The Wedding is Coming, the Wedding is Coming!

We Americans may have fought a bloody war to free ourselves from the rule of a sovereign, but clearly our fascination with British royalty lingers over 200 years later. Many of us can't resist the temptation to keep up with the comings and goings of the British monarchy. Perhaps it's our inner Tories responding to the crown and scepter all these years later. Or maybe it's just our celebrity crazed culture that can't resist a spectacle regardless of social class. Thankfully, the Today show and CNN didn't go on location weeks in advance of a Khardashian or Spears/Federline nuptial...

Anticipation of Kate and William's wedding has reached a fever pitch as the big day has approached, and thank goodness it is finally upon us. I don't know how much more I can take. As eager as I am to view the event, the buildup has been excruciating. I don't need to hear one more tidbit about Kate's fashion sense or William's bald spot. All I REALLY care about is the dress. Big props to the royal secret keepers for making Kate's wedding day attire the best kept secret of the century. Even Wikileaks hasn't released it...

I was 15 when Charles and Diana were married back in 1981. We lived in California, so it was an all-nighter to see the wedding live. I sat alone in front of our TV in the family room in my robe (house robe, not royal robe - I pretended) and watched every moment of the pomp and fanfare. I was enthralled by the billows and billows of cream silk taffeta that poured out of the glass carriage resulting in puff sleeves that would have sent Anne Shirley into fits of delight and a 25-foot train that followed Diana down the aisle of St. Paul's Cathedral. The wrinkles that horrified stylists when she emerged from the carriage magically disappeared as the ceremony began (fairy godmother must have tended to that). The dress looks dated and frumpy and almost childlike now, but it set the standard for every other wedding dress for the next decade until the minimalism of the 90s took over followed by the monotonous straplessness of the 2000s. I'm fairly certain that Diana's bouquet is responsible for the mammoth floral arrangement that I carried down the aisle in 1993 (my arms were numb by the end of the ceremony...)



I think even then as a 15-year old, I was aware of what a poor match Charles and Diana were. He has never been terribly likable and not at all dashing, and Shy Di was, well, shy, and seemingly fragile. I remember feeling a bit of an "ick" factor about the age difference and wondering what she could possibly see in him (OK, future King of England...). I hoped that maybe there was some underlying affection that would be sufficient to make a successful marriage.

Well, we all know how that fairytale ended, but what did come of it was a couple of what appear to be terrific boys. William in particular seems to have inherited his mother's greatest assets - her easy, warm, winning personality and good looks minus the doe-eyed vulnerability and lack of self-confidence (he did get the Windsor bald spot and rather big teeth, but he's still easier on the eyes than his Dad). I think the royal family got what they hoped for out of Diana - a worthy heir and spare. For all the drama that Diana brought to the royal scene, I don't think there's any denying that she was a wonderful mother, and her boys are her greatest legacy (followed by her charity/AIDS work and of course, that dress...).

So I have higher hopes for the couple that will walk down the aisle of Westminster Abbey tomorrow morning. I certainly don't have any firsthand knowledge of these two or a crystal ball, but they both seem well suited, comfortable in their own skin, and sincerely fond of one another. And as far as I've heard, there's no Camilla on the sidelines to put a wrench in things (I'm also looking forward to seeing what SHE will wear - she has donned some dooseys!  Thank goodness she is the step-mother, and she and Charles never had children together...).

Yes, I will be up to watch this royal wedding as I was almost 30 years ago, but this time I'm on East Coast, Cape St. Claire time so I can get some sleep and set an alarm. And this time, I won't be alone. My 13-year old daughter is as keen to get a first glimpse of the dress as I am (we watch way too much Say Yes to the Dress). We all know what the men will have on - military uniforms and morning suits - but I don't have the faintest clue what to expect for Kate. White? Cream? (my guess is white). Fitted? Full?(hoping for long, lean and flowing without being skin tight or a marshmallow). Hair up or down? (I'm thinking back but not up). We will all know tomorrow morning when the wedding of the century thus far gets underway. Since this dress is likely to impact wedding dress trends possibly until my daughter gets married, God, please don't let it be strapless...

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Opening Day and a Murder of Fish Crows

Striped Bass - locally known as Rockfish

The month of April is marked by several significant events. One is tax day. We were granted three extra days this year, so it falls on Monday, April 18th. I finished mine yesterday for good measure - just in case the government was pulling one over on us - late April fool's. Then there's Easter, which moves around to make life interesting, and this year is very late - not until next week. Finally, and frankly most significantly of all in this household, is Opening Day for Trophy Rockfish season. It is just about as sacred a day as any in my husband's book, and usually, we are all mobilized, out of the house, and on the water before dawn seeking out stripers.

This year, however, my husband has work obligations that are keeping him in the office as opposed to on the Bay, and he is none too happy about it. The only consolation for him is that a wicked storm is bearing down on the area that will make trolling for rockfish a colossal pain (not that we wish that on the other fishermen/women out there, - just makes him feel better that he can't be out). I saw my neighbor head out early, and another friend put his boat in at the community ramp late last night and left it at our dock so he could get a start before daybreak. My husband is living vicariously through them.

Despite being at work, my husband texted me at 9 AM to report that it was already blowing 16 at Thomas Point and would be 25 - 30 by 11 AM. At 10 AM, he updated me that it was gusting up to 40. He's been out in worse, but it doesn't make for a fun day - better than being in the office, but a workout. Looks like the best bet today was to get out and back early before it got snotty (to use my husband's jargon). I hope all of you who braved it stayed safe, found some fish, kept what you could, and gently released what you couldn't so we can catch them another day. For those who are waiting for fairer seas and skies tomorrow, good luck to you. Send photos of your biggest, loveliest rockfish to:
cape-blogger@comcast.net
and I will post them on the blog photo page and on the Cape Blogger Facebook page - or you can post them there yourself. If you're so inclined, feel free to share where you caught them and what you were pulling. My husband would be much obliged...

