Gleanings of the Week Ending July 15, 2017

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.

How climate change will transform business and the workforce – The way we work and the skills employers need will be changing…is climate savvy going to be become as important as tech savvy?

How to see if home prices are rising or falling where you live – The link is to an article….that contains the link to a zoomable map of the US. My house is in an area that has seen 20-39% increase in home prices since 2000.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #95 – I liked the picture of the two pintails…the tails clearly visible as they are taking off: matched choreography.

Greenland’s summer ocean bloom likely fueled by iron – It turns the water of much of the Labrador Sea turquoise!

Surf through newly digitized images to see Rome’s ever-changing history – Many images collected by Rodolfo Lanciani and then supplemented. I am looking at this source as well as books by Lanciani on Internet Archive.

Owls’ wing could hold the key to beating wind turbine noise – I guess humans are not keen on wind turbine noise, but will reducing the noise increase the deaths of birds? I include a demonstration for pre-schoolers that includes the sound made by flapping a turkey feather and then an owl feather….and they are always surprised at the silence of the owl feather.

How Abstract Photography has evolved and still continues to inspire art – A little photographic history…and maybe some ideas for you own photography experiments.

Scientists unveil reconstructed face of ancient Peruvian mummified female leader – And she was only in her mid-20s when she died.

Whole Grains: Good for the Gut – And whole grains have more flavor too.

Women of Color Face a Staggering Amount of Harassment in Astronomy – Not good…and it’s even worse in physics.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 1, 2017

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.

Carbon in Atmosphere is Rising, Even as Emissions Stabilize – Are the carbon sinks less able to function as CO2 levels have risen? Still TBD. There is still a lot to understand about our planet and the impact of higher and higher greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Cats Domesticated Themselves, Ancient DNA Shows – Cat came into settlements on their own…enjoying the bounty of rodents human settlements contained. They didn’t give up their wild natures to the extent that dogs and other domesticated animals did. There is genetic evidence that they’ve remained largely unchanged for 1000s of years.

Not so pearly whites – Evidence of a filled dental cavity in a 13,000 year old hunter-gather tooth!

43 Incredible Photos of US UNESCO Sites: Present and Proposed – I was surprised that I had visited so many of these places (the ones in the continental US).

Plastic Pollutants Pervade Water and Land  and Microplastics sloughed from synthetic fabrics in the washing machine - Plastics are everywhere in our environment and their  negative impact is probably greater than we realize…but it is surprising how much we don’t know.

In the AI Age, being ‘Smart’ Will Mean Something Completely Different – The author proposes that the new definition of ‘smart’ will be about the quality of thinking, listening, relating, collaboration, and learning…not about the quantity of factoids we remember. It won’t be easy to be the new kind of smart and I often wonder if the way we use current technology has moved us in the opposite direction.

American Icon in the Alaskan Horizon – Birds at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Alaska…in snow and ice.

11 Very Different Types of Photography that Each Illuminate Our World – A little eye candy for the week…and a survey of types of photography.

Mars rover Opportunity on walkabout near rim – One of my daughter’s first jobs as an undergraduate student was calibrating images coming from Opportunity…so I always take note when articles come out of it.

Mapping the potential climate effects of climate change – I look at these types of articles and try to understand the assumptions that are being made. It always seems that there are still a lot of unknowns….and it could be different and worse than they projections. Basically north and west seem to fare better than the south where it is already hot and often dry.

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 24, 2017

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.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #92  and #93 – These come out every week! I can never resist looking through the photographs and picking a favorite. #92 includes a lot of birds I’ve enjoyed photographing myself…but my favorite is a close-up of a flamingo. In the second one – my favorite is Forster Tern mates.

Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibition at MoMA Celebrates the Architect’s 150^th Birthday – A little bit of architectural history

Architecture 101: 10 Architectural Styles that Define Western Society – More architectural history…a broader view. Be sure to look at all 5 pages (at the bottom there is a bar that links to the next page).

A Vessel of Life in the Philippine Seas  and Under the Mangrove Sea – Two 1Fram4Nature pieces…great images and some ideas on what you can do.

