Rita Dee
Helmholz Fine Art
Manchester VT
Photos taken with permission of gallery.
Photos posted with permission of photographer.
Similar Statue
[Driftwood Disaster Statue]
Roaming Reader Photos
2016
[Antique Horse Toys]
2015
[Fall Colors in the Adirondacks]
[Summer in a New England Garden]
[Foto Friday: New England]
2014
[Show Today: Winter Tournament, Rocking S] Snow Photo
[Fancy Ribbon]
[Mail-Order Horse] Gratuitous Balloon
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Glasses and map from Great American Eclipse. Props to Amazon and the USPS for getting the solar binoculars here on time, after faffing about. (Amazon, not the PO. Our local PO does good job.) Sneers to an unnamed astronomical equipment company for taking 8 days to let us know our order was out of stock. It’s not like the increase in demand was a surprise, people. Yes, I should have ordered earlier (again, not a surprise event), that’s on me. Order management is on them. (Pulls self out of rant spiral.)
Enjoy
Astronomy Cast suggests sitting back and grooving on the cosmic experience, if this is your first totality. Don’t worry about photos, or data, or whatever. You can go all science nerd at the next one. Ep. 448: Prepping for the Eclipse
NASA’s eclipse site
American Astronomical Society eclipse site
Really, it’s hard to avoid hearing/reading about it
Be Safe
By now, you’ve heard about eye safety. But why, other than we like our eyes?
However, it’s extremely dangerous to look at the sun, even if most of its light is obscured by the moon. Just as a magnifying glass can focus enough sunlight onto a leaf to start a fire, the lens in your eye can also focus that sliver of light onto your retina to burn it. And because retinas have no pain receptors, you can permanently damage your vision without even feeling it happen. Let us make this perfectly clear: Don’t look at the sun during a solar eclipse! LiveScience > Space.com, STEM Camp: Build Your Own Solar Eclipse Viewer (Emphasis mine.)
Did you know that counterfeit eclipse glasses are a thing? How can someone do that and sleep at night? Anyway,
• The glasses should have certification information, with a designated ISO 12312-2 international standard.
• The actual manufacturer’s name and address should be printed somewhere on the glasses.
• Don’t use glasses that are wrinkled, scratched, or more than three years old.
• Don’t use regular sunglasses, no matter how dark they are.NASA recommends buying glasses from from one of five manufacturers:
• American Paper Optics
• Baader Planetarium (AstroSolar Silver/Gold film only)
• Rainbow Symphony
• Thousand Oaks Optical
• TSE 17Consumerist.com: Please Do Not Buy Counterfeit Solar Eclipse Glasses
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
I played the Alphabet Game [Origin] with myself on Instagram [@alphabet2017].
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Y’All Connect was a wonderful meeting for millennials who are working to improve the use of social media within their company’s marketing departments. Since I am none of the above, I didn’t get as much out of the day. The fellow in charge is big in local blogging circles, so I assume a large blogging component. My bad for not reading the prospectus more carefully. After all, the Y’All Connect page describes it as a digital marketing conference. Duh.
High Points
The first speaker, Kristin Scroggin of Workplace Training Solutions, talked about social media style across generations, chart here. She claimed that social media hits are digital dopamine. You always want more, more, more. Meh. I’m fond of hits, and likes, and comments, but I’m not driven by them. I could quit anytime I wanted. She also said that we get a dopamine rush from the act of self-disclosure. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner.
The second speaker was local celebrity, James Spann, the weather dude at our ABC affiliate station. Seriously, he’s one of the big names in the area. Everyone knows James. We all watch him when the weather gets bad. You can tell how deep we are into the weather event by how undressed he is. Coat off yet? Tie? Sleeves rolled up? But I digress. Excellent speaker. He has an interesting remit. Unlike businesses, who want to reach this segment of the population, or that group, Spann’s goal is to reach every single person in his coverage area. Therefore, he is on every single social media channel out there, including the brand new Mastodon, which no one in the room had heard of.
One of my tablemates, Mary Sood of Mom ‘N’ I Publishing, was inspired to create an Instagram account for her book series. Say hello to @yellowkittenbooks. It’s possible that Spotted had a hoof in the decision. Of course Spotted was there.
Bottom Line
Mission success was defined as attending [Greetings], so I succeeded. Plus it got me out off the farm.
Y’All Connect on Rodney’s Saga
2017
[Greetings Y’All]
2015
[State of the Blog: Y’all Connect]
[Foto Friday: Trophy Interior]
[Conference Report. Not. Short Version.]
[Conference Report. Not. Long Version.]
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Sunset photography class at Oak Mountain State Park (class details). Props to instructor Meg McKinney [Meet Meg] for arranging a fabulous sunset for us to photograph.
Previous Oak Mountain Classes
[Foto Friday: Bird at Oak Mountain State Park]
[Spotted at Oak Mountain State Park]
Waka-Waka
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Thursday evening: Long day. Good day. Swam. Ran errands. Found interesting book to read. Double sessions with both horses. Dog & I went on our walk. Stick a fork in me, I’m done. Photos will be posted first(ish) thing Friday morning.
Back soon.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Each lesson at Whip Hand Farm is framed by a seven-hour, round-trip drive. Because of the home horses, we go up and back in a day. Here’s how we’ve tuned our routine.
Take the Comfortable Car
The Fiat is a great car [Today, photo]. It is also a cheap car. One way to keep the cost down is power it with small squirrels. The one in charge of the AC simply cannot keep the car cool in the summer, particularly for the passenger, who gets the rising sun on the way up and the setting sun on the way down.
Manage the Stops
You lose time from when you lift your foot off the accelerator until you are back on the highway at speed. Therefore, it’s hard to stop in less than 15 minutes. Stop twice and, you’ve blown half an hour. Coffee and morning soda will not allow us to head up without a break. Often we are able to get back down without stopping. TMI.
Bring Food
We have a cooler of drinks and a basket of food. Turning the truck into a rolling picnic is a) cheaper and b) means the highway reststop at the border rather than pulling off for a gas/convenience store. Time saved.
Provide Entertainment
Audible on my phone. Podcasts on Greg’s phone. Both sync with the truck’s audio system. After almost 30 years of marriage and almost 40 of knowing him (?!?), I still enjoy Greg’s company. However, a bit of narrative provides diversion for those long, flat, straight highway miles.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Designed by Catherine Strachan
