George H.W. Bush skydives on 90th Birthday

He is reported to have lost use of his legs, but not his nerve - or flying skills

George H.W. Bush skydives on his 90th birthday.
Gotta hand it to him. Must See video!

North River 2 Launch 2014

North River 2 launch! My fifteenth year with her!

Where Typhoid Mary Lived - North Brother Island in Ruins

North Brother Island is returning to nature.  The Brothers are a narrow gate in the East River near Rikers Island through which all inbound and outbound traffic must pass. The island's longest-running function was as a quarantine facility, so most of the buildings are of a medical nature. This is the Nurses' building, where the island's resident nurses lived. The island famously housed "Typhoid Mary" Mallon, the first carrier in the United States of Typhoid fever.  Now it is a nature reserve - left undisturbed as a stopping point for migrating birds.  Photographer Christopher Payne has been given access by the City.  His shots are beautiful and eerie. - gwc

Quarantine hospital in East River's North Brother Island in Ruins

Mom & Dad at grand-nephew Patrick Trautfield's wedding

Patrick Trautfield and Valerie Harmon were married yesterday at Mattei's Tavern, an old stagecoach stop in the Santa Ynez valley.
Patrick is the son of Curt, Mom's brother Walter's son.  Mom and Dad went to the wedding in Solvang with my sisters Nancy and Kathryn.  Amazing to be able to go out for an afternoon at 94 and 92. 

Patrick and Valerie with her parents

Maine puffin chick death: Climate change, hungry chicks, and strange fish (VIDEO).

Maine puffin chick death: Climate change, hungry chicks, and strange fish (VIDEO).: 

by Rowen Jacobsen



"The puffin cam, thanks to a grant from the Annenberg Foundation, offered new opportunities for research and outreach. Puffin parents dote on their single chick, sheltering it in a 2-foot burrow beneath rocky ledges and bringing it piles of small fish each day. Researchers would get to watch live puffin feeding behavior for the first time, and schoolkids around the world would be falling for Petey.

But Kress soon noticed that something was wrong. Puffins dine primarily on hake and herring, two teardrop-shaped fish that have always been abundant in the Gulf of Maine. 

But Petey’s parents brought him mostly butterfish, which are shaped more like saucers. Kress watched Petey repeatedly pick up butterfish and try to swallow them. The video is absurd and tragic, because the butterfish is wider than the little gray fluff ball, who keeps tossing his head back, trying to choke down the fish, only to drop it, shaking with the effort. Petey tries again and again, but he never manages it. For weeks, his parents kept bringing him butterfish, and he kept struggling. Eventually, he began moving less and less. On July 20, Petey expired in front of a live audience. Puffin snuff."



'via Blog this'

Sea Women snorkeling the Northwest Passage

Roal Amundsen's Gjoa established
the Northwest Passage 1903 - 1906.

Ten women plan to swim the Northwest Passage.  As sport it makes sense to me.  Why not? Firsts are getting hard to come by.  But dressing it up as a scientific expedition to study the sea ice reminds me of An Empire of Ice.  Scott froze on a glacier taking magnetic measurements while Amundsen made a bee line to the South Pole,and got back without injury to claim the prize and tell the tale.  Amundsen was first to sail the Northwest Passage, establishing the route.  The Norwegians have preserved and restored the Gjoa.  It can be seen at the Fram Museum near Oslo.

Morning Doves among the Hostas

Back River Irish Spring

7:15 AM, opened my eyes

GeorgiaBel ready to launch