3:30 Still Snowing and sticking a little

Some blizzard isn't it? The weather people have revised their forecast to 2 to 4 inches from 6 to ten. Eventually they will get it.

12:30 Snowing, but still no real accumulation

9:30 AM No Snow Yet...

Snow Hype

The DC area weather forecasters have created a snow frenzy once again. But so far, no snow. We have seen about 5 flakes this morning so far. I am really appalled at the HUGE deal they make about snowstorms. I can understand being excited about 2 feet of snow, but four inches shouldn't cause alarm. All of the areas school systems have closed for the day and there is literally no new snow on the ground (or in the air) as of this posting. I don't know what drives these decisions. This is a real chicken little situation. "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"

I think the TV weather forecasters get caught between their technology, which really is a lot more accurate than it used to be, and the ratings, which demand hype and excitement.

A visit to Grandma and Grandpas 2/26

Yesterday we went over to visit Grandma and Granpa in the afternoon. Here is a picture of Seth and His Grandpa R.


2/27
Our visit to the National Gallery went very well. I particularly wanted to see the Anrde' Kertesz exhibit which was very interesting.

Sunday Outing

Seth has finished his mid-morning nap so I think we will have a luttle lunch and then head out for the National Gallery. It will be Seth's first trip into Washington. Eventually I guess we will start noting first this and first that. but not yet. These days nearly everything is a first for him in one way or another.

We saw a baby in church this morning that I guessed was about a week or two old. It turns our she was nine weeks old. She was born two weeks early and now weighs about 9 pounds. We seems to be under the impression that all babies weigh more than 10 lbs when they're born.

My Grandfather and Horses

Sometime between 1915 and 1920

Nationals Radio

The Nationals have hired radio announcers for their broadcasts on Z104 FM and and AM 1050.

Nationals name radio voices:
By Bill Ladson / MLB.com

VIERA, Fla. -- The Nationals named Charlie Slowes and David Shea as the club's radio voices on Thursday. Both have signed one-year deals and are employees of the Nationals.

Shea and Slowes will broadcast all 162 games, plus nine weekend Spring Training contests on WFED-AM 1050. They also will be heard 122 times on Z104-FM, the team's flagship station.

Slowes and Shea will work their first game together on March 5 when the Nationals play the Orioles in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The game will be on WFED.

Home for the Snow

We are getting some snow this evening. The TV weather people have made a huge big deal about it. I think we have about 3 or at most 4 inches right now.

It is easy to get contemplative when it is snowing outside and you are listing to some mellow music while the baby gets his bath.

Business Travel

11:45 am
I am en-route to Clemson, SC this morning. It is interesting to me how we can travel among groups of people, in close quarters on an airplane, and not interact with anyone except for telling the flight attendant what we want to drink. I suppose part of that is because airplane seating isn't designed around socializing. It is also partly because many of the travelers are by themselves.

I am sitting in a asile set with an empty chair next to me. If someone were in the seat across the aisle, which is also empty, I probably would not strike up a conversation. If someone were in the window seat, there is a chance that we might talk, but I have often sat next to someone on a plane and hardly said a word.

I suppose we do this because it doesn't make sense to invest effort into what is clearly a very short term relationship and because some people aren't very good at, or don't enjoy, small talk.

4 Month Checkup

Seth is off to the doctor for his four month checkup this morning. He is supposed to get 4 shots. Hopefully that won't be too bad for him. In the meanwhile, I am waiting anxiously for some news about it from Debbie. I am sure she will call when they are on their way home.

1:20
The doctor appointment went well. Seth got his shots. He is now 17 lbs 1 oz and 26 1/2 inches long. That's my boy!

Tummy Time

A Walk in the Park

It is such a nice warm day that we decided to go for a walk in the park this afternoon. Seth slept in the stoller (as usual) while Debbie and I looked for turtles, ducks and other critters. We saw four turtles and lots of geese.

George Washington's Birthday

Uncle Sam has the day off today, so I have a light day of work. I am working at home a little, but I don't really expect to be too busy. It is nice to be able to work from home and stay in touch with the office. Ain't technology grand?

Seth the Birder

This is a picture of Seth bird watching. Notice his faithful bird-dog Plopper.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Today we took a little birding trip to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge South of Cambridge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Blackwater is home to both Winter migrant and year round resident populations of Bald Eagles. They are the stars of a show that never fails to deliver a good birding trip. We saw a lot of eagles.

Of course we went to look for more than just them. Here is a list of what we saw. We saw more than one of nearly all of these birds, but I'm only going to list the species, not the quantities.

---

Starling (of course)	Bald Eagle
Blue Heron	Canadian Geese (1000s)
Crow	Robin
Red Tail Hawk	Ring Billed Gull
Herring Gull	Cardinal
Blue Jay	Tern (not sure what kind)
White Throated Sparrow	Mallard
Ring Necked Duck	Pintail Duck
Northern Shoveller	White Breasted Nuthatch
Brown Headed Nuthatch	Blue Bird
Downey Woodpecker	Red Bellied Woodpecker
Chickadee	Tufted Titmouse
Mocking Bird	Harrier
Pileated Woodpecker	Mourning Dove
Turkey Vulture	Tundra Swan

Birding

We are going to take Seth on his first birding trip this weekend. Of course he won't realize that he is birding, but Debbie and I will have fun and he will be happy to be along for the ride.

I am looking forward to getting out and travelling around a bit.

Seth in Flemington

Seth watching his first basketball game in Flemington NJ.

That sweater, by the way, was knitted by my Aunt Marie for my nephew. Since my nephew is 10, and hasn't worn this sweater in some time, we have it on a loan for a while.. Seth seems to be quite comfy in it, and it has a cool hood that makes him look like a tiny little Jedi Knight. May the force be with you!

