Pray for Texas

 

My thoughts and prayers are for the people of Houston and surrounding areas who experienced unprecedented rain and flooding this week.  I am attempting to sponsor a displaced family and do everything I can to help financially--and otherwise--so that people have a good change to rebuild their lives (donation suggestions are welcome). Here's a good resource on some good places to donate, including Texas Food Bank, Diaper Bank, etc.

I also have been praying hard that current climate-change deniers, particularly those atop our government, take such natural disasters seriously and a as warning of more destruction to come (disproportionately affecting the poor and disadvantaged) if they don't change their actions and tune (read Compassion, context, and solutions: Communicating about climate after Harvey, by Meredith Herr, a high school classmate of mine).  

Warm water causes more rain. Higher sea levels cause more flooding. More pavement (instead of wetlands) leads to more flooding. How much more destruction and devastation will it take to get some people to believe in climate change (some fear for Florida and NC next)? Prayers will only do so much to dry up and rebuild these citizens' lives. And while I see a great private "disaster relief" response (and I'm wondering what conservatives, especially those in Texas, feel is the government's appropriate response is now to help those in need, while they think that social spending in general is over-the-top due to "bleeding heart" liberals" trying to help those who should just help themselves), why don't we have better prevention, infrastructure, and planning? Let's see some environmental regulations, zoning, and responsible policy action start, folks!

Humboldt County Fair 2017

We headed to Ferndale on Saturday for the Humboldt County Fair.

What a difference a year makes! Last year at the fair, Iver got up close to the "live pony" carousel (after mentioning he wanted to ride) and was too scared to get on. He was a brave boy this time around!

Petting his pony

Riding all by himself!

We then visited the barn and animals.

Turkey!

 

The pygmy goats weren't so scary!

 We ate and saw a fun acrobatics show!

 

It was another fun afternoon in Ferndale!

Path of non-totality (The Great American Solar Eclipse 8/21/2017)

I didn't know about "The Solar Eclipse of the Century" until a couple of months or so ago, when a colleague mentioned the rarity of such an event (the first trans-American total solar eclipse since 1918) and his plans to travel north for a day to Oregon (as one of many people now within driving distance in their lifetime) to stay in the 70-mile-wide Path of Totality and watch it. I don't subscribe to "Astronomy Weekly" or anything, and my main connection to astronomical events is the weak impression (not necessarily evidence-based) that lots of laboring patients seem to appear at the hospital during full moons, and that my son was born on the solstice. I did try to see the Super Moon that happened a while back and later, I read a Time magazine article about the eclipse, but otherwise, it was definitely not on my radar, and I could have very well have missed that it was about to happen!

We didn't get eclipse glasses.  We didn't take time off work to drive anywhere and fight the hordes and traffic. I was on call and figured it may be busy, and I'd be unlikely to see much of anything anyway.

However, last week, I did listen to a TED Talk in which a self-professed umbraphile described the awe that he always feels when he witnesses the spectacle of the moon blocking the sun's rays, the brilliant corona, and the other-worldly experience of the quiet darkness that interrupts broad daylight, and I must admit that it sounds pretty cool (he even plans his international vacations around total eclipses!). 

Maybe one day in my lifetime, I'll see one (This article shows the next few ones, in 2019 in South America, 2024 in the south and eastern US, and 2045 across the continent again). However, for now, I will have to settle for watching NASA feeds and seeing others' pictures from this year.

 

This is what the (partial) eclipse in cloudy, foggy Humboldt County looks like (captured by a birth center nurse, Patricia)! I noticed that it got a bit darker outside for a few minutes after 10 a.m. (a "darker cloudy day"), but there was nothing worth watching!

Kelvin and NCC did a "mock" eclipse-viewing photo.They didn't see anything of note, either, through the clouds. I guess Iver didn't really need to heed our multiple "DON'T LOOK AT THE SUN TODAY!" warnings when we sent him to school (they actually apparently kept the kids inside until 11 a.m., just to be safe)

Let's hope your viewing experience was better than was ours!

Paul, Babe, and Stone Lagoon

Kelvin met with some physicians in Del Norte County on Friday night, so we took a short trip up and back to Crescent City.

Iver loved swimming in the hotel ("hot") pool.

We walked Pepper on Saturday morning at Tolowa Dunes State Park.

Iver wanted to stop and take pictures with the huge, 49-ft, 30,000-lb statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe by Trees of Mystery near Klamath.

He got a bit nervous up close (Paul was waving his mechanical hand and welcoming guests).

We rented a tandem kayak at Stone Lagoon and paddled around. A few minutes into the trip, however, Iver announced that he didn't feel well (seemed febrile), and promptly fell asleep. The last time we kayaked here (well, in Big Lagoon), was more than five years ago in 2012 (with Pep alone).

We did see cormorants nesting and diving.

The rest of the day included motrin, napping, and lots of whining. Glad we have Sunday to recuperate.