Why it’s time to stop punishing our soils with fertilizers – The more we learn about soils, the more it is obvious that applying more and more chemicals (pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers) is killing the soil…and making it very difficult to keep it productive over the long term.

Op-Ed – Is it time for a radio astronomy national historic park? – A suggestion for a historic park similar in concept to the Manhattan Project National Historic Park where several sites across the country are part of the park. For radio astronomy, the sites might include Arecibo (Puerto Rico), Green Bank (West Virginia), and The Very Large Area (New Mexico).

2017 Kids Count Data Book – A recently released study of state trends in child well-being. The statistic that surprised me the most was that as of 2015, 65% of 4^th graders in the US were not proficient in reading. That is a lot higher than anyone would want it to be.

Infographic: Plastic Pollution – It’s not just bottles and packaging…it’s also synthetic fibers that are shed when we launder our clothes.

Father’s Day Photo Gallery – A week late…but this was a great photographic series from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

MAVEN’s top 10 discoveries at Mars – We went to the launch back in November 2013 (my blog post here) so I notice articles like this…nice that is has been successful.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 20, 2017

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.

Million-Dollar Prize Hints at How Machine Learning May Someday Spot Cancer – Hopefully this type of technology will reduce the number of false positives that have been so common as we’ve used advanced imaging to find cancer (too many times when biopsies have been done and it has not been cancer). Note that the winning team was from a Chinese university. No country – even the US – can rest on past innovation for their future.

How farmers put apples into suspended animation – 9 in 10 apples bought in the US are grown in the US. This article talks about how apples are stored so that we have them throughout the year rather than just in the fall.

Frosty Monarchs – This was a post from earlier in May…but it has great picture of the milkweed egg. We had some cooler temperatures here in Maryland after the milkweed came up; there was frost on the rooftops but the it must not have gotten to freezing at ground level since the milkweed was unscathed.

Antarctica’s Blood Falls Helps Unravel the Inner Workings of Glaciers – Briny water flows (i.e. in liquid form) flows under the ice of the glacier!

Golden years are longer and healthier for those in good health in middle age – When I read the headline, my first question was - what did they define as “middle age”? The answer was ages 40-59. It was a 40 year study with 18,714 participants. It makes the point that living healthy in mid-life is important to health later in life.

It’s Raining Blood and Feathers: Catching the Spring Raptor Show – There is so much going on in the spring…and it not just flowers and song birds.

Dragons on the Hunt – Komodo dragons bring down a water buffalo. (5-minute video)

Cost of Zika outbreak in the United States could be high – There is a lot of complexity….but even assuming a lower incidence rate that has been observed in other parts of the world and that only the southern tier of the US would be impacted…still results in high costs. Prevention costs money and treatment even more. The range from the models is $183 million to $1.2 billion. Another article on the broader topic of mosquito-borne illnesses: Researchers analyze what a warming planet means for mosquito-borne illnesses.

The Art of Botanical Illustration, Scientific Botany – Some of these botanists/artists I have found before…I’m going to check what Internet Archive and Hathi Trust have in their scanned collections for each of them.

Serene Photos Highlight the Tranquil Beauty of 100 Japanese Gardens – Eye candy…even better if you have a garden near you to visit.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 6, 2017

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.

Meditation: Which type is best for you? – So many choices…it doesn’t take long to choose and tailor one that fits your needs. I feel better when I have a meditation practice almost every day!

Sea-Level Rise Will Send Millions of Refugees to Inland Cities – A study authored by a demographer at University of Georgia about how the US will change as people move from areas that are increasingly flood prone over the next century. The state by state graphic shows Louisiana and Florida losing the most; Texas and Georgia gain the most. Maryland – where I live – gains a little.

Underdiagnoses of age-related macular degeneration, findings suggest – Evidently early stages of age-related macular degeneration is under diagnosed by both optometrists and ophthalmologists….something to talk to your provider at your next eye checkup if you are over 60.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #85 – Birds….always great eye candy. This set contains an American Oystercatcher near the bottom (a closer view than I captured near the Dupont Nature Center.

For Some, Pre-Hospice Care Can Be a Good Alternative to Hospitals – Palliative care at home…happier patients and saving money…win-win. Hope these types of programs become available nation wide.

