Sunday, December 19, 2010

It Really Leaves a Big Hole


























We are grateful for what remains.

13 comments:

  1. Well, I guess I come in first after Dr. Dean this evening/morning.

    Cat: "They're talking about ten to fifteen feet of snow in the mountains of California by the middle of next week. Alan lives in the Central Valley,, right? So, he won't be in danger of avalanches and mudslides and such, will he?"

    Nah. It's been raining lightly most of the day, and isn't very cold. Although we are quite far enough inland to get snow in the normal course of events, we don't for an interesting reason. During the winter there is usually a good bit of snow and ice in the Sierra Nevada [literally "snowy mountain range"]. Cold air of course falls down the mountains and is trapped in the valley below, formed between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range. BUT--it falls far enough to be heated significantly by compression, and we only rarely have more than an occasional light frost. It's warm enough for citrus and avocado groves if you don't put them right on the valley floor. We live just above the San Joaquin River, which up until they built a dam upstream in the 1940's had a HUGE freshet in the Spring. One fellow who remembered it told me the most remarkable thing was the sound--like a huge number of freight trains going by--for weeks, I suppose. Just looking at the height of the bluffs and the width of the valley you know it had to be incredible. But none of that now.


    Puddle--to age new beads, how about soaking them in tea?

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  2. Well, I guess I come in first after Dr. Dean this evening/morning.

    Cat: "They're talking about ten to fifteen feet of snow in the mountains of California by the middle of next week. Alan lives in the Central Valley,, right? So, he won't be in danger of avalanches and mudslides and such, will he?"

    Nah. It's been raining lightly most of the day, and isn't very cold. Although we are quite far enough inland to get snow in the normal course of events, we don't for an interesting reason. During the winter there is usually a good bit of snow and ice in the Sierra Nevada [literally "snowy mountain range"]. Cold air of course falls down the mountains and is trapped in the valley below, formed between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range. BUT--it falls far enough to be heated significantly by compression, and we only rarely have more than an occasional light frost. It's warm enough for citrus and avocado groves if you don't put them right on the valley floor. We live just above the San Joaquin River, which up until they built a dam upstream in the 1940's had a HUGE freshet in the Spring. One fellow who remembered it told me the most remarkable thing was the sound--like a huge number of freight trains going by--for weeks, I suppose. Just looking at the height of the bluffs and the width of the valley you know it had to be incredible. But none of that now.


    Puddle--to age new beads, how about soaking them in tea?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmmmm.....there were problems connecting and my computer tried twice--seems the first try worked eventually.

    On another note, here's a story about California's high speed rail project benefitting from the shortsightedness of new "Republican" governors in Ohio and Wisconsin. It looks like about the time I will hesitate to drive long distances I will be able to travel by bullet train, which will make it easy to continue my forensic toxicology consulting work. Nice. [The system is slated for completion in 2020, but the San Francisco to Los Angeles (via Fresno) portion will be finished earlier, around 2015 if I remember correctly. Then there will be extensions to San Diego and Sacramento, and maybe a second track into the Bay Area by a different route.

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  4. I managed to delete the first posting, which was duplicated.

    Here's the link I forgot in the previous post:

    http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/12/17/2201813/616m-will-extend-valley-high-speed.html

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  5. California High Speed Rail Authority home page:

    http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/

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  6. Lol! Works on absorbent things, but glass and glazed? Chinese "age" ceramics by burying them in mud. What chemicals are in that mud, I dunno. Knew a student in China, Brit, who had a good friend who worked for Sotheby's and was invited to inspect the gubbmint's antique warehouses. He was in despair. Something 75% of the stuff was counterfeit ~~ Sung Dynasty knockoffs of Tang Dynasty stuff and the like, lol! Still very valuable stuff. But.

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  7. Sorry I missed a day. I'm alive! :-)

    Got a houseful with more arriving Sunday morning.
    It is FINALLY Cookie Baking Day here!!

    All THREE granddaughters here on the same day! Bliss!
    MUST GO SLEEP!!

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  8. Oh Alan, I'm getting that shortsighted Ohio governor, and I agree. He's an idiot. Typical Republican grandstanding, "Hey! Look at me! I refused money!". Except the idiot didn't do anything to help Ohio, only his "image". The money won't be saved, it will just go to you guys or others, and Ohioans will not get 16,000 new jobs, and *I* won't be able to take the train to travel (which I very much missed and was looking forward to).

    And, btw, according to rumor, Kasich (or Cash-in, as I call him) is planning to do horrific things to Ohio's school system.

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  9. Illinois got some of that money, too. Main focus is on high-speed (not bullet) service from Chicago to St. Louis. "High-speed" means like 125 mph, not 200 mph. Also plans to upgrade service from Chicago to the Michigan border -- it's already high-speed from there to Detroit. Plans for high-speed service between Chicago and Milwaukee are cancelled.

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  10. Bet the house smells *wonderful* just about now. And granddaughters? Their own kind of heaven!!

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  11. Ally's Mama writes so well. It always makes me feel good to hear about Ally's good times. So glad Ally got over her cough and was able to go.

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  12. Thanks Susan! ♡ Me too!!!

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  13. It was a GREAT day in sooo many ways!!

    I am sooo tired, tonight, but very happy. ♥

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