Day 7.083: Throwback Thursday #2

Since he missed out on the first Exiles in New York Throwback Thursday, check out this picture of E5N1 from Day 110:

So tiny, so peaceful. So not like he is today.

Day 7.069: Throwback Thursday #1

So, Throwback Thursday is a thing on the interwebs - it's Thursday - post an old picture. I've done it on Facebook a bit, now I'm doing it here.

I looked back seven years in the blog - then went back another week to find a nice photo. This is what I found. Wow.

If you're interested, you can read the post here - one of the many culture-shock stories of Year 0.

As for the present day, our real estate transactions are in progress, as are move preparations, marathon training, a still-fairly-new job and all the normal things of life. None of which is very interesting to write about so you won't get to read about it (any more than that). Not today anyway.

Day 7.016: Deja viewed

Having complained about my running taking me to places with no camera, I found myself with a couple of free hours this afternoon and decided to brave the bitterly cold wind to take my camera back where I'd been yesterday morning.

I got a nice picture of the light and the dual-carriageway trails:

But the big surprise was to see the same huge bird I'd attempted to photograph with my phone yesterday.  In the same place - diving and reappearing near the shore.  I got some better pictures:

and with the help of my parents on a Facetime call earlier, identified it as a common loon - its winter plumage threw us off briefly - but it is quite unmistakable once you've seen it.

And as a bonus, I captured a nicer picture of a previously-punned common eider.

Day 6.322: Thanksgiving - deep fried!

We were invited to a family Thanksgiving meal today. The four-generation family in question spans both this area and the town where my new job in Maine is located - it's a small world after all.

We had a great time - first with tending the deep-fried turkey (a very successful first-time for this gathering as well as for us!), then with sitting down in the amazing garage-turned-dining-room.

And later, playing pool (I cunningly showed some skills and therefore managed to avoid revealing my complete incompetence at darts) in the basement.

I believe there was football on TV and Jenga (with English-accents) and other activities, but they mostly passed me by. At some point we realised that more than 5 hours had passed and decided we should call it a day.

Day 6.267: Um...nothing to see here

These photos went up at work today.

They were taken nearly exactly two years apart - one in 2011 and the other this week.

Most shockingly to me - I had already lost more than 10 pounds and started running in the first shot.

Day 6.264: Harvest forkful

We've already enjoyed some the produce of Exile #2's fruit and vegetable planting this year. The other day she harvested a melon:

The melon plant had been rather overgrown.

This was the only fruit it produced.

It's not very big.

But neither are we.

Day 6.255: Envisionfest Hartford

On Saturday after lunch, we drove the two hours to Hartford, Connecticut where the Envisionfest festival was taking place. We arrived as the event was winding down but we were in time to have some unhealthy -but tasty and freshly-cooked - food-truck food and watch some strange passers-by while we ate it:

Then we walked through Bushnell Park where we saw a large bird and a friendly stone mermaid - and even witnessed an interaction between them (there's also a big arch there):

And we saw this excellent drum troupe:



It looks like the festival was a great event - even the small part we saw was thoroughly enjoyable.

Having walked the length of the park, we sat down between the high-rise of Hartford's downtown and the state capital:

and waited for the real reason we had made the trip...the last event of the festival (and I'll tell you about that tomorrow!)

Day 6.243: Exciting and feet-expanding!

The update from the first two days of school is that everyone is doing fine.

And also this (from E5N1):

Day 6.242: Back to school

Finally, it was the first day of the school year for our first and fourth graders (literally going back to school):

and for our sixth grader - starting middle school similarly swamped by her backpack as she was on the first day of kindergarten in our first September here.

Of course, the overall scale has changed a little!

Day 6.238: A froggy surprise (or two)

As we got out of the car in the garage the other day, we surprised this little fellow - and then chased him out onto the driveway to pose for a portrait.

A less pleasant surprise was his much larger cousin - just hanging out in the rainwater in a plastic trash can left out in the yard (rubbish bin in the garden). He seemed content enough, but was - presumably - stranded until I tipped the water and him out into the damp undergrowth.

