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Mystery Flora: Red Bracts with Boo

Hello and welcome to our first Mystery Flora at The Orbit! The Friday Mysteries will be ETEV’s version of Frivolous Fridays, in which we do fun things and let the stresses of the week bugger off for just a bit.

This edition of Mystery Flora is brought to you by the kitty Boo. Have I introduced you to Boo? Continue reading “Mystery Flora: Red Bracts with Boo”

Mystery Flora: Red Bracts with Boo

Sunday Song: TeeveeLand

Those of you who have been following me on Facebook know I’m still doing my Supernatural marathon whilst sorting through over a thousand (!) Mount St. Helens photos from the USGS. There’s an episode in Season 10 that is particularly charming: the drama department of an all-girls’ school puts on a musical about the Winchesters, to which the Winchesters show up because, naturally, there are supernatural shenanigans at the Supernatural musical.

A particularly touching moment is when the girls sing a cover of “Carry on My Wayward Son,” which is a theme song for the show. Even if you don’t watch the show, you might still love it. Continue reading “Sunday Song: TeeveeLand”

Sunday Song: TeeveeLand

Famous Fools for Fool’s Gold

So what would you do if I said, “Look! I got you some gold!” and handed you a chunk of this?

Image shows a nice piece of pyrite with octrahedral crystal faces.
It’s very golden! Image courtesy Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

Well, you would look at those lovely well-developed crystal faces, for one. You would maybe bounce it gently on your hand and determine it’s hefty but not heavy. You could take out a knife and discover you can’t scratch it. If you had a plain white bit of porcelain, you could scrape it along and see that it leaves a mostly-black streak, with maybe a little green or brown tint to it. And if you wanted to make me cry, you could pound it into a pile of black dust with a hammer. Any or all of these tests would leave you shaking your head and saying, “Dana, I’m not a fool. You can’t fool me with fool’s gold! Especially not on April Fools’ Day.”

And then if I told you that there is gold in it, but it’s invisible, you would laugh in my face because it is April Fools’ Day, so I will wait until next week to tell you that there’s invisible gold in there. Well, maybe not in that particular sample, but we can find some that definitely does have invisible gold in it. Continue reading “Famous Fools for Fool’s Gold”

Famous Fools for Fool’s Gold

Music at Rosetta Stones, Plus Mount St. Helens Eruption Photos

Happy Friday, my darlings! We’re taking it easy today. Well, I mean, sorta easy – I’m spending my day going through the USGS database for yummy Mount St. Helens images to illustrate our upcoming posts. You will love what I’m finding! For a sneak peek, check out my Facebook feed, where I’m posting some of the ones that have tickled my fancy the most.

Once you’re done there, head on over to Rosetta Stones where I have some geology-themed songs for your listening pleasure.

Enjoy your Friday!

Image shows the remains of Mount St. Helens's summit. The volcano is covered in nearly-black ash. There is a notch in the crater wall where the lateral blast occurred. Steam rises from the vent and spills over the south rim, which is toward the back left of the photo.
Aerial view of Mount St. Helens and amphitheater; degassing. Skamania County, Washington. May 31, 1980. Image and caption courtesy USGS.
Music at Rosetta Stones, Plus Mount St. Helens Eruption Photos

A (Not Actually Very) Brief Introduction to ETEV, With Icebreakers

I imagine we have a few new folk now that we’re in shiny new digs, so before we get back to our usual routine, let’s have a few introductions. Then I’ll bring you up to speed on what’s ongoing round the cantina. And then you’ll have the floor.

So, a semi-brief history of Dana, then. I grew up in Arizona, which had lots of rocks and not enough plants to cover them up. This probably explains why I’m inordinately fond of rocks of all kinds. I mean, this is aside from the fact that rocks are a lot more fascinating than many people think. You may be dubious right now, but my long-time readers can tell you: geology rocks. Continue reading “A (Not Actually Very) Brief Introduction to ETEV, With Icebreakers”

A (Not Actually Very) Brief Introduction to ETEV, With Icebreakers

Happy Rounded Pi Day!

It’s Pi Day in those countries that write the date as month and day! This year, Pi Day is extra-coolio because it’s 3/14/16. See?

Image shows a pie (possibly a cheesecake) with the Pi symbol in the center, and the numbers of Pi written around the edge in black. I've added an arrow showing the fifth and sixth digits of Pi (59) and showing the 5 would round up to 6.
See whatcha get if you round up? Pi pie public domain image by GJ, annotated by moi.

Yep, if you round up the first six digits to the ten-thousandths place, you end up with 3.1416. Rounded Pi Day! Yes, it’s entirely silly and yet too much fun.

Happy Rounded Pi Day!

Mystery Flora Addendum: Perhaps They Begin Green?

We’ve definitely got a hellebore on our hands. Which species is the question. I’m not sure if our translucent beauties are the same species as the new ones that popped up right in their vicinity, but these are definitely fresh and healthy. Here’s a pretty pair (with a bit of Boo for scale):

Image shows a green flower that resembles our transluscent ones quite closely. There is one taller flower and one that has barely emerged from the earth. Boo is standing behind them: the tallest flower only comes up to her hip.
Mystery Flora I

They’re so new they’re still covered in earth!

Our neighbors down the street have a whole bed full of them. They’re really quite lovely. Continue reading “Mystery Flora Addendum: Perhaps They Begin Green?”

Mystery Flora Addendum: Perhaps They Begin Green?

Cryptopod: I Spy With my Little Eyespot

Almost five years ago, Lockwood, Cujo, and I were kicking around Table Rock, described in Oregon Geology as

two overlapping tuff rings, one filled with rubble and the other capped with basalt. Several dikes exposed on the flanks between the two fed the flows. The large tuff cone was the first to erupt during a deep-water interval in contrast to the second surge when the magma encountered groundwater.

It was pretty explosive in the Christmas Lake Valley area during the Pleistocene, is what they’re saying.

Anyway, Lockwood and I abandoned poor Cujo at a somewhat shady spot and went hiking up the flanks of the tuff ring, encountering all sorts of delightful volcanic and sedimentary features. But we were not alone! We had help in our geologic explorations.

Image shows a portion of Lockwood's brown hiking boot. Beside it, there is a brown butterfly with its wings closed.
Cryptopod I

It had a particular fondness for Lockwood’s boot. Continue reading “Cryptopod: I Spy With my Little Eyespot”

Cryptopod: I Spy With my Little Eyespot