January 31, 2018

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2018

January 31, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

This month was mostly cold…mostly spent at home…but I easily found lot of little celebrations!

I celebrated the model trains at Brookside…on the very last day of the exhibit – January 1. I enjoyed volunteering to help the exhibit run smoothly…and experiencing the trains through the eyes of the children.

I made a lot of progress on the collection of botanical prints eBooks area of my website. I am adding to the list of links as I work back through the annual lists of books I read/browsed…picking out the ones that contained botanical prints. So far, the books I found from 2013-2017 are listed – each with a link to the free eBook and a sample image. I celebrated the beauty of the botanical prints the whole time I worked on the collection…and may have the ones from 2012 ready later today.

We had some very cold days early in January and I celebrated my well-stocked pantry, freezer and refrigerator – as I stayed warm at home!

The were three Winter Wellness sessions this January hosted by Howard County Conservancy for their volunteers. Each included a lecture and hike…worth celebrating.

Conowingo was not as scenic for birds as it has been at times in the past…but the ice on the rocks and railings was worth seeing. I enjoyed being out and about….maybe that was more what I was celebrating.

I had a cold earlier in the month – so of course I celebrated as soon as a started feeling better.

In November I got my box of Foldscopes and was so busy I didn’t put one together until recently. I was pleased to finally do it…celebrated my origami-type success with the pieces and my initial results.

My area of Maryland has been very dry. We’ve only had dustings of snow…but we had a day recently that is rained gently for most of the day. We needed the moisture….and I celebrated that it came in an easy-to-handle form.

I had a dental appointment as was pleased that I had no cavities! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a new one and I celebrate after each appointment.

I started out on my weekly grocery shopping drive and notice the sunrise over our CSA buildings. I pulled off the road to take a picture. It was a good way to celebrate the day’s beginning.

January 30, 2018

Zooming – January 2018

January 30, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

I’ve been at home observing birds a lot during January and my camera works as well as binoculars for me…so why not go ahead and take the picture too! My favorite is probably of the flicker – savoring the drink of water from our birdbath.

There were some other reasons to use the camera’s zoom – the full moon in early January (there will be another one the last day of the month),

Ice crystals in a stream (better to use the zoom than making a mistake – taking a very cold step),

A stump that was on a slope of boulders (to hard to get close), and

In camera cropping of the morning light on the trees behind our house.

It was a good month with my Canon Powershot SX730 HS with 40x Optical Zoom!

January 28, 2018

Skunk Cabbage

January 28, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Last week I hiked down to the marshy area where the skunk cabbage usually grows at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm – and it was already coming up out of the muck. There were no blooms yet; those will be left for February. I used the zoom to get pictures since the area was muddy both from rain the previous day and the usual water from the small spring. It was warm enough that there was no ice in the area where the skunk cabbage was sprouting.

2018 01 IMG_8069.jpg — In other areas there was more ice – further from the spring (the water that emerges from the ground must be a little warmer) or where ice got thicker when the temperature was very low and it takes longer to thaw. It wasn’t freezing on the day I was hiking so part of the stream that has accumulated more water and the flowing more rapidly was entirely melted.

Other highlights from the leisurely hike: the stump for the elementary school hiking groups to climb and count tree rings is surviving the winter…will still be good for the spring field trips,

Shelf fungus group just about everywhere – even on stumps of invasive trees (these were probably Callery pear).

The bird feeders in the Honors Garden were active: nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, and goldfinches beginning to get their spring plumage were the ones I managed to photograph.

January 27, 2018

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 27, 2018

January 27, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

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.

Transmission Upgrades & Expansion Are Necessary to Meet Increasing Demand for Wind & Solar | CleanTechnica – The key barrier is planning that requires coordination across regions. The Central US contains the most technical potential for wind and solar development but the largest growth in energy consumption is along the coasts…hence the need for transmission upgrades.

How Birds Survive the Cold: Feathers + Food = Warmth | All About Birds – A timely article about bird survival strategies. I was pleased that I see quite a few of the birds featured in the article in my backyard: juncos, finches, blue jays, chickadees, downy woodpecker, and blue birds.

A Wild Year for the Whooping Crane: The National Wildlife Federation Blog – Still on the edge of extinction…but the numbers in the wild flock that migrate from Canada down to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is slowly increasing.

Forensic Facial Reconstruction Reveals 9,000-Year-Old Face – It seems like a lot of facial reconstruction has happened recently. This one is for an 18-year-old woman from Greece (9,000 years ago).