Incidentally, I don't know what kind of frog they each are, but I least I know I can safely call them frogs!

Day 6.119: Big bug update

First, an update on the bug in the spider's web - it still seems to be in one piece but may have given up the fight. It may be my imagination, but the spider seems to be looking fatter and happier.

However, the real bug story tonight is about the periodical cicadas. These remarkable creatures - with a wonderful Latin name, magicicada - live for 13 or 17 years underground as nymphs and then - briefly but in overwhelming numbers - develop into adults, make a lot of noise, mate, lay eggs and die.  This year, Brood II is emerging after their 17 year absence. We are at the north-west edge of the area they inhabit and no-one seems quite sure how much we will see - or more to the point hear - of them here. It seems that we should find out over the next few weeks - you can follow along with their progress here and here.

Day 6.117: Come into my parlour...

...said the tiny spider to the huge bug. Then I'll hide in the corner while I wonder what on earth I'm going to do with you. Could you perhaps just die?

This drama is currently playing out outside our kitchen window. The bug is very much trapped, but still very much alive and the spider seems to be keeping its distance - for now at least. I'll keep you posted!

Day 6.116: Hello cello!

I took Exile #4 for her opportunity to "meet the strings" this evening. She is quite keen to add playing cello (or viola) to her piano, swimming and skating lessons and, of course, being a fourth grader next year.

She may need one a little smaller than this:

We'll have to wait and see how it works out!

Day 6.086: Butter flies like a banana

We're home. We had an uneventful drive back from Montreal through the late afternoon and evening. But first, we had some more visiting to do.

Today's destination was the Botanical Gardens. They are hardly at their best right now, but the highlight is a series of greenhouses that were in excellent condition including one which currently houses a huge collection of live and uncaged butterflies. We were lucky to coincide with this - and it was definitely worth the wait to get in.

Here are some pictures - some butterflies, but also E5N1 experiencing the life cycle of a monarch butterfly - egg, caterpillar and chrysalis - and my hand alongside a moth, perhaps it's just as well that these giants were not flying around, but quietly sleeping!

Talking of monarchs, yesterday, at the Science Center we watched an IMAX movie - they have a real giant-screen IMAX setup like the ones that I first encountered in the 80's, not the pale imitation that movie theaters use.  The 3D film is called L'Incroyable voyage des papillons or in the English-language version we saw (the only English-language showing of any film during the middle of the day) rather more prosaically: Flight of the Butterflies.  Of course, living here, we knew all about the monarchs and their long migration flights - or so we thought.

It turns out there was masses we did not know.  The film tells the parallel stories of a butterfly, her daughter and her granddaughter in the three-generation, year-long migration and of the man who made his life-work to  understand the migration, discovering - in the early 1970's that they congregate in the winter in huge colonies - huddling together on wooded mountain tops in Mexico where they look like this (an exhibit from the Insectarium at the Botanical Gardens today):

Amazing stuff!

Oh, yes and apologies for the kerning error above, here's the evidence:

Day 6.046: What lies beneath

The Discovery Center at the Pine Bush Preserve has some great displays. I love this view of the roots of the small pine trees that live there - truly as much below ground as above!

Day 5.347: An hour of travel in time and space

We were at the State Museum for the last hour of opening today. It was one of our most successful visits there. This is what we did.

We went to the moon.

E5N1 came eye-to-eye with a huge housefly:

I watched some Iroquois workers building a fence:

We dropped by Grand Central station:

and rode the subway:

We took a class:

and spied through the window at a fancy dining room.

I photographed an unusual winter-time hummingbird:

and we took a lesson in the history of firefighting:

So glad they're open on Saturdays again!

Day 5.324: It's bigger on the inside!

Can you tell we've been watching Doctor Who recently? This weekend took us to the second episode in Season 4. So good - so glad the kids are enjoying it!

But this post is not about the TARDIS, it's about the Swift Wetland in Delmar. We visited it once before, but recently went back for a second visit. It looks tiny from the outside and it's hard to believe that it could be worthwhile, but its hidden 21 acres are really surprisingly engaging!

Here are a few of my pictures from our second visit.