Happy Mother’s Day!
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Night Flight
Last night was forecasted the storm of the century. Not a thunderstorm this time, but a geomagnetic storm. The northern lights were predicted. The news claimed that they would be visible all the way south down to Alabama, the land of cotton. We had clear skies, so I was pumped. Unfortunately, we also had a dinner party to attend. Getting out-of-town, out of the light well that is Saint Louis was not an option. Then I had an idea. I could fly the drone. Studying this possibility, I discovered that my drone had camera settings. Most importantly for night photography, its shutter speed could be set for long exposures. I began charging the aircraft and then headed off to the party.
The party was with some of our old Team Kaldis alum. It was great to see everyone again. Fewer and fewer of them are still biking, but it was great to recount and hear all of the old war stories from our glory days. Our stroll down memory lane was punctuated by an around the table recounting of how each couple first met and then how they started dating. It was a great time!
Returning home, I found my drone fully charged. Powering it up I took to the skies. I could not really see anything through my iPhone control panel, but I was still hopeful that a long exposure would show more. The running light on the drone made it easy to spot up in the night sky, but I could not determine its orientation. This made it difficult to fly and to keep it out of trees, but I managed. Later, checking the stills, I saw no aurora borealis, but I was rather pleased with the imagery of the ground. Some tweaking will be needed to get crisper shots in the future, but this whole new venue of night flying offers much opportunity. So, no northern lights. The heat island and its associated light well that is the city of Saint Louis not only protects us from tornadoes, but it also wards off geomagnetic storm too. But then there is always photoshop, to see the world as nature intended.
Radio City Music Hall of Fame
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Neighborhood Garage Fire
While we were in California, there was some excitement in the neighborhood. Around the corner, a neighbor’s garage burned. The family was having a bar-b-que. They used a chimney charcoal starter to light the fire. Somehow this starter started more than just the intended charcoal. Their garage burned along with the two cars that were in it. The fire department was called, and all of the neighbors came out to gawk at the spectacle.
Not exactly late breaking news, but we were out-of-town. I am reminded of another garage fire that happened on our block years ago. It was a quiet weeknight; two teenagers had been smoking in their garage, when the fire started. The fire department came and then another one and another and one more. Four fire engines for one garage and they still could not save it. Being boys with their toys, the firemen decided to daisy chain the fire engines together and get some valuable training out of what otherwise a lackluster event.
Unfortunately, when the pumps were shutoff, the backpressure ruptured the old and brittle cast iron water main. This formed a sinkhole, that sucked another neighbor’s car into it. What a disaster! Since then, the neighborhood has gotten new PVC water mains, so at least that aspect of a garage fire is not a factor.
Tulip Tree Blossom
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Backyard Birds Buzzard
This story started earlier this week, when Anne heard a hawk callout from the backyard. Investigating, she missed the Redtail hawk, but was able to figure out what it had been doing. She found the masticated remains of a squirrel that were draped across our garage roof. Soon after, she began to offer me regular Nice-And-Gentle reminders that I should climb up on the roof and dispose of this dead squirrel carcass. But what with a steady stream of thunderstorms and tornado warnings and someone’s birthday occurring this week, time passed. Fastforward to yesterday, when again after looking out our bedroom window, Anne spied something different. She called to me, “Mark, your yard cleanup crew is working in the back.” We were both able to get pics. Afterwards, Anne suggested that now I could just climb up on a ladder and with a hose wash off what the vulture had left. I am wondering though, what if it wants seconds?