We are enjoying a streak of mild weather conditions here in our little desert town. Highs in the low-to-mid 70’s and lows well above freezing. It should continue into the weekend and beyond. We’ll take it! Click on the image to enlarge.
Bob
Finding Lost Family
Since my youngest granddaughter will be turning eighteen in March, I contacted the California Department of Social Services in an attempt to locate her. To my surprise (noting the slowness of most California bureaucracies), there was a reply within an hour from when I sent the email; they wanted to know more information about the granddaughter in order to start the process. I sent the reply with the understanding that there would be a delay in locating her social worker and thence the child.
Image: Not my grandchildren, but my maternal grandmother’s siblings – my great uncles and aunt when they were kids. Photo courtesy my sister a.k.a. the family historian.
Last evening, the social worker called to inform me that my granddaughter had been located and she furnished her with my contact information. I expect to hear from her soon.
The unexpected development is that I got an email this morning from one of my other granddaughters that wants to get in contact. A nice surprise, since I had no idea where she might be. She may give me a call later today.
That makes me happy to be in contact with them after quite a long time (and a long story). Maybe one of these days we can see all three of them face to face.
Nightfall After a Beautiful Arizona Day
We had a beautiful weekend featuring warmer weather and gorgeous food days. As we were strolling down the road with the puppies this evening, I turned around to capture this image of our little castle in the fading daylight under a waxing gibbous moon. Click on the image to enlarge.
Sampling the Mac ‘N’ Cheese
I had grill duty with some pork loin chops, so Verna brought out a spoonful of the delicious macaroni and cheese she had just prepared in the kitchen. Man, this was TASTY stuff. š Click on the image to enlarge.
Breaking In The New Fire Hydrant
A few weeks ago, the Town removed and replaced the fire hydrant 100 feet or so down our road. Yesterday, Beethoven found it and did what every boy dog does. He re-hydrated the hydrant with Verna looking on. Click on the image to enlarge.
Large Sunspots
One of the biggest sunspots in years is crossing the center of the solar disk, putting Earth in the way of potential eruptions. The sprawling sunspot contains dozens of dark cores, the largest big enough to swallow Earth three times over. This makes it an easy target for amateur solar telescopes — or even regular cameras.
I took this photo this morning using my Canon SX40 camera with a Rainbow Symphony solar filter. I added the sunspot group designations to the original photo. Click on the image to enlarge.
Update from NOAA/NWS:
2014-01-09 00:03 UTC S3 (Strong) Solar Radiation Storm In Progress
The ongoing S2 (Moderate) Solar Radiation Storm has intensified to an S3 (Strong) event as of 2320 UTC (6:20 p.m. EST) today, January 8. Protons should stay at this same approximate level for the next few hours, then likely take another jump with the passage of the shock ahead of the CME, expected to occur around 0900 UTC (4:00 a.m. EST) tomorrow, January 9. However, this increase is not expected to exceed the S3 level. The CME is forecast to set off G3 (Strong) Geomagnetic Storm activity through January 9 and 10. Aurora watchers should be ready; updates here as things unfold.
