Stories from Mom

Made my way down to Albuquerque Wednesday this week. Worked remotely on cybersecurity through the days, at the Library in Los Alamos, in my guest room in Albuquerque.

With Pinocchio Grande safe at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, it was time to change focus to family business. Started by recording some videos of Mom and her memories, both of her youth, and the time she spent in Santa Monica. 

I tried the green screen last week, with the idea that I could put the image of mom over historical photos, but decided to just go with her wall as a natural background, and I think it turned out well. Mom had interesting things to tell about Great Grandfather Darmody, and also of the four years our family spent in California, which I remember, but just barely.

Recording video is harder than it appears, and requires a lot of trial and error, but the results were a solid 40 minutes of good stories. 

It was hard to leave on Friday. I stayed with a Friend I met in the Marine Corps who lives down by the Rio Grande. We had a nice visit. He has a large fan base of Hummingbirds, who enjoy his feeders

Saturday, up to Santa Fe to visit Hollins again. I feel strongly he should have a telescope and a pair of binoculars for his Astronomy studies, and I brought a second instrument with me -- An Astrotek 3" Refractor that will allow him to observe the Gallilean Moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. His dad is providing him with the Binoculars. This is important when studying Astronomy from a classical Liberal Arts perspective. The binoculars will allow him to observe the sights the Ancients saw -- with a slight advantage in magnification, and also will make up for any light polution, hopefully. The Astrotek will let him experience the discoveries of Gallileo and others who used early instruments to expand their knowledge of the skies. 

I keep my 6" Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain with me -- it is my workhorse telescope. Also my REI 7x50 binos.

Thanks to Lisa for another wonderful experience, involving other Troop 5 Scouts and Scouters. She reminded me that my friends Megan and Frank live in Santa Fe. I called Megan, and we met for lunch at the Plaza Cafe in Santa Fe, a fine restaurant with an excellent view of the Plaza. I had neglected getting Sopapillas so far on the trip, and I have never had a really great Sopapilla outside of New Mexico, although the ones at the Austin Chuy's aren't bad. So a delicious stuffed Sopapilla, plus lovely conversation with Megan and -- an additional pleasant surprise -- her son David, another one of my Scouts when I was Scoutmaster, and a good friend of Cornell! To top it off, a second, unstuffed sopapilla for dessert, with honey!

Megan, David and Me

Off to the north, and Columbus ND. Eventually. First, a stay in Colorado