Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Oct 17, 2019 7:31:55 GMT -8
All kidding aside, I’m appreciative of Gibbnonymous making the effort to put us all in touch with some Sinatra memorabilia. Sort of puts you in the spirit of the season… Have yourself a merry little Gibbnous Let your nog be lite Otherwise the calories can be out of sight Have yourself a merry little Gibbnous Make the yule-tide gayPrance around in rainbow Santa suits all day Here were are in such bolder days Sappy olden days were a bore Fitful friends who drink beer with us Are unclear to us, on the floor Through the years we will be in warmer weather If Al Gore allows No need to go to Hawaii for a yule luauSo have yourself a merry little Gibbnous now.
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Post by timothylane on Oct 17, 2019 8:39:59 GMT -8
I knew what song this was based on from the very first line. It helps that our MP3 Frank Sinatra folder includes The Christmas Collection. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is the 6th song. Of course, I don't start playing Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. There's a lot in our music collection, but then it includes music from several different people's collections. (Among other things, it has all my collections of seasonal novelty songs, mostly from Dr. Demento and the Bob Rivers Comedy Group.)
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 20, 2019 19:43:04 GMT -8
It was a gloriously sunny day today on the Pacific Left Coast. I got out and got in a little hiking on Green Mountain. You’ll often come across some wild creatures up there: rabbit, deer, coyotes. squirrels, eagles, and even bear.
But I was astonished to find an example of Gibbnonymous Hikersaurus. It was a female of the species. And they feed on buffalo strips that can be found at Trader Joe’s for about $3.00 per package. Otherwise they are generally vegan. They also tend to refrain from wheat products.
This is a tame animal if treated with care. They are technologically advanced, thus I received a text message about five minutes from the top of Green Mountain reading “Hey, Brad. I’m on the top of Green Mountain.”
Gibbnonymous Hikersaurus may be telepathic for she did not in any way know that I was going for a hike today. It’s a little spooky. Luckily, I know a little of their language and texted back “I’ll be at the top in 5 minutes…wait for me.” It was a risky move on my part, for Gibbnonymous Hikersaurus often runs in packs.
But this one was traveling solo and was no threat. Having engaged in ritual food-sharing and small-talk ceremonies for which that species is known, I gained her confidence and we decided to walk the rest of the way down in tandem.
There were no further incidents worth reporting and Gibbnonymous Hikersaurus returned to her nest. Having escaped not only with my life but with half a strip of Trader Joe’s buffalo strips, I thought myself rather lucky.
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Post by timothylane on Nov 20, 2019 20:23:50 GMT -8
Glad you had a nice time. Were there any other hikers, or just the two of you? Our temperatures have been rather cold lately, though it's expected to warm up a bit (highs in the mid-40s to mid-50s through Monday, some of which might be good days for hiking if I were so inclined and capable of it. (Hills have always been a problem for me, no doubt because I have an excessive amount of gravity pulling me down. I can still recall traversing a dip in the road when walking home from high school, as I often had to. It really was uphill -- and downhill -- both ways, though in the morning I could get a ride from my mother before she went off to work at a department store.)
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 21, 2019 8:27:03 GMT -8
Thank you. It was one of those instances (common in the Pacific Northwest) where there hadn’t been an extended day of sunshine for about a month. So when it comes, people tend to get itchy feet.
I went out by myself and was about 5 minutes from the top when I get a random text from Gibbnonymous stating that she was at the top. It was a coincidence. Along the way, there was a surprising number of people out and about on a midweek day.
The temperature peaked at about 52. There was a bit of wind but nothing extreme, although once I got to the top, I had to keep moving and couldn't lollygag. By the time I made it to the top, my sweatshirt was fairly soaked and the windchill factor meant I dare not stay still for long.
We walked down together, crossing over to a trail on the north face which had been clear-cut, thus it was not only a tremendous view, but the sun provided a nice bit of warmth.
I also had an excessive amount of gravity pulling me down. I’ve been putting on the winter layer of fat just a bit.