As for the murder of crows, I posted a while back about a flock of what looked like crows in my yard (A Murder of Crows!). I'm still not entirely sure what they were, but they were too small for American Crows. This morning, I heard a ruckus outside and went to investigate. I spied a small flock of large black birds in a tree at the end of our yard. They had a very distinct call that I did not recognize as the typical caw'ing of crows, but they certainly looked like crows - bigger than the ones I saw earlier in the year, but still not the size of American Crows. Here is a video of the cacophony:



I came back inside and pulled out my new favorite toy - my bird call book. It has pictures of birds and recordings of all of their calls. I flipped to the section about crows and started playing the calls of any that inhabit this part of the country. When I got to the Fish Crow, I knew I had my bird. And how appropriate for Opening Day! Even the birds know that fishing season is underway! Here's the Audubon Society's picture of a Fish Crow.

Audubon Society Drawing of Fish Crow

I was not familiar with the Fish Crow although I'm sure they've been frequenting my yard for more years than I've been here. Now that I know their call, I won't mistake them again. It's very distinct. Here's a video of the picture in my book along with the recorded call:



What do you think? Fish Crow? Sounds right to me. The book says they are smaller than the American Crow with a different voice. Also a good fit.

Here's hoping all you fisherfolk and fish crows found what you were looking for today in the nasty weather. I think perhaps we were spared the worst of what is passing through the deep south in the way of tornadoes and thunderstorms, although I'm hearing some loud rumbles now. Any of you with boats at the marinas, the water is pretty high - skimming the tops of the piers. My parents in South Carolina report VERY strong winds down their way, and they have cleared out the closet under the stairs of their civil war era farmhouse to ride out anything rough. It has good bones and should protect them from whatever comes their way. They weren't sure if the dog would fit.  I told them to take a deep breath and squeeze him in. Otherwise Rocky might end up in Oz...

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Peeps as Art/Expression

In my past couple of posts, I've made reference to my somewhat unhealthy obsession with Peeps, the ubiquitous seasonal marshmallow treat. This is a condition that presented itself in my adult life. I never knew Peeps as a child. I'm not sure if that was a function of geography (did they have Peeps in California in the 70s? - real ones - not drug induced psychedelic rainbows of chicks and bunnies) or if my parents simply were not attuned to them. I can't recall ever seeing a Peep until my late twenties. They simply weren't on my radar for the first 20+ years of my life.

Then I met my husband and joined the Roberts family, and the Roberts know Peeps. Some of my earliest and happiest encounters with my husband's family were Easter gatherings at his parents' house. His mother always had dishes full of Easter candy, and one of them was always a colorful jar of Peeps. Anyone who knows something about Peeps knows that there are two schools of thought about how they taste best - fresh and squishy or aged and firm (i.e. stale - this is the complete opposite of our human forms - firm when we're young and squishy when we're old). The preference must not be altogether genetic because the Roberts family has a healthy mix of both. The lid of the Peeps jar would be alternately left off or on during the day to either preserve the soft texture or speed up the aging process depending on who was last to reach for one.

My Peep obsession is not unhealthy by virtue of eating them, however. I don't. I have never liked marshmallow (unless toasted and melty on the end of a stick or roasted and placed between two graham crackers with a piece of a Hershey's chocolate). So Peeps have never appealed to me as food. I'm not sure they really even constitute "food" (closer to styrofoam packaging material), but the bright colors and simplicity of form have always been irresistible to me, and over the years, I have become a true Peeps groupie to rival any member of the Roberts family. I would venture to say my devotion to Peeps has surpassed all of them.

When the little neon critters start showing up in stores in the spring, it's all I can do not to fill my shopping cart with every conceivable shape and color. Pink, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, red, chicks, bunnies, eggs... It's mind blowing. And even more appealing than the look of them is the FEEL of them when they're fresh. The slightly sandpapery but smooth texture of the sugar that contains the improbable squishiness of the marshmallow. (Mr. Whipple and I share a fetish - his for Charmin and mine for Peeps...). Last but not least, they set a standard for simplicity of form that is unparalleled.

The purist in me is most fond of the yellow chicks and pink bunnies. Yellow and pink were the original colors, along with white, in the early part of the 20th century when it took 27 hours for Sam Born (patriarch of the Just Born company - even the name is adorable) to make just one marshmallow chick. The pink and yellow perfectly echo the spring colors in my yard - the yellow forsythia and the pink weeping cherry and camellia. These are the two colors most often found in Peep novelties. I have yellow chick and pink bunny light strings and refrigerator magnets. Lenox even does a Peeps series of collectible figurines. I have the salt and pepper shakers. I haven't gone so far as to buy the Swarovski crystal Peep, and I can't imagine I would (unless they make it in color instead of clear. Then perhaps...). Here are my two latest, favorite Peeps things - my mousepad and T-shirt...

And here are some really cute ideas for ways to use Peeps in baking. I might actually be able to handle a Peeps S'more...

Of course, marshmallow Peeps these days come in a rainbow of colors, most bright or pastel, but I've seen red ones and heard tell of sinister black ones (a murder of Peeps?). It's this palette of repetitive brilliant color that must have given someone the idea to use Peeps as an artistic medium. Several years ago, I saw a feature in the Washington Post announcing the winners of a Peeps diorama contest. Our family was enthralled by the level of artistic expression and floored by the potential (this was at the peak of my kids' elementary school diorama project involvement, so the art form appealed on many levels). I decreed that WE would enter this contest the following year.

As February approached the next year, we started gathering our supplies (I say we, but this was purely my obsession. The kids just went with it and my husband tried to ignore it). I gave into that old urge and filled my cart with every imaginable color and shape of Peep. The kids and I all chose our subject and went to work on our best Peep creations. We lived for weeks in a haze of neon peep dust and sneezed in technicolor. I don't even want to think about the effect inhaled Peep sugar might have on our respiratory systems down the road.

