Snowflakes - March 2014

The conditions for taking snowflake pictures were relatively good earlier this week: it was well below freezing, most of the time it was calm, and there were bands of snow that resulted in a variety of snowflake types. I was better prepared than previous snows as well. I had left the loupes and plates to catch the snowflakes under a towel on our covered deck. So the equipment was already cold and I had a towel to brush off the plates so that I could catch flakes for multiple sessions. I had decided to use a green glass plate steady of the red one I’d used in February…..anticipating St. Patrick’s Day!

The first time I went out, the flakes were very small and included a lot of dual flakes - connected by a prism axel (as in the images below). I particularly like the one that the reflection from the center makes it glow from within.

The second and third time I ventured out, the flakes were bigger and more complex. I had plenty of time to look around the flakes on the plate because the temperature was in the low twenties….nothing was melting! Although my technique has improved over this winter, the weather was a positive factor in capturing the March snowflake images.

Previous snowflake posts: 

• January 2014
• February 2014

Snow Ice Cream

On one of the last trips to the grocery store before a forecast snow storm recently, I asked by husband to pick up half and half. It could be our last chance for snow ice cream this season. The forecast came true and the snow was ideal; it rained at first then snowed for about 12 hour. That meant the air was cleaned and the top inch or so of snow (out of 6-8) was clean enough to make snow ice cream.

I used a large spatula to collect a large pan of snow.

Working fast, I put 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of half and half, 1/2 teaspoon of coconut flavoring and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla in a large bowl then add the snow. Green food coloring makes it pretty and provides a good visual for when it is all mixed up - ready to eat.

Yum!

And this time I enjoyed the visual of the green food coloring swirl in the milk and flavorings….just before I added the snow. It reminded me of an old print (brownish spots) of magical green mountains.

Community Supported Agriculture

I’ve joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for this summer. I purchased a half share. I had thought about it last year but didn’t get around to doing it. This year taking courses on the US Food System and How to Change the World provided a little extra push.

The CSA idea appeals to my sense of taking individual action to make the world a better place. The local farm avoids the transportation costs for its crops, the community gets locally grown produce, the family farm remains a viable business…..the whole is a more sustainable model.

Being a member of a CSA will encourage me to eat a larger variety of veggies - an even healthier diet than I have already. Somehow my vegetable purchases at the grocery store settle into a pattern: carrots, tomatoes, romaine, peppers, celery, andcucumbers. It’s not that I don’t like almost all vegetables --- the familiar is just too luring. So - having the CSA provide veggies that are at their best that particular week will coax me to try some new foods.

I supposed I could do almost the equivalent by going to the local Farmers Market but I am sure I’d have the same problem I have the past few summers: the one afternoon a week that the one nearest to me is open goes by….and then I remember! The requirement of prepaying for the CSA share is a good way to motivate myself to pick up the veggies every week at my allotted time.

Here are some links for more information about CSAs:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Brookside Conservatory - February 2014

It is so cold outdoors today….I decided to ‘think warm’ by picking my favorite images captured at the Brookside Gardens conservatories a few weeks ago. Conservatories are deliciously warm places to visit in the winter!

On this visit - I did some experimentation with by 8x magnification loupe. All the images in the post include a photo taken with the camera and then one or two images captured with the loupe to add to the magnification.

The fuzz on the petals and imperfections become more obvious.

I’d never seen the variegated croton fruit before. They are almost as colorful as the foliage!

The veins of the hibiscus bud stand out in both magnifications.

Next time, I will make an effort to get magnified views of flower parts!

Just looking at the vibrant colors of these flowers makes me feel warmer!

Progression of Spring Semester Classes - March 2014

My enthusiasm for the Coursera courses I am taking continues.

Two are completing: How to Change the World (from Wesleyan University) and Moralities of Everyday Life (from Yale University). There is one more week of An Introduction to the US Food System (from Johns Hopkins University). I learn something from every course I take….but these three are ones that prompted thinking about how I live, picking causes worthy of support either through action or donation, and changing my behavior for the good of society and the planet.

A new class started this week: Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets (from Brown University). I’ve already enjoyed the first set of videos and the suggested readings.

There is a new module in the Nutrition course (from Vanderbilt University) I took last spring on Food allergies and intolerances. I signed up for the course again just for that new material.  

And then there is the Volcanic Eruptions (from Ludwig Maximilians Universitat Munich) that was offered last fall. I somehow overlooked it then (or maybe I was too busy with other courses). The content was still available on the Coursera site - so I am making my way through the 10 weeks of materials.

