This Christmas, spare a thought for those in the Philippines still reeling from Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda last month, and for all who suffer hunger, oppression, loneliness, and want.
More material on the typhoon to add to my original Haiyan post:
Caturday!
Martha has the face of a cat who has seen unspeakable things.
Meanwhile, Amelia rests her head on my MacBook Pro’s hinge vent to get some warm air from the fans on cold days.
December
The snowstorm started while we were at church in DC two Sundays back, big wet flakes leaving a dusting on the ground by the White House. I used my new iPhone 5s to try and get slow motion clips of the snowflakes as they fell.
Later in the day the snow changed to sleet and frozen rain, glazing everything in a clear, thick shell of ice.
The car was completely coated and needed a half hour of hacking with a scraper to get all the ice off.
There is something decidedly poetic about the wintry suburban landscape I now find myself in. It’s not great poetry, but still.
Caturday!
Here are Amelia’s polydactyl paws all clustered together while she sits in an empty IKEA bookcase. More paw-age follows:
Thanksgiving 2013
We drove up to New Jersey to celebrate Thanksgiving with Amy’s family, leaving early Thanksgiving morning to be on the road behind the previous evening’s rush. The drive was mostly up I-95, arriving in time for the dog show and Thanksgiving dinner.
Ever since our Thanksgiving Tenement Museum weekend the following Friday has become a yearly German dinner night, complete with trip to Pork Store.
The next day we went in to New York City along with Amy’s brother’s fiancé, hopping galleries in Chelsea, checking out the High Line, and walking past the Rockefeller Center Tree (no lights yet) and up 5th Avenue, with a stopover at Sapporo for ramen.
It was also my first time to see the NYC skyline with the completed Freedom Tower, as well as the Lalanne Sheep at Getty Station. And Randy the Hot Dog Guy.
Always a fun Thanksgiving weekend with Amy’s folks. Full photoset here.
Washington Monument in Scaffolding
The Washington Monument has been wrapped in scaffolding for repairs over the last couple years following the August 2011 Virginia earthquake. With the scaffolding due to come down, I dropped by the National Mall last weekend to get some photos, as the scaffolding itself does have its own visual charm.
As I walked east from Lincoln Memorial down the Reflecting Pool, the clouds and sun were both behind me, occasionally casting moody shadows on the Monument.
Down by the Monument itself, the Sylvan Theatre was right outside the fenced-off restricted zone, and I snuck through backstage to get a panorama from the stage.
Before the clouds got too thick I was also able to get a closeup shot of the scaffolded Monument with the daylight-visible moon, somewhat reminiscent of this photo I’d gotten in 2007.
At the time of this writing NPS is closing out repairs and has started to dismantle the scaffolding. It’s been an interesting visual treat but it’ll be nice to have the Monument back in its full naked glory. Some time I need to actually go up in there; I’ve lived in the area over a decade now and still haven’t been to the top.
Full photoset on Flickr: Washington Monument in Scaffolding.
ORS-3 Launch
Orbital Sciences launched a Minotaur 1 rocket from Wallops last night, carrying ORS-3: an Air Force satellite, two experimental payloads, and several small cubesats, including TJ3Sat, a small satellite developed by students at a local high school. We went up to the roof to watch the launch from Fairfax.
I made the mistake of using ISO 400 for a 165 second exposure in moonlit conditions with city glare reflecting off scattered clouds, causing overexposure. Some post-processing brought the rocket’s arc back into view, darker but higher and more rounded than the Minotaur V LADEE launch in September. This was a smaller, less powerful rocket, but still awe-inspiring to see, even from over a hundred miles away.
NASA TV video of the Minotaur 1 launch up close, and more photos of the launch from up and down the East Coast via Capital Weather.
Caturday!
Here’s what Amelia looked like in bed when I woke up this morning:
While Martha was curled into a ball:
And here’s Amelia again, daintily crossing her paws as she looks out from a bookcase:
And both cats taking turns in a grocery store paper bag:
Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda): Ships Aground and Ways to Help
An email I sent for distribution at my church, First Baptist DC, answering queries about typhoon relief contribution opportunities for fellow Baptists here in the USA after Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. Following the call for donations I’ve also included a gallery of ships run aground during the typhoon, a display of the fury of the storm.
Continue reading Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda): Ships Aground and Ways to Help
Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda)
Typhoon Haiyan (PAGASA name Yolanda) struck the Philippines on November 7th, devastating islands in the Visayas, flattening whole towns and villages, and killing thousands. With sustained winds of 195 mph and gusts up to 235 mph, it was the strongest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall.