picture from the Jefferson State Blues Society,
Sunday jam, that showed me wearing exactly the same clothes I had on. I
guess I will have to write down what I wear and where I wore it, each
time I play.
Phil and John at the Old School Restaurant. (photo credit - Rocky)
The flowers
around the Treehouse continue to come and go on different shifts. I
know they certainly provide me with hours of enjoyment and
entertainment.
Some of
the evacuated residents from Manton and other mountain areas, are being
allowed to return to their homes as the Ponderosa fire is nearly 70%
contained. (Story Here)
People
are advised to limit their activities in the smoky conditions. I
believe I will begin right now by limiting my activity to eating a piece
of apple pie and ice cream.
I was reading an article in Wired magazine about gadgets, and they showed some contraptions that are just for making s'mores. I found out who invented s'mores...
Loretta Scott Crew was aGirl Scout who in 1927 invented theS'more. Crew's recipe was first published in the 1927 Girl Scout Handbook
after she created the snack to feed a group of hungry Girl Scouts at a
camp. Crew reportedly earned an award for her creative cooking. (Wikipedia)
The Ponderosa fire
continues to burn east of Redding. At last
report, it had consumed 21,500 acres and 50 homes. There have been
dozens of smaller fires throughout the north state, most of which were
the result of last weeks lightning storms. The smoke is affecting our
air quality and people have been advised to close the doors and windows.
We are encouraged to spend our time indoors as much as possible to
avoid respiratory problems.
I stopped
by John’s shop today so he could listen to the recordings of the music
we played Thursday and Sunday with different musicians at the blues
jams. It helps to analyze the effect on our songs that different
combinations of players can cause, (both good and not so good). It was
also a chance for John to hear how his new amplifier sounded live.
Late
in the afternoon, if one looked up at the middle of the sky over
Redding, there was a blue color cast behind the haze. Out on the
periphery, the smoke was still thick, gray and brown, but overhead
conditions were improving. I took that opportunity to snap a few
pictures around the Treehouse.
It really
wasn’t much of an imposition to spend time inside with air
conditioning. Even though the temperature was barely 100 outside, the
filtered, cool air indoors felt very pleasant.
There is
a new hypothesis that adds a twist to the big bang theory. James Quach
and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne, say the Big Bang
should be modeled as a phase change: the moment when an amorphous,
formless universe analogous to liquid water cooled and suddenly
crystallized to form four-dimensional space-time. (Story Here)
The afternoon
sun was interesting light for the flowers. The air smelled like
campfire ashes, and it sort of felt like the air was filled with ashes,
too.
On the other hand, the muted red light brought out a wide range of color in the flowers.
The reddish light of the sun brought out pink and orange hues in the white flowers.
The Monday Music Floorshow
The dancing flower
and hula girl tirelessly perform during the music that Peggy and I play
on Mondays. The reddish light of the low afternoon sun didn’t affect
them since they were being powered from an east facing window.
The whipped cream
experiments continue to be successful. I tried saving some extra whip
cream from a couple nights ago in a airtight container as Marian
suggested, and it worked.
You know
things are pretty good here in America. We have the largest economy of
any country in the world. Nine out of 10 of the workforce are working,
and we have a mission on Mars that is successful. It wasn't for FOX News
and their 24-7 complaining, most people would find themselves happy
with their lives, our president, and our recovering economy.
Smoke billows into the sky like thunderclouds. At last report, the Ponderosa fire was 12,000 acres. Read News Report
There are
some fires to the north, in Siskiyou county, that have burned 5,000
acres so far. It is extremely hot and dry this year, and the slightest
spark or flame can set the woods and grassland ablaze very quickly.
Tonight,
when I was at the Sunday Blues Jam, I spoke with Donee Papenheim about
how she and her family were doing in Oak Run, (She is the assistant fire
chief of the the volunteer fire department there). She said she had
been working at the various fires for the past couple of days, but that
Oak Run was okay so far.
I had
a good time playing music at the jam tonight. John Harrisson and a
couple of other musicians I know played with me and it was nice. We
weren’t too loud, we started and ended the songs well, the dancers
danced, and people applauded enthusiastically. A good time was had by
all.
Upside Down Breakfast
I started
putting the fruit in my cereal bowl before I realized there wasn't any
cereal in it. I looked at the couple of strawberry pieces and figured I
would just put all the fruit in, then add the flakes. The flakes stayed
crisper throughout breakfast than when they are on the bottom. I may try
that again.
The flowers around the Treehouse are not as numerous these days, but their colors and designs are delightful to see.
I followed
the life of the surprise Sterling rose that popped up last week. It was
a bud one day and a bloom the next. Using iMovie, I made a little slide
show of its brief appearance. After adding some Sterling rose music,
recorded on GarageBand, I uploaded the result to YouTube and put it here
for the video of the day.
