The Green Flash

The reason for green flash optical phenomena lies in refraction of light (as in a prism) in the atmosphere: light moves more slowly in the lower, denser air than in the thinner air above, so sunlight rays follow paths that curve slightly, in the same direction as the curvature of the Earth. Higher frequency light (green/blue) curves more than lower frequency light (red/orange), so green/blue rays from the upper rim of the setting sun remain visible after the red rays are obstructed by the curvature of the earth.
Green flashes are enhanced by mirage, which increase the density gradient in the atmosphere and therefore, increase refraction. A green flash is more likely to be seen in clear air, when more of the light from the setting sun reaches the observer without being scattered. One might expect to see a blue flash, but the blue is preferentially scattered out of the line of sight, and remaining light ends up looking green.
With slight magnification a green rim on the top of the solar disk may be seen on most clear-day sunsets, although the flash or ray effects require a stronger layering of the atmosphere and a mirage, which serves to magnify the green for a fraction of a second to a couple of seconds.


Bruce and I are at Venice Beach California. We are taking a cruise through the Panama Canal that leaves south of here. Tonight we watched the sun set at the beach on the Pacific Ocean and saw the green flash. We've seen the flash several times when we lived aboard Arcadia. When a sailor sees the green flash it means safe travels for him. It is amazing and exciting to see this phenomena. We should have safe travels on our cruise.

Winter weather

Bruce and I had a bit of an adventure yesterday. On our way over to Sedona via highway 40. (Mother Road RT 66) we experienced some fierce wind. It was gusting to 50 miles per hour. We heard this shake, rattle and roll so pulled over to discover our awning was about to unwind. Bruce secured that and we got back underway. We thought all was well but driving in that wind was a bit unnerving so we decided to stop in Flagstaff for the night or so. We toured around the town which reminded us of Ithaca NY without the hills. That evening as we were relaxing and the storm that was predicted was beginning, thunder and rain, Bruce noticed rain dripping in from the air conditioner duct on the ceiling. We got towels and pots to collect the rain. Bruce decided to go on the roof and investigate. Seems one of those shakes, rattles or rolls we had heard was the cover to the air conditioner blowing away on RT 66. Should we just buy the cover or replace the entire air conditioner that is 13 yrs old?
We woke up to four inches of snow!!

Catching up, Again!

This is the third time I have tired to catch up with this blog!! Either the connection was bad or I did something wrong but it just wasn't working.

As usual the summer flew by. We had two baby showers and one wedding shower plus the wedding in Sept. Of course we were gone for the last five weeks of it. In August we went to Europe. First few weeks we were in Italy with my family. We did all the must see spots. Roma, Pisa, Venice, Milan and I really enjoyed Lake Como.
We also visited the smaller towns in Italy where the real people live, not the tourist traps. One highlight of the trip was a dinner we had at Banfi Winery. The food was awesome!! This restaurant inspired Cornell to open Banfi's at the university in Ithaca. Bruce and I then flew to London were we met our friends Dick and Sara. We had a great time and also saw the must see places. Big Ben, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Trafalger Square,Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards. We went up in the Eye of London at night, for a beautiful view of the city. London is a great city and it was easy to get around using their public transportation. One day and of course one of many, we decided we needed a beer. So we walked into this bar and I noticed everyone in there was a guy. It didn't cross my mind until the bartender brought it to our attention that it was a gay bar. We said it doesn't bother us, can we still get a beer? He said yes and we sat outside on the patio. LOL!!! After spending a week in London we flew to Ireland for a week. Dick wanted to find his roots. We rented a car and drove up to Derry where Dick did his research. We then drove the Giants Causeway to Belfast, across the country to Galway to see the Cliff's of Moher, Kylemore Abby, and then headed back to Dublin. Along the way we stopped at smaller towns to explore. We spent about three days in Dublin, in the Temple Bar area. I had visited Dublin in 2004 when Keith was in the Special Olympics. We got back to NY on Sept.7 th.

Bruce and I are now on the road again in our motorhome. Our first major destination was Albuquerque NM, where we went to the Balloon Fiesta. We met our friends there and she decided it would enhance the experience if we were part of a chase team, instead of just watching the balloons go up, so we signed on as crew. This meant getting up at the crack of dawn or before and hurrying up to wait. It was worth it because I got a ride in Sarah the Witch hot air balloon. I am afraid of heights but was not about to pass up this experience. It was so beautiful, peaceful and quiet. The view was awesome over the Rio Grande River!! Seeing tons of balloons below me all blown up and ready for flight was quite the sight, and then seeing balloons floating around us was pretty cool. Before the landing the pilot instructed us( another 14 yr old girl also came along)to keep our knees bent and to put my camera away, because it will not be a soft landing and that we would bounce along for a bit until someone on the chase crew could grab us. When we landed we both went hysterical laughing. The landing was easier then I had thought. We had a very experienced pilot who has been doing this for years. As part of the crew we were invited to the gatherings after the morning launch. These included lunch with margaritas, champagne, pina colladas and beer. We then had to be ready for the evening launch and helping to ready the balloons. It isn't easy and takes a lot of crew to get a balloon up.

