Sunsets, Stars, West, Wind
Too hot, too humid, between Jun 21st and September 22nd, most years.
My wallpaper on my work computer displayed a photo I took several years ago of my great-grandfather’s grave in Easton, Kansas:
When I saw his date of death on the headstone, I realized that this summer was the 40th anniversary of his passing. So I went searching for his obituary, which a relative had posted on the Find A Grave web site. Continue reading “Remembering My Great Grandfather”
https://theworldwar.org/memorialday2015
Free to the public. Opens this Friday at 2:30 pm staying through Memorial Day.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
For once, I live in just about the best spot to observe a total solar eclipse. The center line for the eclipse coming in August 2017 is just a few miles north of where I live. That being said, the path of the eclipse cuts diagonally across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina.
Update Monday 9/1/2014: I forgot to include a link to the Astronomy magazine article that will take you to the interactive map shown above: Make Plans for the 2017 Eclipse with This Great Map. Continue reading “Less Than Three Years to Prepare”
Read by John Lee
Winner of the Pulitzer Price for General Nonfiction 1963
Thanks to Barbara, I now know more about the first month of World War I than all my previous half-century of accumulated, absorbed knowledge. Not only do I know more, but I understand the how. How Europe ended up in a terrible stalemate and war of attrition that lasted four more years. The why will have to wait until I can read her other history The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914.
On August 23rd, I attended a discussion of The Guns of August sponsored by the Kansas City Public Library, the Kansas City Star‘s FYI Book Club and hosted at the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. There were many attendees from all over the Kansas City metro area and we attempted to stay focused on Tuchman’s novel, not straying to far before or after. A great hour of discussion on an excellently researched and composed history of the outbreak of the Great War. Continue reading “Book Review: The Guns of August by Tuchman (4 Stars)”
I spied a wonderful ‘postcard’ from Varages in southeastern France via the Astronomy Sketch of the Day this morning:
I especially like the foreground sketches. The sun was ‘quiet’ on Sunday.
Summer officially arrived yesterday, but today it dawned for the first time. I woke up way way early for a Sunday (sometime during the four o’clock hour) and spied a hazy crescent moon from my bedroom window, but no bright shining Venus.
Late in the five o’clock hour, I went outside, taking Apollo with me, to see if Venus peaked through the clouds. No, nothing but the moon.
Some of my flowers are doing well, like my day lilies and the moss roses, potted or in flower beds:
The cone flowers I planted last year and not doing very well. The one I planted at the north end of this flower bed only produced three or four leaves. The other one (shown above) is flowering, but also looks pekid. I’m just not much of a gardener. My one true success is the day lilies, which I planted six years ago on Memorial Day.
A quick shout-out to everyone in the Kansas City metro area to come on down to the Powell Observatory tomorrow night.
Our scheduled program is entitled “Island of Stars” and the weather looks very promising.
I volunteer as part of Team 2 (one of several teams staffed by members of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City). I’m looking forward to meeting many new people and introducing them to the many wonders of the night sky.
More Powell Observatory Information:
The observatory is staffed by ASKC volunteers and is open to the public every Saturday night from the beginning of May through the end of October. The Star Bright Saturday Night Programs begin at dusk and include program presentations on astronomy, tours of the observatory, and (if the skies are clear) viewing through the various telescopes of the moon, planets, stars, star clusters and more! A donation of $6 per adult and $4 per child is suggested to help support the observatory and allow it to continue operations open to the public.
Hope to see you tomorrow night and always keep looking up!
10 Years Of Earth’s Weather From Space, In One Mesmerizing Video
Cool video to watch.
I finally caught Lexy in the act with my Android smartphone this morning. She was a bit camera shy though and didn’t race around the room like she normally does with her toy ring.
No, I’m not having flashbacks to the decade of disco, the oil crisis, feminism, civil rights, etc. I’m talking about autumn-like temperatures in the mid-70s at lunch time here in Kansas City. I took full advantage of the beautiful weather by walking a couple of blocks to my favorite local Italian restaurant for lunch.
For a comparison, here’s the average temperatures, historically, reported for Kansas City (thanks to the Weather Underground for the stats):
| August 14, 2013 | Max Temp | Min Temp |
|---|---|---|
| Normal (KMCI) | 88 °F | 68 °F |
| Record (KMCI) | 113 °F (1936) | 54 °F (2002) |
| Yesterday | 80 °F | 66 °F |
When I first walked out of my house this morning, I knew something was different. For starters, the sky was clear. I felt a bit of a chill in the air, not something I expect to feel in the middle of August during a Kansas summer. The dashboard information center in the van confirmed temperatures in the lower 60s in the pre-dawn morning air.
I took the above photograph about 20-25 minutes before sunrise this morning. I can’t take an actual sunrise photo during the work week because the sun is rising at or shortly after 6:30 a.m. Central local time. By that time, I’m fifteen minutes into my morning commute, picking up the last three of my vanpool riders. I did drive into a glorious golden orange sun hanging barely above the horizon for a few minutes. The atmosphere was pretty hazy, so I could look directly at the sun for long periods of time. I didn’t spy any sunspots though … my eyes are not quite that good. I’m far-sighted, but not that far-sighted.
So today I’m very thankful for mild temperatures, low humidity and beautiful clear skies.
