This is your world

Photos from the TED x Oilspill EXPEDITION  "a week-long project to document the current situation in the Gulf of Mexico and bring a first hand report back to the TEDxOilSpill event in Washington DC on June 28th... working on land, air, and maybe even on boat. .. In addition to documentation of oil on the water and on the beach, they are particularly interested in the human side of the equation and will be talking to some of the people most affected by the catastrophe in the Gulf. they will also be documenting any and all evidence of media interference by BP, the Coast Guard, or other officials."

See the results, 600 and counting, images on 11 pages on FLICKR

From Higher Up:

Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico June 19, 2010 Very large photo

www.flickr.com

"The oil appears as a maze of silvery-gray ribbons in this photo-like image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite and is at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution (level of detail). Twice-daily images of the Gulf of Mexico are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team."

(note from Diana: I took a break from looking at spill destruction imagery for over 3 weeks (easy when you don't own/go near TV's) but have just stumbled upon this Huge latest pic from NASA Goddard. It's 5200 x 6000 px so beware of slow viewing time! How poignant that gorgeous green layer so thin and pearled with those little white clouds until you've click-dragged to the water...)

smaller image here - faster download

and close-up foto (smaller) here

Dr. Michael Frome turns 90

"Twenty years or so ago, they were talking about carrying capacity. 'Let’s determine the carrying capacity of the parks,'" he said the other day from the Wisconsin home in the woods he shares with his wife, June. "Now, they’re talking about, 'Let’s get more people in, so we can get more money.' The carrying capacity is out the window, so, I would say the condition of our parks has definitely gotten worse."

from nationalparkstraveler.com by Kurt Repanshek on May 24, 2010
at  90 Years On, Dr. Michael Frome Continues To Lament The State of the National Parks | National Parks Traveler

See more books on our National Forests 

View from the wisconsin window

from winter into summer

A year ago

In the montage/panorama (below, last entry) taken by Diana Ludwig, you see essentially all of Hilliard, Florida on US 301 not far across the border from Georgia.  We were looking for a place to eat on a Sunday in August of a year ago and found L'il Al's.  They had their big Sunday buffet all ready as church was getting out with lots of pick-ups parked outside and the church ladies in their finest with big flowery hats.  The buffet held fried chicken, sweet potatoes, corn, corn bread (the best I've ever had) and a huge kind of blueberry cobbler buried in whipped cream.  All this came with sweet tea.  It's always worth it to get off the interstates (in our case we were avoiding I-95 and Jacksonville).

We found all kinds of local characters sitting around the tables with families.  And we saw the King.  He was there too, aged but with a wave hair still dyed black along with his side burns, and he had on his silver frame glasses.  We passed him sitting there quietly and friendly with a woman.  He was out with his people and still with all of us.  When he finally comes out with another album it will be his best with only his voice alongside a second-hand acoustic guitar and lots of songs about all the rest of us.

Lil' Al's

a work trip to Florida in August

with a stop in Hilliard (click to enlarge)

tropical storm

a work trip to Florida where we worked through a tropical storm...:

rocks out east

scrambling the rocks along the eastern coast, with friends

Going to the Chopping Maul

It's all happening with the maul at the woodchoppers ball and it's warm.

Frances Jr. Laptop

Frances Jr. Laptop comes to lay around looking cute, here with her Kitty Bear who she routinely beats up.

Douglas, Wyoming

Drove past this statue in Douglas on the way to Casper, Wyoming this summer.

Visiting a friend's place in the pennsylvania woods...the elephant in the room big as the side of a barn. And red.

it's all happening at the shop

drilling the bed of the poet

sky pilot

sky pilot in Wyoming
click through to pages 10 and 11 at No War No More
for a poem concerning this western wildflower

Hickory Run boulder field surrounded by spruce and hemlock

The containers art came in as they wended their way to Kutztown, PA, to be displayed in the 18th Annual Invitational Salon of Small Works at N.A.P., stacked against the wall in James Carroll's studio.

Centralia smoke

Centralia, Pennsylvania is still smoking, the underground mine fire is still burning.

wild lawn meadow

our wild meadow lawn with ground ivy and blue violets between rains, chemical free

Erie

Lake Erie stones along the shore revealed by the thawing ice

cozy in november

heat has arrived

working in the dome

dome work