People with tetraplegia gain rapid use of brain-computer interface -- ScienceDaily – What a hopeful result – both for people with disabilities and more broadly.

On the Chesapeake, A Precarious Future of Rising Seas and High Tides - Yale E360 – We live very close to the Chesapeake Bay…so I always take note when it appears in my news feeds. The 15-minute video about Dorchester County is well done. I am familiar with Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge; it was the first place I saw a bald eagle in the wild….28 years ago. It has a lot more open water now and by the end of the century will be completely under water.

The Intelligent Plant | The New Yorker – An older article but new to me. It was referenced in a lecture I went to recently. Very readable…a new way of understanding plants.

Understanding the Nomadic Habits of Snowy Owls – Cool Green Science – We only see snowy owls in Maryland in winter…and then rarely. There’s always a possibility.

Canyonlands National Park – I’ve only been in that part of Utah once – and it was in October 2013 when the government was shut down….so I didn’t get to visit the park. This article has given me the idea that it would be a good place to camp – take the telescope for the night skies and hike in the mornings.

Air quality is leading environmental threat to public health: Switzerland tops the report while India falls to the bottom tier -- ScienceDaily – The US places 27th of 108 countries (strong scores on sanitation and air quality…but weak performance on deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. We’re near the back of the industrialized nations.

January 23, 2018

Conowingo in January – part 2

January 23, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

The day we went to Conowingo was part of a warming trend – but it was still cold enough that ice coated any wet surfaces. The fishing pier was gated off and there were signs saying there would be no fishing because of a toxic spill…so the ice forming from the spray on the railings was undisturbed.

Further out in the water – any rocks or small trees near or in the water because a framework for ice formation.

The rocks along the back were coated. Very little of the ice was totally smooth. It hung in icicles and knotted into pebbly textures that looked a little like bubble wrap!

I was glad that the day was sunny and relatively calm; my winter gear did a good job of keeping me comfortably warm. We stopped for lunch on the way home. Next time we’ll go earlier to (hopefully) see more of the eagles while they are still hungry for breakfast! I wondered where the Great Blue Herons were since we usually see a few of them. Both the herons and eagles will start their nesting cycle soon.

January 22, 2018

Conowingo in January – part 1

January 22, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

My husband and I chose and sunny day …. Headed north to Conowingo Dam one morning last week. We hoped the day would be good for seeing the bald eagles. It was a bit of a disappointment: the birds all stayed on the far side of the river – seemingly even further away than usual, there were not very many of them, and the sky was hazy rather than blue. The gulls and cormorants (and maybe some ducks) were too far away as well.

I turned my camera to other things. The Princess Tree had velvety buds.

There was a small stand of trees near the edge of water that had quite a load of ice; I wondered if it would survive.

An old stump was deteriorating near the fishing pier. I thought part of it looked like a one-eyed owl looking out of the decaying wood.

There was an oak leaf covered with salt that had been liberally scattered on the sidewalk.

There were not many sycamore balls…last spring was not conducive to seed production in our area. This one does not look like it has been discovered by seed loving birds either.

Tomorrow – I’ll write about the ice at Conowingo.

January 20, 2018

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 20, 2018

January 20, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

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.

Water-based, eco-friendly and energy-saving air-conditioner: All-weather friendly cooling technology works without mechanical compressors or chemical refrigerants, and generates drinking water -- ScienceDaily – This is one of those technologies I hear about…and hope it lives up to the potential talked about.

New Website Explores the Women in Architecture Your History Books Didn’t Teach You About | Smart News | Smithsonian – A little history.

The Ultimate Winter Wildlife Guide: Enjoy and Understand Creatures in the Cold – Cool Green Science and How Does Extreme Winter Weather Affect Wildlife? – Cool Green Science – It has been a cold January for us. The second article mentions that Carolina Wrens often don’t handle very cold temperatures; I did notice that I didn’t see or hear any on the extremely cold days and have only seen one since it has warmed up a little.

If Birds Left Tracks in the Sky, They’d Look Like This – Another instance where photography allows us to see our world in a way that we can’t do with our eyes.

Archaeologist debunking myth that most people died young prior to modern medicine - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) – Looking at teeth of 300 people buried in Anglo Saxon English cemeteries between 375 and 625 AD…and finding some that were older than 75! It is probably true that average life expectancy was short…but there were some that lived to reach old age.

