Just a bit of the nature from Savannah. A lovely Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata) was near our place. I love how the green of chlorophyll is fighting it out with the red of inevitability here.
Such spirit! Whereas this fruit tree looks like a cheap Renoir knockoff. But the joy
Some of them, I think, don’t even turn there. But this little bit of color right here made me realize: I should be in a place where the leaf turn takes place in December.
It’d be nice to be around these Maidenhairs (Ginkgo biloba), too.
It’s just fun watching their leaves fall.
And back to work today, hence my cool campus banner, there. This evening marked a turning of the page for these two guys.
I had them in a class in their freshman year, and I’ve had the good fortune to work with Will and Jackson for IUSTV sports ever since. My favorite thing — I mean the absolute best part of my job — is watching the freshmen grow and mature into leaders and, ultimately, the people they’re going to be. It’s a great time of change, those three or four years, and it’s a unique thing to be a very small part of.
Will is setting out to be a play-by-play guy, Jackson is going to be working for some big sports franchise before long. I’ll miss them here. We all will.
At the end of their sportscast, the producers put in a sneaky little package all about these guys. And as that rolled everyone in the control room came out to be with them for the final shot. I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before.
It speaks, I think, to the place they have helped build over all of that time. Which means they’re leaving us something stronger than they started with, that we’re better for the experience.
I don’t know how many 21-year-olds get that, I doubt I did, but it sinks in eventually.
The daily duds: Pictures of clothes I put here to, hopefully, help avoid embarrassing scheme repeats.
It was new tie Wednesday. And an almost new pocket square. It was one of those clearance purchases that help get you over the line for free shipping. You know the ones, there’s a carefully calculated formula that always puts you three bucks under that line, so now you have to spend another 25 minutes looking for something that costs four bucks that you actually like. But it saves you 34 bucks! Or whatever the shipping would cost. So you click, click, click until you find something and then you think “Ha! I spent more! I showed you! I win!”
They know exactly where they’ve got us with that carefully calculated formula. (But I would like to understand how that pricing structure so often almost works … )
Well, sneaky actuarial type person, I did win. I like this one a good deal.
This is a citrine geode, from Brazil. It formed in a volcanic lava cavity about 100 million years ago. It took years to recover and prepare for display. It’s one of the largest known citrine geodes. It’s just sitting there in a hotel in Savannah.
It’s one of those pleasant mixtures of old and new, which some places with a good sense of history can highlight. There’s new walls and clean, modern, steel and cement, and also exposed and distressed bricks that have seen a century or more of history around them. And maybe much more. This hotel sits along the river, and a lot of the stones found around this area were used as ballast on ships. When they weren’t needed, they got pulled from the boats and put back to work in the buildings and roads and so on. This Marriott, for example, is the old power plant, which dates back to 1912.
You look around and you can imagine the years of work and sweat and all of things, both terrible and wonderful, that passed by these walls. You walk through the floors where the Marriott’s guest rooms are and you’ll pass by the old smoke stacks. It’s a neat, new, old place. More towns need places like this.
Anyway, nearby is this amethyst geode, the deep purple offset by these large calcite crystals. The whole of the hotel lobby is like this.
Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz. The Greeks wore it. And they made drinking cups out of the stuff, thinking that amethyst somehow kept them sober. The ancient Greeks, it seems, were big Facebook users.
There’s not a sense of scale here, but a small adult could comfortably climb into this one, and that’s not fake news.
This citrine geode stalagmite is almost as tall, as I am. Citrine is also a quartz. The color is brought about by subatomic impurities, but — I just learned — natural citrine is rare, and most are heat-treated amethysts or other smoky quartz. I read how you can tell, the difference, but not until after we left. (Oh well! Have to go back!) Brazil is the leading producer of citrine. There’s a long-standing superstition, across several cultures, it seems, that it will bring prosperity. And, again, almost my height.
Look at this giant amethyst throne!
