Gleanings of the Week Ending December 29, 2012

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Daphnia micrograph - a stacked image of a water flea

12 Things to Know about Mistletoe

2013: Hello. Goodbye. - from Richard Watson. How many things on the goodbye list are already gone for you?

6 top health benefits of kale

Top 25 Photographs from the Wilderness #3 - my favorite is the next the last one - the backlit leopard

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #32 - the first one is my favorite

Is Your Fridge Eating your Savings?

The Joy of Salt Licking: Contest Turns Farm Animals into Fine Artists - Cows and their salt licks

Geography in the News: Lake-Effect Snow - from National Geographic

Characteristics of US Science and Engineering Doctorates Detailed in New Report

2012: The year in space - My favorite is the Space Shuttle Endeavor making its final journey across the US

2012: The year in weather - from around the world. My favorite picture of this group is the mother of pearl clouds in Scotland 

Snow on Christmas Day!

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Dallas, Texas does not get snow frequently and it is usually in the early months of the year rather than December. So - it was cause for celebration and picture taking when it snowed yesterday! Enjoy the slide show of the dusting of the white stuff!

The Year of Little Snow (so far)

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Here we are past mid-January and we have gotten almost no snow in Maryland so far. On Friday night it was forecast. I woke up at 2 AM and I got up like a child wondering if Santa had indeed arrived; yes - indeed - the skylight was covered. I crept back to bed.

I was up a little before my alarm and dressed for the day quickly so I could see more of the snow. I was taking pictures on the deck in the darkness a bit after 6! The snow had already turned to ‘wintery mix’ as forecast so the icy top crunched underneath my feet. 

 

And then the dawn came. It was a gradual increase in light without the sun actually making its appearance through the gray clouds. There was no color associated with the sunrise but it did make the crystals of ice easier to see. These were on the front step.

 

 

 

 

Once the trees got a bit of flocking, is stayed in place the rest of the day with the temperature only getting up to freezing and the stillness of the day doing nothing to dislodge the accumulation. The tulip polars and cherry tree (below) seemed to catch the most; the maples have more verticle branches.

Celebrating January 2012

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What do you celebration in January? Here are some ideas:

 

  • It's the beginning of the year. Celebrate by being awake in its first moments - wishing family and friends a 'Happy New Year!'
  • Alternatively - go to bed at a normal time and get up to see the sunrise on the first day of the year to celebrate new beginnings. This year I was driving east between Texas and Maryland for that first dawn of the year. It was not a very photogenic sunrise but the one a few days later the sunrise was spectacular and I've attached a photo of it below.

 

 

  • Snow is cause for celebration - even more so now that it does not seem to come as often. Change your schedule to avoid the travel/commute nightmare (i.e. take a vacation day, work at home) and simply enjoy the impromptu day that snow made different. I'll post my recipe for snow ice cream when the first significant snow comes to my area. Sometimes getting colder by eating snow ice cream is not my preference - so I keep hot chocolate and spiced tea on hand as well.
  • Celebrate that the flurry of the winter holidays are over. The calm after all the activity is something to savor. Do it with a good book or a walk in a favorite favorite garden (bundled up if it is cold) or a quiet out-to-lunch with a friend.