freeform goodness

I was out running errands a couple of days ago, and looked over towards Red Run whle filling my gas tank. I had to run over and snap a few pictures. All shots unedited/unretouched from an iPhone 11.

:: 13:25
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We wish you all things merry and cuddly.

:: 11:27
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This gal is enormous, probably almost as big across as a nickel (not counting the legs.) There are always flies buzzing around the bush below this web, so I imagine she eats very well.

I hate flies more than spiders, who generally mind their own business, so I’m not going to bother her.

:: 15:42
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:: 15:02
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It can be pretty, as long as you don’t have to drive in it.

:: 21:55
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I was walking back from the corner gas station and saw a pretty amusing sight. The trees are dropping acorns right now, which means this is pretty much Christmas, the Fourth of July and Guy Fawkes’ Day all in one if you happen to be a member of the Sciuridae family.

I heard some chittering and looked up at one of the trees in the front yard. There were two squirrels walking around a long branch, each holding an acorn pod. They were arranging the pods along the branch. It was unspeakably cute.

Being squirrels, of course, they freaked and ran when they saw me, but I was able to run in the house and grab my camera.

:: 12:23
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We need milk. I think I'll walk. This is not the sidewalk I'll be taking, though.

:: 09:38
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I'm changing the name to Squirrelform Goodness.

:: 18:18
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We cooked and ate Christmas Eve dinner at our friend Don's house, then stayed over for the following day. Don and I tossed extra bread and peanuts on the porch and down by the sidewalk, then sat at the front window and watched all of the hungry creatures stop by.

Being the selfish person I am, I brought along a telephoto lens.

(click through the image for a large, readable version.)

The cat hung around all day, hoping to get lucky. I don't think he ever did.

:: 12:16
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So, I found myself in a deserted playground during magic hour yesterday, and all I had was my iPhone.

(flickr link)

I really love this shot, I just wish I’d had a real camera with me.

:: 12:52
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(flickr link)

Almost certainly the last week for Tammie’s flowers. They were planted from a big box of seeds very late in the season but I think they turned out pretty well. Not really apparent from the angle is how tall they are. The pink and yellow ones in the left half of the frame are nearly two feet tall.

:: 07:45
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more bouncy balls
Originally uploaded by sem.

:: 18:58
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via Astronomy Picture of the Day (link)

Explanation: Big, beautiful, barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300 lies some 70 million light-years away on the banks of the constellation Eridanus. This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the gorgeous island universe was released at this week's meeting of the American Astronomical Society as one of the largest Hubble images ever made of a complete galaxy. NGC 1300 spans over 100,000 light-years and the Hubble image reveals striking details of the galaxy's dominant central bar and majestic spiral arms. In fact, on close inspection the nucleus of this classic barred spiral itself shows a remarkable region of spiral structure about 3,000 light-years across. Unlike other spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, NGC 1300 is not presently known to have a massive central black hole.

:: 10:56
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via apod:

The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place. Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion. Long exposure, digitally sharpened images like this, however, show the Orion Nebula to be a busy neighborhood of young stars, hot gas, and dark dust. The power behind much of the Orion Nebula (M42) is the Trapezium - four of the brightest stars in the nebula. Many of the filamentary structures visible are actually shock waves - fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas. The Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located about 1500 light years away in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

Image credit: Stefan Seip

:: 09:11
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via Dan Sicko

Soon after orbital insertion, Cassini returned its best look yet at the heavily cratered moon Mimas (398 kilometers, 247 miles across). The enormous crater at the top of this image, named Herschel, is about 130 kilometers (80 miles) wide and 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep. (link)

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

:: 12:33
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(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll, 1872)

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
  The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
  Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
  And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
  The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
  And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
  The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
  He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
  Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
  He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.

:: 08:30
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These come from NASA's newly named Spitzer Space Telescope. (spotted by Randy Charles Morin)

:: 12:42
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We had a really good view of last night's eclipse. It was a completely cloudless night, cold as hell, and manageable light pollution. At twilight (between 5 and 5:30 or so), the moon was low to the horizon, orange, and huge. As the sky darkened, the moon rose higher above the horizon. A slight shadow started to creep from the bottom left of the moon's disc, peeking just over the edge. It was fascinating to watch. The edge of the shadow was very sharp and easy to see. Over the next 2 hours, it made slow yet steady progress, until at about 8PM, when the moon was perfectly shadowed. Pretty.

:: 15:08
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