In the end, we had four entries for the contest - two for me and one for each of the kids. Here they are in all their sugary glory:

Henry's "One Giant Peep for Mankind"

Christy's "Peepacle on the Hudson"

Kathryn's "America's Next Top Peep"

Christy's "Goodnight Peep"

So you're thinking, "Surely one of you won, right?" Well, as it turns out, the year we made our entry, the Post received over 1000 entries for the contest. That made me feel better until I took a look at the top five finalists and got a bitter taste in my mouth. Here is one of those top five:

2009 Peeps Diorama Contest Finalist

I know, I know! How is this possible!? They got me on execution maybe, but I don't think it captures the event NEARLY as well as mine. Serious sour grapes on my part. But as if that were not bad enough, here is one of the five finalists from last year (a year AFTER my entry):

2010 Peeps Diorama Contest Finalist

OK, I'm sorry, but I was truly robbed on this one. Once again, they might have me on execution, but come on, Peeps boxes for furniture had to be worth some points, and my idea and entry for this diorama came a full year earlier! Clearly I haven't recovered from the injustice. It still gets me worked up thinking about it. My only explanation is that with over 1000 entries, they just overlooked mine. Maybe one day I will let it go...

So my Peeps artistic spirit may have been a little crushed by my contest experience, but I'm still a huge fan of the event, and today is the big day when this year's winners will be announced. Keep an eye out for it in today's Washington Post - either online or in print. Maybe it will inspire you to enter next year or just create your own Peep art for fun. They had some cool framed Peep art on the wall at the Peeps and Company store at National Harbor. My son really wanted one, but they were selling for over $100!  I told him his Mommy is a pretty decent Peep artist in her own right, and I could make him one for a fraction of the cost. Having seen me in the throes of Peep art madness before, he replied, "Nevermind".

As I was writing this, the winners of this year's contest were posted. Aaaghhh, the excitement! Here is the link:

2011 Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest Results

I have to go now. Peeps out!

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Peeps, Pups, Passports, and Politics - Part 2

It's Monday, and here we are on the other side of the federal budget showdown with the government still up and running. Congress got there kicking and screaming Friday night with minutes to spare. I don't think many of them were willing to take the rap for withholding government services and paychecks from Americans during an economic downturn. Our feckless leaders, against every fiber of their petty, partisan beings, managed to pull a compromise out of their collective rear ends at the last second (I want to use another F word here, but it would be unbecoming and not fit for print, and feckless is actually a great word to describe Congress of late: 1. Lacking in efficiency or vitality. 2. Unthinking and irresponsible. - I think the first is a pretty apt description of the Democrats, and the second could apply to a particular sect of the Republican party, but you could interchange them and it would still work).

So when exactly did compromise become a dirty word? We work tirelessly to teach our toddlers the value of sharing and working together, but the example Congress is setting for our young people flies in the face of those lessons. When did our leaders and much of our population become a bunch of 2-year olds with an all or nothing mentality - mine mine mine - my way or the highway? The lame Democrats pouted and procrastinated about the budget and the manic Tea Partiers threw a Planned Parenthood tantrum - infantile, self-concerned behavior from the people we depend on to govern. I guess maybe it's fallout from the "me" generation, but seriously folks, we need to get it together and rediscover the art and grace of compromise. While as Americans, we value our right to be individuals, we also as Americans have a contract with one another to act in each other's best interest. Compromise is our most powerful tool for interacting effectively and ensuring that everyone's collective needs are best met. When we cease to value opposing perspectives and approaches and insist on viewing the world through a narrow, stubborn, selfish lens, we set ourselves on a course toward our demise.

I am grateful to the Republicans, and yes the Tea Party, for forcing this budget issue and insisting that we get serious about reigning in our spending. It demonstrates why we need both parties, and others, at the table. Having said that, the cuts need to be made in as fair a way as possible across the board. If our representatives start stubbornly cherry picking budget items or shielding fat cat contributors to suit or advance their own partisan agendas or campaigns, this will not go well, and we will all pay a price for it. If they get serious about being fair and working out mutually digestible compromises - spread the pain as much as possible - we will all be better for it. I know, I'm getting delusional now...

OK, I am DONE with the politics part of my title. I will wind it up by sharing this picture of my daughter and her new passport that arrived on Thursday - just in advance of the possible shutdown - so we had our bases covered in case Congress crashed and burned on Friday. I commented in a Facebook post that while the middle finger is unintentional, it is apropos. Take that, Congress.

As for the Peeps, they too were held hostage to the possible shutdown of the government. I decided to take advantage of a light soccer schedule this weekend and planned an excursion to DC for me and the kids. Our first stop was to be a pilgrimage to the Peeps and Company store at National Harbor. I will wax poetic about Peeps in a later post, but suffice it to say that we are Peeps crazy in this household, and we've been eager to check out this Peeps mecca for some time. It's a bit of a drive just to shop for Peeps paraphernalia, so we decided to tack on a visit to the Smithsonian in DC - ah, here comes the roundabout Peeps tie-in to the government shut down. Bear with me...

My son recently asked if he could use some of his allowance money to adopt an orphaned elephant through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This is a remarkable organization run be a remarkable woman, Dame Daphne Sheldrick, in Kenya. They take in orphaned baby elephants and nurture them until they are ready to return to the wild. Henry browsed the photos and stories of elephants online and was drawn to Dida, a four-year old female elephant, who was rescued as a baby from a sewage drain. After dealing with Laika chewing up Kathryn's passport last week, an elephant lovingly cared for by others in Kenya was the kind of pet I could handle.

Dida

Then last week, I heard an interview on NPR with Daphne Sheldrick and a movie director discussing a new 3-D IMAX film called Born to be Wild about the Sheldrick center and a similar foundation in Borneo that raises and releases orphaned orangutans. The movie was opening this past weekend at the National Museum of Natural History's Johnson IMAX Theater. I thought the kids would enjoy seeing this film about Dida's refuge, so I went online and purchased tickets for a Saturday show. The plan was to hit the Peep store early and then head into DC by Metro (bus and rail) to avoid the Cherry Festival Parade parking fiasco.

Well, of course, until midnight on Friday, this plan was in jeopardy as the Smithsonian would have been closed, but thanks to Congress hammering out a COMPROMISE, our adventure was salvaged, and it was a fun time indeed. The movie was terrific, if a little too short to suit me. I could have watched those wonderful elephants and orangutans and their generous caretakers on and on. If you have opportunity to get down to DC, it's worth the price of admission (free for the museum of course, but $9 for the IMAX movie).