The Roman Architecture course (from Yale University) is continuing - it’s a 15 week course that started in January. I find myself reading architecture books with pictures and diagrams of Greek and Roman buildings on the Internet Archive. The course has given me a sharper eye for architectural detail already!

Previous posts: 

• February 2014
• January 2014

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 1, 2014

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

Abdominal fat accumulation prevented by unsaturated fat - Just another indicator that thinking about all kinds of fats as ‘all the same’ is probably not a good idea. The unsaturated fats generally come from plant based foods and fatty fish.

Are bookshelves becoming obsolete? - What do you think? I have started reading a lot more books in electronic form than I do in physically printed form….and I’ve given away all the books I don’t need for reference; the old video tapes are gone too. So I have some empty book cases at this point but I find myself using some of the shelves for other things: the bag of shopping bags and a support for a large garden flag hung from an upper shelf by weighting the flag’s upper edge with unused candle holders. I’m not getting rid of them any time soon because I anticipate moving at some point and needing the storage options they would offer. They are not obsolete….they are just shelves that no longer hold books!

How wolves can alter the course of rivers - TED video about the wolves in Yellowstone National Park. It is an ecosystem story.

The symmetry of citrus is a beautiful thing - I like the colors of the fruit….and then the later collections of eggs, beans, and leaves too.

Where Do People Spend the Most of Their Paycheck on Housing? - (for the US) Find out how your state compares.

Americans Want Antibiotic-Free Chicken, and the Industry Is Listening - Good! But in the meantime - I have switched to organic chicken products because that is the closest to sustainable farming practices (i.e. I want them to go beyond anti-biotic free….I want chicken raised in a way that is not damaging the environment.

Daily Overview - A new picture from above every day! 

Infographic about Personalized Learning - I still not sure I understand how Personalized Learning will work for all students because it seems to depend on all students having the desire for self-directed learning….and I’m not sure that is something that can be assumed. Still - I’m going to follow this series of infographics to learn more about the approach. It is appealing to move away from the factory as the model for schools…but is this best alternative model?

New Water Heater Flies Past Crowdfunding Goal - Something to look into when my old hot water heater needs to be replaced.

'Microbial Pompeii:' 1,000-year-old plaque preserves bacteria, microscopic particles of food on skeleton teeth - I am taking a class on Roman Architecture so this blurb caught my attention - but it wasn’t about Pompeii….it was about a study that looked at dental calculus (plaque) that was dated from about the same time as Pompeii was destroyed by Vesuvius. The plaque provided a window into the diet and microbes of the people living at that time.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - February 2014

Over a year ago I posted about finding something to celebrate each day. It’s an easy thing for me to do and the habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are my top 10 for February 2014. I’ve grouped my little celebration into 4 groups this month: weather, food, family, and loupe photography.

Weather

A warm day - In February - the occasional warm day is indeed something to celebrate!

Snow and more snow - I like snow days too, particularly when I don’t have to leave the house. I enjoyed hot tea with milk….and worked out a plan to photograph snowflakes. I didn’t even mind a certain amount of shoveling of snow!

Birds - The changes in weather result in more birds be out and about when the weather is a little improved. We’ve seen juncos, cardinals, robins, chickadees and heard the crows!

Food

Graham Cracker Crumb Cake - Someone made a graham cracker crumb cake as part of the refreshments for a lecture I attended….and I liked it so well I looked for a recipe via the Internet…and made one myself. Yummy! I have always liked graham crackers and this is just one other form to enjoy.

Edamame - What a great way to increase the protein in salads! My grocery store had them already shelled!

Family

Phone calls - I celebrate the ease we can keep in touch with family that lives far away. It is not as good as living in close proximity…..but it enables us to sustain relationships until we can be together again.

Anticipating visits - There are two opportunities to see far flung family members - in March and May - that I am already anticipating…and celebrating.

Loupe photography

Snowflakes - I was surprised at how effective the loupe magnification is for snowflake photography. It is quite an adventure to discover for myself how unique and beautiful they are.

Buds - Buds are going to be a longer term fascination as they unfurl into leaves and flowers. I celebrated that I thought of the project early enough to get the bud before the unfurling!

Broccoli - I knew it was good to eat but the loupe gave me more reason to celebrate broccoli’s form and color.

Winter Ending?

We’ve had considerable cold and snowy weather this February. There is not a lot of color outdoors:

The gray of rock surrounded by snow. The indention will have water when the snow melts - giving the birds a little pool.

The brown pod of a crepe myrtle that was blown from a high branch.

The golden browns- and a little green - of the thorns on the rose bushes.

