Catching Up

WEEKEND REWIND: We were so busy this weekend, I couldn't fit it all into last night's post. 

Sunday and Monday were up on Cama Island, but Saturday we took a close to home field trip, to the Ballard Locks. Here's a mossy walled part of the Locks between Lake Union and Puget Sound.

Much to our pleasant surprise, when we arrived at the park, some Seattle Parks naturalists had a booth set up near the parking lot. They were pointing out a nearby osprey nest, and told us where to look for heron nests down the pathway.

The kids got to feel a heron's wing.

And they also held a no longer living kingfisher. Kingfishers love feeding and nesting along the Locks, too.

And once we knew where to look, it was easy to pick out the herons' nests.

Braving the crowds, we made our way to the East bank of the Locks. 

Over there, you can wander through the only garden maintained by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

There was live music starting at 2 p.m., which prompted me to check the summer weekend concert calendar when we got home. 

We walked in the shade of big trees ...

and, of course, the kids had to roll down the stepped hillside.

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA: Do you remember where you were when this photo, "Pale Blue Dot" was taken? Perhaps you forgot to smile for the camera in 1990, when Voyager 1, 6 billion kilometers (or 4 billion miles) away from home, turned around and took a photo of Earth before leaving the Solar System. In the photo, our planet is just 12/100ths of a pixel in size, but it's striking nonetheless.

The Pale Blue Dot portrait was Carl Sagan's idea, BTW, and if you haven't heard his "Pale Blue Dot" narrative, you really should. It's poignant and awesome ...

So, if you weren't smiling for the 1990 portrait, maybe you were on board for the second ever deep space photo, when the Cassini space probe shot us all in 2006, 926 million miles (1.49 billion kilometers) from Earth. 

The second Earth from on far photo was Cassini's photo from 2006, at a distance of 926 million miles (1.49 billion kilometers) from Earth.

(Larger version, where you can see the dot better, here: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/162056main_PIA08329.jpg)

If you somehow missed that 2006 photo opp, as well, perhaps the third time will be the charm. On July 19, NASA is going to take another photo of Earth from space. It will be Cassini again, but now it should be about 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away at that point. 

Earthlings are encouraged to go outside and wave at the camera, between 2:27 and 2:42 p.m. PDT. NASA's asking people to look in the direction of Saturn while doing so, and then submit a photo of yourself waving. Photos can be shared on the special Wave at Saturn Flickr group, the Wave at Saturn Facebook event page or by tagging them on Twitter #waveatsaturn.

For more info on the Cassini photo op check out NASA's announcement: http://go.nasa.gov/14IecjL 

By the way, if you're wondering where Voyager is now, you can check out JPL's Web site, where real time stats are kept: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/where/. As I wrote this on the evening of 6/18/2013, Voyager 1 was 18.5+ billion (and yes, you have to say it 'beeelion' like Carl Sagan) kilometers from Earth.

MUSEUM: In September, we'll be taking a field trip to England, but I thought it might be nice to take a virtual trip there here and now, so today we pointed our Web browsers to the Science Museum (yes, that's its name) in London, England. Its Web site features online exhibits and articles and a bunch of fun games.  CJ enjoyed playing Rubbish, wherein you try to 'stop the rubbish from taking over your life.'  We'll play around with their site some more in the days to come.

SCHOOL KIDS: Even though their Shoreline school is out for the summer, CJ and I were up on campus today to help clean up the science room. We put in about 3 good hours of work. 

Meanwhile, down in Kent, Annabelle was playing Normal School Kid. She went to work with biggest brother Rick, who's a third grade teacher. She got to take a backpack and lunch, and sit at a desk. 

Not sure that Annabelle is super well suited for the daily Normal School Kid grind, as she was still IN BED when Rick pulled up to pick her up today. (Yes, I'd told her to get up before then.) 

Fortunately, I had everything all lined out, and all she had to do was pull on clothes and brush her teeth. They pulled out about 7:30 a.m. and were back home a little before 5. Long day. Annabelle didn't seem any worse for the wear, and Rick said the day wasn't typical, as it was field day (play day) and classroom time was spent tidying up and watching a movie. So Annabelle probably thinks that's what most school days are like now!

AMERICAN WOMAN: Today marks the 30th anniversary of the first American woman in space, Sally Ride (1951-2012). She lifted off from Cape Canaveral on June 18, 1983, as one of three mission specialists aboard Challenger for STS-7.

This short video is a great tribute to her.