Frozen Bubble Photos Capture the Amazing Beauty of Ice Crystals – I don’t think I am patient enough for this type of photography – but I can enjoy someone else’s work!

Revelations in the Way Poison Frogs Care for Their Young – National Geographic – There is a video of a parent frog getting tadpoles on its back…taking them to a new pool of water!

Face of Ancient South American Queen Reconstructed – Pictures and short video of the facial reconstruction from the woman’s skull. She was at least 60 years old when she died….and died some 1,200 years ago.

Bones of the victims at Roman Herculaneum - HeritageDaily - Heritage & Archaeology News – Skeletons were found in ‘boat houses’ where they were buried under thin mud….preserving the bones. There are enough of them to understand more about the population of the town…like the frequency of pleural inflammation causing rib lesions, skull depressions from excess irritation and scratching attributed to head lice and age demographics.

DNA confirms the Two Brothers’ relationship | Egypt at the Manchester Museum – I remember the Two Brothers from a course on Ancient Egypt and was interested in the DNA analysis that showed they were half-brothers (same mother, different fathers).

January 13, 2018

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 13, 2018

January 13, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

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.

Cache of Newly Digitized Travel Photographs Will Transport You to 1900s California | Smart News | Smithsonian – A little California history. I couldn’t figure out how to browse photographs almost like a slideshow. The interface seems to only provide one-at-a-time viewing.

With wrist-worn gadget, researchers capture real-life sleep for the first time -- ScienceDaily – I wondered how this differed from my Fitbit Alta HR tracker. I assume it has more detail and that raw data is processed with more sophisticated algorithms.

The National Gallery of Art Releases Over 45,000 Digitized Works of Art – Wow! Follow the link to the NGA images and enjoy!

BBC - Future - The labs that protect against online warfare – Even with the labs….is seems like we are not doing enough. Governments are serious about the problem from a military standpoint…not necessarily about infrastructure or healthcare.

Habitat on the Edges: Making Room for Wildlife in an Urbanized World - Yale E360 – A good summary of some things that appear to be working to increase and/or preserve wild life habitat even as human populations increase. The habitat is gerrymandered…and different that the original, but may be almost the only path forward.

A Floating House to Resist the Floods of Climate Change | The New Yorker – It seems far fetched that whole neighborhoods would be built like this – but it is appealing to think about non-traditional approaches now when extreme storms seem to be more common.

Deep learning sharpens views of cells and genes – Using a neural network to look at retinal images and determine the likelihood of heart attack…and other applications of high end computer algorithms for improving understanding of medical images.

Badlands National Park – It’s been 20 years since I visited the park. I enjoyed it…think I would appreciate it more now.

National Park Service Begins Roof Replacement, Masonry Repair at Lincoln Memorial – Something going on in DC. The memorial will be partially open during the work.

US childhood mortality rates have lagged behind other wealthy nations for the past 50 years: Leading causes of death are prematurity and injuries -- ScienceDaily – Very sad. We have a system that is expensive and not very effective. Infants in the US were 76% more likely to die than in other economically similar countries.

January 12, 2018

Icy Stream

January 12, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

At mid-week, I hiked down to the stream restoration area at Mt. Pleasant. The day was a little warmer than many of our recent days and there was very little wind. I dressed for the weather and didn’t get chilled. There has been enough rain that the ox bow portion had water/ice in it. The trees that were extracted during the restoration and repositioned in the stream to upside to down as habitat were indicated how high the water has gotten since the restoration reconnected the stream with its flood plain. The stumps have not been completely covered but the water has gotten a few feet higher than it is now.

2018 01 IMG_7571.jpg — Further along the stream a smaller stream – frozen – cascades over rocks.

Some ice had broken free with the melting and turned over – showing frost crystals…bubbles…smooth contours. It looked like a chunk of clear glass.

I liked the leaves held in place my ice on the flowing water; they added color.

The water level had gone down since this ice froze. It was a shelf above the flowing water. Based on the sediment on top of the ice, it is older and may have had sediment laden water flowing over it briefly.

2018 01 IMG_7583.jpg — The beach area that used to be mostly small pebbles and sand, has had large rocks since the Ellicott City flood before the restoration project and then additional rocks were added during the restoration. It makes it harder to walk in the middle of the stream…but better habitat.

One area had conditions just right for forming crystals…a favorite photography target for me.