The Essential I.M. Pei – The architect recently celebrated his 100^th birthday. This article from the Smithsonian includes pictures of his most iconic works.

Welcome to the Poison Garden: Medicine’s Medieval Roots – A description of the garden at Alnwick Castle that contains plants with poisonous properties.

Behold the James Webb Telescope in all its Unfurled Glory – It’s still under construction…but will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope (launch projected in 2018).

35 Years of American Death – An interactive US map with color coding to show mortality rates for different diseases from 1980 – 2014. The one for ‘mental and substance use disorders’ shows the impact of the opioid epidemic – more pronounced in some areas of the country than others.

3D printing of glass now possible – A new way to work with glass from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany).

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 29, 2017

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.

The Creamy, Sculpted Dunes of White Sands National Monument – I’ve only been there once…but it was memorable. It was a hot day but the sand is so white that it reflects the sun and can be walked on barefoot! (See my post from back in June 2013 here)

Tracking down water pollution through DNA of algae – A new method for rapid and reliable bioassessment of aquatic environments which will allow for synchronous processing of many samples in record time and reduced cost….no more microscopic identification of organisms in samples!

Circadian Rhythms Influence Treatment Effects – There is a lot of evidence that timing of a medication may have a marked impact on effectiveness….yet drug trails did not track time of day information and thus not on drug labels. Simultaneously – understanding a patient’s circadian rhythm is an aspect of precision medicine - find the right drug for the patient at the right dose… administered at the right time. Also see the infographic: Circadian clock affects heart and disease

How Western Civilization could collapse – Doom and gloom scenarios. Do they seem more likely than they have in recent decades?

What’s chemistry ever done for us? – In infographic from Compound Interest that came out prior to the March for Science last weekend.

Incredible photos of Japan’s natural landscape that look like watercolors – Eye candy….and a little geography too.

4 great things the EPA had done for our health – A lot of progress has been made since 1970 when the EPA was created. No one should want to go back to air so filled with smog that your eyes watered when you went outside (like happened in LA) or lakes became sterile from changing pH or rivers caught on fire.

Foreignceuticals: our drugs go global – Scary. It’s often hard to tell where drugs and supplements come from….and there may be little or no quality control along the way.

Climate change is turning dehydration into a deadly epidemic – More very hot days….drinking soft drinks rather than contaminated water to rehydrate…maybe some other factors  - kidney disease rise dramatical in laborers in Latin America.

5 Ways to Prevent Food Waste in Your Kitchen – Probably nothing new here but always worth a quick check…ratcheting up what you do to avoid wasting food.

Earth Day in Howard County, Maryland

We had a very cloudy and wet Earth Day yesterday. It was a little cool too. But the azaleas are beginning to bloom and

The day lily foliage is very green around the birdbath beside by front porch. We’re behind on rain this year so getting some is a good thing.

I headed out to the local GreenFest after lunch – noticing a dogwood in bloom on my walk to the building.

The part of the event to be held outside was impacted by the rain (for example, no solar telescopes) but there were plenty of vendors inside the Galleria building of the local community college and an orderly crown moving around the exhibits. I volunteered at the Howard Country Conservancy’s table for a couple of hours. I sauntered around the other exhibits before my ‘shift.’ One group was giving away burr oak saplings….but my yard is not big enough for that tree (with a red oak already holding a big part of the front yard and the back a forest with tulip poplars, red maple, and black walnut! I refrained from picking up any more reusable bags too since I already have more than I can use. I did pick up a sunflower seed in a tiny watering can. I’ll plant it in my front flower bed!

There were competing events for the day – tree planting and March for Science. 2017 was a crowded Earth Day (for a crowded planet).

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 22, 2017

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.

Beautiful Easter Eggs Hand-painted with Colorful Folk Art Illustrations – Yes – it’s past Easter…but I was a little late seeing this post. Art on an egg shape!

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #83 and Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #84 – So many gorgeous bird pictures! My favorite in the first section is the male Ruddy Duck; the blue bill is always a surprise! My favorite in the second set is the female Great Horned Owl…sun through the wing and tail feathers.