I never knew I needed a stegosaurus fossil display until I saw this one. Spiky tails, mysterious back plates, what’s not to love?
You can get toys and models and even cookie cutters, but you can’t buy a complete stegosaurus fossil on e-bay. Maybe I should set up an email alert.
You can buy trilobite fossils. But none as big as this.
Researchers at the American Museum of Natural History would tell you the trilobite could grow as large as 28 inches, so about as twice as large as these monsters.
This hotel has so many fossils on display this specimen of nautiluses is almost hidden. Not for me. I know you have to work for the best views. I’m willing to pace around aimlessly and hold up others, to see the best things.
Or … just go right outside the front door, where this almost 7-foot tall quartz is on display. The display placard says it weighs almost 10,000 pounds.
Oh, and when it was discovered it was even larger.
There should be a placard about that experience.
Just outside again, and you’re on River Street. All of this is in the newly revitalized portion of the street. Last year was big for this tourist area. We took a moment to appreciate the bridge we ran over on Saturday. This is a limited panorama of the Savannah River. Click to embiggen.
And here we are trying to figure out what is on the lens of The Yankee’s camera.
We traded selfies with a nice young couple. I took a few on their phone. They took a few on ours. I don’t know what they’ll do with theirs, but if the guy is smart he’ll make some cool keepsake of it. Me? I’m turning this one into an ornament.
I make ornaments every year. We can fill an entire tree by now. And we can’t display them because a cat will break them, he typed with an almost inadvertent sigh.
We went into one of the speciality shops for a present or two, and another for a treat. And in one of those stores I got photos with which I’ll update the front of the website later this week. Here’s a tease.
And here’s something tasty, just because it was there. By the time you’ve read this, it will all be eaten. (By someone not named me.)
All of the above was on Monday. We traveled back to Indiana today. Woke up way too early, said auf Wiedersehen our friends, and caught an Uber to go to the airport. This happened well before daylight for two reasons. First, for some reason the airports are now suggesting you arrive two hours early. Second, people vastly overestimate the amount of time it takes to travel through unfamiliar airports.
Because I have been in it twice now I can safely say this: Savannah’s airport is small. And because we were driving out in the dark, we met no traffic. Arrived at the baggage desk with no one in front of us. Spent more time weaving through an excessive amount of queue barriers than actually passing through security.
We needed to be there half an hour early, not two hours early.
We were there much closer to two hours early.
Uneventful flight to Atlanta. Said goodbye to the last of our friends there, and then had to head farther north. Landed in Indianapolis, where it was 18 degrees. Everything here was uneventful. Luggage. Shuttle to the car. Drive back to Btown, lunch, and then I spent the better part of the afternoon in the recliner.
And then I went to campus. (Hence the cool banner there.) Yes, this is my day off, I went to work. And I was there until about 8 p.m.
That’s … dedication? We’re going with that. Dedication.
Also, I knew there would be a musical performance. This is Ladies First, IU’s all-female a capella group.
More from them in this space tomorrow.
And this is Caroline Klare. She just wrapped up her last weather hit for IUSTV and now she is getting set for graduation. She’s been doing weather for IUSTV since her freshman year. October 2018, I think it was.
Whatever the date of her first forecast, she’s easily used that green screen behind us more than anyone else. And she already has a (non-broadcast) meteorology job lined up. They’ve been waiting on her for about a year, it turns out. And that makes perfect sense. She’s a thoughtful and kind person. She knows her stuff. And she’s incredibly smart, with a wisdom, I’ve always thought, beyond her years. We’re going to miss her around here.
So I went to work on my off day to watch the news. It was the last news production of the term. That’s worth going in for. Also, I tried to make a dent on catching up on email. Maybe it’ll mean tomorrow won’t be so daunting.
But we’ll still be on vacation here, tomorrow! Plenty more stuff to work our way through for the sake of the website. Come on back to check out what should be a pleasant diversion for a Wednesday.
