SpaceX had another launch from their California Space Base last night, around 9:20. The last couple of those launches have made for an interesting streak across the sky here in the Phoenix area. We went outside to watch... from what we read, it must have been less visible here - we didn't see anything. It may have had a more northerly trajectory.
But, there were still pretty lights - just not in the sky. In a previous post, I mentioned all that Joan has been doing with our yard with plants, pots, lights, and yard ornaments. Some of the lights...
Yesterday afternoon, Joan and I went yard ornament shopping. There is a place we've seen east on Baseline that sells this kind of stuff. I wanted to get her a saguaro ornament... something for Mother's Day; but it would be best for her to pick it out, since decorating the yard is her project.
When we got to the place, there was a large saguaro (6' tall at least) that we could see from the far side of the road. Not what she wanted...
Hmmm - how about a nice metal triceratops dinosaur? Is there a demand for dinosaurs in your yard? We saw some other things inside the eclectic shop... I'm being polite; it was part shop, part shed, part Mexico Lite. The two brothers that have operated this for decades invited us to look in their back room. In the end, Joan found a couple things that she liked: a metal barrel cactus in an open bottom "pot" (won't fill with rain water), and a small flowering saguaro with a quail, another small barrel cactus, and a wagon wheel...
I asked how these would hold up in the desert sun and was told "they are painted with automotive paint and clear coated, so... I would think at least 5 years." Joan is getting an interesting group of ornaments for one corner of the yard.
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A longer outing on the CTX today, but it included a ride up (and down) South Mountain. I fired up the X4 camera for a couple minutes and when I got home, I let the AI feature in the Insta360 app do its thing again...
Better than the last one (didn't use the "tiny planet" effect today), but it is hard to be the time investment in that vs spending a couple hours downloading and editing... and still get 84 views. ;-)
I took another photo with my phone from a high vantage point of that fun road...
2 comments:
Nice yard. I was up way too early at 0500 and happened to catch the TV weather-guessers. The news here is that at oh-dark-thirty tomorrow we might be able to see the Northern Lights here in Boise. It seems like there will be a particularly strong display. Of course, we saw them hundreds of times living in Alaska. Which reminds me of my two favorite tourist questions:
How do we see the Northern Lights? Asked during summer when there is 19½ hours of daylight and 4½ hours of bad twilight (never gets dark enough for the street lights to come on) and
How far are we above sea level? Spoken while standing on the dock in Seward about 15 feet above the salt water, overlooking the fishing boats. Sheesh.
Oh, and a bonus third: What is the exchange rate for Alaskan currency? We would gladly respond "2 for 1". Give me two US dollars and I'll give you one Alaskan dollar.
Hi Earl. People often leave their brains behind when they pack for vacation. Living in the Black Hills, there was never a shortage of tourists... or dumb tourist questions. A couple of my favorites regarding Mt Rushmore:
* What to they do with the "faces carving" in the winter?
* When did they discover Mt Rushmore? (As in: it just naturally appeared with those faces??)
We used to get that "How far are we above sea level?" question in Friday Harbor, probably because it is a steep uphill from the ferry dock to some of the shops and restaurants.
I would sometimes say to passengers, "We'll be heading into Canadian water today, so make sure you have your passports ready." As long as you don't make landfall or raft up to another boat, you can go in and out of Canadian waters without clearing Customs. But it made for some shocked faces.
Another favorite question there: how far is the drive to Friday Harbor? "Well, it's 22 miles offshore from the mainland, so you have to get a real good run at with your car to clear that distance." OR: why do we have to take the ferry to get to Friday Harbor? "It's on an island - boat or airplane is the only way to get there from the mainland... unless you want to try swimming 22 miles in 42º water."
And, the absolute dumbest question: What time do the whales come to the Lime Kiln Lighthouse? "Today is Friday, so it should be at 3:37 pm."
I'll stop... I could go on and on and on. OK, one more: we were viewing whales from a respectful (and legal) distance. I came down from the helm and a passenger (trying to be a big shot) said to me: "There's a good tip in it for you if you get us closer." I saw the look of horror on the naturalist's face when I asked, "How big a tip are we talking about?" Then, she laughed when I said, "It's going to have to be on the far side of $50,000, because that's what the fine will be if I do that... not to mention I'm going to need a little something extra to live on since I will lose my license. Oh, and I'm going to need that cash up front."
I saw on the news that the sun kicked off some solar activity (solar flares) that will be responsible for more people in the lower 48 (as far south as Alabama??) being able to see the Northern Lights. I've only seen them a few times, but it is quite the sight.
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