Gleanings of the Week Ending July 15, 2023

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

See the Rancid, Blooming Corpse Flowers Attracting Hundreds in California – Seeing pictures is good enough for me!

Global diet study challenges advice to limit high-fat dairy foods – Some dietary advice is more impactful that others. New studies show that dairy, particularly whole fat, may protect against high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome.

Dust From the Drying Great Salt Lake Is Wreaking Havoc on Utah’s Snow – Dust makes the snow less white…which means it warms more quickly and melts!

Early Medieval Ivory Pocket Ring Analyzed – The ring was found in the grave of a wealthy Anglo-Saxon woman near Sheffield, England…and it was made from the tusk of an African elephant!

Parts of a Munich synagogue demolished by Nazis are found in a river 85 years later – The site of the synagogue is a parking lot and department store now. About 150 tons of stone columns and a tablet bearing the Ten Commandments were found about 7-8 miles from the site in a river. The synagogue had been built in the late 1800s and had more than 1,500 seats. It was destroyed in 1938.

Cosmetic chemical concerns – Not an exhaustive list/explanation, but worth browsing…there are others that seem to be concerning too (such as sulfates) that manufacturers are saying their products are eliminating.

Astro-tourism – chasing eclipses, meteor showers and elusive dark skies from Earth – We did a trek to Nebraska for the 2017 eclipse…have enjoyed Staunton River State Park Chaos Star Parties. My husband has been to Greenbank and Cherry Springs State Park for similar amateur astronomer events. It would be great if there were more such events but there are fewer people interested (and able to afford the equipment) than birders. Hopefully some of the dark sky sites will enlarge their offerings beyond outreach events for individuals that would like places to set up their own equipment. On the plus side – there are solar eclipses come up!

Native Bees Yield Hardier Flowers Than Honey Bees, Research Finds – When pollinated by native bees, plants produce more diverse offspring….and diversity is increasingly important as our climate changes.

Frogs as pollinators – A previously undocumented interaction…and an example that there are still aspects of the natural world to be discovered.

Older adults who remain more active have a better quality of life, study finds – Not really a new idea…but a study that tried to quantify the impact.

My 2019 in Review - Travel

The Space Coast of Florida….Providence, Rhode Island…Carrollton, Texas…Cape May, New Jersey…Springfield, Missouri… Smith Island, Maryland…Scottsburg, Virginia --- these were the places we traveled in 2019.

The Space Coast of Florida was for a birding festival held in January. I had quite a few blog posts about it. That road trip got the year off to a fast start for birding.

In late March/early April, I traveled to Providence, Rhode Island on the train to take the CZT class (Certified Zentangle Training). I posted about the experience of the trip and the training here.

The only plane trip of the year was in April – to Carrollton for a niece’s wedding. And it was perfect timing for the pocket prairie (posted about here).

In May, the Cape May Birding Festival…another road trip and lots of birding…blog posts.

There were multiple trips to Springfield, Missouri during the summer to help get my daughter and son-in-law moved from Pennsylvania to Missouri. It’s a 2-day road trip in each direction…often with very full carloads of fragile stuff.  And then I was back for Thanksgiving too! I did a little exploring – the botanical garden, the art museum, and the conservation nature center. The posts are here.

The first attempt at a boat trip to Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay was cancelled due to wind in April. The re-scheduled time was in October…and we enjoyed the trip. I posted about what we saw. The pelicans were the high point for me.

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Later in October, we were camping at Staunton River State Park near Scottsburg, Virginia for a star party. We’ve been going every year that the weather permits for the past several years. It’s always cold at night but we survive - enjoy ambience of a field of telescopes, tents, campers and cars. This year we took a short hike on one of the mornings.

Looking back – our travel was full of variety (places, activities, and seasons)…a good mix. I’m already primed for more adventures away from home in 2020!

Staunton River State Park sunset and sunrise

Continuing the posts about our trek to the Chaos Star Party at Staunton River State Park….

The sunsets were not spectacular because the sky was clear. I took a few pictures the first night we were camping just before sunset…when the light on the trees was golden and the campground was buzzing with activity – getting telescopes and other equipment set up for observing.

The last morning in camp was the best sunrise – because the clouds were rolling in. The forecast was for the clouds to remain for the duration of the star party and we were going to pack up. These pictures were taken from the door of our tent. It was a cold morning and I went back in to drink hot tea, put my feet on a warmer pad, cover my legs with a flannel sheet…huddled in my camp chair to eat some breakfast and read.

