Writing

Hands Across Time

Hands.

Hands are on my mind.

As I sit here and look at my aging hands, I see. . .

My late father’s hands.

And I see my late maternal grandfather’s hands.

It’s hard to explain what I see, from both sides of the family, but it’s there.

I love my aging, wrinkly, spotty hands so full of love and memories.

Nature, Photography

White Rock Walk

It’s been overcast and raining day after day in the BC lower mainland. Par for the course, but hoping to get some sun we headed down to White Rock.

No luck with sunshine, but we did get to see some birds off the pier.

common loon white rock bc
Common Loon

Surf Scoter White Rock BC
Surf Scoter with shellfish

amtrack train white rock bc
And an Amtrak train.

Nature, Photography, Society, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

BCIT Journalism Student Interview about Urban Creeks

BCIT journalism student Chris met me on Byrne Creek in SE #Burnaby, BC, to shoot some vid and interview me about urban creeks.

We talked about water quality and water quantity issues in urban areas, infiltration and rain gardens, and what folks can do to help protect their local oases of nature.

As the rain came down Chris assured me that I could go home while he got some extra shots of the roaring creek :-).

Good job, Chris!

bcit journalism student interview on byrne creek in burnaby bc

Business, Editing, Society

Can There Be a Happy New Year When Russia Wants to Kill?

Happy New Year to all Ukrainian fighters everywhere, in whatever role you may be in.

Putin is a demented aggressor whose actions have resulted in the deaths of over 300,000 of his soldiers in addition to the horrors his forces have inflicted upon Ukraine.

I have been studying history for 50 years, and there is no reason for Russia to invade Ukraine, aside from Putin’s longing for lost empire.

If Putin is really chasing Nazis, as he claims, he should look in the mirror. It was Uncle Joe Stalin, a consumate Russian dictator, who signed a pact with Hitler.

And as for Russian citizens, it’s very difficult for me to wish you a Happy New Year.

At best many of you have behaved like sheep, and at worst you have participated in trash talk dehumanzing Ukrainians.

As for NATO? There is no intent from anyone to invade Russia, and never has been.

It’s all a scam, and always has been, perpetrated by the psychopaths in Russia’s maskirovka agencies. . .
Nature, Photography

North 40 Reserve Park, Historic Stewart Farm Walkabout

We headed out to the North 40 Reserve Park in Delta, BC, and the Historic Stewart Farm in Surrey, BC.

It was quiet at both sites, but got a few wildlife/nature shots.

I didn’t feel like carrying Big Bertha, my 150-600mm Tamron, so all of these were shot with an 18-400mm Tamron using an FTZ adapter on a Nikon Z50.

And thank you to Yumi, my amazing spotter. Always good to have a second set of eyes along that also love nature and wildlife!

bald eagel north 40 park delta bc
Bald Eagle at North 40

red-tailed hawk north 40 delta bc
Red-tailed Hawk at North 40

northern harrier north 40 park delta bc
Northern Harrier at North 40

top of the hill north 40 park delta bc
North 40 view

historic stewart farm view
Historic Stewart Farm in Surrey, BC

golden-crowned kinglet stewart farm surrey bc
Golden-crowned Kinglet at Historic Stewart Farm

ruby-crowned kinglet historic stewart farm surrey bc
Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Historic Stewart Farm

Photography, Technology

Adding 12TB Drives to Storage Arsenal

New pair of hard disks arrived today. 12TB — if my poor math is right, that’s about 600,000 times larger than the first hard drive I bought and installed in the late 1980s — I think it was 20MB 🙂.

The computer was a no-name 8088 that was built from parts from Akihabara in Tokyo, originally with a pair of 5-1/4″ floppy drives. There was a foreign guy who built PCs. Adding the HD was a huge advancement back then!

12 TB Seagate Ironwolf HDs

Streamkeeping, sustainability, community, business, photography, books, and animals, with occasional forays into social commentary. Text and Photos © Paul Cipywnyk