And then one finds a little more color that signals the stirrings toward spring!

The snowdrops

And witch hazel.

Hurray!

Snowflakes - February 2014

It snowed a bit longer than forecast yesterday morning. The snow did not stick to the streets or sidewalks; the heat from the previous days was held in the concrete and asphalt. But on the grass and roofs and wooden decks, the big flakes accumulated quickly. The temperature was just below freezing. It did not seem like the best day to try photographing snowflakes but I put the red glass plate, a towel and loupes outside to cool down. I’d learned previously that the camera battery was sensitive to cold so I put it in my coat pocket instead.

After waiting for 15 minutes in the warmth of the house and watching the snow, I made a first attempt. It was not successful sing the red glass plate. The snowflakes melted as soon as they landed on the plate. It needed more time to cool down. I tried using the underside of an old aluminum pan that had been left on the deck. Success! The ‘flakes’ turned out to be conglomerations of snowflakes so they had much more of a three dimensional quality. I took the series of pictures below before retreating inside to give the red plate more time to cool down.

The wait was worth it! Yes - the flakes were clumped. Yes - it was warm enough that there could be no dawdling to get the image before they melted. But - I enjoyed capturing the flakes. Some of them reminded me of jacks. I find myself hoping that we have a few more snows this season so that I can try again! This particular snow had mostly melted away before the end of the day.

People Watching Reflections

One of the pleasures of being out and about is the opportunity to engage in people watching. It’s amazing how quickly we form an impression of someone and make assumptions. There are also embedded learning moments as we see reflections of ourselves in others.

On a recent weekday I made an effort to remember my observations of people as I made a mid-morning errand. Here are the people I saw:

• A woman hurrying as she made a right turn in her car while I was waiting to turn left. She had a cell phone held to her ear. Does anyone handle driving and juggling small electronics well?
• A woman that backed up very quickly from her parking spot. I was glad I had stopped my trek from the parking lot to the store in time. She had not seen me and looked very startled when she noticed I was there; I tried to smile reassuringly. Similar things have happened to me and I always feel discombobulated for some time afterward.
• An older couple walking into the grocery store in comfortable clothes and bulky jackets; they got their basket just before I got mine. Their list must have been as short as mine because they left the store at the same time I did.
• Two produce stockers working at bins of fruit and vegetables talking about when they would be working over the next few days.
• A woman taking inventory in the freezer section. She had her coat on over her employee ‘uniform.’ Grocery stores are often kept on the cool side overall and I can imagine employees that work in some sections need extra layers of clothing to keep warm.
• The monitor for the self-checkout that responded to my glance in her direction within seconds. Eye contact really is quite a powerful social tool.

Traffic was light on the way home and it was so cold that there weren’t any dog walkers in the neighborhood. Somehow I expected to see more people and felt isolated that there were none.

Buds at Brookside Gardens

I took another series of bud pictures when I was at Brookside Gardens last weekend. The photographs were all hand held - no cutting of twigs to make the photography easier! I intentionally looked for trees that I don’t have in the area around my house. I used the 8x loupe; the 22x loupe is too much magnification for ‘hand held’ work.

There was the flower bud of on a red twigged dogwood. They always look like very small Hershey’s Kisses to me.

The gingko bud has a buildup of scales where it is attached to the tree. It will be interesting to watch how the leaf emerges from the bud.

The magnolia leaves were battered by winter but still green. And the leaf bud looked more ready to begin growing rapidly.

The pine is another bud I want to watch expand as spring begins.

Brookside - Gingko Leaves on Ice

The day was warm enough for a pleasant walk around Brookside Gardens yesterday. That didn’t mean that all the snow had melted yet though; there were icy piles still to the sides of the walkways. There were gingko leaves from last snow that has been blown onto one of the piles. There were battered from months on the ground. There is still a grace about the shape and vein pattern than is appealing. Enjoy the Gingko Leaves on Ice slide show below!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 22, 2014

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

Aging men: More uplifts, fewer hassles until the age of 65-70 - Interesting that the research is being done but disappointing that it is not terribly insightful yet. It caused me to think about the demographics….men that are in their 80s now don’t have very many 75-years-and-beyond role models in their growing up  because not very men lived that long in prior generations.

10 Things We Learned From Dr. Temple Grandin - Temple Grandin is one of the best sources for insight into autism. I haven’t listened to the webinar recording pointed to in the post yet….it’s on my ‘to do’ list.

Forced Molt: Starving Hens for Profit - Controlling egg production….so that there will be plenty of eggs for consumers all year round. Is starving the hens for 2 weeks the only way?

