Baby Turtles & Piping Plovers

A quick trip to Corpus Christi to see the last public release of turtle hatchlings at the Padre Island National Seashore this year - 30 July-2017.




















Also at the beach some banded Piping Plovers. Always fun to find and report them!

Remembering Challenger, 25 years

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. Like so many, I watched it happen, live, on TV. I was on vacation in the beach house in Brazil, the TV happened to be on. I walked by and stopped to watch, captivated by the moment, the anticipation of the launch. Again like so many people, at first instant I was confused. This does not look right...what's going on?...is part of the shuttle just separating from the main capsule?...where is the shuttle?...what happened?... silence... chaos... more silence... then confirmation came over the air. Yes, we lost Challenger.

No matter where in the world you where, it was a deeply sad moment...

Today we remember Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.



Photo: NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1850.html
"Maiden Voyage - Astronauts Story Musgrave, left, and Don Peterson float in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger during their April 7, 1983, spacewalk on the STS-6 mission. [...] Challenger's service to America's space program ended in tragedy on Jan. 28, 1986. Just 73 seconds into mission STS-51L, a booster failure caused an explosion that resulted in the loss of seven astronauts, as well as the vehicle."

Back to school, back to work

It was back to school and back to work today... we just wished we could've had many more days of vacation. The kids and I were not really quite ready for it to end.

Angel

Oh what fun it is to play... we are closing 2010 with lots of laughter and happiness!

Pigeon Point

Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park sits on a cliff along the California coast between San Francisco (50mi S) and Santa Cruz (27mi N). The 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse is one of the tallest lighthouses in America and has been guiding mariners since 1872. Its five-wick lard oil lamp and first-order Fresnel lens, comprised of 1,008 prisms, was first lit at sunset on November 15, 1872. The lens stands 16 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter, and weighs 8,000 pounds. Although the original Fresnel lens is no longer in use, the lighthouse is still an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation using a 24 inch Aero Beacon.



UnklStuart in Flickr shared some incredible shots of the original fresnel lens. In his shot above you see the current working light outside the window and the fresnel lens. Stuart was part of a team that cleaned the lens prior to it's annual lighting in November. While no longer in service, the fresnel lens is lit once a year on the anniversary of the first lighting in 1872!

The restored lighthouse keeper's housing operates as a Hostel. We've been a guest at Pigeon Point several times and it's always a wonderful experience to wake up to the sounds of the ocean. I took the photo at the top on our last visit a couple of years ago.

Visiting the capital

We had a fun-packed weekend in Austin. Ate brunch at a great new restaurant La Condesa, went for a swim at Barton Springs Pool, took a "choo-choo" train ride around Zilker Park, visited the Texas State Capitol, took a day trip to Fredericksburg, bought a Tickle Monster book with mitts, had the most delicious peaches on a stand by the side of the road, tasted some good Texas wine at Becker Vineyards.

Half way home, we drove through a very severe front - a pretty loud thunderstorm and lots, lots of water coming down from the sky!

At the beach

Hurricane Alex managed to agitate the Gulf of Mexico waters pretty well in early July. The beaches in Padre Island were covered in sargassum, an earth-brown seaweed. It was interesting to observe a whole micro-environment and habitat it creates. The sargassum provides a protective living space for shrimps, crabs and fish. All these small animals are camouflaged to blend in with the seaweed and they do it indeed.

The kids had a blast collecting some of these tiny animals. Their beach buckets became mini-aquariums. Kaila and I found a palm-size sargassumfish and as soon as we placed it in the bucket the shrimp went crazy. They all literally jumped out of the water, running for dear life, back to the beach, away from the fish. I guess sargassumfish think of shrimp as a delicious meal...and the shrimp know it.

We were happy to release the fish back in the ocean after identifying it (with the help of a Padre Island National Seashore park ranger). The shrimp took care of themselves.

The Blues...

Blueberries any one? We picked close to 20lbs of blueberries this morning! The kids had a blast - and my bucket was always the least full. Kaila and Daniel picked berries from the bushes and from my bucket... They had a big laugh seeing Daddy eat straight off the high branches like a giraffe.

It reminded us of our trip to Alaska a couple of years ago. The best part of our hikes, scenery aside, was picking wild blueberries and salmonberries along the way. One big difference, 60's and 70's F in the AK summer versus 80's and 90's F here in TX.

Oh, and Kaila did not "allow" me to take too many pictures. It degraded productivity. "Mommy, you're not picking your blueberries! You're just taking pictures!!!"

I'll have to try making some blueberry jam, blueberry cobbler, blueberry pancake...courtesy of http://www.moorheadsblueberryfarm.com/. I'm glad they supplied us with some yummy sounding recipes.

NYC Public Library

Reading room and NYC & Hudson river valley map exhibit.

Desigual

I discovered Desigual this week in NYC. They had the most fun, colorful pieces. It was a treat to browse around a new clothing store.

Nigardsbreen

Norway is such a beautiful place. Arthur and Elizabeth from Poland just sent us their video from a walk in Nigardsbreen glacier in 2004! What a happy surprise. Thanks, guys!



