Rainbow Trout

(Courtesy of my Dad -- Maine)

Exploring Bordjiesdrif

(Bordjiesdrif, Cape Point, South Africa)

Holiday weekend

Had a bit of a random holiday weekend with good friends, food, and beautiful land.  I'll be sure to share some pics of the safari expedition, but in the meantime, here are some randoms. 

(In order from top to bottom: Corsica, Paris, Alaska, Maine, Kenya, San Francisco)

Sunday Afternoon Drive

(Les Calanche di Piana and Scandola, Corsica)

There's nothing quite like a Sunday afternoon drive.  Get out there and enjoy creation. 

 

Home sweet home.

Mfangano

Ok, well, since I've been pretty lax in updating lately, here's a bunch more photos from Mfangano Island. 

  Community mobile charging at its best

 Repairing fishing nets

Visitors from the North

 Sometimes you see people that seem just a tad bit out of place.  Pink and yellow trousers in the all-too-often drab/dark city palette are a dead give-away.  When I saw this mother and son leaving the Underground, I couldn't help but think they had just arrived from some magical nordic land... perhaps Iceland or Norway--or Miles Island of course.  Arriving to the big city for the first time, they bring with them fresh air, poetry and a sense of wonderdiscovery. 

Our Space Shuttle

 Jook Leung via JSTN

Well, it's Day 4 of the last space shuttle mission.  Atlantis is up there somewhere, moving at 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour) and 330 miles (528 km) above sea level.  Mike Fossum and Ron Garan will be doing the mission's only space walk at 8:44 a.m. EDT Tuesday.  I think it's sentimental time for all of us, and I think everyone can take pride in the shuttle program.  Hopefully they're jamming to some sweet tunes like this or this or this.  For more sweet pictures of cockpit, check out Jook Leung's 360vr work.

When I was in 6th grade, I had two amazing math and science teachers: Mr. Glueck and Mr. Chilelli.  Our whole grade worked together to build a lifesize replica of a shuttle flight deck.  We pieced together toggle switches, joysticks, keyboards, computers,  and some other gadgets to create a pretty realistic simulation experience.  We had shuttle flight and mission simulator programs (and this was the 90s, remember!), and had a couple official missions.  I was Mission Specialist, and in charge of releasing a satellite into orbit (although I recall some difficulty with retrieving the device!)...   It Was Awesome. 
 
Together, Mr. Glueck and Mr. Chilelli captured our imaginations of what was possible to achieve, not only in a year-long school project, but in life.   "I'll see you in the stars," I remember Mr. Glueck writing in my yearbook.  Well, I'm not an astronaut and I don't work for NASA.  Yet.  Thanks for the launch, guys.   *For more of the famous 6th grade projects, check out these photos.

 photo by Mr. Glueck

 photo by Mr. Glueck

Below, waking up to Coldplay on the shuttle...

The Red Balloon

 

 Have you ever been followed by a red balloon?  Well, it happened to me the other day on Miles Island.  Being familiar with the 1956 film Le Ballon Rouge, I knew this was something special.  The balloon followed me around for the better part of the day, before dancing off on its merry way to make another friend.  To see the original short film, go to youtube... Part 1 and 2.  Check out the trailer for the recent feature film version.  Let me know if you've seen the red balloon in your part of the world...

 

Our Neighbor Iceland

 photo by gunnisal

Well, I've returned from the land of the Birkebeiners and even though I nearly froze to death (should have gone with the birchbark leggings over the racing suit), I've still got wanderlust to venture to Iceland.  I started looking at tickets, and am finding pretty reasonable fares... apparently Miles Island isn't too far away.  These photos are all by gunnisal on flickr, which I found via Kris Atomic's fantastic Iceland post.  Have you been?  Should I go in spring, summer, fall?  I think maybe this is the year...

 photo by gunnisal

 

photo by gunnisal

photo by gunnisal

photo by gunnisal

photo by gunnisal

photo by gunnisal

photo by gunnisal