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In Search of Saturn in Earth's Shadow

1:28 AM - Feb. 21, 2008 - Wild Thoughts {2} - Add to the Wildness

We witnessed a lunar eclipse tonight. It was crisp, clear, the stars standing out of the bright sky. There is such a thing as a bright darkness; just combine a full moon with miles upon miles of ice-coated snow.

We watched the earth’s shadow drift across the pale moon. I tried taking some digital photos of it over the course of the evening. None are wonderful, but the event is documented for posterity. We got out the telescope and tried to see Saturn, a golden speck to the left of the shadowed satellite of Earth. I had hoped to see the rings. However, we never did quite get it all sorted out before the brilliant white sliver began crossing back onto the moon’s face. But we did look at some lunar craters.

Click here for a large composite image of the eclipse phases we recorded.

The Daniel Academy has good shots of the moon in shadow during the eclipse.

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© Copyright Cathi-Lyn Dyck 2005-2008

Dave and I Have Officially Lost It

1:19 AM - Aug. 25, 2007 - Wild Thoughts {2} - Add to the Wildness

Nearly two weeks ago, I clicked on a button on my computer screen. Unfortunately, I should have been more careful, because it was an eBay button. That particular eBay button was worth several thousand dollars.

However, I was not careful, nor am I repentant. That particular eBay button was accessorized with photos. Green, shiny ones. With yellow striping. With water and a blue sky. That particular eBay button resulted in a trip halfway across the continent, a mad three-day dash to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and back.

Somewhere south of Sault Ste. Marie, we found the far end of the invisible thread to which that eBay button was attached. The far end of the invisible thread in which we were so thoroughly tangled ended (as is fitting for such things to do) at a small trailer. On the small trailer was this:

We have now rerolled the invisible thread all the way back to our house. This thing, right here, is not a new addiction for me. I was first hooked thanks to an uncle or two with a similar habit, and spent many long hours out on the river in a little 12-foot sailboat.

This thing right here is 23 feet. It sleeps almost six, at least, it will while the rug rats are small. Dave and I have formed a policy that the worst-behaved child will be thrown overboard at bedtime to ease the crowdedness of overnight trips.

This thing will move in almost no wind, heel to 55 degrees without capsizing, and dock in 18 inches of water. Not to mention easily trailering anywhere we may wish to go. She is a cutter, which means that she has a mainsail and two foresails. In the red, you can see the main. In the blue is the jib. In the yellow is the staysail. The blue one is clubfoot-rigged, which means it's tied to a small spar that fastens to the deck. It can only move so far, and thus does not need to be yanked about with ropes.

The yellow one is specially rigged with things called cam locks which pinch the ropes (sheets) and hold them in place, allowing one person to run all the lines. Of which there are only three in total. Very easy to do.

As far as tipping over, the reason she doesn't is that she has something called a swing keel. This is a big slab of iron weighing 600 pounds. It is on a swivel point, and winches down to 4 feet below the hull. When the sails are furled, it winches up out of the way, and her shallow draft (depth in the water) allows her to dock, beach or trailer easily.

We didn't make it out on the lake today, but we were out last night in almost no wind at all, skating along until just after sundown. I piloted her, after a small tiff with my dearly beloved, who was being an incorrigible backseat driver. Dearly Beloved sat up just under the mast, and allowed the Rat Pack to take turns sitting out on the bowsprit. (That would be the little piece of wood sticking out the front, with a metal railing around it.)

There is no way to describe the feeling of sailing. We are all irrevocably in love.

She is a MacGregor Venture of Newport, designed after the cutter pilot ships of the 1800s. These were quick little boats which guided big transatlantic ships into the harbour. They also provided priority landing for high-paying passengers who did not wish to wait for the ship to lay in and unload.

For now, her name is Margaret Ann, but we have plans to rename her Whispering Hope, for a song David knows, and for a testimony. Because a sailboat does whisper things in the wind.

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." -John 3:8

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© Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007 Lazy Creek Online. This blog content is not authorized for reproduction outside of the HomeschoolBlogger.com hosting site and Lazy Creek websites. Violations may be reported to Cathi-Lyn Dyck at: www.Lazycreek.net

L'Eternel est Mon Berger

9:03 PM - Jul. 29, 2007 - Wild Thoughts {3} - Add to the Wildness

We started reading the Bible bilingually as a family, preparing for the eventuality that we may get to visit Quebec, where my brother and sister-in-law live. Click here for more on that. Anyway, after the kids ran off to bed this evening, I thought to myself, "I wonder--reading different English versions can bring out nuances; I bet reading it in French can too." (No, I don't actually use semicolons in my random thoughts, but that's beside the point.)

So I sat down and read the twenty-third Psalm. Let me start by saying that many words are more beautiful on the tongue in French than in English. What is a "song of David" in English is a cantique de David in French.

It only took one verse for it to hit me. Y'know that feeling, as a stay-at-home mom, as a homeschooling parent, even as a married person without all the freedoms the world dangles in front of us? The feeling that says, "You're missing out"?

L'Eternel est mon berger;
Je ne manquerai de rien.

The Eternal is my shepherd;
I won't be missing a thing.

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© Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007 Lazy Creek Online. This blog content is not authorized for reproduction outside of the HomeschoolBlogger.com hosting site and Lazy Creek websites. Violations may be reported to Cathi-Lyn Dyck at: www.Lazycreek.net

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