Wednesday, February 20, 2019

February 15-20 Robots & Chickens

February 15 ::
El Gato. Neo Cairo Nepenthes. Don't you love that cats always have more than one name?




I'd just read the chapter, from Around the World in 80 Trees, about Torrey Pines, and thanks to a recent storm, I found all the parts of that unique tree, scattered around our yard. Their needles grow in bundles of 5, and a whole cluster is called a "broom." The curling flower is the male, and it grows in the lower branches. The flower that looks like a lipstick is female, and in 3 years time it can produce a mature pine cone. The pine cones hold the hard, edible piñones. Because the male flowers' pollen blows from the low branches and the female flower is in high branches, the pollen rarely reaches the flowers above, but travels to other trees, ensuring cross-pollination and diversity.


Cairo and one of his adored (and filthy) ratty-rats. If you have a cat, and a nearby Ikea... you need to bring home a ratty, too.

Here is a moment of... keeping it real. And just so we are clear, this is my idea of hilarious, good. It's not so much that I like spilling hot tea, the sticky mess, or seeing the same robot on the dining table for months, being entangled in a bicycle pump, noticing that someone thought the bench was a fine place for a pizza box, or even the impulse I have to rationalize that it's not actually a "pizza" box, because it was holding something else. I don't want to belabor the fact that Geoff was working everyday, and all day, that we don't just believe in entropy, but practice it religiously. I find it hilarious, because this is the curse of blessings! It's life, and messy, and the messes are not fatal, and here we are, all together in our own home and surrounded by our hobbies, and favorite mug, and warmth, and plans, and it's funny, and good.

Here is another real moment... pastoral, serene, poultry in motion.








Dear garden, in the rain, I love you.


And here is something... the window and wall, and our happy gallery, about to be something new.

All packed, and ready for another post. I will share more, soon.











This is bag and tag; the last hours before the FIRST Robotics Competition robot gets tested, tweaked, adored, driven, and photographed before being sealed up in a bag, inaccessible until the first regional event. All the teams have to bag and tag their robots on the same day, at the same time. For 2102 Team Paradox it's become a tradition to finish this up with root beer floats. The team and families, alumni, teachers and mentors gather, and there is a collective sigh of relief, and also a reality check, because build season is only supposedly "over," and experienced members know that there is still a lot more to do!