Once the sun came up there was enough direct sunlight through the clouds for, the tent to warmed up and the dew to start drying. It was still cold outside the tent. The deflated our mattresses and stuffed the sleeping bags into their containers. By 11 AM we were loaded up and heading to the showers to clean up before we started the trek home.

Staunton River State Park – Chaos Star Party

Continuing the posts about our trek to the Chaos Star Party at Staunton River State Park….

The Virginia LOVE theme cares to the state parks. Staunton River’s included the date the park was established…1936.

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There were various signs for the star party in the areas of the park dedicated to it. The field was full of tents and campers and trailers. We were in our roomy tent with a screened area for my husband’s electronics and chair….with the telescope just a few steps away. Some people probably were staying in the cabins and coming to the field with their telescope at night. We preferred a place to sleep near the telescope…makes it easier to lay down once the clouds roll in or the dew gets too heavy for observing. My husband had two clear-sky nights and had some observational successes (I slept relatively well through it all).

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Someone did an excellent job with a pumpkin near the cantina.

We managed a short hike. We’d been hearing a lot of birds, but they must have been migrating through – stopping for the night on the water. They’d flown off by the time we were up and about. We did see a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker making a hole in a dead branch (hanging upside down). I didn’t know what it was until after I got home and could check references. It was the drabbest woodpecker I’d ever seen! It will eventually have the distinctive red head.

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The woodpecker was in some trees that were around the cabins at the park. Most of them were oaks and the acorns were plentiful….lots of food for the woodpecker and squirrels. There were some other nests around too but we weren’t seeing many other birds.

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The sweet gums were full of color – reds and yellows. And the seeds…prickly.

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A Great Blue Heron was one of the few birds we saw on the water. It was at the limit of the zoom on my camera.

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I turned around on the beach and caught some motion in the leaves. A spider moving over the sand and onto a leaf where it was not as well camouflaged.

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On the way back we noted the solar system model that has been set up starting with the sun (yellow orb) close to the observing field and extending along the road.

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The morning we were getting ready to leave there was a sun dog. What a great serendipity for our last morning at the park!

Staunton River State Park Road Trip

Toward the end of October, the annual Chaos Star Party was held at Staunton River State Park. It was rainy early and then cloudy later in the week, so we were only there for two good nights. The drive between home and the park is between 4 and 5 hours. We waited to leave home until after the morning rush hour around Washington DC was mostly over.

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The Virginia rest stops on I95 prior to Richmond had a few late flowers…and their LOVE signs.

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We stopped for lunch at an Arby’s….and I enjoyed their chicken salad on flatbread.

On the way home, I appreciated that the carrier bag on the top of our car accommodated enough of the normal expansion of packing up after camping; we didn’t feel like the car was overstuffed.

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The drive on the narrow roads between the park and US-360 was full of fall color. And we relaxed into the drive home.

The drive on the narrow roads between the park and US-360 was full of fall color. And we relaxed into the drive ho.e.

I’ll be posting more about this trip into next week. What’s not to like about a fall camping trip (cold at night but no rain)!

Ten Little Celebrations – October 2017

October 2017 has a myriad of little celebrations – just as every month – but there was a big one this month as well: my daughter was awarded a grant that will fund her post doc research for 2 years! My husband and I celebrated as much as she did…such a relief that she can continue her work.

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There were several celebrations associated with the Staunton River Star Party:

  • Anticipating the trip…noting the improving weather forecast for sunny days and clear skies as we got closer.
  • The warmth of our mummy sleeping bags in the early morning when it dipped below 40 degrees.
  • Four clear nights for observing the stars and solar prominences observed on 2 days – what makes a star party worthwhile.
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I celebrated the finale of this year’s CSA – all the fabulous fall veggies in very generous portions. I’ll miss the CSA this winter and celebrate when it begins again next June.

The butternut squash soufflé I made with maple syrup rather than sugar – fabulous.

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The butternut squash soufflé I made with maple syrup rather than sugar – fabulous.

The Fall Festival volunteering – big map and pumpkin painting – was a great way to celebrate the season too.

Bioblitz days with 5th graders are an annual celebration of nature through the eyes of students.

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Finding a caterpillar new-to-me – a sycamore tussock moth caterpillar – was something to celebrate on another day.

Visiting Soldier’s Delight was a celebration of being outdoors on a sunny fall day.

Staunton River Star Party Solar Observations

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Most of the action at a star party is in the dark…but there are a few daylight activities as well. The sunset on the first night was scenic – with a few clouds near the horizon and tree line.

