The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning
Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.
Other creatures in our world
Spotted in Lake Walton on an out-and-back ride to the Hopewell Junction Depot end of the rail trail:
Mary counted & guesstimated fifty turtles in the backwater.
They’re the snuggliest turtles I’ve ever seen:
Taken with the Pixel XL at maximum zoom, hence the gritty overpixelization.
It’s early springtime in the Hudson Valley:
The birds have been making companionable springtime noises, but it’ll be a while before the nesting season starts up.
Taken with the DSC-H5, diagonally through two layers of 1955-ish window glass.
We spotted a motion twitch outside and finally figured out what was going on:
There must be something yummy down inside that branch scar, but you gotta keep checking your six:
Where’s a hawk when you need one?
We spotted this anomalous situation halfway up Cochran Hill Road:
It looks like a Verizon FiOS cable box filled with jumpers for all the houses along the way:
You’ll note the missing lock and misplaced latch. The box face isn’t scarred, so getting in must not have required much effort.
The box carries no company identification or emergency numbers, but it does have two theft deterrents:
Perhaps the deterrents worked better in warmer months.
Given how little Verizon wants to hear from its FiOS customers, I have sub-zero motivation for devoting the hours required to find out if it’s their problem. Somebody along Cochran should have enough standing for the case.
Judging from the squirrel tracks on both sides of the scuffle, the squirrel lived to tell the tale:
I think the squirrel came in from the right, the hawk stooped from a pine tree on the left and missed the catch, whereupon the squirrel departed leftward as fast as its little paws could go.
Surely a hair-raising encounter!
A Red Fox came trotting around the garden on the day before Christmas, then nosed up to the back of the house:
Presumably, it was in search of a snack. We wish it good hunting.
A few hours later, the fox walked quickly across the back yard with half a dozen turkey toms close behind, perhaps urging it away from their hens. Everybody remained calm and collected, knowing their roles in this particular play.
FWIW, Marist College fields Red Foxes athletic teams. The women’s teams are Lady Red Foxes, as “vixen” carries entirely inappropriate connotations.
We hung a pine-cone wreath beside the back door (a.k.a. the only door we use), replacing a Welcome sign painted on a slate tile. Of course, the tile had long provided a sheltered spot against the house siding:
Reports from the garden suggest Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs aren’t as damaging as they once were, perhaps because something has developed a taste for them.
We hope whatever it might be eats well this year.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 