August 2011

Out Among ‘Em

porkloin.pngWe had to head down US 60 today to the Valley Metro Area. Every once in a while, we have to leave our little enclave here in the country to go and get some provisions from the big city.

We had a list of things that we needed to get plus we scored a few other things to re-stock the freezer in the garage. I bought a pork loin and some pork baby back ribs. I divided the ribs into two slabs and packed them into vacuum freezer packs for later consumption. I carved the loin into several chops, a couple of thicker chops for stuffed pork loin and another couple of petite roast chunks for making pulled pork sandwiches or carnitas burritos at a later time. As it is, we don’t need to go there again for a while, although next week we may go and look at some furniture for the office.

We pity the folks that abstain from pork. And, we pity even more those that abstain from meat.

Valley View Panorama

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We took a little ride today up to Yarnell, a little mountain mining town on State Route 89 north of Wickenburg. There is a steep, winding section of the road between Congress and Yarnell. On the downhill side, there is a scenic pull-out with this view of the valley south of the Weaver Mountains.

I composed this panoramic view of the valley from three exposures which I later stitched into this panoramic image. On the horizon, you can see Vulture Peak towards the left of the image; moving right, you can see the Harcuhala and Harcuvar mountain ranges toward the right of the image. In the valley below, you can see a large stockyard in the left center and the town of Congress toward the right. Click on the panorama for the full-size view.

A Moderate Shake in Virginia

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According to the shake map above (click to enlarge – sorry about the crappy quality, but this is the original resolution), Washington DC is about 80 miles northeast of the epicenter of the 5.8 magnitude quake. It surprised me to hear that the quake caused officials to evacuate the Capitol and other government buildings. According to the color code, the DC area would have experienced “weak” to “light” shaking and no damage to structures.

As a former resident of a very seismically active area, I can attest that most of us who experienced that amount of shaking would simply have said “Hmmm – a little temblor.” And would go on with whatever we were doing. Some of us nerdy types would go to the USGS Earthquakes website to see the epicenter and magnitude. Maybe even look at the shake map.

Rosebud and Skylight

I got a bouquet of roses yesterday. I took one of the buds and put it in a bud vase in the little bathroom. The lighting is from a skylight that our contractor installed in the bathroom. He installed another one in the laundry, both of which take advantage of the seemingly endless sunlight to illuminate those rooms without the need for artificial light during the day. Click on the image to enlarge.

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Google Aerial View Updated

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I was goofing around with the computer last night and discovered that Google MapsĀ® updated their aerial photos of Wickenburg. This is our parcel with the landscaping (mostly) installed. This is the highest resolution available. North is up.

My goodness! What nice little piece of the desert!