We Might Dodge a Bullet - A House, A Hubble and A Hoot

The snowstorm that has my city under Weather Watch seems to be tracking north of us now, and has almost passed. The next storm is west of us, back at Rapid City, South Dakota and if we're lucky, that one will scoot just south of us. I'm totally crossing my fingers that we might escape this storm track with just fingers of threat instead of shovels of wet, heavy snow. The weather person, however, is saying that we'll get an overnight snow of about four inches. If so, I'll have to shovel tomorrow *sigh*.

This pic of my father-by-marriage's house for sale was just after the first
little snow of last fall. The drifts and piles are as tall as that bush on the left
now. It's a cute little house that has a great main level. I'd be redoing the
upstairs and downstairs, but the main level is immediately usable. 

I had a house showing request for tonight from 8:45 pm until 9:45 pm. I turned it down. Really, I mean, REALLY? A showing ending at almost 10:00 pm? I realize that many of you are night owls and that this time frame wouldn't be unreasonable for you at all, and I also realize that work schedules could mandate that type of schedule, but we have to go over to the house after the Realtor has ended the showing and make sure that the doors are properly closed or opened and that everything is intact. I don't want to be going over there at 10:00 pm. So hopefully they will reschedule for a different day/time that will be more suited to my schedule.

This is one of the spotlighted photos celebrating Hubble Telescope's 24th
anniversary. Yes - our lives have been enriched and expanded by Hubble
for the past 24 years. This is a part of the Monkey Head Nebula in infrared.
So beautiful! 

We're so fortunate that we live in these times when the universe is brought into our homes in such fabulous pictures. Check out the latest Hubble picture, one of several released celebrating Hubble's 24th anniversary. While not as spectacular as the Eagle Nebula, this new picture of a part of the Monkey Head Nebula in infrared is stunning. I love the way the various Hubble photographs over the years have allowed my imagination to fly farther than ever before.

This lovely oil painting by Christopher Smith is entitled Morning Watch -
Barred Owl. It has a lovely and evocative feeling of a foggy morning that I felt
reflected our winter cold. Prints are available if you are interested, just follow the link. 

I had a lovely wake-up this morning - an owl hooting from a tree outside of my window for about 15 minutes earlier this morning (probably around 4:00 am or so). It was such a joy to listen to the hoots ringing out, and knowing that I have such a fabulous raptor living in my general area makes me very happy.

Here is a lovely photograph of a barred owl in a tree by Stephen L Tabone. 

Have a great Tuesday.

Peeps, Baseball Begins, Basketball Continues and it's Monday

I'm not sure if marshmallow peeps are prevalent in some of the other countries where my friends reside, but here in the US you can't have an Easter without Peeps. These marshmallow chickies and bunnies are sixty years old this year and the Pioneer Press held their 10th annual Peeps Easter Diorama and Video contest. Here are a couple of them that I loved as well as the link if you would like to look at the winners and others.

I loved the Drive-In. They even put LED lights into the sign and peeps
on the screen for Star Wars.

The Freedom to Marry rally at our state capital was depicted in this one.
It also participated in the video category. People who were there that
day have been tagging their Peeps on Facebook.

Today is opening day for the Minnesota Twins. We have an outdoor stadium and here we are, snow covering the landscape and temperatures hovering around freezing when the game starts. I remember the debate when they were talking about an open air ball park, but a roof, retractable or permanent, just was too expensive. So the crowd will trudge in, bundled up to the nines, and enjoy baseball. I suspect the players won't be particularly happy about the temps. Catching a ball at those speeds in those temps will hurt. But that's why they get paid the big bucks, right? Last year it was 48 degrees for the opener, but this year - no - seriously lower...

The Minnesota Twins logo features a player from Minneapolis (M)
and a player from St Paul (S) shaking hands over the
Mississippi River with the state outlined behind them.

The Elite Eight are now the Final Four for College Basketball. The games have, generally, been excellent and as always I am reminded about how much I enjoy watching this sport. It's non-stop action from one end of the court to the other, and seeing the school spirit of each competitor is marvelous. Next weekend are the finals - The Final Four and the Championship game. One of these four teams will win it all - Louisville or Wichita State will be going against Michigan or Syracuse. Yesterday a Louisville player suffered a compound fracture of his lower leg while on the court. This horrific accident only inspired his teammates to play harder. The young athlete had surgery yesterday and probably will recover completely, but what a scare!

These bunnies in eggs were too cute to not share today.

So Monday is here and many of my European friends have the day off although the US is back to business today. I hope that everyone who celebrated Easter had a wonderful one shared with family, friends, and wonderful food. I enjoyed my day very much and our dinner turned out spectacular. Have an amazing week of joy.