Srping Training

It may still feel like winter outside, but today the Washington Nationals pitchers and catchers report for spring training. I am already excited about baseball.

I still have a warm spot in my heart for the Orioles, and always will, but I am ready to follow the Nationals. I have never really paid much attention to NL teams in the past because I have been an Os fan. So now I guess I have two teams to follow. The Nationals in the NL and the Orioles in the AL.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

The Potomac Cannons are now the Potomac Nationals. The Division A minor league team in Woodbridge, VA decided that it would make good marketing sense for them to have the same name as their Big League affiliate. They are only 30 miles or so from DC so they might be able to sell some tickets to baseball hungry Nationals fans.

I never really thought that the Cannons was a great name any way. Now, what are they going to do for a mascot? I guess Boomer (the cannon ball) is out of a job.

Footloose

Debbie and I just watched Footloose on AMC. For anybody who was in high school in the early eighties it is almost like a class reunion. Every song on the soundtrack was burned into our collective consciousness. Kevin Bacon is remarkably like Dick Clark in that he doesn't seem to have aged much in the last twenty years.

As we all know, the movie is only a B+ at best, but if you want to remember what was cool in 1984 this is the film to watch.

A little time at home

Debbie and Seth went off too visit with her friend Colleen today which leaves me at home for a few hours by myself. I used to have a lot of this kind of unstructured time when Debbie was working. Two nights a week and two Saturdays out of three I was on my own.

Seth is growing and changing almost daily. We weighed and measured him yesterday. 25 3/4 inches long and 17 lbs. He is noticeably heavier than just a couple of weeks ago. He holds his head up well, and is very interested in objects within reach. Yesterday he reached for my glass when I was holding him. That is the first time I've seen him do that.

Cat Nap

Let me sleep just a little longer...

Mt St Helens Update

The new dome on Mt St. Helens is still growing.

A GPS "spyder package deployed earlier this week near the top of the new lava dome continues to move upward about 1.5 meters per day and to the southeast about 5 meters per day, a bit more slowly than the last GPS deployed on the dome in mid-January." - Quoted from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory web site.

Change is a good Thing

I was reading some of my early posts and realized that a year ago we dind't yet know that we were going to have a baby. It seems as if Seth has always been a part of our lives, and yet, not that long ago, we had no idea that he would be with us.

Early on people were more than happy to tell us how much our lives would change. Well, Debbie's life has changed a lot because she is staying home from work, but I don't feel like there has been a huge amount of change. Certainly my focus is different than it used to be, and we have a lot of brightly colored plastic stuff in the house. But, all in all, I don't really feel like it has been a huge adjustment.

The best change has been seeing two smiling faces at the door when I get home from work. That alone is worth whatever little things I have given up or adjustments I have made.

Ash Wednesday

Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.
- Ash Wednesday Service -

We are stardust
We are Golden
We are million year old carbon
and we have to get ourselves
back to the garden.
-Joni Mitchell

Dust in the wind,
all we are is dust in the wind.
-Kansas-

And if that isn't cheery enough, lent lasts for six more weeks.

Lost Filling?

Over the weeknd, as I was driving to New Jersey, I was chewing some gum and discovered that there was a piece of my tooth in it. At first I thought the tooth chipped, but now I think it was a ceramic filling that came loose. It is hard to tell because the filling matches the tooth color so well.

Usually, I don't wan't to go to the dentist very badly, but this thing will get bad if I don't deal with it. I am, in a way, looking forward to going to the dentist this morning. The tooth doesn't hurt, but I have been avoiding chewing on that side which is irritating. We are lucky that things like this can be repaired. In the past this tooth would probably have rotted and gotten really painful before it was finally pulled. Tonight, I will still have my tooth with a little patch.

3:11 pm
After an hour and a half in the chair I now have a whole tooth once again. Most of the novocaine has worn off and I am almost back to normal. It turns out that the problem was indeed a broken filling, which the dentist repaired at no charge because she was the one who did the original work.

Superbowl Pool

I finally won something. After never winning a pool, or a raffle, or even a game of bingo, I won our office Superbowl pool this weekend. Seventy five bucks! Not bad.

Unfortunately the Eagles didn't win, but I guess I can find a way to live with that.

Smiling Seth

This is such a fun picture!

We're Home!

Our trip home from NJ was uneventful, which is exactly what we wanted. No traffic to amount to much. I suppose travelling during the first half of the Superbowl had something to do with that.

Seth is very glad to be home and to see all of the familiar stuff. He is all smiles and chuckles.

On The Road Again

Punxatawney Phil's Revenge

It looks like Phil is getting his revenge on us for waking him so early yesterday morning. While he sleeps cozily in his heated groundhog hole, we have quite a good snow fall under way. From the looks of the weather radar I predict it will last into rush hour. Oh, boy! It is relatively warm, so it probably won't accumulate much.

Post Groundhog Day

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show. ~Andrew Wyeth

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. ~Albert Camus (1913 - 1960)

To shorten winter, borrow some money due in spring. ~W.J. Vogel

Groundhog Day

February 2, 2005 - around 7:30 am ET - Punxsutawney, PA
Punxsutawney Phil (the official Groundhog) saw his shadow and so we are headed for 6 more weeks of winter!

Groundhog day is also Candlemas day which is roughly half way between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Candlemas celebrates Mary's ritual purification after the birth of Jesus and the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Early Christians believed that if the sun was out on Candlemas, then the winter would last six more weeks.

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.

In any case, six more weeks of winter at this point is a pretty safe prediction.