Bruce and I are now in Utah visiting the national parks. We are staying as far north as we dare until the weather changes and then we'll head to Tucson for the winter. We really enjoyed the Rincon Country West Resort that we stayed at last winter so are going back for five months.

On Dec. 5th we are going on a two week cruise through the Panama Canal and ending in FT Lauderdale FL. We'll drive up to Palm Bay and spend Christmas with my parents.

There I did it!! Hopefully I won't neglect this blog anymore.

Caravan to Big Bend Texas

So Uncle Peter, Kaye, Bruce and I met up in Tucson AZ. We spent a week there and then headed to Big Bend Texas. We planned on leaving Rincon West Resort at 9 am. Bruce was concerned about how our new cruiser would tow, so of course he was awake at 5am thinking that over. At around 7:30 am he hooked up the tow bar and then discovered the cable that hooked the lights up from the motorhome to the car was too short by about 14 inches. Oh well, we'll take a chance that no one would run into the back of us or a trooper would notice no lights. By 8am we were parked in front of Uncle Peter's lot ready to go. LOL!! They were surprised to see us an hour early, needless to say. At 9am we headed out and first stop was fuel for both of our rigs. Bruce had been scouting out the best price for the past week or so. We knew just where to go. We pulled in and discovered they don't take charge cards. Just cash or debit. No biggie. Now when you fill a big rig it is pretty pricey, and the girl said that the machine would take up to four hundred dollars. We couldn't get it past one sixty so had to fuel up and feed the stupid machine some more money. In the mean time Uncle Peter was pulling up and some guy was coming from the opposite direction heading for the same pump. Uncle Peter was waving at him to stop and the guy kept coming. When Uncle Peter slammed on the breaks cabinets opened and dishes flew out. Guess he lost a plate, a mug and things flew. He was pissed!! This was the most fun we've ever had fueling up!!
We then headed for Campers World. It was on the way and Uncle Peter had some gift cards burning a hole in his pocket. He found some stuff he needed. While we were shopping around Campers World Bruce thought to use an older cable that was longer and change the attachment on the end so we would have lights and at 11 am we were headed out of Tucson. The day or so before Kaye had found a rest area we could stop at, the first night out on the way to Big Bend. So here we are resting up for tomorrows leg of the journey.
It's suppose to be in the low nineties in Big Bend. Yikes!!

Patience

“Patience is a virtue, Possess it if you can, Often found in woman, Never found in man”

Rincon Country West RV Resort Quilt Show

I can't keep up with these ladies!!! Their quilts are amazing and they actually get them done in a timing fashion. I like the smaller table toppers because I can get them done in two or three days. I must say though, that they are inspiring me to go bigger. In fact I have my fabric for a kaleidoscope quilt that I plan on making. There was a class on this that I couldn't go to because I was hiking. I went in and checked out what they were up to and then found the directions by Googling it. I have the best of two worlds.

The Cactus Quilters have three projects that they work on throughout the season. Comfort quilts for anyone sick in or out of RV Resort. They make blind baby quilts for the School for the Blind. Some of these quilts go to Phoenix and Flagstaff AZ. The third project is making dog beds for the Humane Society, here in Tucson.
I've helped with all but doggy beds. Well, that isn't true. I have donated scraps for them to use and this morning I found seat cushions I thought would be good for dog beds and gave one to them.

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

For two weeks, from Jan.29-Feb.13th the city of Tucson is a mecca for gem and mineral collectors, wholesalers, jewelery makers or anyone else wanting to buy, sell or just browse among a bazillion gems, minerals and huge boulders. Vendors came from all over the world. I wonder how much it cost to ship a boulder from Africa!! There are tents set up in parks and parking lots, hotel rooms are taken over, with beds removed or stacked in a corner, so the dealers can display their treasures. The final weekend was in the convention center for retail sales. That cost ten dollars to get in, so after browsing around for two weeks we passed on that. Needless to say we bought some gems and minerals. It really is addicting and just amazing what nature can produce.

Edward Wallis Hoch (1849-1925)

There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly behooves any of us
To talk about the rest of us.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!