March 2008

March 24

A short walk from our house, in the middle of a large block, is a line of tall Norway Spruce. These have been, at least for the last few years, a roost for a flock of vultures numbering as high as fifty.

The house in front of the trees recently sold, after standing empty for a year or two. I think it changed hands during the brief period when the vultures were in their southern range. I wonder what the new owners think of their flock. I'd spend a lot of my time just watching their behavior. What, however, does a flock of carrion-eaters smell like?

Nancy and I were out walking in the woods one grey day this past week, and came across these tracks. The upper photo is a series of bounds which leads to the slide mark in the second photo-which leads right into the river. Mink will do this, but from the size my money is on an otter.

February 2008

February 28

This is the American side of Niagara Falls the year they turned it off to look into halting its erosion. The reason it's dumb to go over the falls in a barrel should be immediately obvious. It ain't the water that'll kill you-its the the house-sized boulders.

Downtown Cleveland in winter

February 20

Took a few days to attend the annual Marine Community Day in Cleveland, Ohio. I now know more about dredging issues, canal and lock construction, and identification for port workers than I ever thought I'd need to.

Rocky River Reservation

Wlliam G. Mather Museum

January 2008

Working on a dog burial, Macoupin site, Illinois

January 29

In 1977 I took a spring workshop at the Center for American Archaeology. I've uploaded a few of the pictures.

January 28

The basement machine shop is almost done. Another couple coats of paint on the workbench and trim and I'll be moving tools into place. I'm not looking forward to dragging the quarter-ton lathe down the stairs. It'll be a bit of work breaking it down into manageable chunks.

January 25

Long ago I attended the Boy Scouts' National Jamboree.

In the Boatyard, Helsinki, Finland, 1977

January 24

Thousands of scans later, I'm beginning to sort through them and post some of the more interesting. I found out just how long I've been taking pictures of boats.

Paintings on something like papyrus.

Basement workroom under construction

January 18

I've managed to catch a bug that's been working its way through most everyone I know. A week of the creeping crud and a head full of sheep snot.

January 9

This room was meant to be a darkroom, but installing a sink proved to be a challenge. This low in the house would have needed a high capacity pumped system. In the time it took to figure out how to engineer such a system, technology passed it by. I've gone digital. So, the darkroom has been re-purposed as a general workroom.

Its darkroom ancestry shows in the position of the white light switch-6 feet off the floor, the switched ceiling outlets meant for safelights, and the positive pressure air system with outside exhaust.

The coal bin turned to storage

Large (1 meter) Imperial Destroyer

January 7

My January habit is to pick one room in the house and renovate it. This year's project is the old coal bin under the front porch and a workroom that was partly re-built when I did the studio space.

My son and I have a long holiday tradition. We put together a large LEGO model. Over the years these models became more complicated. This year we set a new record with the 3100-piece Imperial Star Destroyer.

I've decided to do a series of the Globe Mill Pond across the seasons.

January 2-A Winter's Walk

I took this shot yesterday. In addition to the dozens of Mallards and Canada Geese, there was also a Swan (green), 9 Sandhill Cranes (yellow), a Red-tail Hawk (blue), and a great bloody Bald Eagle (red) You'll have to trust me on the raptors, my lens wasn't as good as the binoculars. ID is positive on the eagle.

The Raisin

Along the canal bank.

Tecumseh is where it is because of topography. Several small watercourses come together here in an area with enough drop to run water-driven industry.