Earth Hour intro + Part I

Intro means my first participation here in Canada thanks to our good friend, Tony, who did all the work for us, including getting the dry ice.

Well received  -

There was a small but significant drop in electricity demand indicating a public awareness.

Now on Saturday, I observed our neighbours  in Part I.

before

during

There is a progression during some 40min - 20 min intervals between shots. Note the bright light at the right end went out with more than 10 minutes remaining.

And after the end of Earth Hour -

A definite improvement.

We'll see what a reminder does in Part II another day. Don't hold your breath.


WOB

Photo Bomb

Lots of excitement today so Earth Hour last night will have to wait. However, I did not want to leave you empty handed. So here are some visitors to Langman's Sanctuary on Friday

Oh Canada:

Too much nationalism?

The women will have their day too.

Vicki and I  did not feed these birds - we just sat quietly and clicked with them, obviously.

Dozens more characters if you ever wanted to count birds rather than sheep-

WOB

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

I have spent so much of my life trying to "connect" that I now find it difficult to disconnect, also socially, during our pandemic. We would work so hard and then came that day, usually a Friday, when we would send our manuscript away for refereeing and publication. The relief!

It was Saturday, Sept 28, 2013, I believe, when Vicki and I were at Long Point to hear Colin Jones talk to us about dragonflies and their migration. And how we could help/ citizen science. I thought about the idea and realized that I could give a talk connecting the Big Bang and Dragonfly Migration. I think I actually did this at the Carden Centre on Wed Aug 9, 2017.

On Tuesday Mar 24, I spent an hour or so next door at the Leacock estate contemplating and observing several birds. I was wondering about connecting several ideas for Killarney when my attention was grabbed by a delightful little bird. And it lead me to the title that you have to place on Dec 24/25, and maybe even back some 70 years or so. A little tenuous for you?

Consider this, to quote REM,

Just checking!

And so now you have the connection.

WOB

(And to all a good night.)

Life boat drill

In our cruise from Port Spring, it was pointed out to me that if it were a real cruise there would have been a life boat drill.

Okay, there was and I did not show it in the interest of being  concise !
What? Me?

And the boat is quite "Swift"

WOB

Canada is bringing home "Snow Birds"

We are all immigrants from somewhere else, if we just look back in time - there was a time when nobody lived here and all there was was ice and snow 10,000 years ago when the railroad also did not run ...

Anyway, Canada to the rescue:

Have a safe trip and be helpful to others, even a smile in these times  can be heart-saving aid.


WOB

Port Spring

With Nancy and Dave continuing their cruise up the west coast of the New World and Joan and Doug continuing up the East coast of Africa, Vicki and I have decided to continue ours West - from Port Spring.

We immediately experienced fog and warm temperatures - plus 10°C.

Some time ago Vicki upgraded our unit so we were on the outside, with a balcony. Still with the fog condensing out on the glass it was difficult to see.

The next day the temperature plummeted to -12°C  and we could see! In fact we took shore leave for a picmic.

You can see the super structure in the background -

You have all seen the photos of a polar bear playing with a submarine? We aren't quite in that class, but I did photograph a bear of sorts -

We took on supplies:

A "wheelie" without wheels-

With supplies onbord, the captain blew his whistle and the swing bridge was open.

 Tugs came over to help us

And we bade farewell to Orillia

Our ship is not the Titanic, but does sound ominous - the Mariposa Bell. We'll keep you posted as cruise westward.

WOB