May 14, 2020 · 23:25

Upcoming ISS Passes Over SoCal

If you live in the Southern California area, heads up for the next few evenings, ESPECIALLY TOMORROW.

We’ve gotten to the time of year where the planetary tilt and the orbital plane of the International Space Station (ISS) align and there are a LOT of excellent evening passes coming up.

(Image from Heavens-Above.com)

Tonight we saw a wonderful, bright, high pass that went right through the Big Dipper almost directly overhead and then faded into shadow.

Tomorrow night at 20:55 the ISS will rise in the south-southwest, go high through the sky, get VERY bright, and then disappear over the horizon to the northeast.

(Image from Heavens-Above.com)

There are other evening passes later in the week that will be lovely, just not as high and as bright as Friday’s.

There are also some spectacular passes before sunrise this week, but the odds of me dragging my butt out of bed at 04:15 or the like to see it are very, VERY close to zero. I’m about a thousand hours short of sleep in the last six months, unless the alien mothership is coming in, I’m staying in bed.

As Dirty Harry said, “A man has got to know his limitations!”

 

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May 13, 2020 · 22:46

Sunsets, Flowers, Critters

In posting the white rose pictures last night it became obvious that there has been a somewhat limited range of context here recently.

Flowers. Critters. Sunsets.

Yep, welcome to Day 55 of the official lockdown. I say “official” since that’s when the LA County order became official and we went to 100% work-from-home at the office, but for at least a couple of weeks before that the bars and restaurants had been closed, we had severely limited our outings, and so on.

Flowers, critters, and sunsets are the dominant themes when I tear myself away from my desk (this WFH thing is like doing brain surgery in boxing gloves, everything takes twice as long as it used to) and go outside for a few. It can only be that much more difficult for people holed up in apartments or living in less confined quarters.

And now the cancellations have begun in earnest. The personal ones, not the national and international ones like MLB, the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NBA, the air shows, the marathons, Wimbledon, the Tour de France, the Masters, ComicCon, WorldCon, and on and on and on.

We were supposed to be going to Detroit for a family wedding over Memorial Day in two weeks – today was the day to cancel those airplane tickets and rental car. We also got told that our “Hamilton” performance for next month has been cancelled. The LA Phil has been cancelling concerts for a while, as has the Schubert. We were supposed to have a play and a concert this last weekend – nope, nope, nope. Our performance of “1776” has been cancelled for this summer. And on and on and on.

Someday this will be behind us and there will be a new normal. I would like to say “I can’t wait,” but of course, I can. And I will. And so will you. And despite that, hundreds of thousands more Americans will die in the next few months.

Don’t be one of them. Wear a freakin’ mask! Wash your hands! Don’t touch your face! Stay home!

And enjoy the pictures of the sunsets, flowers, and critters.

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May 12, 2020 · 23:24

Tuesday White Rose

I apologize in advance for the stupid and lame article title.

It’s descriptive. But that’s about all.

There’s a certain “truth in advertising” aspect to it, but since I’m not really advertising, so what?

It’s a very nice white rose. I especially liked the bits of pink around the edges of the petals.

And it was most certainly a Tuesday, although it felt like a Monday, even though I worked Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in what was supposed to be a three-day weekend, but with everyone else back, it felt Monday-ish. Which was less than pleasant.

There’s also a chunk of that “getting old sucks” aches and pains going on at the moment – nothing life threatening and considering what else is going on in the medical world these days, being sore all the time because I threw too much batting practice twenty years ago isn’t much to bitch about. But it still hurts.

So I smelled the roses – they smelled lovely, even if they were white, even it was a Monday-ish-feeling Tuesday. And I heard two new birds in the neighborhood. Something else mind numbingly boring to talk at you about tomorrow, maybe.

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May 11, 2020 · 21:59

Beauty Fades But Is Still Beautiful

I caught this rose a day or two past peak.

The petal edges are curling and tearing, turning brown. The vibrant pinks and reds are fading to white and ochre.

And yet, to me, the faded colors just serve to emphasize the bright colors which remain. The contrast reminds me of the world, living and dying, growing and fading, vibrant and decaying, all simultaneously. Above all, the melancholy of knowing that everything fades with time, tempered by the faith that it will bloom again another day.

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May 10, 2020 · 23:39

Scamper

There he goes!! Wait for the “push ups” at the end!

Standard issue fence lizard. Now that it’s getting warm we’re seeing a dozen or so of them around the yard. By late summer it will be many dozens, depending on the attrition rate as the crows and hawks and other birds prove to be quicker than they are.

 

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May 9, 2020 · 22:34

Erratum – They’re Not Wrens

Remember the birds from the back yard? I called them “house wrens.” They’re not.

They’re “house finches.”

(The Cornell Lab Merlin App)

I don’t share this with you simply because I know that some of you, out of an overabundance of politeness no doubt, have been biting your tongues for days, knowing that they were finches and not wrens but not wanting to rain on my parade. (I know no such thing.) No, I share this because I found this really cool free app!

I don’t know about Android phones, but if you’re on an Apple iOS device, look for the “Merlin bird ID” app. It’s from Cornell Lab at Cornell University and it will ID birds with a picture, by answering five questions, and possibly (I just got it this afternoon, so maybe?) with a live photo as you’re watching the bird? It doesn’t appear to be able to ID birdsong, but if you ID your bird from a picture you can hear a sample of the birdsong for that species and confirm the ID that you just completed.