Maps Show a Dramatic Rise in Health Insurance Coverage Under ACA – I was interested in seeing the trend…and wondered if the decline in uninsured people will correlate to better health outcomes.

Many US Freshwater Lakes could surpass ‘safe’ chloride levels within 50 years – Not good. Road salt is evidently a significant contributor.

Is the world running out of fresh water? – The world’s major aquifers are being drained. Mexico City – built on ancient lake beds, is now sinking in some areas at a rate of 9 inches per year! Global water demand is projected to increase by 55% between 2000 and 2050. So the answer to the question is ‘yes’ --- unless we change the way we currently use water.

Vitamin B diminishes effects of air pollution induced cardio-vascular disease – Interesting study…not actionable yet…but I hope they continue the research.

A Vegan Protein Sources Chart – A good comparison of different kinds of vegetable proteins.

Maryland Food System Map: Version 2.0 has arrived – Read about how the map has been improved…then take a look at the interactive map here. I wondered if other states were doing similar type maps.

Tunable electric eyeglasses bend to the will of the wearer – I hope this technology matures into something looks better. I would much prefer these to the types of static glasses available today.

7 cool facts about Water Striders – I frequently see water striders when I’m hiking with elementary students on field trips. This article has some great pictures…and more that I had known about them previously.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 15, 2017

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.

Strong early education equals better long-term relationships with parents, research shows –  Also more likely to be employed full-time. The study has been going on since 1971.

How vertical farming reinvents agriculture – Will there be a market for vertical growing systems and vertical farms that will grow our veggies year-round close or in our grocery store?

NASA’s Cassini Begins its Final Mission before Self-Destruction – An interview with Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist.

Japan can teach US how to overcome national rot – A little history about what was happening to Japan 1990s….and how they are recovering. Good leadership of the government and companies have made it happen.

Cars and second order consequences – The big technology changes when it comes to cars (electric and autonomy) have a cascade of consequences.

New technologies shrink wastewater’s carbon footprint – Approaches to reducing fossil fuel demand of water treatment plants…the article details the Metropolitan Water Reclamation of Greater Chicago strategy for be energy neutral by 2023. The East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland CA is already beyond net-zero energy and selling energy back to the grid!

Nanogrids, microgrids, and big data: the future of the power grid – For many applications, distributed generation is becoming the least costly way to provide electricity. More changes are coming too.

Pining for cleaner air in the Norwegian fjords – Norway’s ferries are converting from diesel to electric or hybrid. No more diesel fumes!

7 Surprising Ways Your Body Changes with Age – I was surprised they didn’t include teeth moving toward the front.

Digital Augustan Rome – Explore what Rome was like in the time of Augustus via an interactive map. This was a site referenced in the Coursera course I am enjoying: Roman Art and Archaeology from the University of Arizona.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 1, 2017

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.

Articles on women in STEM, March 2016-2017 (Women’s History Month) – A collection of links to articles that examine gender (in)equality and (in)equality in science.

Embrace Spring with Pictures of Japan’s Cherry Blossoms –  From National Geographic.

Carbon Dioxide emissions are flat for a third year running, but the economy continues to grow – Economic growth doesn’t require an increase in greenhouse gases! The US actually had a 3% reduction in emissions in 2016 and a 1.6% growth in the economy.

20+ Stunning Nature Tunnels – From around the world. The main street in my neighborhood seems like a tunnel with the trees meeting overhead during the summer.

Top 25 wild bird photographs of the week # 80 – Which one is your favorite in this set of bird pictures? Mine is the red-tailed hawk about mid-way through although the green heron is a close second.

World Tuberculosis Day – 1.8 million people died from tuberculosis in 2015. Article and infographic from Compound Interest.

Target Ruin & Ballroom Cave – A hike with young children in Bears Ears National Monument.

How noisy is your neighborhood? – Read the story then check out the interactive version of the map here. If you live in the US – zoom in on an area you are familiar with. Where I live is light orange because of the airport noise.

Rare ‘Super Bloom” Bursts California Desert to Life with Vibrant Wildflowers – A little rain…and the desert blooms.