IU / photo / television / Tuesday / video — Comments Off on This post brought to you by … me … and the cats 30 Nov 21
Another pretty day outside. It was sunny. The mercury got just above 50 degrees. It was, I’m told, a great thing. (I was bathing in the florescent glow of the office for much of the day, and the brilliance of LED lights in the studio well into the evening.) Nevertheless, we must honor it with photographic proof.
For the end of November, that’s nothing short of spectacular.
Phoebe, as we get our weekly check-in with the kitties, is enjoying this weather. She’s here posing in the living room to enjoy the late-morning sun.
Poseidon has this weekly game. After we make weekend breakfast we put the cover on the stove, and he jumps on it to soak up the last of the heat. When breakfast is done and the dishes are clean I pull out a napkin and give his face a big rub down. Sometimes he lets me rub his back or his paws — never his tail, with a napkin anyway. Sometimes he attacks the napkin, or me, or both. In a recent version of the dirty face game he tore a big hole into the napkin. And then he stood there while I tied it around him. And he posed for pictures.
One day all of the tumblers will click and I’ll understand what he likes and wants from the napkin game. It’ll be obvious and he’ll be relieved that I finally got it. This will take too long. I will blame is communication skills.
It was a news night in the studio. They did some rehearsals and auditions and it was all very productive. Because that’s what it was — and it was that because of the weeklong break the students enjoyed for Thanksgiving — they didn’t record anything. (Still took the same amount of time!)
But there is something new to show you here. This is the late night show, and this one came out just yesterday. Check it out.
And if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go sit down for a haircut. My lovely bride will give me a trim. This one means the clippers I bought last year have paid for themselves. And when you add in the silly pictures, buying a haircut kit was obviously a terrific investment.
One more work day for me this week, then it’s time for a long weekend vacation. But who’s counting?
Right as I cross the street onto campus I walk under this ginko tree. It was having a busy morning. And this is your moment of Friday meditation. It’s 60 seconds. Just watch it over and over until your weekend begins.
I will.
This is directly below that same tree, and it’s the next installment in my jigsaw puzzle project.
Wouldn’t you like to have a whole series of puzzles like that? I think it’s a 5000-piece puzzle. And, of course, as my contribution to the innovation puzzle industry, I’m proposing two-sided puzzles. This side yellow leaves, the other side red leaves.
One more show before the Thanksgiving break. This is the talk show the sports gang produced Wednesday evening. So if leaves aren’t your things, there’s always more sports talk to be had, right?
This week’s episode is a deep examination of the current state of the NFL.
And if you’re not in the mood for leaves or sports talk, here’s a car chase I watched this live this evening. One of the better ones I’ve ever seen. It had a little bit of everything — high speeds, PIT attempts, spike strips, wrong-way-down-the-freeway, bystanders trying to pitch in, a standoff, K-9, rubber bullets, bumper cars — it was a roller coaster of emotion and, happily, no one was hurt.
Some Fridays you just want a good chase and some Fridays deliver.
The daily duds: Pictures of clothes I put here to, hopefully, help avoid embarrassing scheme repeats.
Here’s a pocket square I made. First time I’ve worn it.
And I also made these cufflinks this summer, as well.
Looked pretty snazzy for a quiet day in the office.
And that’s my last day before the break. There will be some stuff here next week, so if you’ve not logged off for the week, stop back by and see the good stuff.
We’re coming to the last of it. The brilliant, crisp days before the gray moves in permanently, and the final trees before everything is just point sticks into the sky. Within the next week or so winter will set in, most decidedly, with an awkward plop. But, until then, we still have some lovely views of a few vibrant sweetgums.
These are on my little miniature walk from the parking deck to the office. There’s a half-block of sweetgums in a row.
I don’t know who planted, or left them, there, but it was the right choice, and I silently thank them for that decision this time of year.
It’s a good view walking east.
I had to walk further that direction on campus, today, because we signed up for the voluntary asymptomatic Covid tests. The university has been doing these on campus since the beginning. Initially all of the samples went to New Jersey, but they built a lab for this campus, and the one in Bloomington, and now you get your results in hours.