I'm not a fan of crowds, and that's exactly what we encountered at the Smithsonian on Saturday, but as we picked our way through the hordes of families, both American and foreign, waiting to see Marie Antoinette's diamond earrings or a mammoth or T-rex, I couldn't help but be happy that all these people's plans, like ours, had not been ruined by the pettiness of politics. I was especially appreciative and proud of the wonderful services and enriching opportunities our federal government provides with our tax dollars, and I am hopeful that when the axe really comes down, that it will be wielded with as much wisdom and fairness and maturity and consideration of the nation's, and all her peep's, wellbeing as possible.

Some of the things we saw on Saturday because the government was open:

Natural History Museum Rotunda

Sikh Khalsa Day Parade

Easter Island Dude

Quiet Museum Stairwell

Some Prehistoric Water Creature

Whale

Hope Diamond

Peeps Mecca

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Peeps, Pups, Passports, and Politics

Long time no post! I ran out of steam and inspiration in the past few weeks. I've also been preoccupied with an onslaught of my kids' spring activities combined with a case of home improvement spring fever. My todo list just seems to get longer and longer as I struggle to keep up with the change of pace from sleepy winter to frenzied spring. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted to see the warmer and longer days. I'm just trying to keep up with mother nature.

So, let's see how the alliterative elements of my post title relate to the craziness of the past week of my life (thanks to my sixth grader for reminding me what alliteration means). I will start with Pups and Passports. A couple of months ago, I renewed my kids passports. They were originally issued for a Disney cruise we took many years ago and had expired. My daughter needs hers for an eighth grade French class trip to Quebec in mid-May, so I decided to go ahead and get them both reissued. I was way ahead of the game and had the new passports in hand by early March.

On Monday of this week, I left the dogs closed in the office when I went out to run errands because I was expecting our cleaning service. I took a quick look around to make sure nothing was in easy reach of Laika, the 1-year old Aussie. I noticed a stack of papers to be filed which included all four of our passports and slid them to the back edge of the table with a box in front of them. Without a second thought, I closed the dogs in and headed out to tend to some business.

When I returned, I went to let the dogs out and did a quick survey of the room. Nothing looked terribly awry, but I did notice a paper on the floor which turned out to be my son's birth certificate. It was in that stack of papers - part of the passport application process that I had not yet refiled. The certificate was not damaged in any way, but it was a clue that Laika had gotten into my stack and prompted me to look further. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a second item on the floor which was in decidedly worse condition than the birth certificate, and I immediately recognized it as the remains of a passport. CRAP!

I lunged for the chewed up blue booklet mouthing a prayer to whoever cared that it was not Kathryn's.  I opened to the remains of the first page to see the tooth-marked photo of my daughter glaring at me with disgust. You must be kidding. Of the four passports to choose from in a two inch pile of paperwork, my dog decides to destroy the one I need in four weeks. It took every ounce of restraint in my body not to kick the goofy ball of fur straight to Canada - passport or no. (The gazillion dollar investment in her hips over the winter also factored into my flash mental weighing of the pros and cons of punting her).

As acceptance of the destruction sunk in, I switched gears to figuring out a solution. Hmmm, new passport needed in four weeks with my husband out of town (both parents must be present to apply for a minor's passport or a notarized document from the absent parent must be provided). As if that were not complicated enough, add the prospect of an indefinite government shut down beginning this Friday, and things really started to get iffy.

I ran to Google for an answer, and started to get a handle on what would be required to have a new passport in hand before the end of the week.  I was not going to trust the fate of my daughter's trip to the hands of Congress. My faith in their ability to keep the government running was/is thin at best. My husband and I were relative newlyweds during the last shutdown in 1995, and both of our jobs were impacted - his as a NASA employee and mine as an onsite NASA contractor. We sat home for three unpaid weeks in December wondering how we would make our mortgage payment and get our failing heat pump fixed. That one lasted 21 days. A similar shutdown this time, while not entirely likely, would potentially doom our chances of getting a new passport.

I won't drag out the gory details any further except to say that 36 hours of e-mails, phone calls, notaries, documents, post offices, Fedexes, passport photos, early dismissals, fees, and a 16-hour-round-trip-flight-from-Florida later, we have a new passport on the way. Again, if I had any confidence in Washington DC's ability to keep this country running beyond Friday, I would have had other options, but I wanted that passport in hand before the country grinds to a halt.

So that covers Pups, Passports and Politics. How do the Peeps fit in? I'll save that for Part 2. My devotion to Peeps could make me even more long-winded than usual (not to worry, the title for the next post will still work as an alliteration thanks to the P in Part)...

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Supermoon and Free Rita's

Everybody make a point of checking out the Supermoon tonight! Largest full moon in 18 years - making her closest approach to earth. Strange things may be afoot tonight with the Supermoon and Spring officially starting tomorrow at 7:21 PM EDT. Don't forget to stop by Rita's tomorrow between noon and 9 PM for your free Italian Ice, too.

Hmmm, is it me, or does the moon look like a basketball?...

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Sobering St. Patrick's Day

No, no, I didn't say Sober St. Patrick's Day. I would never dare to suggest that we mark this Irish-For-a-Day holiday without a favorite Irish libation at hand (and a designated driver if not safely at home). It's a jolly celebration that our friends in and from Ireland have happily shared with us and is always a favorite regardless of heritage or nationality. My family is of English, Scotch, Welsh, German and French (on my husband's side) descent primarily, but somewhere along the way, it's possible that an Irish lad or lass wandered into the bloodline. Even if not, today, we all claim a little of the green for our own and raise a glass with a lusty, "Erin Go Bragh!!!"

All that said (bring down the lights, darken the tone, queue the solemn dirge), I can't escape the grim weight of the devastation that has enveloped another of our nation's fast friends over the past week. It has just gotten worse and worse for poor Japan as the hours and days have passed. We all knew it was terrible when we woke up last Friday morning to the news of the tremendous earthquake and ensuing tsunami. That alone was a natural catastrophe like nothing the world has seen in some time. It makes Katrina look like a thunderstorm (not to diminish that disaster - suffering is relative). But just when we started to digest the magnitude of the natural disaster, we were confronted with the man-made disaster that was beginning to unfold. The largest nuclear power complex in the world on Japan's coast handled the huge earthquake, as designed, but the massive tsunami an hour later took out the backup generators, and it's all been downhill since then.

