Veterans Day

IN REMEMBRANCE: We wanted to take a walk this chilly but sunny fall morning, and wanted to chose a destination which would allow us to contemplate Veterans Day, as well. Fort Lawton, on the west edge of our neighborhood, was an obvious choice. 

However, rather than go to the military cemetery there, we decided to go to the part of the park where some abandoned military buildings are.  We stopped by the old church. It looks a lot more dilapidated than it did the last time we saw it, just a couple of months ago.

We checked out Freedom Grove.

This monument was dedicated over 60 years ago.

The grounds around the old military buildings are just gorgeous. 

BUSY DINOS:  The dinosaurs continue to make all sorts of mischief while we sleep during Dinovember.

Saturday night, the dinos were apparently curious about this "Ice Age" thing they'd heard about. It took the kids awhile to find them in the freezer.

I think the dinos were pretty happy to get back out into the warmth. 

Sunday night, the triceratops went into nesting mode. One hatchling was evident, with another arrival imminent.

Last night, they apparently decided to hold a log roll competition. As of this writing, it's still a stalemate. 

LAST GASP: It's freezing cold out today and that means garden season has come to an end in the Emerald City. This afternoon, we pulled up all the tomatillos, potted the peppers and called it a harvest.  We were able to glean enough produce for another batch of salsa verde - hooray!

I think we're done with corn, though. It never thrives. This ear certainly isn't Thanksgiving centerpiece worthy!

OH WHAT A NIGHT:  While we sleep, history will be made. Hopefully.

As we slip into slumber tonight, the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission is at their milestone moment. The space probe will release a lander, which is set to rendezvous with Comet  67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko some seven hours later.

If and when it touches down, Philae will make history as mankind's first cometary landing. Coverage is available lots of places online. The ESA Web site is a good place to start: http://rosetta.esa.int/

We've been reading lots about the Rosetta mission in recent days, and an article we saw today was super interesting - the comet is, apparently, singing!

More specifically, the plasma environment around the comet is emitting noise. The article explained that plasma, the fourth state of matter, is an electrically conductive gas that can carry magnetic fields and electrical currents). The magnetic field of the comet is oscillating, with the 'song' being between 40-50 millihertz. That's far below what humans can hear, but Rosetta's instrumentation can pick it up. 

You can have a listen here: 

And check out this "Top 10 at 10 (kilometer) photo set from the Rosetta probe: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Highlights/Top_10_at_10_km