Last day of 2022 was clear and relatively warm, with nice views of Halifax across the harbour from the park by the Dartmouth ferry terminal.
Christmas 2022
Eight Crows
There are eight crows in the trees in this photo, waiting for me to throw out some peanuts. Can you find them all?
If that’s too small, click through to the larger photo on Flickr.
On the Costley Farm Trail
After we scattered Martha’s ashes, we tried hiking the Costley Farm Trail, a rocky, hilly trail connecting Cole Harbour Heritage Park to the Salt Marsh Trail.
Along the way we found this nice picnic area, apparently built by crew from the HMCS Ville de Quebec.
Also found some Witch’s Butter fungus growing out of a tree stump.
From the Salt Marsh Trailhead, I did a brisk hike back up along the smoother Heritage Trail to pick up the car — first really strenuous walking activity since my bout with covid a few months back. Happy to report I did not keel over from fatigue or multiple organ failure, so I think I’ve rested sufficiently since recovering.
Wave and Marque
Shots from a cold dusk walk along the Halifax waterfront, the wave adorned in snowflake light projections, plus a visit to the new Queen’s Marque with sculptural installations “Rise Again” and “Tidal Beacon,” and the giant steps down into the harbour.
More on the symbolic architecture of the Queen’s Marque, with its connection to the rise and fall of the tides.
Artemis 1 Launch
Launch of NASA’s Artemis 1, first uncrewed flight of the full SLS stack to send Orion around the moon.
This launch gives me *feelings* because back when I worked with NASA OHCM, a big part of my job was editing internal video interviews with engineers and other staff working on, among other things, SLS and Orion. I got really familiar with 3D animated B-roll of SLS as it evolved to its current form, and over time I built myself up a little collection of SLS preview videos to watch how the plans for the rocket changed over the years.
Feels good to now cap off that playlist with a real-life SLS launch video — bit later than scheduled. I still remember walking along Playalinda Beach in 2014 and thinking “I should come back here when SLS is ready to launch in 2017.” That, uh, didn’t happen in 2017.
(Some of those video interviews I worked on, not all SLS-related, eventually made their way to the public as a recruitment series called “#NASAProud”. I had to re-edit those with public domain music — with help from FreePD — and make sure they were ITAR and Sec508 compliant.)
If you want to see more (and don’t mind hearing the NASA PAO announcer flub “ignition” repeatedly): Isolated Artemis 1 Launch Views from various cameras on the pad and around KSC.
Now onward to Artemis II, first crewed lunar flyby.
Thanksgiving Again
We already did turkey for Canadian Thanksgiving in October so for American Thanksgiving I tried roasting* a whole chicken instead, and Amy cooked up some stuffing, gravy, herb potatoes, and crescent rolls.
Was good.
* Actually an Instant Pot “roast”, rubbed, browned, and pressure-cooked with broth.
Apple Butt, Colours
Hey, one of the apples we picked at Noggins has a butt.
Also one never really appreciates how different the insides of different kinds of apples are until one sees three different varieties sliced onto one plate.
I think these were Kestrel (greenest), Paula Red (white), and Cox Orange Pippin (yellow) varieties.
Golden Light on the Trail
A late November weekend afternoon on the Old Lawrencetown Road Trail bridge, low sunlight painting the marsh golden.
Through the roots of a fallen tree.
My son is a trail ninja.
More photos from this trail and others around the area.
Unhappy Amelia Cat at the Vet
After Martha died I got her sister Amelia checked at the vet to make sure she didn’t have similar kidney problems. This involved a blood draw, which made her extremely unhappy and bitey, necessitating a cone:
The good news: her bloodwork came back clean, so she’s a healthy cat — except for her teeth, which had plaque, and a few teeth have died and will need a later extraction.
Poor kitty won’t like that, but I’m glad she’s otherwise healthy. I need to start brushing her teeth.