Colorful Watercolor Paintings of Radiant Trees in Nature - In keeping with Trees being a theme for upcoming photographic projects…..they’re showing up more in my reading and in images I enjoy from others!

6 Offbeat Veggies worth a Try - Maybe some new foods to try….with recipes to get you started.

Sound-sensing cells regenerated in ears of mice with hearing damage - Maybe there is hope to repair time damaged hearing! Since there are a growing number of older people, there are potentially a lot of people that would benefit if this can work in people. Loss of hearing and/or sight are significant hits to quality of life for otherwise healthy seniors.

Time to Sign Up For Summer Field Courses in the National Parks - National Parks are among my favorite vacation destinations. It’s an appealing idea to sign up for a field course!

Involved parents raise slimmer adults - I like the infographic. Glad that the study showed what seems intuitively obvious to me!

Navigate the Global Meat System with New Meat Atlas - The link is to a summary but the 68 page report itself is available by following the link at the beginning of the summary. The report has a lot of graphical representation of data which makes it worth the look.

A lost city reveals the grandeur of medieval African civilization - Still so much history of the world to discover…..

Broccoli - Through a Magnifying Glass

The structure of broccoli is just a little too small to be discernable without magnification. With so much of the outdoors being brown and white these days, the idea of looking at something green with my magnifying glasses was very appealing. I liked what I found! Even with the 8x loupe some of the detail emerged.

And then the 22x loupe showed even more.

3 Free eBooks - February 2014

It’s time again for the monthly post about eBooks that are freely available on the Internet. The three below are my favorites for February 2014.

Michaux, François André; Hillhouse, Augustus Lucas. The North American Sylva, or A description of the forest trees of the United States, Canada and Nova Scotia. Paris: C. D’Hautel. 1819. Volumes available on the Internet Archive: volume 1, volume 2, volume 3, volume 4, and volume 5. This series fit perfectly with my planning to look at trees more closely this year. Once I found the first one - I went through all 5! They are full of illustrations.

Malonyay, Dezso (Desi). A magyar nép mvészete : számos szakért és mvész közremködésével. Budapest: Franklin-Társulat. 1907. Volumes available on the Internet Archive: volume 1, volume 2, volume 3, volume 4, and volume 5. This series is about Hungarian folk art. I enjoyed the art work rather than trying to wade through the machine translation of the Hungarian text. There is a lot included - ordinary room arrangement with bedding piled high on the single bed, embroidery on clothes (jackets, skirts, shirts, aprons, scares), furniture - painted with stylized botanical motifs, some elaborately carved, decorative facings for doorways and gates, carved or painted canes and knife handles, and dyed eggs with designs created with wax.

Crockett, William Shillinglaw; Smith, William, jr. Abbotsford. London Adam and Charles Black. 1905. Available on the Internet Archive here. This book is about Sir Walter Scott’s country house in the Scottish Borders written at a time when his great-granddaughter had created a ‘catalog’ of Abbotsford. I enjoyed the illustrations more than anything else.

Garden Dreaming

My gardening areas have snow on them right now but I remember them from last summer and am dreaming about the garden for this next summer. I am full of plans as soon as it is a little warmer.

• I trimmed the hydrangea away from the window and house last fall but I need to be sure it was sufficient to keep it away from the wood. I’d like to try dividing the bushes again this summer (last summer my attempts were just putting out new buds when the deer found them). This year I plan to buy the deer repellent scent to keep them away from the garden.
• Our deck is a full story off the ground and underneath is very shady. Ferns might grow well there with enough mulch….maybe another area I should put the partially decomposed leaves from last fall.
• The deck pots will be mostly herbs this year although there are zinnia and cardinal flowers that will come back in a couple of pots at least (the hummingbirds and butterflies like them so I’ll cheer them on. Mint, stevia, basil and parsley are my favorite herbs and they do relatively well in pots. The mint will probably come back from last year. I’m going to look at seeds (and try not to go overboard) for the others.
• I’d like to do some composting directly into the garden - veggie scraps, tea, and egg shells. I think I’ll use a bucket outside the door and take it down to the garden every few days.

I can hardly wait to get started!