As we started back up the hill, I noticed a battered lichen on some of the rocks. After all the clear ice, the bit of color caught my attention!

January 09, 2018

Cathedral of Learning (part 2)

January 09, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

The Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning. The Nationality Rooms on the 3rd floor are open when classes are not in session; the ones on the first floor are available with a tour guide or via an audio tour. Some of the rooms are decorated for Christmas; in 2005, when my daughter has seen the rooms, it was August…so the decorations were new to us. Each room has a one-page description on the wall near the door.

CoL 2017 12 (11).jpg — I like the wood patterns and folk-art plates in the **Ukrainian** room. My husband thought the seating looked uncomfortable…but maybe that’s true for most university classrooms.

The Turkish room is probably my favorite. I liked the stained glass, the doorway, and the pattern on the ceiling.

But most of all, I liked the seating. It looked like simple benches along the wall at first. Then I realized that the lighter wood portion was hinged and lowered to make a writing surface…and it worked for both right and left-handed people!

The Israeli room featured a replica of a mosaic and seating with a unique carving on each seat back.

My daughter and I both remembered the African heritage room. The seating – meant to look like molded clay – is surprisingly comfortable. I liked the fretwork patterns and the art work on the lower part of the wall. Each of the stools has a unique base.

The Indian room had a mix of left and right-handed seating…seemed large enough to hold more people that many of the other rooms.

CoL 2017 12 (47).jpg — The **Swiss** room included a stove. The building is heated with radiators now, but it is interesting to think about what classrooms in the 1800s would have been like with stoves like these. There is are work everywhere. I liked the sleepy looking owl on fascia.

Do you see the hole in the fascia near the ceiling? That’s where the projector is located. The renovation must have included modernizing the AV technology in all the rooms...but it's always somewhat hidden.

The Armenian room included a lot of carved wood. They also managed to incorporate chalk boards into the architecture!

The Austrian room was a room with very decorated walls and ceiling. It was also decorated for Christmas with garland over the door and a creche (under glass…apologies for the reflection).

We spent over an hour at the Cathedral of Learning. It had not stopped snowing or gotten any warmer when we emerged outdoors again. It was time to head for home – allowing enough time for the trek to complete while it was still daytime.

January 08, 2018

Cathedral of Learning (part 1)

January 08, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Our trip to Pittsburgh just before New Years included a walk around the public parts of the Cathedral of Learning. The building is part of University of Pittsburgh built in the 1920s and underwent its latest renovation in 2007. My daughter and I had visited the building in 2005 when we were making a big loop road trip from our home in Maryland up to Chicago and back while she was a new driver. My first impression of the building then (and again now) is that it could be part of a Harry Potter set! There are high vaults

CoL 2017 12 (2).jpg — And unusual furniture.

There are places to study in every nook and cranny…and along hallways. I wondered if the different patterns on the benches reflected when they had been purchased…which ones were there since 1920 and which ones were new with the 2007 renovation. Some of the areas are not well enough lit for reading physical materials; they’re for conversation or work on laptops/phones.

We went up to the third floor to see some of the Nationality Rooms (more about them tomorrow). Looking down to the first floor from this perspective.

We noticed that the snow outside was not ending as the forecast had predicted.

CoL 2017 12 (70).jpg — I didn’t remember the courtyards from our previous visit. The windows looking down to them were single paned but well-sealed. Keeping the Cathedral heating is quite a challenge.

We went up to the 36th floor to see Pittsburgh from that vantage point. Did it look even more snowy?

The floor was part of a library area and I wondered how much of it was original vs from the renovation. Certainly, the stained glass fits the character of the building even if it is relatively new.

January 06, 2018

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 6, 2018

January 06, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

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.

30,000 Shards of Historic Stained Glass Found in Westminster Abbey’s Attic | Smart News | Smithsonian – Glass found in the dust and dirt that accumulated in the deep cone-shaped pits of the interior of the triforium. Evidently most of it is from the Medieval period.

Streams can be sensors -- ScienceDaily – Using streams to assess the health of a region’s landscapes my lead to more focused actions for sustainable agriculture and development. This research highlights that basic concept but also points to some way to improve the way streams are monitored.

Stunning Images of Hokkaido Covered in Snow by Photographer Ying Yin – It is very cold in Maryland while I’m creating the post…fortunately we only have a dusting of snow.

