For the Record

Driving snow early one morning last week.

For the record, I am not a big fan of winter. I don't mind a gentle coating of snow for the holidays, but after that I can live without the cold and snow. This is largely due to the fact that I do not have a winter activity. Sledding down a local hill with my young daughter several years ago was probably the last time I enjoyed a day in the cold and snow. When I was about my daughter's age I enjoyed sledding and ice skating at a MLK Park, not far from my childhood home in South Minneapolis. My mother even made a small ice rink in our backyard so that I could skate in circles without leaving home. I could skate into the night, illuminated by a gas light in our backyard and street lights in alley. Now days the cold and snow only get in the way of staying active outdoors. I love long walks around any number of local lakes, but that is all but impossible in temperatures below 20 degrees. Part of the fun of walking is seeing nature's small creatures, but they are nowhere to be seen in the dead of winter. And sure, I could wrap myself in layer after layer of sweaters, scarfs, etc. but that is just not the same. After this winter's roller coaster temperatures and biting cold winds, I am ready for spring.

M&M or just M

M&M at 40x

So is a half of an M&M still an M&M or is it just an M?

Lately I've been itching to play with my USB microscope, but didn't have anything interesting to look at closeup.

A year or so ago I made a cool closeup photo of a spider that was resting on the ceiling. Flipping the image upside down it looked as though he was standing on the lunar surface.

This M&M is shot at 40 times normal. This particular microscope shoots at 40x and 400x, but nothing in between. 400x is a little extreme for most things. A fruit-fly is too large of an object at 400x to see the entire bug. I could only see half of it at a time.

My eyebrows at 400x

My eyebrows look like power cables at 400 times their normal size. Yeah, I know, crazy, but this is how I like to unwind. I play with audio blogs, home video and stuff like this rather than veg out in front of the television.

There's nothing wrong with television if that's your thing. We mostly watch movies on Netflix or from Redbox. Commercials turn me off so watching regular TV is no fun.

Birds at BBG VIDEO0142

Birds at BBG VIDEO0142 a video by Tony.Carlisle on Flickr.

I am constantly amazed at how some of God’s smallest creatures can survive Minnesota’s coldest days while we have to bundle up with heavy pants, thick socks, boots, sweaters, coats, mittens, scarf and a hat we can pull down over our ears. And even then, we can only stay out in -20 degree weather with the wind that cuts like a knife for just so long. Yet, here in the tall bushes next to the fueling pumps are tiny birds with just a layer or two of feathers. They never race into the warm building, cursing about how cold it is. Of course I don’t understand what their saying so in fact they could be cursing about the weather for all I know. Anyway, I try to remember to give them a little bird seed while I stand, freezing next to the bus each morning.

Me

Me, a photo by Tony.Carlisle on Flickr.

Happy New Year! Every day, every hour, every minute is precious.

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