From a Facebook post, snow totals from the recent storm in western New York, aka the Niagara Frontier. Hamburg is my hometown.
Hamburg is no. 1 for snowfall
Category Archives: Blog
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Daniel and Lucia discuss how Edwin Muir wasn’t much of an architect, then Daniel boasts he designed Gull Cottage. Oh, the Gull Cottage in which if you fall asleep on the sofa you can kick the gas on and accidentally kill yourself — THAT Gull Cottage? Brilliant design, that.
(Sadly, this is why I’m not haunted by impossibly charming sea captains.)
The world’s smallest parcel of land one inch square
The “owned by” includes Dwight Eisenhower (bottom of left-hand column). In a quick search, I didn’t find any background on this plaque in Chesterton, Indiana, which itself is more than one inch square — and worse for the wear.
Human+Nature: Daniel Popper sculptures at Morton Arboretum
Update: As of October 30, 2022, I’d seen them all.
15 photos
Autumn color at Promontory Point
October 8, 2022
Autumn Saturday afternoon promenade around Promontory Point. But first the view on Friday that drew me outdoors on Saturday despite the persnickety and painful nerve.
The leaves were colorful in person under a beautiful autumn sun. This year the color snuck up on me, and I don’t know how long it will last.
International Space Station (ISS) flyover
I subscribe to SpotTheStation, which tells you when you may be able to spot the International Space Station (ISS). Most of the time it’s at too low an angle (behind buildings or trees) or too late/early (or also too cloudy). Today, however:
Time: Sat Sep 17 7:44 PM, Visible: 7 min, Max Height: 89°, Appears: 10° above SW, Disappears: 10° above NE
Almost straight overhead and before my bedtime!
I walked to the park across 55th and got a great look at it until it disappeared 10º above NE. Even in all the light pollution. It took about six minutes from the time I spotted it until it disappeared. Here it is toward the end.
My dad would have loved this. We watched for the burn-up of Skylab together but conditions weren’t right. Still a great moment. And on the way home from family’s house in Eden, we saw a meteorite, which we were both thrilled over. Two of my fondest dad memories.
Rustic mailbox in Chesterton, Indiana
I’ve been to Dog Days Ice Cream Parlor in Chesterton, Indiana, many times, but I hadn’t noticed this until a couple of weeks ago. My first thought was mailbox — where would they get mail? — but I was thrown off by the lack of markings. That is, the Cutler mailing system has many markings, including “U.S. Mail,” so I thought it must be a requirement for a mailbox. The medieval subject with the lions threw me off too. I can’t tell what the design means or what the near stick figures next to the lions signify.
I did a reverse photo lookup via Google and found out not only is it a mailbox, it’s more expensive than I would have expected, even on eBay. And somehow it’s “rustic” — guessing that refers to the finish since I have a “rustic” candle holder of similar finish. However it’s described, this seems to be a common mailbox. Now I wonder if I will notice it everywhere.
Water feature in Furnessville/Chesterton, Indiana area
Sardines (page markers/paper clips)
I can’t recall where I heard of sardines as page markers and/or paper clips, but as I can’t eat sardines and do love office supplies, I thought I’d look for some. Both of these are available from Amazon.
The page markers have the more clever marketing. You can see a variety of colorfully patterned sardines here. Coincidentally, I found a couple of items at the Morton Arboretum gift shop that turned out to be from the same company.
I like the colors and the shape, but I’ve already bent the tail of one with a skeleton design. They’re thin and lightweight (paper) and can’t be tossed into a bag (which isn’t what I did).
The sardine paper clips are more basic and less colorful, but I’m guessing the tin is more true to the shape and feel of a real sardine tin. When I looked up that link, I found I’d seen that company’s kitchen products on Amazon and even have at least one of them: Splatypus, a duck-billed spatula (well, I have two).
“Walk with a Future Doc” at Promontory Point
July 23, 2022
Chicago Parks Foundation is sponsoring “Walk with a Future Doc” at a couple of parks, including Promontory Point. The inaugural walk had three future doctors (in the middle). The sky threatened rain, and when it began to thunder it was time to hightail it home. We got probably a half mile in and information about sleep health as well as a great photo. I missed the next one (every two weeks) as I’m forgetful and it was too hot for me, but maybe later this month I’ll try it again.