Check it out, it’s cool!!

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Filed under Computers, Critters

May 8, 2020 · 23:06

Venus In The Pink

Just like “Groundhog Day.” A truly great movie, by the way, but I never actually wanted to live it.

Another evening where I walked away from the mountain of work at my desk and the Deadlines From Hell ™ and took thirty or forty minutes to read and watch the sunset.

Do you see Venus up there? It’s right there in the clouds, but they’re not that thick, so you can see it shining through just below the three power lines, about halfway between the trees on either side of the picture. Click on the image to blow it up to full size – it’s there!

Can you see it now? Like a diamond floating up there in pink cotton candy.

The sunset two days ago was very much orange and yellow where tonight was very much pink and purple.

And as before, and as it will be tomorrow, eventually it all fades to black. I waved to Major who was walking by, disappointed by the absence of the bunnies who won’t come out when I’m sitting out there.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll sit out in the back yard to harass the wrens instead so that Major can spook the bunnies.

It’s the little things.

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Filed under Astronomy, CoronaVirus, Photography, Weather

May 7, 2020 · 23:24

The Wrens

I’ve mentioned the return of some of our fine, feathered friends.

When I get some time (way too rarely) and it’s warm, I like to go out on the back porch and read. These guys (and their neighbors) don’t take kindly to that. The guy sits on the BBQ and bitches at me. We have four nests currently in use under the eaves of the patio roof. The rest of them were all trying to play chicken with my head. But they weren’t anywhere near as bad as geese, turkeys, swans, or magpies can get. They never got within a few feet, just wanted to make sure that I knew they were there. Probably also showing off for the ladies a bit.

The males are all quite bright red at the moment, and extremely noisy. It’s a complex birdsong, very pretty, except when there’s a dozen of them doing it at full volume outside at 05:30.

The females have more drab plumage, the better to hide in the bushes and not get taken by a hawk. One day last weekend when I was sitting out here I suddenly had four or five of these little critters fly into the vines around one of the support poles, not two feet away from me. I was confused and surprised, but then one of the aforementioned hawks (probably a red-shouldered hawk, possibly a Cooper’s hawk) came busting by over my head, through the patio under the roof, and out the other side at about Mach 3. (Cool!!) He went hungry on that dive.

The females are not only more drab, they’re also much quieter. They have three or four little chirps that they use, but none of the complex birdsong of the males and at much lower volume.

That whole thing about the male of the species being colorful, brash, bold, and loud? It’s not just a cliche.

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May 6, 2020 · 23:05

Sunsets Are A Process

It goes without saying, but if anyone’s going to say it anyway it’s going to be me. Sunset photos are gorgeous, but it’s a process.

You can’t capture them in a single photo, or even a video.

The colors shift ever so gradually. Sometimes there are shades of orange, red, pink, purple, blue, and they all slide and transform second by second, but not so that you can actually see or notice, only feel.

Sometimes with layers of clouds and all of their holes and nooks and crannies (and crooks and nannies) you’ll get brighter moments, and rays, and shadows.

You can’t feel the breeze, or smell those bushes in a picture or a video. You can’t watch the bunnies come out to see if Major’s still around.

I took a break from a work avalanche and sat out reading a book. At one point I heard a buzzing sound from that bush right in front of me and thought it might be one of those HUGE flying beetles, but bigger than I had ever seen before. Close! It was a hummingbird, about three feet from me. It didn’t stick around when I moved.

The only bad part about a real book instead of an e-file on my iPad or phone is that about this point it got too dark to read. Oh, well. Back to generating documents and uploading them to the auditors.

Wash your hands. Stay home. Wear a mask.

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May 5, 2020 · 22:17

Front Yard Bunny

Going out just after sunset, I want to see if it’s clear. Is the moon up? (Yes.) Is Venus up? (Yes) Is the sunset pretty? (Meh.)

Last night, instead I got a bunny.

Over there by the cars. As soon as I come out, he freezes.

I’m not going to spook him, but I’ll zoom a bit.

If I don’t move, you can’t see me! Right?

Well, no. As soon as I move, he’s under the cars, through the rose bushes, and into the neighbor’s yard. Good luck munching over there, Bugs! That astroturf has a bit of a plastic aftertaste I’ll bet!

Tonight, no bunnies in the front yard. The reason was obvious – Major was out there instead! Major is some sort of a mastiff “puppy” who lives down the hill. He’s still growing, as cute as can be, a real playful beast, “beast” being the operative term. He may be less than a year old and still growing, but you could put a saddle on him and I could ride him.

Tonight he had obviously seen the bunny, which is why I found him up near the house with his owner trying (and failing) to drag him back to the sidewalk. “Bunnies?” I asked. She was apologetic and promised to get him off our lawn. Not a problem, I wasn’t upset, I understand the dynamic. Then Major remembered that I’m the guy that likes to play, which is true, but in these socially distanced days I thought discretion was the better part of valor and retreated back into the house.

I’m assuming the bunny, having seen 100+ pounds of friendly (or not) “puppy” coming at them on the dead run, was now somewhere around Long Beach.

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