Anyway, this is part of that walk, from the Old Crescent, across Spanker’s Branch, past the IMU and the hotel (yes, there’s a giant hotel on campus) and one of the ancient gymnasia.
In fact, where they are conducting the tests is a small gym of some sort. Not sure what it is used for when we’re not in the midst of a pandemic, but today you register online, walk in, swipe your campus ID card at the first table, answer three questions, “Have you had anything to eat or drink in the last half hour? Have you had any symptoms? Have you been advised to quarantine?”
I remember the first time they asked you these aloud. Now they just point. The product of doing anything a few thousand times is finding the easiest way to do it. I also remember when I used to read the sign, now I just assume they haven’t changed the questions. No, no, no.
And then you go to a second table, two young men are sitting there waiting on the printer to produce a label that they wrap on the little plastic tube. They used to tell you how much saliva to produce. Now they just ask if you’ve done this before.
I have! It’s an asymptomatic testing site, and we’ve fortunately never had any symptoms, but it’s good to have the peace of mind before traveling or having guests.
So now you have that little tube in your head and you’ve been working the saliva glands overtime for the last few minutes. Produce, produce, produce. The first time or two you do this, it seems daunting. But the students are right: after you’ve had the experience you can generate that kind of spit on demand.
In the gym they’ve created lanes and there are stickers and don’t stand too near anyone because everyone’s mask is lowered and it’s time to spit into the little plastic container. You have to fill it to the bottom of the sticker. Did it in record time. Cap the sucker off, wipe it down with a few wet naps, put it in the tray and hope that the person who picks those up at the end of the day isn’t feeling clumsy. Then you get out of there. You get notified of the test results in a few hours.
(Update: Negative again, as expected. Bring on the in-laws.)
And then it was back to the office, for office stuff.
After work I walked the three blocks to the local public library. I’ve had a book on hold there for some time and this week Craig Johnson’s latest became available to me.
I enjoyed this lovely maple just outside the building.
Then I went inside — one of the few places I’ve been during the pandemic, and though I’ve been here twice, it’s one of only two dozen or so public buildings I have visited in the last 18 months — the library which is always amusing. It is built into an uneven plot of land. So going through this particular door means you go down an immediate flight of stairs. The children’s section is to the right and the used book store is nearby and there are a few meeting rooms and offices down there. It has a half-submerged feeling, not the least which is because of the large set of stairs that sweeps up and to the left to get to the main floor of books.
I walked down to immediately walk back up. And where those stairs deposit you is right next to the rows of reserve books. In fact the books for people with S names is directly in front of me, and mine is in the first section, at knee level. I was able to grab that quickly and say a silent thanks to the person who keeps those well alphabetized, and used the kiosk to check myself out. Scan my card, input my password, scan the book, print the receipt. And then back down the grand staircase, and then immediately up the half staircase to exit.
All of the power of a library, none of the human interaction. The most time intensive part, aside from waiting for the book to become available, was inputting my eight-character password.
Outside, I found another potential candidate for my jigsaw puzzle series.
And I walked back to the parking deck. Here’s one of the same sweetgums I photographed this morning, and showed you above.
Brilliant as they are, they really do need the right kind of sunlight. Either way, it’s a shame photographs can’t convey the real sense of a quality leaf turn.
So there you go, two new stories for an otherwise average Thursday. I spat in a cup and a checked out a book.
It’s all downhill from there.
And here’s the routine sharing of this week’s sports show. Lots of highlights to check out from the IU students, and it’s all brought to you by the IU broadcast students.
The daily duds: Pictures of clothes I put here to, hopefully, help avoid embarrassing scheme repeats.
I think this combination did better in person than in the photographs. Anyway, a new pocket square.
And a pair of the cufflinks I made this past summer.
And I am now one day closer to the Thanksgiving break. Just one day to go!