Plant Evolution & Pollinator Type Much More Intimately Associated Than Supposed – What does it matter that the Earth is losing bumble bees? The article talks about one of the implications.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 11, 2017

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.

Making “Kate Tectonics” – A short video about the history of geology.

Melting Glaciers in Canada Now Major Contributor to Sea Level Rise  and Climate-driven permafrost thaw – It’s been so warm this winter in our area….and elsewhere as well.

Elite ‘Dynasty’ at Chaco Canyon Got Its Power from One Woman, DNA Shows – DNA analysis is having an impact on our understanding of prehistory. This is an example from Chaco Canyon.

How Tibetans survive life on the ‘roof of the world’ – The Tibetans manage survival in thinner are differently than the people of the Andean Altiplano.

Could you survive on just one food? – I wouldn’t want to…how boring. But is it interesting to think about the pluses and minuses of single foods. Potatoes turn out to be a viable choice – hence the Irish population boom that busted when the potato blight came along.

Waxwings really have wax wings – We don’t have enough berry producing plants in our neighborhood to attract these birds….wish we did.

Delivering on spider silk’s promise – I’ve been hearing about spider silk coming to the market (shoes, jackets) but it hasn’t happened yet and it may not except for specialty products where cost is not a key driver.

What you don’t know about the Vikings – An article with pictures from reenactments and artifacts – from National Geographic.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #77 – It’s been two years since the #76 was published…I hope they come out with more frequency. My favorite of this group is the Northern Pintail. I like the light on the wings…and the water droplets splattering from the feet.

What happens when a massive redwood tree falls – 10-12 coast redwoods have fallen at Muir Woods National Monument during past two months…lots of work for the trail crew…but also new forest homes in the now horizontal tree trunks.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 4, 2017

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.

A tale of four skulls: what human bones reveal about cities – History from a different perspective!

I spent a week exploring how we’ll have to live in a post-water America – We often take water for granted – turn on the faucet and it comes out. This article was about taking a different perspective and might be a shift in thinking we’ll be required to make in the future.

New map highlights bee population declines across the US – Not good. The declines are occurring in key agricultural regions.

10 Must-see Sites of Iran’s Historical Architecture – There are 20 UNESO World Heritage Sites in Iran. Too bad that part of the world is not a safer travel destination. Enjoy the pictures!

Our Water on Drugs – Treatment of water started out focused on sewage…then expanded to include nitrogen and phosphorous. Now the residues of drugs and personal care products are becoming a concern.

Popular heartburn drugs linked to gradual yet ‘silent’ kidney damage – Proton pump inhibitors (like Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium and Protonix) taken over prolonged periods can have significant risks.

Cocoa, Caffeinated ‘Black Drink’ was Widespread in Pre-Contact Southwest – A ‘caffeine trade network’ brought cocoa and yaupon holly to the southwest….and the residue from the drinks are found in pottery. One of the first analyzed was from Chaco Canyon!

The Country’s Most Famous Bald Eagle Pair Just Laid Another Egg – The Bald Eagles at the US National Arboretum are keeping 2 eggs warm! See them on the nest cam.

6,600 spills from fracking in just four states – Drilling down on the stats – 26% in Colorado and 53% in North Dakota occur at wells that experienced more than one spill…the industry should be using this data reduce the risks of additional spills.

New Discoveries from Cahokia’s ‘Beaded Burial’ May Rewrite Story of Ancient American City – Some of the ‘men’ buried in an elite grave excavated in 1967 were women based on a new evaluation of the skeletons!

Prius Prime – Month 1

My Prius Prime (plug-in hybrid) ownership is one month and counting. I am still on the first tank of gas (still registering as ‘full’) with about 300 miles on the car. I’ve discovered that unless I take a road trip, it will take months to use a take of gas!

I have learned more about the car since my last post about it:

• Now that I have a smart phone – I’m getting used to the wireless charging surface in the car.
• The charging happens between 11 PM and 7 AM when the electricity costs from my utility are the lowest (the car has a feature that allows setting of charging times so I set it to start at 11:10 PM and it finishes well before 7).
• The audio system can play music from a USB drive – so I have one that I plan to just load up with music and leave in the car. Later, I may use music from phone but the USB option is working so well that I am not motivated to change right now.
• There is a handy slot for sunglasses in the ceiling and I’ve started using it.