Where the sun never sets...reindeer everywhere. Pretty neat!

Great Egret

We were back at High Island this past weekend. We saw many nests still with beautiful blue-green eggs. Parents were busy preparing for the arrival of their little ones. A couple of nests had chicks and the egrets were carefully feeding their chicks. Last year by this time most nests had chicks already and the egrets were busy feeding their young.

The roseate spoonbills seemed either to be a bit behind in breeding or they took great care in hiding their eggs in the nests. It looked like they were just hanging around with some happily playing courting games.

A great number of warblers were reported in the woods. Sam Wood's blog has great pictures of the birds migrating through the High Island Sanctuaries. Yesterday he posted gorgeous pictures of a Kentucky Warbler and an Indigo Bunting.

I'm yet to see an indigo bunting or a painted bunting that migrate through. The kids will need to be a bit older for that kind of birding. Daniel is good at spotting alligators, frogs and the big birds. As expected, not very patient or quiet to wait for the smaller birds. He hears them though and is quite excited about it. A couple of more years...

The Magical Shoe

"The magical shoe has many colors..."
What would you do if you had one?

This was a kindergarten school project in Nov/Dec 2009 based on the poem by Linda Ball.

Diving in Brazil

Arraial do Cabo is about a 2-hour drive north from Rio de Janeiro (traffic can be heavy on weekends and could take longer). The marine life is rich and diverse in Arraial do Cabo making for great diving. The water is cold 18C-22C and you'll need a wet suit.

Near Arraial do Cabo there is also good diving in Cabo Frio and Buzios. You can stay in Buzios and enjoy its lively nightlife and dive off of Arraial or Cabo Frio. Or just come down to Buzios for dinner one day.

Onda Azul is a good contact point in Rio. They use Litoral Sub as their operator in Cabo Frio.

The island of Ilha Grande to the south of Rio also offers good diving spots. Nearby are the towns of Angra dos Reis and Parati. Parati is a historic town in the region with old streets and good restaurants.

Going to northeast Brazil, the best diving is in Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha(National Park).

No soccer ball?

There is a reason Brazilians are so good at soccer. Every place you visit in Brazil no matter the size of the town or how remote it may be, you'll find a soccer field. It might not be fancy, but there will be one. It would be nice to always have a real leather ball, but when one is not available, a ball is improvised.

To my amusement, this past December, I found my 3-year old son playing soccer with a coconut. We were visiting a coconut plantation and as I turned around there was Daniel with his 'ball' . His brand new white running shoes - instantly transformed into dark brown with dust and mud, by the way... but an expression of pure joy on his face as he chased his coconut around the trees. It must be in the genes.

On second thought, balls are known to make really good friends. "Wilson", a volleyball, that I could've sworn was a coconut - that's how good my movie memory is..., grew to international fame as it co-starred with no one other than Tom Hanks in "Cast Away".

A Year in Japan

I've just finished reading
"A Year in Japan"
by Kate T. Williamson.

The book is printed in thick pages with beautiful cursive writing and very nice art work. Kate talks about her experiences and many unique places to visit in Kyoto and around Japan. She describes with grace the intricacies of life in Japan. You'll learn about moon-viewing, wash cloths, Zen meditation, counting tofu, paper cranes origami.

Chaco

Chaco Culture National Historic Park in northwest New Mexico is well worth the visit. I was there for the first time close to 8 years ago - would love to go back and see it again.

"Chaco Canyon was a major center of Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250.
It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area.

Chaco is remarkable for its multi-storied public buildings, ceremonial buildings, and distinctive architecture. Its structural elements combine pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient urban center of spectacular public architecture--one that still awes and inspires us a thousand years later.

The Chacoan sites are part of the homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and the Navajo Indians of the Southwest."

Keep Seahorses in the Sea

As a family we took the pledge to keep the seahorses at sea.
Please do the same.

"Seahorses and the places they live face a range of threats in the wild, including destruction of the coral reefs and sea grass beds where seahorses live, fishing techniques which mistakenly catch seahorses, and collection of seahorses for souvenirs or for use in traditional medicines.

Each year, millions of seahorses, corals and other marine animals
are collected alive and dried as souvenirs. These products spell serious trouble for declining seahorse populations. "

Pledge to avoid these sea life souvenirs—and spread the word to friends and family.


http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Sea Horses & Dragons

From tinny tiny to quite large ones, the Monterrey Bay Aquarium put together an amazing new exhibit of seahorses and seadragons.

My everytime favorite in the permanent exhibits is the jellyfish.

Kaila could not get enough of the hammerhead sharks. She also got a kick out of the baby seahorses.

Daniel loved the sharks, period.

It was fun to watch the kids in awe of the fish and otters swimming all around in the giant tanks.

Damon Mound

The Houston Geological Society hosted a field trip to Damon Mound this Sunday - a salt dome with a Miocene reef draped over it.

Lots of dragonflies were flying around the pond that sits over the dome.