Star and Stripes

With the help of my lovely bride and a lot of rope, the old star has been hoisted over its third home and is lighting another night.

Two Seasons Missed

Plumiform frost always catches my attention.

This at first light was so stunning I needed to share. Appears it has been two seasons since I've had the time to share. It isn't for lack of beautiful days; mostly just working hard, playing hard. Summer and fall were wonderful.

Our first outing to the mountains last weekend was blessed with sun, beautiful snow, and great skiing. The atmosphere was in a mighty inversion, valleys were cold and the mountain tops were warm. But the full moon I was expecting to light the drive, wasn't full. It had been full at sunset, then was half-full the next morning when we were loading into the car. The eclipse of the moon continued to totality as we drove across frosted N. Idaho. The small valleys with streams were dense with ground-fog illuminated from above by the warm orange light of the darkened moon, until the sun rose on a new season.

Sweden: III

Last long walk in Kalmar

Sweden: II

Kalmar by foot

Hawking

Stephen Hawking recently said:

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

I'm grateful for him. He calls it like he see it, and I see it the same way. There is nothing wrong with a reality based existence and atheists shouldn't have to feel the need to keep that to themselves for fear of offending someone who believes in space ghosts.

Sweden

Orchids and Sedums and Trebuchets, OH MY!

Kalmar (AKA home this week)

Site first occupied around 100 AD

Traction Trebuchet

Miniature Plants of the Alvar Plain

A dry place with fossiliferous limestone, a very short growing season

shallow soil

and tiny Orchids

and other tiny flowers, too. Found a geranium 2mm across in full bloom.

Stockholm

No Surer Sign of Spring

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