Magazine Posts

Where do you go now
on this journeys end?
Do you seek loneliness or
time spent with a friend?

A ray of light from above
Falls softly, upon my love.
The Moon, a pale shade of blue,
Sends all it's love down to you.
Enjoy the moment, while you can
For the life we know but don't understand.

The path, that I once did tread,
covered now with leaves all dead.
A path, both narrow and sometimes wide
we could walk until evening tide.
A path young people could meet,
now muffled with shuffling feet.
A most beautiful ground in the park,
sheltered with tree limbs and trunk bark.
Now on this site, this Winter's day,
no invitation needed, just stay away.

The blanket of wet leaves
lying upon the cold ground,
will nourish all the new growth
that will soon abound.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Does Mars have a north star? In long exposures of Earth's night sky, star trails make concentric arcs around the north celestial pole, the direction of our fair planet's axis of rotation. Bright star Polaris is presently the Earth's North Star, close on the sky to Earth's north celestial pole. But long exposures on Mars show star trails too, concentric arcs about a celestial pole determined by Mars' axis of rotation. Tilted like planet Earth's, the martian axis of rotation points in a different direction in space though. It points to a place on the sky between stars in Cygnus and Cepheus with no bright star comparable to Earth's north star Polaris nearby. So even though this ruddy, weathered landscape is remarkably reminiscent of terrain in images from the martian surface, the view must be from planet Earth, with north star Polaris near the center of concentric star trails. The landforms in the foreground are found in Qinghai Province in northwestern China.

Photo by Dengyi Huang

I am amazed at the tenacity of this plant.
Under the kitchen window, next to the siding.

Moved these under the kitchen window,
Close to the house, for protection.
They have survived Frost
And they still hang on

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered evidence that the moon's icy surface likely hides a deep, global ocean. Galileo's Europa image data has been remastered here, using improved new calibrations to produce a color image approximating what the human eye might see. Europa's long curving fractures hint at the subsurface liquid water. The tidal flexing the large moon experiences in its elliptical orbit around Jupiter supplies the energy to keep the ocean liquid. But more tantalizing is the possibility that even in the absence of sunlight that process could also supply the energy to support life, making Europa one of the best places to look for life beyond Earth. What kind of life could thrive in a deep, dark, subsurface ocean? Consider planet Earth's own extreme shrimp.

The height of a persons futility
is trying to argue with stupidity.

Our family has propagated this beautiful flowering plant starting with one cultivated by an ancestor a few generations ago. It is now present in our family homes in three different continents where it is admired for the beauty of its flowers and serves to remind us to be thankful for the family connections it represents.

A perennial plant in the Amaryllis family native to Peru. It can be grown indoors in colder climates. The large white, beautiful and delicate flowers grow in a cluster of three to six on a stem about 15 inches long. Learn more.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

This week's ongoing conjunction of Venus and Jupiter may have whetted your appetite for skygazing. Tonight is the main course though. On November 28, a young crescent Moon will join them posing next to the two bright planets above the western horizon at twilight. Much like tonight's visual feast, this night skyscape shows a young lunar crescent and brilliant Venus in the western evening twilight on October 29. The celestial beacons are setting over distant mountains and the Minya monastery, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China, planet Earth. Then Mercury, not Jupiter, was a celestial companion to Venus and the Moon. The fleeting innermost planet is just visible here in the bright twilight, below and left of Venus and near the center of the frame. Tomorrow, November 29, the crescent Moon will also help you spot planet Saturn for desert.

Photo by Petr Horálek