BBC - Future - The mosquitoes that are fighting dengue and Zika – Increasing mosquito born diseases….new measures.

John Wesley Powell: Soldier, Explorer, Scientist and National Geographic Founder – National Geographic - A little history – one of the founders of the National Geographic Society.

Scientists find surprising evidence of rapid changes in the Arctic -- ScienceDaily – Chemical changes in the arctic ocean…open waters, increased wave action, stirred sediments. There is a need for international collaboration to understand what is happening.

Hawai’i Volcanos National Park – A reminder of our vacation a few years ago to the Big Island

The Race North – Cool Green Science – Some trees may not be able to move north or up fast enough as the climate changes. Will foresters for the future step in?

New desalination method offers low energy alternative to purify salty water -- ScienceDaily – In places where water shortages are happening (and projected), desalination may become a very important technology.

The Year Climate Change Began to Spin Out of Control - MIT Technology Review – An aspect of 2017 in review. When will everyone decide climate change is an existential issue rather than a political one?

January 05, 2018

National Aviary (Pittsburgh) – continued

January 05, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

When we first arrived at the National Aviary, we were hurrying back to the Atrium to get food. I went back later to take pictures of the Eagle Owl (sitting just over a heater in its outdoor enclosure),

2017 12 IMG_7169.jpg — The Stellar’s Sea Eagle (seemingly focused on something other than the cold and the crowds on the other side of the glass), and

A roadrunner (my son-in-law was drawing this birds attention – not sure how) in the exhibit with the sloth and toucan.

We also went outside the Condor Court. The Condors were not well positioned for pictures but the two Snowy Owls looked comfortable in their enclosure…they’re adapted to cold.

The Grasslands Exhibit has a lot of smaller fast-moving birds. I managed to capture a few of them even in the low light. At least two had very long tails.

The Tropical Rainforest Exhibit was my favorite during a previous visit, but it was too crowded this time and the cloudy (and snowy) day meant that the skylights provided poor lighting for photography. We were there for the bird feeding….and I noticed one bird that was the same as in the Wetland Exhibit.

January 04, 2018

National Aviary (Pittsburgh)

January 04, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Last Friday afternoon was very cold in Pittsburgh – and a lot of people decided it was a good day for the National Aviary. Our first clue that it was going to be crowded was the full parking lot. We pulled into a parallel space across the park from the aviary and walked across the frozen, snow dusted paths to the gate in the fence around the Aviary. The priority was food instead of seeing birds since we hadn’t had time earlier for lunch. The café area was crowded but we managed to satisfy ourselves enough to last until dinner…and then headed to the Wetlands area. We walked in a few minutes before feeding time. The schedule feeding times are great for picture taking. They have several spoonbills and I got a picture of the underside of bill like I did for the white ibis on South Padre Island; the spoonbill underside is the same concave shape. I also realized that spoonbills are don not have totally bald heads like vultures, but they certainly have a receding feather-line.

The flamingos seemed to be doing their preening while standing on one leg.

As the staff (and volunteers) started feeding the birds, the birds moved about more, and I was able to get different angles of the same bird. Some of the colors change dramatically.

There are sometimes surprising patches of color that become visible only from the side or back.

The hadada ibis has wings with a sheen.

Some birds are small and fast…hard to photograph except when worms are offered on the railing and they fly down to gobble them up.

Some appear drab but have ‘personality’ when viewed via the camera’s zoom.

One of the pelicans flew up to the top of a tree in the enclosure….closer to the glass roof….alas no sun while we were there.

Of course, there was water below the bridge walkway we were standing on…if there were fewer people around I would taken more time to photograph the variety of ducks present in the exhibit.

As I turned to leave - I noted the brilliant yellow tail feathers of a bird on one of the pipes high overhead, near the ceiling…a last hurrah for the wetlands exhibit.

January 03, 2018

A Cold Road Trip to Pittsburgh

January 03, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

We drove to Pittsburgh last Friday for a quick visit with my daughter and son-in-law…returning home on Saturday. It was a very cold trip. The trek from our house to the first rest stop (South Mountain) was cold but the sun came out from behind the clouds occasionally.

As we were leaving South Mountain, the clouds thickened, and we didn’t see the sun for the rest of the day. We stopped at a truck stop between I-70 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Breezewood). It was miserably cold. I took one picture of a car carrier pulling out through the windshield.

By the time we stopped at the New Station rest area on the turnpike, there was snow on the ground.