The permanent license plates came during the month --- so everything is complete. I really do want to take it on a short road trip!

Previous Posts: My New Car – a Prius Prime, Prius Prime – Week 1

Prius Prime – Week 1

I’ve had my Prius Prim for a little over a week and am still learning its nuances. I’m not driving any more than I need to (i.e. no special trips to just drive the car) so it’s a slower pace for me than any other new car.

I did drive the car to Belmont for a winter hike with other volunteers. I was a little worried about the potholes on the one lane entrance road and the possibility that I might have to back up if I met another car on that same road. I was pleased that the worst of the potholes had been patched and when another car approached as I was leaving, I was near an easy place to pull off the road. I am learning to drive in a way that helps the car get better mileage, but the car switched from EV to hybrid mode on the way home…very smoothly. It was a good experience.

I also took the car back to the dealership to have the feature for garage door opener buttons to be part of the car (I don’t like to have a separate clicker). It took about 30 minutes at the dealership and a few seconds to program it once I got home. Now I’m familiar more with the dealership facilities for service although – hopefully – I won’t need them very often.

On the weekly grocery shopping day, I discovered that the hatchback easily holds at least 8 bags of groceries (maybe more if I fit them in more tightly). Another positive – the route to the grocery store and my driving pattern yielded the projected mileage in the all-electric mode for the car!

Brookside Gardens is a little further afield than the grocery store and part of the route was at highway speeds. I used the cruise control for the first time. It has some features that are new-to-me: Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control. I seems to work very well and should make it easier to drive for long distances without having to turn the cruise control off. This time when the car switched from EV mode to hybrid on the way home, the car was at highway speed, on cruise control, and a long uphill climb. It was smooth enough but I heard the gasoline engine more.

I’ll post about my continuing adventure with the Prius Prime in about a month. Maybe I’ll take a short winter road trip….

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2017

January started out with a burst of travel – driving cross country between Maryland and Arizona with a stop for a week in the Dallas area. There were associated ‘little celebrations.’

Leaf earrings from a local artist in McKinney TX – I celebrated finding earrings I like a lot…and if they are created by a local artist that makes it even better. I find it very easy to remember where I purchase earrings so they are great mementos for my travels.

A day on my own – Usually when I travel, my time is full of interacting with other people and I end up exhausted after it continues for too many days. On this 9-day trip, I had one day that was almost all ‘me time’ and I celebrated the lull!

Getting to the hotel in the snow – One day I was out and about in Dallas when it started snowing. I thought it wouldn’t stick but it started before I could head back to the hotel. Dallas does not use salt and there had not been any time for sand to be out either. I was driving an unfamiliar car too. I white knuckled the drive (overpasses particularly) but made it back to the hotel without incident…and celebrated.

Then there were ‘home’ related celebrations:

Home again – I enjoy traveling but coming home again is always a little celebration.

A good night of sleep – I came home from my travels with a cold so the first night that I sleep well was cause for celebration.

A sunny day – January in Maryland has been full of gray skies and drizzle (no snow) so I celebrated one on of the few sunny days.

A new car – Maybe this is a big celebration rather than a little one. I only buy a new car about every 10 years or so…and I’m still savoring the lingering celebration of acquiring the Prius Prime.

There are instances of little celebrations in my favorite activities as well:

Anatomy of the Abdomen and Pelvis Course – This might be the most challenging courses I’ve taken on Coursera – but tremendously interesting. I am celebrating every module. Kudos to the Leiden University Medical School for producing it.

A hike and finding skunk cabbages – I enjoyed a winter hike and was celebrating being outdoors when I found skunk cabbages already up in the winter muck…and that made for a bigger celebration.

Red-tailed hawks – It seems like I am seeing red tailed hawks a lot more frequently this winter….or maybe I am just becoming a better observer. My daughter and I saw them on our cross-country road trip, there is at least one that is frequently the woods behind out house and I saw one at Centennial Park when I was there last week. I celebrate that the birds are thriving and that I am seeing them!