The most snow we’ve seen at the new place in the two years we’ve been here… and it’s on March 22!

“Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.” –National Weather Service

About an inch so far, and it’s still coming down! We might get our first snow day of the year… just before Spring Break!

Winter’s final full moon rises behind Mt. Hood. I was a few minutes too late to catch the moon breaking the horizon, which was one of the most dramatic moon rises I’ve seen (and made me shout “Holy shit!”).

A lesson on electromagnetism turned into a toy boat building activity. It always points to magnetic north, unless a big magnet comes and leads it astray.

To make a compass at home, you’ll need: a magnet, a sewing needle, a slice of wine cork and a pan of water. A compass for reference wouldn’t hurt, either.

1. Magnetize the sewing needle by rubbing with the magnet, always in the same direction and with the same pole of the magnet.
2. Carefully push the needle through the slice of cork.
3. Float it on a pan of water.

If your needle doesn’t swing to the north (or south, depending on which end is which pole), check to make sure there are no metallic objects or magnets nearby. If it still doesn’t work, you may need to spend more time magnetizing your needle.

When you get tired of watching the needle swing to the north, decorate your little boat, and use your magnet to pull it around its little pond.

We’re surrounded by bank-owned and short sale houses, but I haven’t seen one of these yet. Sign by We Are Oregon. Photo by Doug Geisler, used under the terms of a Creative Commons license.

Ms. LuLu soaks it up.

People like me who are opposed to war are often pitted against those who serve their country. This is a rhetorical trick, of course, which can easily be turned on the tricksters. After all, those who advocate sending young men and women to fight and die and get maimed in wars and occupations of choice are on thin ice when they claim to “support” the brave individuals they use as geopolitical pawns.

It’s sad and unfortunate that the military-industrial machine provides the only sure-fire jobs program for the poor in this country.

My beef is with the trap, not the quarry. (Since this is such a simple distinction, I have to assume the righties who don’t get it are being disingenuous. Or, in some cases, maybe they’re just plain dumb.)

I recently found my photo above was used on the cover of a newsletter (PDF) put out by the Navy League of Santa Barbara, a civilian non-profit organization in support of sea service personnel.*

You know I’m not going to be all rah rah for this group, or agree with them politically on much (if anything). But we can surely agree that, whatever our political differences, the life choices of individual sailors, soldiers, marines and airmen are not at issue.

(Did I ever mention I was a finalist for a Navy ROTC scholarship before withdrawing? How different my life might have been if I’d gone to sea as a junior commissioned officer instead of on the road with a band of hippies. And speaking of my photos being picked up, the ad agency that was putting together the annual report for NW Natural — sheesh, another Neil Goldschmidt connection — bought the rights to use this photo, but they never used it, apparently, at least not in anything I could find publicly.)

*The photo, like most of my photos on flickr, is offered to anyone for free use under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike license. My thanks to the Navy League of Santa Barbara for adhering to this license and giving proper attribution. I’ve found several instances where people have felt inclined to use my photos without following the simple terms of the CC license.

Through the fog, the light exposes the truth.

@Wacky Mommy woke the dead with her scream when I uncovered the little darling.

The sunrise wasn’t as dramatic today as yesterday, but I had my camera ready. Music played by me some time in the 90s, recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder. J.V. Owings “Musette” for 4 clarinets. (Sloppy edit at the end; still learning how to do this video stuff!)