Our visiting sea lion (see two posts below) hasn't appeared for awhile. Must have anticipated the Arctic airflow. By now maybe he's back in balmy Monterey, to play. Victoria has been pummelled by a good layer of snow. Thermometer outside shows -9C. Usually we have one or two light days of snow, mostly the wet kind mixed with a sprinke of rain. However, one crocus has presented itself on the front lawn, saying "Here I am, snow or no snow!" Is Nature not amazing?
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Soon we’re entering another “New Year”, this time it will be Year of the Water Dragon, celebrated in the Orient and by immigrants settled on these shores.
Twelve years ago, we were on a millennium world voyage aboard “Ocean Explorer I” where I conducted a floating art class and was resident guest artist. One of the many ports of call was Bali, Indonesia. There, we acquired this masterful woodcarving of a dragon, since 2000 was also Year of the Dragon. It is very small, only 14 cm high and 7 cm wide. For 12 years we’ve had it on display at our various abodes. Back in 2000 when we purchased the carving, I said that should I still be alive in the year 2012, we’d mark the occasion by honouring the humble woodcarver who created this striking piece.
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From balmy and lush Hawaii, home again to moist, cool and sometimes foggy climes - - - trademarks of Victoria winters. This does not seem to bother the wildlife, especially Hummingbirds. And the New Year brought a new (for us) visitor to our shore off Dallas Road. We spotted a large Sea Lion snoozing on a rock just 75 metres from our door. The last day or so she’s made it her home. Since we don’t see them often out of the water at this time of year, the lyrics about “Monterey, where the seals and mantas play” came to mind. Sometimes an Eagle settles down to rest awhile, along with a few of those Hummingbirds doing their acrobatic manoeuvres, accompanied by an energy that seems perpetual. We’re told they need to take in huge amounts of nectar to offset all this use of energy. Meanwhile let’s see if our lone Sea Lion is still there tomorrow. In the meanwhile here is a photo.
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It has been quite awhile since our last post. With all the worldly goings-on, sometimes one wishes to be silent, amidst all the noise and drama. Just returned from a memorable, "free Vitamin D" sailing, circumnavigating the Hawaiian islands. Appreciate having the good health in order to do so. Highlights were:
- the Waimea Canyon, Kaui
- Hamela'uma'u crater with a huge, billowing plume of sulphur dioxide, Big Island
- an amazing Banyan Tree in Lahani, Maui - at first it looks like a dozen trees, but then we discovered everything is an offshoot from one, main tree
- ten days of fresh sea-air
- seasonal decorations aboard ship, including a complete gingerbread village.
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Explore "From Earth to the Solar System" (FETTSS), inspired by 2009's "From Earth to the Universe" that included images from the Starry Night edition of my work ORGANIVERSE when displayed in Victoria. Follow FETTSS on Twitter.
Description from the website: "From Earth to the Solar System (FETTSS) is a collection of images that showcase the excitement of planetary exploration—our journey to understand the origin and evolution of the Solar System, and our search for life elsewhere.
The images are at once artistic and informative, weaving together themes in astrobiology, planetary science, and astronomy. Including contributions from backyard astronomers, large telescopes in space, and even point-and-shoot cameras of field researchers, the collection represents the current state of exploration as seen through the eyes of the scientific community".
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A friend recently sent us this link to two photos of Moonbows.
http://www.spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Ethan-Tweedie-_MGL1528_1301034248.jpg
http://www.spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Ethan-Tweedie-_MGL1528_1301034248.jpg
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From the Chandra Blog, we learn today this image is "an intergalactic 'weather map' around the elliptical galaxy NGC 5813, the dominant central galaxy in a galaxy group located about 105 million light years away from Earth.
"Just like a weather map for a local forecast on Earth, the colored circle depicts variations in temperature across a region. This particular map presents the range of temperature in a region of space as observed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, with the hotter temperatures shown in red and decreasingly cooler temperatures shown in orange, yellow, green, and blue. The numbers displayed when rolling your mouse over the image give the gas temperature in millions of degrees". Explore more at the Chandra blog.
You're also invited to visit COLORING SPACE, a collaboration with Chandra X-Ray - a selection of images from my ORGANIVERSE Starry Night series of paintings in pointillism, juxtaposed with images from space.
"Just like a weather map for a local forecast on Earth, the colored circle depicts variations in temperature across a region. This particular map presents the range of temperature in a region of space as observed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, with the hotter temperatures shown in red and decreasingly cooler temperatures shown in orange, yellow, green, and blue. The numbers displayed when rolling your mouse over the image give the gas temperature in millions of degrees". Explore more at the Chandra blog.
You're also invited to visit COLORING SPACE, a collaboration with Chandra X-Ray - a selection of images from my ORGANIVERSE Starry Night series of paintings in pointillism, juxtaposed with images from space.
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