On a Wing

SEE HAWK:  Lovely blue skies in Seattle today, so we got out in it for a bit. Though it was clear, the wind was whipping away on the Magnolia bluff, and the brisk air made our eyes water and cheeks hurt, so our walk was cut short. However, for most of our outing, we enjoyed the company of a bird of prey flying over Puget Sound. Naturally, we immediately declared it a sea hawk. No, not the ones in football uniforms, but a real live bird that inspired the NFL team's name. 

The beautiful creature seemed to be enjoying the air currents this afternoon, floating to and fro overhead with hardly flapping its wings at all.

It soared back and forth, over the park we were in and out over Puget Sound. 

Rather majestic, don't you think?

And imagine our surprise and delight when we spied a (huge!) bald eagle perched on a branch nearby. It, too, seemed to be keeping tabs on the bird's comings and goings.

I posted the photos to Facebook and one of my friends asked if the bald eagle is considered a "Patriot." I told her it was probably one of Patriots coach Bill Belichick's minions, sent to spy on the Sea Hawk.  

But then another friend posted that he thought the bird was actually a turkey vulture. Hmm. In looking at photos of them online, the wings certainly look the same-ish.  Could be a turkey vulture. But a sea hawk sounds *so* much more regal than a turkey vulture, don't you think?

TRANSFORMED:  As previously reported, Annabelle spends a significant chunk of her daily computer time creating artwork, often related to ponies (as in the My Little Pony franchise).

Today, she created an original pony character in the style of MLP, from a photo of a real horse. 

In case you're wondering, Annabelle named the character Chestnut Clover.

GOING FOR BAROQUE: Lectures we listened to today for our classical music class were about the baroque period and the advent of opera in the Western world.

We listened to parts of Claudio Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo," which was written in 1607, and we learned what terms like libretto, recitative, ostinato, and auria mean. We also listened to three different versions of part of Henry Purcell's opera "Dido and Aeneas." 

A Londoner, Purcell's opera was written in English. Interesting aside: Our professor declared Purcell, Handel and Paul McCartney the three most important songwriters from England (in his opinion). 

STILL STANDING:  SMAP was scheduled to lift off early Thursday morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base but high winds scrubbed the launch. They're going for it again Friday morning, 6:20 a.m. UPDATE: SCRUBBED AGAIN. NO LAUNCH UNTIL JAN 31 at EARLIEST.

In the meantime, check out this cool photo of the gantry being rolled back from the Delta II rocket.

       Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
SMAP is NASA’s first Earth-observing satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture and its freeze-thaw state. The satellite will provide high resolution global measurements of soil moisture from space, and the data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy, and carbon cycles.

Coverage of Friday's planned launch begins at 4 a.m. Pacific Coast time, on NASA's NTV-3 channel: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/media_flash.html#.VMrEhmjF8Yd

PARALLELS:  We took about two minutes today to contemplate the existence of parallel universes. Seems like too short a time to spend on such a mind blowing topic, but it's a start. What prompted it was a Facebook post from physicist Brian Greene.  He wrote, in part, "Without a shred of evidence for other universes, why is it that some physicists -- I'm among them -- take the idea seriously?"

We hopped to his World Science U Web site and watched a brief video where Greene elaborates on his opinion (http://youtu.be/Xm4R688pTRo).


MAKE SOME NOISE:  The Washington state governor Jay Inslee has issued the following official proclamation. "Calling all 12s. It’s time to get LOUD, LOUDER and LOUDEST for our Seattle Seahawks. I’m proclaiming three state-wide moments of LOUDNESS at 12:00 p.m. on Jan. 30, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Join your fellow 12s for 30 seconds each day to cheer for the World Champion Seahawks. We’ll be in Olympia on the Capitol steps this Friday at noon to kick it off. Let them hear you all the way in Arizona!"

So, I guess we have some shouting to do. :)