Crew Dragon Tours

2021-05-31.

NASA astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon captured the flag left by the last space shuttle crew on the ISS, finally filling the gap in US human spaceflight. Three missions in, I got interested in tours of the spacecraft by the NASA crews who have flown so far:

SpaceX DM-2 Tour (second “demo” mission, first to carry astronauts after the uncrewed demo) — also see the longer DM-2 Mission Highlights
Crew-1 Tour (first “operational” mission)
Crew-2 Tour

For comparison, an older tour of Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134). Definitely different interiors; Crew Dragon is much more airliner-like, with more off-white moulded plastic and much less of the mess of instruments and stowage lining the Shuttle’s cabin walls.

Related: inflight cabin views aboard Boeing Starliner, from the abortive demo mission which was unable to reach Station due to software issues. And from 2010: a much older SpaceX Crew Dragon concept animation.

Some Ocean Ambience

2021-05-16.

Went down to Rainbow Haven for our first beach day of the year; still light sweater weather out at 10°C or so but sunny enough to play in the sand and even fly a kite.

I tried setting my phone on some rocks with the camera pointed out to sea to catch some gentle, soothing ocean ambience:

(Fortunately the mic did not pick up the pair of jetskiers revving in the distance.)

More of the Old Lawrencetown Road Trail

2021-05-01.

“Maybe in 2021 we’ll get to the ends of some of these trails, too,” I said last December, and hey, sure enough, we managed to reach the other end of the Old Lawrencetown Road Trail, just a couple kilometers, but not an insignificant feat with a 4 year old kid along.

Some ~180° panoramas of the river from the bridge:

Rock hopping with the kid near a fallen tree, plus nearby mossy rocks lit by golden sun:

Mushroom, mushroom:

And spotted near the end of the trail, hey, free car:

I continue to collect photos from local trails in this photo album.

Atlantic View

2021-04-13.

On a short hike along the Atlantic View Trail, we found Lawrencetown Beach Hill:

Took a bit of a climb hauling a wagon with a kid but we were rewarded with a decent view of Lawrencetown Beach, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Nova Scotia landscape:

Next time I want to try getting to the end of this hill path and see the view from those cliffs. (Had to turn around because Ezra was getting tired and wanted to go to the beach.)

More shots of short hikes and trails from around our part of Nova Scotia.

Easter 2021

2021-04-11.

A year later, another Easter in lockdown, but also our third Easter in Canada and our first in our new house. Ezra went on an Easter egg hunt:

Outside, it rained ice, while inside, we dyed eggs. Cat got in the spirit.

Easter dinner was ham, potatoes, beans, and KD.

Happy Easter, and please continue to take measures that limit viral spread. First Baptist Halifax Easter service online.

MacKay Bridge View

2021-04-02.

Been a while since I last went over Halifax Harbour; work keeps me in Dartmouth and pandemic safety generally keeps us out of the city; but a car service appointment necessitated a couple trips over MacKay Bridge. I got this view of the harbour from the passenger seat coming back over:

At right is Halifax Shipyard and at left is Tufts Cove Generating Station. Off in the distance, the MacDonald Bridge and the skyline of Downtown Halifax.

Equinox Thaw

2021-03-21.

The difference a day can make over the weekend of the Spring Equinox: snow and sledding on Saturday followed by a nice warm thaw on Sunday.

Warm enough for the cat to hang out on the deck, even. (She’s spent all winter meowing at the door to go out and then running away from the cold when we open it. Not today.)

Horse Drama

2021-03-18.

I dare say Lubalin’s 15,000 pound horse is the best dramatic setting of an Internet text since how is babby formed:

(You know, on a second watch of “15000 pound horse” my sympathies have kinda switched from Abby to the unnamed horse owner, because she did break her toes, came to Abby for commiseration, and got a cold fact-check instead. Not that she was right about the horse’s mass or for blowing up at Abby, but I can see why she got angry.)

Backlit

2021-03-09.

Unreasonably proud of self for successfully changing the brake lamp bulb on my FIAT 500 (with some help from Peter and Paul):

Turns out the whole rear light assembly comes right off after loosening two screws in the trunk area, then four more screws pop out the bulb mount, and the running/brake light is a double-filament bulb, C$6.49 for a 2-pack at Canadian Tire. (Good thing it was a 2-pack because the first bulb’s running light filament burned out instantly on activation and I had to pull the whole assembly back out and install the second bulb, which worked fine.)

Shubie Park

2021-02-27.

Some shots from around Shubie Park on a relatively nice warm day (a few degrees above freezing) in Dartmouth, NS.

It’s a fairly extensive park and the only real reminder you have that you’re in an urban area is the drone of cars on the nearby highway — and the big IKEA sign in Dartmouth Crossing occasionally visible through the trees. We really only saw parts of the trail system along the way to the campground play area; next time we might explore other parts of the park a bit more.

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