For those of us who grew up during the rise of nuclear power plants in the 70s; who in 1979 watched Jack Lemmon's Oscar nominated performance as a nuclear power plant whistleblower and Jane Fonda's also Oscar nominated portrayal of a reporter trying to cover a possible worst case meltdown scenario in The China Syndrome; who got a glimpse 12 days after the opening of that movie of what it could mean in real life at Three Mile Island; and who watched from a safe distance in 1986 as the full scale meltdown potential was realized at Chernobyl, this is the stuff of some of our worst nightmares. Just the mention of radiation exposure/poisoning sends chills of panic down our spines - at least it does mine. And Japan is one of the very few places on earth that has seen the deadly effects of intense radiation firsthand in the form of two atomic bombs. I can't begin to imagine the fear and panic that they are struggling to keep at bay on top of an already unthinkable situation.

We can argue the merits and pitfalls of energy policy ad nauseum. It won't change the fact that energy greedy countries are going to take shortcuts and disasters are going to result. We got our own taste last year with BP and the Deepwater Horizon well (I've heard criticism that the Japanese government is not being forthcoming and that the power plant owners are the ones calling the shots - sound familiar?). Add to offshore drilling and nuclear power the mountaintop removal process used in coal mining and the fracking method being used to extract natural gas. We can think of no end of ways to violate our planet and our health in the search for more fuel, and still, when these things happen, we stubbornly refuse to get serious about conservation and clean energy (I include myself in that assessment - I'm as wasteful as the next person and love my gas guzzling minivan). Obviously we can't give all these energy sources up today, but shouldn't we at least be busting our butts to get to cleaner and safer ones while reducing our consumption?

The nuclear meltdown in Japan and the oil spill in the Gulf are just two in a long line of disasters waiting to happen due to short-sightedness, greed, and denial about our vulnerability. And none of it matters in the face of the real distress and danger that the Japanese people are in at the moment. For them, it's a gut-wrenching matter of survival and desperately trying to spare their people and their land the worst case scenario. It's looking less and less likely that they will be able to do it, despite the most heroic of efforts. My heart goes out to all of them. We owe them our support in these darkest hours and need to back off on the armchair quarterbacking. They are doing everything they know to do in the full knowledge that they may very well pay with the lives of the ones on the front lines and probably more.

So where did I start this post before I descended into despair and hopelessness about Japan? Oh yeah, St. Patrick's Day. Ugh, the sad reality is that most of us average Americans cannot do a thing of substance from where we are at this point. We can lob money, but it's not going to cool those melting fuel rods. We can decorate our Twitter and Facebook accounts with banners and cheery messages, but it's not going to bring back the thousands of people who were washed away by the tsunami. What we can do is send out our deepest and most heartfelt thoughts and prayers and let the Japanese people know that we care and stand with them, and recognize that it could just as easily be us.

I saw this add somewhere online, and it did my heart good. Land of the Rising Shamrock - excellent:

Maybe in addition to being Irish-For-a-Day, we can be Japanese-For-as-Long-as-it-Takes. Keep our Japanese friends in your thoughts tonight as you raise your glasses of Guinness and Harp. I think I'll make mine a green sake...

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Lady Mids are Headed to the Dance!

I hauled the kids downtown this evening to take in the Patriot League Women's Championship game between Navy's Lady Midshipmen and American University. I couldn't think of anything more appealing to do tonight than show my support for our local Belles of the Basket Ball. It was worth the trip to Alumni Hall to see these terrific athletes show what they are made of by coming on strong in the second half after a first half that left them struggling behind a sharp American University squad. The final score was 47-40 in favor of our home team.

I have to admit, I've never seen a Navy Women's basketball game before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Both teams were impressive to see. It's a different game these women play than men's NCAA basketball - somehow tougher and grittier. It looks more like what we grew up playing - more relatable - but MUCH better. I was not bored for a second. I've had a couple of people (men actually) say to me over the years that they prefer the intensity of women's basketball to men's, and I can appreciate why they would feel that way.

The Brigade of Midshipmen are on spring break this week, so the normal support system was not available, but the word went out that reinforcements were needed, and the Annapolis community responded. A strong showing of local fans and supporters took up the slack and showed their appreciation for history in the making. This will be the first appearance ever for the Navy women in the NCAA tournament. It's what every college basketball team strives for all season - an invitation to the dance. These ladies have earned it, and I look forward to following their progress in the tournament.

I took these two videos of the final moments of the game with my Canon Powershot - more poor quality video for your viewing pleasure. The first is a three-pointer sunk with under three minutes to go which put the Lady Mids up by six - their biggest lead of the game and the first sense that it might be in hand.  It was a beauty. The second includes the final moments of the game, the ensuing celebration, and the playing of the Navy Blue and Gold. Those sweaty, excited, adrenaline-filled girls snapped to attention and serenaded us with the traditional anthem sung following all Navy sporting events:

Now colleges from sea to sea
May sing of colors true,
But who has better right than we
To hoist a symbol hue?
For sailors brave in battle fair
Since fighting days of old,
Have proved a sailor's right to wear
The Navy Blue and Gold.
BEAT ARMY!!

The lyrics were changed in 2004 from "For sailor men in battle fair..." to "For sailors brave in battle fair..." Fittingly so. The Lady Mids earned their right to sing those words tonight and to wear "the Navy Blue and Gold". It's the best part of the video.





Keep an eye out for the Navy women in the NCAA tournament. I know there's a lot of basketball to see in the weeks ahead, but there can never be too much basketball in March, and there's nothing better than a home team to cheer on! Here's wishing that all your favorite teams get their own invitation to the dance tomorrow and Monday, and perform well in the tournament. If any of them happen to meet Duke along the way, that's where my good wishes end. Go Blue Devils!

Thanks to Bill Wagner for giving us a heads up about the game on his Navy Sports Blog at HometownAnnapolis. That's where I learned about it, anyway. Here's his more informed overview and analysis of the game following all the fun:

NavyFreshmen guide Navy women to NCAA tournament berth

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Just Kidding about the Acorn!