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On Thursday morning I took sunrise pictures. Clouds helped make it more interesting. The picture below was taking about 15 minutes after the one to the right.

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My husband brought his solar telescope and used it on 2 days. There were solar prominences on both days! On the second day – the prominence seemed to be changing as we watched it. I put my camera up to the eye piece of the telescope and got some pictures. The prominence on the first day was toward the bottom of the disk. On the second day, the prominence was in the upper left.

The Staunton River Star Party Observing Field

Staunton River State Park hosts two Star Parties each year – one in the spring and one in the fall. We’ve gone to the fall Star Party for 3 years but have always decided that the one in March is too cold or too wet. Maybe we’ll go in 2018. The park has a large field that has been used long enough that the soil is packed down almost as hard as the asphalt road (where the Visitor Center….and bathrooms (hurray) are located). The ‘road’ to our camp site started between the orange cones and was the closest we’ve ever been to the Visitor Center – something I noticed every time I made the trek to the facilities in the dark.

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There are lots of different set ups but probably the most honed for astronomy is a tent that has an opening for the telescope (the black patch on the top). They are relatively expensive and probably not something we’ll ever do but I can still appreciate the idea.

There are power cables from central posts out to hubs that are covered with big buckets on the field and everyone picks a spot close enough to one of them to have the power they need. There are many kinds of tents and campers…some people brought their gear in a small trailer and then used the trailer to sleep in. There is also a lot of variety of telescopes and covers for them during the day. Almost everyone has a computer along with their telescope – and the associated table and chair for it. Awnings help with the sun during the day and dew at night.

For the first couple of days, there were fewer people than I remembered from previous years. By Thursday the numbers were increasing, and people were still arriving when we left on Friday – before Saturday when there were more lectures and public observing in the evening. I wondered who would get the spot we left open on the field….a prime location.

Our Camp at Staunton River

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We set up our new tent on the observing field as soon as we got there. It was large enough for all our camping gear inside and had a screened section on the end for my husband’s observing chair and laptop. When he’s observing he spends more time in front of his computer than he does outside at the telescope. The new tent worked very well since the screened portion protected everything in it from dew almost as well as being inside the tent proper.
 

We had luxuries such as air up mattresses, pillows, warm sleeping bags….and a small coffee maker to heat water for tea on the cold mornings. Once the sun came up the tent became warmer than the outside temperatures very quickly – which was welcome since the days started out in the 30s. We opened the window covers as the day warmed into the 60s. There was enough breeze in the afternoon that the tent never became overly hot.

The field had electrical cables all we needed was an extension cord to connect out outlet strip – power to charge batteries (the telescope itself ran off batteries), laptops and phones. The telescope was the only item outside the tent…and it had its own cover for after the observing for the night was done.

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The car seemed very full when we left home and was full to the brim coming back since we didn’t manage to pack as well. It’s a good thing we has freed up space by eating the food we took!

Tomorrow’s post will be about the other types of tents and campers and telescopes on the observing field.

Staunton River Star Party

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Last Monday, we headed down to Virginia for the Staunton River Star Party. The event is held at the state park – a dark sky site. We waited until most of the morning rush hour was over since our route included the Washington DC beltway. There was still traffic, but it was moving at highway speeds even around the Mormon Temple. The rain from earlier in the morning had stopped and the clouds were beginning to break up.

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We made a stop at the first rest area we came to on I95 south of the Washington Beltway – anticipating easy traffic for the rest of the way.

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Lunch at a Chipotle was our mid-point break.

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We arrived at the park about 3 and began setting up. I always enjoy the creative pumpkin carving that sits beside the door of the cantina. All the windows on the park buildings are covered with red cellophane and lights to mark paths are red as well.

I’ll be posting about the events of the week in the next few days….but I’m wrapping up this most with the road trip home last Friday.

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We left the park about 10 and stopped at a fast food place for our first rest stop since we were not on an interstate yet and it was cool enough that my husband wanted something hot for brunch. We stopped for lunch at an Arby’s later then got on I95 shortly thereafter.

We stopped at the last rest stop on I95 before the Washington DC – obviously in Virginia.

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But this rest stop has something I had not seen before – a toddler potty! I wonder if these are going to become more common as rest stops are remodeled.

We were glad to get home after crawling through the Friday afternoon traffic from 2-4. We waited until the next day to put the tent up in the backyard to dry out (we had to pack it up before the dew dried).

More to come about the Staunton River Star Party in upcoming posts.