02-11- 2013 The observer.

02-11- 2013 The observer., a photo by pdecell on Flickr.

The observer does affect the Universe but is hardly the center of the Universe.

02-08-2013 Descending rails

02-08-2013 Descending rails, a photo by pdecell on Flickr.

Been using my Galaxy Tab on occasion to take pictures. The big screen is a bit awkward especially with the cover but the large screen is great for framing shots. I think tablet makers ought to exploit the bigger form and put more serious cameras.

Jan 20- Look I know it was 61F yesterday...

Jan 20- Look I know it was 61F yesterday..., a photo by pdecell on Flickr.

but getting ready to bloom in mid January in Kansas is not a good game plan even if you are sited in a sheltered southern exposure!

White Lady

White Lady, a photo by pdecell on Flickr.

Kill Creek Park. Sycamores. The sky was really intense but I boosted the saturation to bring out the contrast between the trees and the sky.

Jan 18 2013 Day Moon

Jan 18 2013 Day Moon, a photo by pdecell on Flickr.

From Kill Creek Park, East of Lawrence on K-10. The sky was really intense and I was fortunate to have a polarizing filter to provide the maximum contrast between the sky and the moon.

Winter Leaves

Winter Leaves, a photo by pdecell on Flickr.

I'm in one of those Photo a day challenges for 2013 so since today is not a great photography day decided to include a poem with my photo-

Walking along the shore I found the remains of a pool,
Leaves black and blue pressed into the mud.
The mud held in the hand of the lake's ancient marl.
Might be fossils some day these leaves,
Their skeletal substance long gone,
Slight imprints examined and cataloged, a supporting datum
In some argument about a mass extinction.
But most likely not, but swept away in the growth of time and then
Subsumed by the Earth's great snake-
From which nothing that was, can really be recovered.

pgd 1/5/2013

A look at Kansas climate for 2012. Just how bad is it out there?

Given all the talk about how hot it has been and the severity of this years drought, I put together a historical look at Kansas climate in terms of temperature and a drought severity index. Rather than repeat it here hop on over to my science blog at the Lawrence Journal World.
http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dangerous-ideas/2012/jul/21/so-how-does-2012-stack-up-weather-wise/
But you might find my conclusions interesting so I will repost those here:

2012 does not even come close in severity to the earlier droughts, including some relatively recent droughts of the 1980's. What is interesting is that the Palmer index suggests that the drought of the mid 1950's was in some respects more intense than the drought of the 1930's.
So the data suggest that yes it has been really abnormally warm so far in 2012. On the other hand the Palmer data suggest that the current drought is not (At least through June) as severe as a number of other droughts we have had.
One problem we have of course looking at historical data is that agricultural practices have changed since the 1930's. Much of the marginal land that was farmed then is not farmed now or is farmed using large scale irrigation. Farmers today tend to use tillage and other conservation practices that that probably are moderating local temperature and precipitation to some degree compared to earlier years. This might explain the greater number of extreme highs during the 1930's when conservation practices were not as widespread.

Enjoy!

Opuntia

Opuntia-1, a photo by pdecell on Flickr.

This Opuntia lives in my Kansas garden. It made it through our very mild winter and this is its first bloom.