As we got closer to Pittsburgh, there was more snow on the ground and almost every road cut had ice flows. On the plus side, it wasn’t snowing….just very cold.

Overnight it snowed. We were staying at the Hampton Inn Waterfront; I took a picture through the window of our room before sunrise.

During the day the snow was supposed to stop but it kept on longer than was forecasted. We started back a little earlier than planned. I didn’t take any pictures on the way back; the light was too dim. The rest stops were overcrowded, and we were glad we had some protein bars in the car, so we didn’t need to stop for food!

More about what we did in Pittsburgh over the next few days…

December 31, 2017

Savoring 2017 – Anticipating 2018

December 31, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

2017 was a busy year. Here are some highlights.

January

My daughter and I drove from Maryland down to Dallas to visit family and then spent a week in Grapevine TX for a AAS conference before driving on to Tucson. It was the trek between Tucson and the east coast for the year.

Not long after I returned – I bought a new car: a Prius Prime.

February

February was the trough of the year in terms of activity but we did buy another car – a Honda CR-V for my husband.

March

In March a flew round trip to Dallas to do the chauffeuring for a trip to Oklahoma for my parents to visit other family members.

When I got back, we made a short visit to Pittsburgh – and enjoyed the Phipps Conservatory and the Aviary.

April

April was the start of field trips: Delmarva Birding with my husband and then the field trip volunteering I do with Howard County Conservancy.

May

In May there was another family visit in Texas and then moving my daughter from Tucson to State College. The packing up was some of the hardest physical work I’ve ever done…and then driving cross country with very sore and stiff muscles. Now that time has passed, I can see it as quite an adventure.

June

In June I started volunteering at the Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy exhibit. That continued into early September.

July

I made my first road trip in my Prius in July – to State College to help my daughter move into her apartment.

August

In August we drove to Nebraska for the Solar Eclipse.

September

September was full of Howard County Conservancy field trips. The stream and school yard assessments with the high schools were the more numerous for the season.

October

Staunton River Star Party is becoming an annual event or us. This was our third trek down to southern Virginia’s dark sky site.

My sister visited later in the month and we toured two places I had not been in more than 5 years: Fort McHenry and Nemours Mansion and Gardens.

November

I was back in Texas in November for a family birthday celebration and then

Down to Harlingen for the Rio Grande Birding Festival.

December

This December was by first time to volunteer as a conservatory docent at the Brookside Gardens Model Trains Exhibit. What a joy!

Then we went to Pittsburgh…I’ll post about that trip in the new year.

Anticipating 2018

There are already some things on my calendar for 2018: getting the eBotanicalPrints section of my website up and running in January, an 8-week class that will fill one day a week in February and March, a family visit in Texas for birthdays in April, Howard County Conservancy volunteering for school field trips in the spring and fall, and Brookside volunteering for the butterfly exhibit (April-September) and probably the model trains in December. I’m sure there will be a lot more that will fill the year.

Happy New Year to us all!

December 30, 2017

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 30, 2017

December 30, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

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 #118 – National Geographic Society – As usual – I can’t resist bird pictures. So many birds….all around the world.

Learning Center Classes and Field Excursions — North Cascades Institute – I’m adding this to my list of places to check out when I get round to planning a vacation in the US Pacific Northwest.

Ancient Maya Heritage Comes Alive...With Some Help from Google and the British Museum | Smart News | Smithsonian and the Preserving Maya Heritage Site – Be prepared to spend some time with the second link if you are interested in Mayan culture at all.

The Woman Who Shaped National Geographic – A short biography of Eliza Scidmore….writer and photographer.

Shutdown of coal-fired power plant results in significant fetal health improvement in downwind areas -- ScienceDaily – A study close to home…a power plan in Pennsylvania…the health impact happened down wind of the plant in New Jersey. An example of the need for multi-state studies (and Federal involvement) …and another reason to reduce generation of electricity using coal-fired plants.

NASA Unveils Finalists for Its Next New Frontiers Mission | Smart News | Smithsonian - A mission to Saturn’s moon Titan (from Applied Physics Lab) and a sample-return mission to a comet (from Cornell). Both projects will be funding through the end of 2018…then one will be chosen.

Bees use invisible heat patterns to choose flowers -- ScienceDaily – Heat pattern on such flowers as poppies and daisies can be 4-5 degrees warmer than the rest of the flower!