For the record, I was kidding about using the Statehouse acorn for an oyster reef (see last Cape Blogger post). Don't get any ideas, guys...



Our Bay: Yacht club using oyster reefs to calm waters


---Cape Blogger

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Commissioning Week Without the Blue Angels?

I just took a glance at HometownAnnapolis.com, and I was stunned by the headline that the Blue Angels will not be performing during Commissioning Week in 2012. WHAT!!!?? A heads up about this possibility was reported in Eye on Annapolis back in December, but I am just tuning into the fiasco. I guess this came about as fallout from a decision made last year by now-departed Naval Academy Superintendent Fowler to move the academy graduation back a week (this from the same guy who also last year banned the use of grease when the plebes compete to scale the Herndon Monument - what has taken as long as four hours of teamwork and persistence in the past took just over 2 minutes without grease - nice to see our warriors challenged, but I digress). The HometownAnnapolis article contained a lot of politician and administrator-speak about traffic and schedules, blah blah blah. I read it all with my mouth agape.

Blue Angels to miss Commissioning Week in 2012

Late May in Annapolis with no Blue Angels? Are you kidding? What next? Are they going to lop the acorn off the Statehouse? Sure it houses the original lightning rod built to Ben Franklin's specifications over 200 years ago to protect one of our young country's proud symbols of freedom and independence, but, you know, it can also be glaringly bright and potentially blinding on a sunny day and might serve better as an artificial oyster reef on the bottom of the Bay. Pave over Ego Alley? We could sure use the extra parking downtown for all that Market House business and traffic, and it's such a hassle to walk all the way around it. Abandon and gut the Market House, the heart of our city's shared history and traditions, and leave it for dead? Oh, right...

I have to confess, my first reaction to the story was disappointment for myself and my family and friends. We love going to see the Blue Angels every year and invite friends to enjoy the show with us. It's wrapped up in the excitement of the school year coming to a close and summer just around the corner. We've watched them fly from the Naval Academy grounds, from the WWII Memorial on Rt. 2, from the water on our boat, from my kids' preschool graduation ceremony at Anchors-A-Wee (the kids went crazy thinking the jets flying over in Delta formation were for them), from my house, from work, and serendipitously (and a bit precariously) while driving over the Severn River bridge on Rt. 50. Wherever you are in Annapolis during Commissioning Week, you feel the power and the pride of the Navy and the tribute they pay to their newest and richly deserving new officers and the city that embraces them.

And this brings me to my second and more important reaction that followed instantaneously on the heels of the first more selfish one. I really feel awful for the Naval Academy class of 2012 that is going to miss out on this highlight of their graduation week. They'll still get the flyby at graduation (I think), but they get that at most home football games in the fall. It just seems so unfitting that they and their families should be denied the power and impact of the full performance, especially if "traffic" is the underlying issue, as suggested in the article. I feel like somebody did not put up enough of a fuss or fight for our boys and girls in white. If traffic is really the concern, all the beachgoers can cool their jets on Rt. 50 and enjoy the show while the Midshipmen, at the most important milepost of their lives to date, watch their mentors light up some F/A-18 afterburners.

My bigger concern with the article is that it suggested that this could possibly be a permanent change. One year without the Blue Angels would be a shame for the Naval Academy graduating class of 2012 and their families, but putting a final end to a tradition so integral to this right of passage for our Midshipmen would be heartbreaking. Yes, those of us who live in Annapolis selfishly love seeing the Blue Angels fly each year, but more than that, we love being part of the celebration and sendoff for the Middies - having the opportunity to show our appreciation and affection for the shiny new officers who will go on to become military, government, private sector, and community leaders of our nation.

Ah well. Maybe someone can setup a monster screen during Commissioning Week on the shore of the Severn and play Top Gun for the Middies' viewing pleasure. Or maybe Dan Snyder can get Tom Cruise to put in a personal appearance ("I'm not a real Navy pilot, but I've played one in a movie..."). Danger zone, baby. Officer and a Gentleman, anyone? The uniform is right, and the Moms would enjoy it. No jets, though. Just a motorcycle and a great walk. Or perhaps they could get a Duck Boat from Baltimore to make a pass on the river. "I've got a need... a need for speed!" Quack...

Sorry, I'm punchy with disappointment and dating myself with my 80s references. Please, if anybody is listening, please fix this!!!

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One Last View of Discovery In Orbit Tonight

Discovery Prior to Docking with the ISS

I PROMISE to get over my obsession with the space shuttle Discovery once she lands at Kennedy tomorrow around noon, but there's one more historic opportunity worth mentioning. Throughout North America tonight, there will be chances to view the shuttle and the ISS as they pass overhead. You can see the ISS frequently if you know when and where to look. It's the brightest manmade object in the night sky, and second only to the moon, rivaling Venus as the second brightest object in the sky. This website details viewing opportunities for a variety of satellites, including the ISS, for a given zip code which you can input:

http://spaceweather.com/flybys/index.php

Tonight, though, you not only can see the ISS, but about a minute before it passes overhead, you will see Discovery leading the way. She undocked from the space station yesterday and is in final preparation for her landing at the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow. If the clouds will just hold off a LITTLE bit, we should have a good chance to see them both. The ISS will clear the horizon to the WNW at 7:23:24 PM and pass overhead at a peak elevation of 78 degrees and a brightness level of 3.9 (very bright). Discovery is in the same orbit a minute or so ahead but a little fainter, although still very visible if conditions permit. The forecast calls for scattered clouds beginning around 7 PM. I'm optimistic that the view will be there.

Discovery and the ISS

Give it a go if the clouds cut us a break and see if you can spot them. They should be easy to see if you have a clear view. Discovery will be almost half way through it's pass before the ISS appears. Once both are in view, it should be especially easy to identify them since they will be chasing each other across the sky - cosmic tag. Below is a YouTube video of a shuttle and ISS pass over Denver in 2009.  It will give you an idea what to expect. They are a little closer together in this video than they will be tonight, and of course, they are a mile closer to the sky out in Denver...



