Salt-lick camera take...

Salt-lick camera take...  I saw deer tracks in the snow a couple days ago, so I put the camera back out.  Here's what we got last night:

Paradise ponders, tundra edition...

Paradise ponders, tundra edition...  It was cold this morning, 9°F when I got up.  I got a small surprise when I got out to my office this morning: it was about 65 (instead of the 73 the thermostat is set to), and the display on my little heat pump's inside component said “P3”.  I had to look that up.  It means “It’s too damned cold outside for the compressor to work!”  So I fired up my wood stove for the first time this year.  I suspect it won't be the last. :)  It's a toasty 75 in here now.

Yesterday as we returned from our trip up Blacksmith Fork Canyon we passed a group of people on the east side of State Highway 165, just north of our home.  They were sledding on a hill in an alfalfa field there, which happens to be almost the perfect slope and length for sledding – with short slopes for the little ones, and more challenging longer slopes for the older kids.  It seems to be the most popular place for sledding in the area.  After we got home, I noticed that several neighbors had their snowmobiles out in our 12 acre south field, which is almost perfectly flat and square – perfect for that purpose.  I took down the barbed wire fence on the west side of the field this fall, hoping to make it a bit nicer for people to play on in the winter, and that appears to have worked, as I can see several places where snowmobiles crossed over where there used to be a nasty fence.  People around here assume that it's ok to play on property that isn't plainly marked “no trespassing” – and if you did mark your property, people would think there's something weird about you.  I like this! :)

At right is the driftwood wreath that my brother Scott made and gave us for Christmas.  This morning I applied some Watco natural (no color) finish to a few hidden spots on the back to see how it looks.  If I like that, I'm going to carefully finish the whole thing. This will be a bit tricky, as there are a bazillion nooks and crannies that need to get some finish into them.  Penetrating oil finishes (like Watco) aren't brushed on, they're wiped on, and you don't leave any on the surface – it all soaks into the wood.  I've never tried to finish anything like this with penetrating oil!

I've got some work to do today to get ready for our Model X's arrival – mainly, I've got to get our insurance nailed down.  I'm going to do something I haven't done for 20 years or so: consider getting collision insurance.  It will be interesting to see what the quote is for an exotic car like this.

Debbie discovered a great a cappella group yesterday that has a couple of Christmas albums: Home Free.  That got me to wondering if there was a similar group of female singers (Home Free is all male), and that led me quickly to Noteworthy, based out of Salt Lake City.  A few minutes later I had three a cappella Christmas albums downloaded (via iTunes), and I was listening to them.  I'm playing them again right now as I write this.  Beautiful music with just their voices, which awes me no matter how much I listen to it...

A Sowell scare...

A Sowell scare...  Yesterday while browsing the news, I saw a headline that said goodbye to Dr. Thomas Sowell – and I thought 2016 had gotten even more awful than it already was.  But no, it was simply the news that Dr. Sowell had announced his retirement – at the age of 86.

While I've never met Dr. Sowell, he has played an outsize role in my political and economic education.  His gentle, concise, precise, and humorously stated wisdom led me to insights and understanding more than the vast majority of experts and educators.  His writings, including his many books, have been an inspiration to me and many others.  Much of his work is online, including many video clips and longer interviews.

One thing I was delighted to read in his announcement is that he intends to devote more time to his photography.  Many of these are of natural subjects, and are reminiscent of the work of the great Ansel Adams.  His subject matter is very varied, though.  If you're interested in photography or art, you'll be rewarded by spending some time in his published photos.

He's also going to be updating his web site, though I'm not entirely sure what that means.

I'm relieved to hear that Dr. Sowell is still with us, and I hope he still has many years left in which to enjoy a relaxing retirement...