Zooming - February 2014

I’ve been doing quite a bit of magnification recently with the microscope and loupe. The monthly ‘zooming’ post is done with cropped images from the camera - simply using the camera’s own built in zoom. Can you find: 

• The muffin liner
• The surprised squirrel
• The snow on crepe myrtle berries
• The icy pine
• The glowing knot in stained wood
• A sunrise through the oak branches
• An ice fall from a gutter
• Tulip poplar seed pod spires
• The moon through tree branches 

Book Quote of the Month (about trees) - February 2014

Like the Chinese, who divide the solar calendar into twenty-four rather than 4 seasons (among them, fortnights called “excited insects,” “grains fill,” “cold dew,” and “frost descends”), a practiced tree watcher knows there are dozens of seasons and that one of them could be called “acorns pumping out.” - Nancy Hugo Ross inSeeing Trees

It isn’t often that a coffee table book (large format with beautiful pictures) prompts action or behavior change. This one is the exception for me and I suspect it is for others as well. I attended a lecture by the author at the Howard Country Conservancy on February 8th and promptly started planning my forays around the yard and nearby gardens for this spring…and naming the ‘seasons’ that I am seeing. The first blog post prompted by the lecture was on February 13th (I’ll call that season ‘fuzzy buds’. The book arrived in the mail that afternoon and I am savoring reading it and the pictures now….adding more details to the plans.

I’ve always enjoyed botanical photography but have tended toward flowers rather than trees. And I haven’t done the magnified looking at trees all that often. My husband had an old loupe he used during the days his photography was slide based that has now been repurposed and he ordered a new one that has higher magnification for be to experiment with as well.

To celebrate the prospect of learning a lot more about trees over the next year or so - I’ve created the slide show below of the best tree pictures I’ve taken over the past 12 months. Enjoy!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 16, 2014

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

Green Schoolyard Movement: Gaining Momentum around the World - Hooray for outdoor spaces that are complex systems….good for the children and the environment!

Aerial 3D Panoramas from around the World - Wow! There is a lot of interesting places to explore on this site. I started with Petra, Jordan.

Fracking in Water-Stressed Zones Increases Risks to Communities – and Energy Producers - Nearly half of the wells hydraulically fractured (indicated by black dots) in the United States are located in areas of high or extremely high water stress…not a good thing. The potential for supply shortfalls poses operational risks to the energy producers as well as risks of rationing and other emergency measures to the wider community.

Special Albinos and Unusually White Animals - Their lack of coloring caused them to stand out.

A Crash Course in Psychology - On YouTube. It will continue on in 10 minutes segments over the next few months. The second installment is here.

Global Health Observatory Map Gallery - There is a pull down list for geographic coverage and topics….and then an area for keywords.   There are lots of maps to explore with this tool. Here is one example: I selected ‘world’ then ‘maternal and reproductive health’ - and there was a list of 3 maps to look at.  One of them was “Maternal mortality ration (per 100,000 live births), 2010.” The US is now as good as most of the developed world in this metric.

The Nine Planets Imagined as One - I like this both as art and science (even if it does include Pluto which is no longer considered a planet)!

The Future of Agriculture (part 1 and part 2) - Fred Kirshenmann talking about going beyond ‘green’ to resilient agriculture. The videos are few years old but I just discovered them (they were suggested as references in the Coursera course I am taking on the US Food System).

Jumping Liquids Mimic Japanese Flower Arrangements - Whether or not they look like Japanese Flower Arrangements….they are worth a look. My favorite is the red, white and purple one need the middle of the series.

The end of the GMO era? -  Some recent stories about GMOs.

Snow Day - February 2014

I am delaying the weekly gleanings post until tomorrow so I can post some pictures of our snowy Thursday and Friday of this week.

It snowed all day on Thursday. I tried to capture some snowflake pictures first thing Thursday morning but it was already a mix of snow and rain - too warm for snowflake pictures. It did mean that the snow was very sticky. I piled up quickly on just about any non-vertical surface and made graceful curves over the pots on the deck.

By 10 AM we had at least a foot of snow and we bundled up for the first clearing of the driveway. I wore an old gardening hat on top of my fleece because there was rain mixed with the snow that was falling. My husband and I managed to get half the driveway done before taking a break for lunch. Later in the afternoon we got one side completed and he backed out over the remnants of the pile left by the plow when it made a pass through the neighborhood.

In the evening we noticed the snow was coming down again and we measured another 6 inches before we went to bed on Thursday night. I got up early on Friday morning and took some pictures of the sunrise.

The streetlight gilded its nearest tree before it went out for the day.

We got out to do the weekly grocery shopping and I managed a picture from the car window of snow caught in last summer’s crepe myrtle berries while my husband broke up the new pile the plow had made at the base of our driveway.

The sun was out all day Friday and the temperature got up to 40…..but there is still a lot of snow on the ground this Saturday morning. It is bumpy from the melting that must be going on underneath. The big piles on either side of the driveway are going to take many days to melt away!