With two remaining shuttle missions to the ISS, we should have the opportunity to see both Endeavor and Atlantis playing the same heavenly game with the space station. This is Discovery's last time, though. After landing tomorrow, she will be an Earthbound relic.

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The Lions of March

I think that old March lion was rattling my windows last night. I could hear his roar and the sound of his claws scratching the side of my house. I was happy to be in my bed beneath a warm blanket with a book in my hand (OK, an iPad with a Kindle App - not quite as warm and cozy, but high-tech comfort). The wind always makes me keenly aware of the protective walls of my house and grateful for the shelter they provide. Any four walls with my family tucked safely within will do, as long as it keeps that lion at bay.

American poet, Ogden Nash, had it right when he said,

"Indoors or out, no one relaxes in March, that month of wind and taxes, the wind will presently disappear, the taxes last us all the year."

The unsettled month of March is indeed upon us, with its threatening ides and such.  I'm always a little unnerved by high winds, worrying that one of the many trees we love will topple over or a branch that has not survived the winter months will break loose and crash into one of our cars or through our roof. It's time to start assessing how the things that had to weather the winter months outside our protective walls made out and help them get back into shape for the fairer months ahead.

I spent part of yesterday washing the cushions of our outdoor furniture, some of which had blown over the side of the yard into the gully. Had I been more disciplined back in the fall, I would have brought those cushions within my protective walls for the winter, but instead, I left them to their own devices and paid the price for it yesterday. They cleaned up pretty well, but the climb down into the gully to retrieve the errant ones was a little hairy.  At least the poison ivy hasn't emerged yet.

As Mr. Nash pointed out, March is also the month when we have to face the reality of taxes that we've been postponing since January 1st.  As with the cushions, every year I say I'm going to do a better job of preparing for this recurring event, and every year, I continue to pay the price for my poor planning and procrastination.  Also like the cushions, I'm forced to expend extra effort cleaning up the hairy mess of our untended finances that have been blown around over the winter.  One year I will get really smart and trade in TurboTax for a tax professional who is always prepared for tax season and will force me to be as well.

In the meantime, I'm off to start gathering dogeared bank statements and charitable donation receipts and to see what else the lion has blown into the gully while I wasn't keeping a proper watch. I can only hope my finances will clean up as well as the cushions. Take a look around and see if there are people or objects around you without the benefit of protective walls who could use your help picking up behind that lion. Bring on the lambs. Baaa!

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As Promised, STS-133 Launch Video...

Photo of Discovery Launch Taken By My Dad

I promised if the shuttle launched as scheduled, I would post my video from the event. Well, on Thursday afternoon, after some VERY tense moments when it appeared that range safety was a no-go due to a computer screen glitch, the problem was fixed with two seconds to spare in the launch window, and Discovery roared into the sky for her final mission. It was every bit as exciting and emotional as I remembered.

It has been over 18 years since I saw my last and only other shuttle launch, STS-53, which was coincidentally also a Discovery mission. It was early December, 1992. My husband was, at that time, my fiance, and I had won a NASA award that treated us to an all expenses paid early honeymoon to Cape Canaveral. The launch was supposed to occur right at daybreak, but it was unseasonably cold (I guess cold is always unseasonable in Florida), and ice had built up on the shuttle's external tank.

The launch window for the mission was several hours long since no rendezvous or time-specific orbit insertion was required, so we waited for the sun to rise and work her magic on the ice. By 8:24 AM, the ice was melted, and we watched in awe as Discovery shot into the morning sky. The astronauts were on their way to a week in the heavens, and we were left behind on Earth in disbelief that it was over so quickly.

As the excitement of that launch abated, the reality of our VERY early morning wakeup call and VERY cold bodies began to set in. We had been wrapped in blankets and sitting on icy aluminum bleachers for hours in the pre-dawn chill. While the launch was the primary purpose of our trip, we were feeling a little cheated by the weather. Upon returning to our hotel, my husband-to-be and I packed up our things, hopped in a rental car, and launched ourselves south to the Keys and warmer temperatures as quickly as a mere car could take us.

Fast forward 18 or so years, and things at the same viewing site are just a little different. The aluminum bleachers are still there, but a spectacular Apollo/Saturn Museum has been built adjacent to them with a snack bar, a gift shop, and actual restrooms. The Florida afternoon sun is shining, and we are in shorts basking in the 80-degree warmth. This time around, my husband and I have over 17 years of marriage under our middle-aged belts and two middle-school-aged kids along for the launch. The launch window is just six minutes long due to a planned rendezvous with the International Space Station, but all is green for an on-time launch with 20 minutes to go.

That's when we start to hear some ominous words over the sound system broadcasting comments from launch control and the various launch support elements. Range safety is reporting that they are no-go for launch due to a malfunctioning computer screen. Everything else is PERFECT, and for lack of a computer display, the launch could be scrubbed. There is precious little time with a six minute launch window to troubleshoot. We all hold our collective breath hoping that the range safety folks are pulling a rabbit out of their hat to fix the problem so we won't have to come out the next day and do it all over again. Launch control takes the countdown clock down to a hold at 5 minutes to give range safety a few extra minutes to work their problem.

The sound system breaks away from the conversation between launch control and range safety to ask us all to join in the singing of the National Anthem. We are all too distracted with the possibility of a scrubbed mission to lift our voices with gusto. It is a half hearted effort that seems to drag on forever as we are all still tense with worry over the status of the range.

As the Anthem finally ends, we rejoin the launch conversation, and hear the launch director announce that range safety is now, against all odds, green for launch. They have come through with "the right stuff", corrected their technical issue, and launch control will pick up the count immediately, leaving two seconds to spare in the launch window. The crowd erupts in delirious cheers as the final five minutes of the countdown clock begin to tick away toward the event that we all have gathered to witness - the final launch of Discovery.

3, 2, 1...

Our nervousness about the launch not occurring that day quickly shifted to nervousness and excitement about the actual launch. Shuttle launches are always accompanied by an element of fear for the safety of the astronauts. We've all witnessed the horror of a launch gone bad, and there's nothing routine about the power and explosive thrust required to get a shuttle and her crew off the ground. We went from holding our breath because the shuttle might not launch to holding our breath because it WAS going to launch.

