Milton at Play

Awareness of the outside world. Women Globetrotters? Yup. Harlem Globetrotters: BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST, AND WNBA GREAT, LYNETTE WOODARD, RETURNS TO THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS AS SPECIAL ADVISOR. 2022.

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First effort. Mud. We thought this was impressive. Note dirt around eye.

Going back for seconds in wet sand.

Pinto!

Onwards!
Katherine

Welcome Mat/No Welcome Mat, A Pair of Space Haikus, Fiction

Welcome Mat

Domes. Ships. Lava tubes.
Space beckons humanity.
Follow the poem.

No Welcome Mat

Unbreathable air,
With inhospitable soil,
Blown by solar wind.

~~~

Afterword

Inspiration, The First

“Join the mission and have your name engraved on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft as it travels 1.8 billion miles to explore Europa, an ocean world that may support life.” NASA: Message In A Bottle

“NASA’s Message in a Bottle campaign invites people around the world to sign their names to a poem written by the U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.” MiaB: Learn

Sure, it’s a PR stunt. Why not? It’s free. Well, free-ish. Our tax dollars at work.

One of their suggested ways to participate was to write your own poem. Et voilà. I am also gathering the parts to build an unbranded *cough*LEGO*cough* model of the spaceship. NASA: Build a Europa Clipper Toy Bricks Model

Wanna join? “The campaign closes at 11:59 p.m. EST, Dec. 31, 2023.” NASA: Time Is Running Out to Add Your Name to NASA’s Europa Clipper, Six (five) weeks remain for you to add your name to a microchip that will ride aboard the spacecraft as it explores Jupiter’s moon Europa. November 13, 2023.

Inspiration, The Second

A City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through? by Kelly Weinersmith & Zach Weinersmith (Penquin 2023).

Admission, The First

I have not finished this. I do not expect their thesis to change in the second half of the book. As I understand it, their goal is to bring up the difficult bits that space cheerleaders gloss over.

“But reading about space settlement today is kind of like reading about what quantity of beer is safe to drink in a world where all the relevant books are written by breweries. Even when they’re trying to be evenhanded, they leave things out. One of the most prominent books on space settlement, The Case for Mars, is over 400 pages long … but never once mentions the existence of international space law.” A City on Mars, pp4-5.

My two most frequent thoughts are, ‘That’s a good point’ and ‘There goes THAT science fiction idea.’ Excellent pop science along the lines of, ‘We did the research so you don’t have to.’

This book goes on my list of Required Reading for Living in the Modern World. Other books on that list include How to Lie with Statistics by Huff (Norton 1954, don’t let the date fool you, math is still math), On The Grid by Huler (Penguin 2010), and The Urban Birder by Lindo (Imm 2012).[Looking Up At The Landfill], [Missing Social Media]

Admission, The Second

A purist would say these are not really haiku. A true haiku would have a caesura, a juxtaposing break between images. These are more a clever list of 17 syllables. Whatever ya wanna call the form, they were fun to come up with.

Administrative Note, The First

Written with How Many Syllables.

Administrative Note, The Second

Thank you to Grace. I learned about the Europa Clipper from her. Previous appearance [Riding The Camino de Santiago, Guest Post]

Onwards!
Katherine

Fall Foliage, Photography

Awareness of the outside world. Alabama A&M kicked off the parade yesterday. They were joined by Jon Baptiste singing Worship, which contains the lyrics, “We are born the same, Return to that place.” He then declared a day of Unity, Healing, & Celebration. That’s a motto I can get behind. Background, CNN: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade to be led by Alabama HBCU marching band. Klaus. November 22, 2023.

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Leaf
November 2023

Technical Details

Leaf. f/7.1, 1/125 sec., 90.0 mm, ISO 400. Manual mode & auto-focus.

Post production. Resized, border, & watermark.

I swear I have more fun with the meta pix than with the regular ones. Although, it can get surreal. To set up the image, I have to push the button on the Nikon to pull up the preview image. Then, tap the image of the Nikon on the phone screen to get the camera body in focus. I’m getting it now, but in the beginning there may have been times when I tapped the camera in real life to get it in focus in the phone screen, or vice versa. When framing the above, there was the leaf, the picture of the leaf on the back of the Nikon, and the photo of the image of the leaf. Reality and image conflating before my eyes.

Onwards!
Katherine

Cold Weather Clothing

Awareness of the outside world. I am a far cry from a vegetarian, but I had not realized how heavily animal products figure into candy production. Swizzels: The beginner’s guide to Vegan Sweets.

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My new hat.

From Etsy: The Errant Moon.

Product description. “This slightly slouchy beanie hat is hand knit in 100% Highland and kid silk mohair yarn. It is adult medium size in a dark burgundy and pale pink mix. It has a doubled brim for added warmth around the ears and main body of the hat is knitted in a twisted cable.” Etsy page, removed because product has been sold (to me!).

It is light and lovely and fits beautifully.

By the same knitter who brought us the keychains of horror. [Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Unlock Your Door]

Bought because we are committed to morning walks with the horses through the winter. [The Morning Constitutional]

I’m working on cold, now that dark has been sorted. [Sunrise Stats]

I have a second hat incoming from company with a reputation for being good with cold weather gear. My order appears to be stuck in delivery limbo.

Okay, so my head will be warm this winter. Here’s the really important thing. This seller was kind enough to include UK treats in the package. Now I have to figure out where to get Parma Violets in the US.

Onwards!
Katherine

Rodney’s Inadvertent Vacation

Awareness of the outside world. WHO: WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance pass the mid-point of the global 10-year strategy to eliminate yellow fever epidemics, 8 November 2023. Hat tip to J. U Chicago: “Inverse vaccine” shows potential to treat multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. Williams. September 11, 2023. Hat tip to P.

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I have not ridden Rodney since before the end of October, well over four weeks ago. Not even tacking up for a stroll.

This is not a policy statement. More a recognition that cold weather and cold mornings are not his best time.

I have no idea what is going to happen next.

On a metaphysical level, this is always true.

On a practical level, shrug. I may ride tomorrow. I may not ride until the thermostat goes back up. The horse may learn to sing. [Visions of Flying Pigs]

Onwards!
Katherine