BBC - Future - Educationism: The hidden bias we often ignore – Some idea on how to improve: acknowledge that bias exists and use assessment as a tool for education (how to improve) rather than for selection. It turns out that many factors beyond an individual’s control can hinder potential.

Tiny red animals dart in the dark under the ice of a frozen Quebec lake -- ScienceDaily – A surprise for winter researchers – previously the assumption was that everything was on hold during the winter.

Five Surprising Ways Your Christmas Tree Can Give Back Long After the Holidays – Cool Green Science – Maybe there are other things to do with a ‘real’ Christmas tree after the holiday.

December 28, 2017

Brookside Gardens Model Trains (continued)

December 28, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

The Brookside Gardens G-scale model trains exhibit’s last day is January 1. I’ve been volunteering as a conservatory docent since just after Thanksgiving – posting about my earlier shifts back on December 12. The shifts since then have been just as enjoyable at the first 4. Each one is a little different and I try to take a few pictures to document the differences.

The 5th shift was on a very cold afternoon with light sleet falling. Visitors to the exhibit were light so I had plenty of time to take some plant pictures in the other half of the conservatory and

The Ferris wheel and merry-go-round in the trolley track layout.

On the center track, Thomas and James were pulling trains. Emily was on a side track. The hard part of the shift was getting home; the roads had been treated and were not slippery…it was rush hour traffic. It took me more than double the normal time to get home. Aargh!

The 6th sift had my favorite engine of the season: one that smoked! The very coordinated volunteer from the train club that owned the train could use an eye dropper to add more oil to the smokestack (to make the smoke) while the train was moving!

Before the 7th shift, it took a series of ‘new leaves/fronds’ picture in the conservatory…and pink flowers to add some color.

Inside the exhibit – there was a Santa pumper added and Thomas was pulling a train. Both are favorites of the children,

The 8th shift was cold but I quickly took a picture of a dried hydrangea flower. I like the ‘lace’ of the weathering petals.

Indoors there were poinsettias and orchids.

A Christmas train was the highlight of the exhibit for that shift.

I also noticed the hopscotch that is part of the Brookside Gardens trolley for the first time.

The 9th shift included a festive train with lots of figures – including the Beetles –

And a more serious looking freight train.

I have one more shift to go – on the very last day of the exhibit!

December 25, 2017

Ten Little Celebrations – December 2017

December 25, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

Merry Christmas!

It’s be a month full of little celebrations too! I’ve picked 10 to highlight.

There has been luscious food all through the month. I managed to spread it out and enjoy it more:

My birthday slice of carrot cake has so much icing that I saved half of it to spread on toast for two days following my birthday!

There were a large variety of homemade cookies to enjoy at the annual Howard Count Conservancy (HCC) Natural Holiday sale. It’s wonderful to enjoy just one of my favorite kinds rather than having to bake a whole batch myself.

A few days afterward there was a surprise event for HCC volunteers…as celebration of our 2017 activities.

I did make oatmeal cranberry bars and enjoyed the cookie dough first…and then the bars (another multiple day celebration).

I celebrated a hike in the woods…seeing a lot of different kinds of shelf fungus…

And a conference about water monitoring….well worth the registration fee and time.

We had our first snow – it was easy to celebrate because it didn’t snarl traffic but stuck enough to make a surface for animal tracks.

There is something to celebrate in almost every shift I do with the Brookside model trains because there are always young children there enjoying the trains – a vicarious celebration.

I also celebrated a special engine during one of the shifts: it has smoke swirling out of its smokestack!

Finally – we’ve had such dry weather recently, I found myself celebrating a rainy day – realizing that even in winter, plants need moisture. I also celebrated that it was a day I was spending at home.

December 20, 2017

3 Free eBooks – December 2017

December 20, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

This month I picked books with an Asian theme:

Bing, Siegfried. Artistic Japan: illustrations and essays. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Six volumes available from the Internet Archive here; published in the late 1800s. Most of the illustrations are in color…and represent a broad range of Japanese art from the time. I picked an image of a textile but there is a lot of other types of art in these volumes.

Ando, Hiroshige. Ehon Edo miyage. Kikuya Kozaburo han. 1850 or after and before 1868. Six volumes available from Smithsonian Libraries here. Images in soft colors depicting Japan in the mid 1800s. I picked one from the fourth volume that looked like a road lined with cherry trees blooming in the spring. There were some other images of landscapes with snow that I liked almost as well.