Ok, so you might have noticed I have a couple of hobbies. Karine rolls her eyes when I mention them because she's not quite sure I have enough. That's sarcasm if you didn't catch it. So a couple of weeks ago we get home from work. I checked the front porch as usual for any goodies from UPS or the mailman. Not expecting to find anything, there sits two HUGE boxes on my doorstep. Addressed from my brother in Colorado, I noticed one of the boxes says "Orion" on the side. Shit - are you serious? Yes, he did. I looked at Karine and instantly got upset because I knew what was in them. This.
Yeah, an 8" telescope. My brother is an amature astronomor, and being the science nerd I am, I have a love of the heavens as well. He built his own telescope from a kit. Over the years, I've always wanted something fun to go stargazing with, but living in Western Washington, just not many good nights to go out. Well, now I have no excuse. I have my own. So now my hobby list includes stargazing - with an 8" telescope! In the last two weeks I've amassed a small library of star charts and reference books. I'm acquainting myself with the night sky. There's much to learn yet, so stay tuned. I'll definitely keep you in the loop on our gazing fluries.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Been A While...and Vanishing Frogs?
Hello Friends. Been a while but wanted to update you on things. Gee, what's happened since my last post. The annual end of summer 36-holes of golf day happened this year at the end of September. Geoff and I played Elk Run and Druid's Glenn (in Covington), finishing in rare form. Geoff basically completely hammered (on rum) and me, shooting 79/77 at both courses respectively. Not bad for only my 2nd AND 3rd time playing golf this year. I basically vowed to call it a season on that note.
Life continues to be busy with work and I'm hoping to get outside to have an adventure before Christmas. Mark and I need to hit our annual trip to Ozette/Cape Alava. We weren't able to get out there earlier this year due to my lower back being uncooperative. My back is finally more stable than it was and I'm ready for the coast. Stay tuned on that.
Karine and I plan to head out to Westport day after Thanksgiving to stay in the cabin for a couple days and listen to the waves. I can definitely say that wine will be had. Also, there will be a trip to Victoria, B.C. during the weekend of Christmas. Will post on that when we get back.
One thing I'd like to put on the radar is Jeff Corwin. You might know him as the excitable Bostonian who travels the planet in search of fun and interesting critters on Animal Planet. His recent venture is to open our eyes to a global issue facing amphibians. Frogs and the like are disappearing at an alarming rate. Global climate problems? Habitat destruction? Most likely, but there's another piece to the puzzle - the chytrid fungus. Here's an interesting article to read. No place on Earth now is immune to this killer, but scientists are working and learning fast to try and help this key indicator species.
Here's some links for more information:
amphibian ark
savethefrog.com
Jeff Corwin
Until next time, Happy Holidays! -E
Life continues to be busy with work and I'm hoping to get outside to have an adventure before Christmas. Mark and I need to hit our annual trip to Ozette/Cape Alava. We weren't able to get out there earlier this year due to my lower back being uncooperative. My back is finally more stable than it was and I'm ready for the coast. Stay tuned on that.
Karine and I plan to head out to Westport day after Thanksgiving to stay in the cabin for a couple days and listen to the waves. I can definitely say that wine will be had. Also, there will be a trip to Victoria, B.C. during the weekend of Christmas. Will post on that when we get back.
One thing I'd like to put on the radar is Jeff Corwin. You might know him as the excitable Bostonian who travels the planet in search of fun and interesting critters on Animal Planet. His recent venture is to open our eyes to a global issue facing amphibians. Frogs and the like are disappearing at an alarming rate. Global climate problems? Habitat destruction? Most likely, but there's another piece to the puzzle - the chytrid fungus. Here's an interesting article to read. No place on Earth now is immune to this killer, but scientists are working and learning fast to try and help this key indicator species.
Here's some links for more information:
amphibian ark
savethefrog.com
Jeff Corwin
Until next time, Happy Holidays! -E
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