Before we knew it, time was up and the launch was upon us. We saw the billow of steam start to engulf the pad and the shuttle and then the sparks of the main engines followed by the flame of the solid rocket boosters. After a couple of seconds, Discovery emerged from the thick cloud of steam with her rockets glowing like the sun, lighting up even the bright afternoon sky as she streaked up and across it, leaving a puffy white trail in her wake. After a few more seconds, the sound finally made its way to us, and it was as intense as I recalled - roaring and crackling with power. I won't try to describe the way it feels except to say that when the force of the launch travels the three miles from the launch pad and arrives at the viewing site, you feel the vibration with every ounce of your being.

I intended to make a fabulous video with my Flip camera, but I was shaking with excitement, and the result is pretty shaky as well. I did get the American flag in the foreground at one point, which is kind of cool. My Mom did a better job with her iPhone from her viewing site five miles away from the pad on the Kennedy Center causeway. We are both "woohoo"ing throughout our videos - I think it's genetic. I've included those videos below along with one I saw online that a guy took with his iPhone from an airliner after a late departure from Orlando - what awesome timing! I also included a slideshow that I put together of our day as a thank you to our friends who arranged our passes. It includes a cool stillshot photo sequence taken by my Dad with his camera on a tripod, all set to Katy Perry's Firework (come on, you can stand to hear it one more time...)









If you want to experience it for yourself, you have one or two more opportunities. I doubt you will be able to line up a Space Center pass for the April launch of Endeavor since there will be so much press (it's a lottery system, so give it a shot), but there are plenty of great viewing sites around Cape Canaveral and the surrounding area. Take your pick along the Banana River, the Indian River, the Cocoa Beach Pier, the cruise ship port, the Publix parking lot, or the side of the road. There also might be one more mission over the summer. NASA may get funding to launch Atlantis once more to the ISS.

Sounds like a good excuse for a Florida road trip to me!  Even if you miss the launch, you'll benefit from a few days in beautiful Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach, and a tour of the Space Center is worth the trip alone, if a little bittersweet. The Space Coast could use the support of our tourist dollars with space shuttle jobs all but gone and the future of American spaceflight murky. It's inconceivable to me that the glory of NASA's manned space program from Mercury to the space shuttle is almost a thing of the past and hard not to see it as a reflection of the times. I'm not a fan of the commercial, for-profit approach. But hey, who knows, maybe Apple and Steve Jobs' next big product release will be an iRocket that will get us to Mars...

As astronomer Fred Hoyle once observed, "Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards..."

Happy trails, Discovery!

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Countdown to Discovery's Last Mission

For you NASA fans out there (and really, who isn't), tomorrow is the scheduled launch of STS-133, the space shuttle Discovery's final mission. She is scheduled to liftoff at 4:50 PM Eastern Standard Time from Cape Canaveral en route to the International Space Station. I've added a countdown clock to my sidebar. It's supposed to play the sound of a shuttle launching when it gets to zero - or it might just blow up my blog. Either way, spectacular!

If the stars align, I hope to be there with my family to view the launch. Fingers crossed! A lot (millions) of things have to go right to get a shuttle off the ground. The last scheduled shuttle launch will be in April. That will be Mark Kelly's mission on the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavor. NASA is trying desperately to get funding for one more mission in June - one more launch for Atlantis to the ISS, but budgets are tight at the moment, as we all know.

Assuming Discovery takes off before the end of the weekend, I will post launch video and pictures next week. I wish I could share the whole body experience, but sound and images are the best I can do. If you want to watch the launch live, go to the NASA TV website. Your cable company might also carry the NASA TV feed.  Maybe CNN, too. They've provided pretty good coverage of space shuttle launches in the past.

Tell your kids this is one of the last two or possibly three times they will see their country's storied space program send astronauts into space (sigh). The future of manned space flight in America is in the hands of the commercial sector once the space shuttle is retired. I'm not sure my heart will swell with quite the amount of pride when Americans start going into space for profit instead of as the national heroes that they have been throughout the history of NASA. It certainly won't be the same without the NASA meatball onboard.

Godspeed Discovery...

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone is in a Valentine's Day frame of mind.  It can be brutal for those in the lonely hearts club. I've been all over the spectrum of loving or hating Valentine's Day through the years. I've loved it when I've had someone with whom to share the sentiment of the day and hated it when I didn't. I've been occasionally annoyed by the obligation of sending cards or flowers but always delighted to receive them.Growing up, I could always count on a sweet treat from my Mom and maybe something new and red to wear. That's what my kids have come to know - that and a heart-shaped pan of Pilsbury cinnamon rolls with pink icing, a pink chocolate rose for Kathryn, and Swedish Fish or Twizzlers for Henry.


I was going to write about the history of Valentine's Day, but NPR does a perfectly good job of it in this story.  No need to reinvent the wheel:

The Dark Origins of Valentine's Day


Well OK, I can't resist embellishing with a little additional info. that I came across in my internet sleuthing. The day as we know it probably has it's origins in the medieval tradition of courtly love. Chaucer is the first person known to mention a "Valentine's Day" in his poem, The Parliament of Fowls, written somewhere around 1382 give or take a few years. 

The first actual Valentine known to us was written by a French Duke - Charles, Duke of Orleans - from his river-view room in the Tower of London. He was confined there after being captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. During his relatively comfortable 25-year long captivity in England, he became something of an accomplished poet, and this note to his wife can still be seen on display in the British Museum:


“Je suis desja d'amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée…”(Charles d'Orléans, Rondeau VI, lines 1–2:)


The old French roughly translates to


“I am already sick/bored of love
My very gentle Valentine…”

An illumination of Charles, Duke of Orleans
imprisoned in the Tower of London

Wishing everyone a heartfelt Valentine to start the week.  I've included an incredibly random playlist below of Valentunes from my iTunes library.  I have a truly bizarre mix of songs as a result of my kids and I sharing a library.  There is no rhyme, reason or order to the song selection.  The songs might be a little slow to load, so be patient.  Enjoy!

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