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Post by timothylane on Nov 21, 2019 10:03:13 GMT -8
We're having a warm spell (for November) here, too. The weather program says it's currently 53 degrees, with an expected high of 56 today and 54 tomorrow -- and 56 Monday and Tuesday.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 21, 2019 12:57:58 GMT -8
49 and sunny today so far. Pleasantly pooped from the previous days outing. Currently watching “Legends of the Fall.” Hint: If you’re bringing your fiancé home to meet your brothers, I recommend not doing so if one of the brothers is Brad Pitt.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 9, 2020 16:32:37 GMT -8
It was a mostly sunny day today with highs at about 46 degrees. I planned on doing a little hiking on Green Mountain. But when I went to start my car, the battery was dead. I put it on the charger for an hour and a half and that did the trick. But not knowing why it had run down, I decided to go someplace closer (and a place that wasn’t out of cell phone range, at least where I park my car at Green Mountain). Instead, I changed from hiking to biking and did 4.59 miles at Euland Tree Farm which is close by and easily within cell phone range in case I got stuck with a dead battery, although I do cover jumper cables with me always. That worked out better anyway. I’ve put on a few pounds in the last couple of months. The bike is much more forgiving of excess weight than hiking. Although it was a bit cold for biking, I put on a number of layers and it was fine. It felt good to get out. I hadn’t been out since January 1, and before that it was several weeks again. And I hadn’t actually been out on my bike since June 30. I had done a lot of outdoor activity since, but all of it was hiking. I go in spurts. The parking lot at Euland was as crowded as I’ve ever seen it. It was nearly full. I met no cyclists but there were dog walkers galore. I met dozens of people on the trail. During a midweek romp, I might meet on or two. The bike performed well. I store it indoors so there’s not much that can happen to it other than losing tire pressure. I had to pump up both tires significantly. As for my internal pump(s), I actually felt stronger than I had a right to be. I don’t know why that was. I guess sometimes a little layoff can be good.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 21, 2020 7:30:50 GMT -8
Despite the doom-and-gloom being intentionally perpetrated upon us, the sun was shining yesterday. The temperature just about hit 60. And the parking lot at Ueland Tree farm was as full as I’ve ever seen it. People were out. They were hiking, biking, walking their dogs, and doing anything but “social distancing.” I put in 8.28 miles up, down, and around on my mountain bike. I took a chance to test the barometric altimeter in my Apple Watch as opposed to gauging altitude via GPS location. This is a study in approximations, at best. First off, one must calibrate the barometric altimeter. And you do that by setting it to whatever reading you’re getting from the GPS-based altimeter. So any error of the one carries over to the other. But at least they will be at the same starting point. So both altimeters (GPS and barometric) were set at 300 feet at the parking lot. When I got to the top of Zachary’s Lookout 40 minutes later, the barometric altimeter read 1015 feet. The GPS altimeter read 1030. So they were close enough, I guess. I’ll have to include my Garmin device in this next time. From Zachary’s Lookout: ( Enlarged View)
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 6, 2020 15:13:54 GMT -8
I took a fairly less-traveled backroad today on my mountain biking venture. I definitely felt the gardening I’ve been doing the last two days. It can be exhausting. But boy did I feel energized when the day was done. It really does “blow out the carbon” to just push forward, no matter how you’re feeling, and get the blood pumping. I’m very tired but feel energized. There’s a whole labyrinth of logging roads and trails out there. On a lark, I followed a trail that I knew is a dead end (which is why I haven’t been down that one in a long while). I got down to the end of it (it's a grassed-over old logging road) and saw what looked to be a narrow trail that extended past the dead end. I follow it and low and behold it led to this: Larger ViewThere are at least a dozen ducks in the background, far shore, just left of center. They’ve got the whole place to themselves…as did I. It was like Shangri-La appearing out of nowhere. I had no idea this pond was here and there is (to my knowledge) no place else from which it can be seen. It had to be at least a couple acres in size.
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Post by kungfuzu on Apr 6, 2020 21:45:33 GMT -8
That may be your best photo yet.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 7, 2020 8:07:48 GMT -8
Thank you, Mr. Flu Manchu. I’m glad you like that one. I took a look on a map and it would appear the pond extends for a bit to the right out of view. I’m even considering the feasibility of some kind of inflatable boat that would fit in my back back. Packrafts they call them. But with all the submerged logs and stick poking up, that might not be a good idea for this pond. Still, this one might work. Here’s a Google map view. It’s difficult to tell where the edge of the pond is. But a rough estimate (using the Google map scale) is that it is about 142 feet wide by 365 feet long. That makes it about 1.25 acres.
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Post by timothylane on Apr 7, 2020 9:24:31 GMT -8
Is Kitsap Lake the pond you came across, and is it the black spot in the center of the photo? And if so, can you figure out where you were?
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 7, 2020 9:56:16 GMT -8
The pond is the black spot in the center. The red circle below shows approximately from where the photos was taken. Close by (due east) is a light line which is a thin foot trail. You can see this heads due north where the grayed-out area (a graphic overlay via Google maps) is thicker. This is the logging road (and, specifically, where it dead-ends). The non-dead-end route is to take a left at the fork in the road you see near the top of the photo. But you can’t see this pond from the trail that you see winding to the west of the pond. I’ve been on the route a dozen times and never noticed a pond.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 9, 2020 14:33:42 GMT -8
Here’s some more Corona Clicks or Kung Fu Flu Fotos if you prefer: Larger ViewThis is a smaller pond. Or it used to be a pond and now it’s turning into a marsh. Whatever the case may be, I bet the wildlife love it.
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Post by timothylane on Apr 9, 2020 15:13:35 GMT -8
Think of it as evolution in action. Shallow ponds gradually turn into marshes, and eventually into meadows. But evolution is very slow, so of course it's hard for an individual to witness the whole process.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 9, 2020 17:41:18 GMT -8
Here’s a third pond that I commonly come across in the same general area. And I rode my bike past this one today as well as the one above. Larger View
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 9, 2020 17:42:03 GMT -8
Good call. And this is definitely where we might find some primordial ooze just at this moment.
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Post by kungfuzu on Apr 9, 2020 18:46:28 GMT -8
Another beautiful photo. You're batting three for three with those ponds.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 10, 2020 7:04:25 GMT -8
Thanks, Mr. Flu Manchu. What your unpaid Kung Fu Flu Fotographer needs most is criticism, praise, and someone who gives a damn about fine photography. I’m glad to have either one of those in measure.
Given how well these iPhones (even an old iPhone 6s like mine) can do at nature photography, I’m half tempted to upgrade to a newer iPhone just to have the advantage of a better camera. The phones are so much portable and easier to use than a dedicated DSLR. And when I shoot in HDR mode, I believe this helps to capture more detail in the sky and water for those scenes that offer both.
With a normal camera, you have to expose either for the land/water or the sky, but not both. And to get both properly exposed, there are some filters you can use, for sure. Or there is some Photoshop editing you can do. That’s all well and good. You can even bracket exposures and combine them later (which is, more or less, what HDR does automatically, to the best of my knowledge).
These phones seem to do a pretty good job at just point-and-click. But the iPhones are horrible for any kind of macro shot because it’s near impossible to precisely control the focus.
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