Just watched the sunrise on my favorite day of the year. And looks like it is going to be a nice day. So Happy Summer, everybody. Go to your piano now and play something 'summery'.

Lookin' towards the north pole.

Reminding us all, time flies.

Pete - That image is for Christmas time when we're looking for Santa. Got anything that says 'warm, summer breezes'? (and no - I don't mean hurricane photos )

Yeah, but it's like 55 degrees in Thule!

This picture is from Hawaii but it illustrates my point.

I see skies like this to my east almost every day from late July to early October. Smoke and soot from distant sugar-cane fires throw a purplish-brown patina across the whole of lower atmosphere, here in southern Louisiana. Developing thunderstorms over the Atchafalaya Basin, to my east, poke their white noses through the polluted lower-levels. Sometimes, smoke can be seen getting pulled and pushed up the side of the storms tens of thousands of feet, stretching out in narrow, pale-tan streaks.

What does summer look like where you are?

hmm - I'll have to go see what I can find.

Ok – Here are a couple of summertime pics from where I live. The first one is obviously Chicago. The second one is a town park and swimming area in my hometown which is a suburb of Chicago. I am not in the picture, but I went there many times when my kids were young. They had all their friends along, and I would sit there and rub sun-block on everybody, fix broken bathing suit straps, put bandaids on skinned knees, open up someone’s juice box, etc... – all without dropping my ice cream cone. That tall thing in the background is our new Carillon. Anyone ever play one of those? Talk about needing ‘big’ hands.

I forgot, I also posted hummingbird photos in the ‘post your own pictures’ thread. Hummingbirds only come around us in the summertime. How about you or anyone else? Do you guys/girls have hummingbirds where you live?

That's cool!; Are the bells in tune ? Unfortunately, we have nothing of he sort around where I live (boondocks). (I'm having mixed feelings) Ok, I'll laugh. The best I can hope for is the dinky little walking track in our park (which always has broken water fountains) along the Bayou Teche.

I think the way a Carillon is played illustrates beautifully the point that fingers are not necessary to play a keyboard instrument!

Anyway, I jog past this statue (she stares at me the same way no matter how many blisters are on my heels) on my way to said dinky park.

She's pretty, in a quiet sort of way. But I bet you would jump a foot if she moved as you jog by.

Monica, how tall is that carillon overlooking your local swimming park? It looks huge! (I guess I could Google that but it would destroy the suspense. )



She is pretty, in a maternal kind of way. I think I would have nightmares and need professional help if I ever saw her face turn toward me.

It's strange, sometimes her eyes do seem to follow me. (You know, irrespective (or should I say irregardless (no, I shouldn't say either, because both terms annoy me (as do parentheses inside parentheses))) if she were an actual person (instead of a fictitious character) she would have been buried right in that spot!)

If you can follow that, I'm really scared.

. . .

Summer looked like rain, today. No more running in the storms for me, thanks; I'd like to raise kids one day. (I mean goats; but owning some infant humans would be nice, too.)

Since were vaguely on the topic of all things summer, I had my central cooling unit changed out a few days ago. Wow. The old unit would run for two hours and this new one runs for two minutes. I did the math and figured out I'd save about 1500USD per year in energy bills.
So everybody, remember not to keep an air conditioner ten years past its proper disposal date!

I didn't sleep last night, can you tell?

It's 160 feet tall. (taller than the Statue of Liberty)


Here is a picture of the bells arriving.



Here is a man demonstrating how to play it. Look at the size of those keys! At least he doesn't have to worry about playing with curved fingers.







So you're saying she was a witch? Neat!



I just got the air conditioner in my car fixed yesterday. But I only use it when I absolutely have to. I drive a big SUV and the air conditioning quickly drains my gas tank. (sorry – I know- not gas conscientious, but believe me, I don’t like paying these ridiculously high gas prices! I keep saying I’m going to trade my SUV in for a Smart car (which would probably fit in my SUV )) Oops, double parentheses.

Do you know the story of Evangeline (the maternal-statue-witch) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? It's about the only claim-to-fame of my hometown. Anyway, her face reminds of The Statue of Liberty's.

That's a darn tall tower of bells! Have you ever had the chance (or the volition) to play it?

We (the US) waste so much domestically produced fossil fuel in our power plants - where uranium is a perfectly feasible power source - we cannot ever hope to begin to make a dent in our oil consumption. We also love to ignore the larger problem: there is a finite quantity of oil, coal and gas on the planet and prices have only one place to go. Sooner than we'd like to admit, we MUST separate ourselves gradually and steadily from combustibles in general; they pollute and are not sustainable. Nuclear, solar, wind, water, geothermal, hydrogen. (Ethanol is a terrible idea, we should not use our agricultural capacity to drive our vehicles, duh.) Of course, this transition away from oil should not be forced by politicians but rather "inventively coerced", if they're smart enough to get elected to national office, they know damn well what to do to make this begin to happen. We have the power and the knowledge and (for now) the money but we lack the will. If we procrastinate, I fear for our future.

Haven't these politicians ever played SimCity?

Oh, that Evangeline!



Yes, I have had the chance, and I could probably get the chance again, but I really have no desire to play it.



I know - I feel guilty about driving an SUV. I only do it because I feel safer. Also, I can be big and tall for a change.

Ah yes, a power trip


-jg

p.s. Pete, nuclear power is not the best (better than fossil fuels but still not good). The main question is: what to do with all the nuclear waste? Can't destroy it, can't dump it, can't shoot it into space. Basically it has to be stored for hundreds of years until it becomes safe / stable (very very long half-life).

I say solar and wind power is the best way; favoring the former more than the latter.