Out of My Mind

I know you all think I'm nuts about global warming, and, you're right, I am. It's a fine example of the The Doomsday Syndrome, which has been around a long time, and is made possible by the fact that almost no one is still alive who was alive one hundred years ago. No one remembers how difficult life was before fossil fuels, antibiotics, DDT, Round-Up, and (gasp!) preservatives.

But I'm not the only one who is out of his mind.

Click here.

The Inside

From the kitchen, into the living room and sunporch. There's a roommate in there somewhere:

Reverse view, including one-of-a-kind photo of ghost cat:

Sunporch. Imagine it without the trash storage:

My room, cleaned up for a picture:

The kitchen. It's a pretty kitchen, but it can be very difficult to use due to the whole sideways thing. We've been working with the landlord to get that taken care of, but for now we have to bolt the fridge to the ceiling:
My desk and shelf system. It's been better decorated since I took the picture:

Caleb's home away from home

Now that we have three new family outposts, they should certainly be memorialized on the blog.

Here's the Philadelphia Murphies Branch. Caleb's window doesn't show here -- that's the sunporch/entry on the first floor and the front bedroom on the second. But notice front lawn, patio, and their very own lamppost. There's also a little deck or balcony at the back, off the kitchen.

A view showing more of the street:

Laura's home away from home

The Geneseo Branch. Laura's windows are the two that are side by side on the second floor above the bay window. Notice turret, porch, gingerbread, second-floor deck: lots of amenities!



Happy housemates on the porch:

Luke's home away from home

Newest Rochester Branch. Luke's window is the second one to the left of the portico in the row that runs just above the portico.



And here's proof that Luke is actually in there, consisting of a close-up of the appropriate window. That's Luke, peering out of the window on the left.

Cats on my stuff...

More photos and an update to follow in a day or two...

Hey! What's this big thick sheet of ice on my head?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/5283278.stm

Remember the new ice age that was predicted by climate alarmists 30 years ago? It may still be on its way! After all, what causes glaciers to grow? Yes, cooler temperatures. And what causes cooler temperatures? Yes! Yes! Yes! GLOBAL WARMING! The glaciers will grow AND the sea will rise.

Of course, the sky may fall first.

An experiment

This picture came out rather pixelated when I posted it below with the "Blog This" button in Picasa, so I'm posting it a different way to see if it turns out better.

A whole bunch of pictures from Cape Cod

Ana the bathing beauty

Chris and Eszti relaxing

Caleb time, the Atlantic version

Cousins in the surf

Ana attacking Caleb

Alex looking hip

A backyard sand dune

Ana and Julia in the sand

Aren't they cute?

Uncle Ned

Patty and Kate having fun

Listening to Grandpa

Grandma relaxing

Trevor on the tandem

Pete watching the coyote across the pond

Freys en masse!

Arthur departs

He fell asleep on the way to the airport . . . but something woke him up.

Carl, Pieboy, and Luke saw him off . . .
and watched his plane taxi away. 

A perfect day

We complain quite a bit about the weather here in Upstate New York, so I think it's only fair to notice and comment when there is absolutely nothing to complain about. Today is the kind of day they had in mind when they invented the word "summer." The light, the temperature, the breeze, the feeling of summery freedom -- everything is just right. And here on the farm, the flowers are blooming their fool heads off . . .


the swimming pool is inviting . . .


the heifers look lovely grazing in the field . . .


. . . and the barn is freshly painted.

 

An Easy Question

Why is South Africa gripped by icy temperatures and rare snowfall?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060802/sc_afp/safricaweathersnow_060802180049

Vacation photos!

Turns out that nearly 6 years after purchase, my digital camera still takes some decent pictures. When I bother to take it with me. Here are some pictures, first from Point Reyes in California, then from the SF Zoo, and then from Monday's climb of Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire, in the heat. There are more where these came from, and will be more taken as the week goes on:

Point Reyes State Park, from the car:















Ruth at McClure Beach. The sign says not to feed or approach marine life. Neither of us expected to encounter marine life:














Some beach shots:


































A little mini-beach I got to by climbing over a short rock wall. When I took this picture, I thought I was alone on my own private beach, but really there were a couple of girls in bikinis about 6 feet to my left. Sorry, no pictures of them:














Panoramic view of McClure beach. The small gap between the rocks at the other end is what i climbed over:















This lonely sea lion waddled up on shore while I was walking along the beach. We sat and stared at each other for a little while before other people wandered up and stood way too close. Ever the worrier, I called the park service to come check it out:















Zoo pics. Giraffe and giraffeling:














Ruth coralled that metal hippo all on her own:



















Daaaa Bears da Bears da Bears da Bears:














Mitch, king of the meerkats:



















Alert prairie dogs:















Less alert prairie dogs:















On top of Mt. Monadnock. On a clear day, they say you can see the Murphies old house in Beldingville, MA. Look closely, it's totally in there somewhere:















The skyscrapers of Boston, totally invisible in the 95 degree heat:















Is she enjoying the view, or silently cursing me for taking a picture of her after I drag her up a mountain?