Idaho Summer Memories: A snapshot of solitude that we experienced near Sun Valley.

I recently purchased the Meta Spectacles. I often find myself fumbling for my camera when I am on walks with Ollie. There is always something interesting e.g. he suddenly wants to play with me or chase a squirrel or simply run around like crazy.

The experience has not been mind-blowing, but the convenience has been undeniable. I just look and press a button and bam it is ready to go.

Key Highlights:

• Stylish and practical, doubling as sunglasses.
• User-friendly: A quick button press snaps a photo, while a longer press records video.
• Impressive frame stabilization.
• High-definition video and image quality, though not on par with DSLRs or smartphones.
• The audio quality is excellent. People around me can hear some sounds, but it is incoherent to them.

Drawbacks to Consider:

• Video recording is limited to 1 minute.

I’ve included a sample video of Ollie frolicking on a Santa Cruz beach. Notice the effective stabilization and decent quality, despite some color washout in bright sunlight

A proud moment for Indians everywhere as Chandrayaan-3 touched down successfully on the lunar south pole (also known as the dark side of the moon). Congratulations to all the people who made this launch a success. With this India becomes the 4th country to land on the moon and the first to reach the South Pole of the moon.

The lunar South Pole region holds particular interest for scientific exploration due to studies that show large amounts of ice there. Mountainous terrain and unpredictable lighting conditions not only protect the ice from melting but also make landing scientific probes there a challenging undertaking. This ice could contain solid-state compounds that would normally melt under warmer conditions elsewhere on the Moon, compounds which could provide insight into lunar, Earth, and Solar System history. Ice could also be used as a source of drinking water and hydrogen for fuel and oxygen for future manned missions and outposts

What is more remarkable is the cost at which India has achieved this. The Chandrayaan-3 cost was sent to the Moon at a cost of $75 million, according to Reuters. That is less than the cost of most blockbuster space films. Gravity cost $100 million, The Martian cost $108 million – and it was less than half the cost of Interstellar, which was filmed on a budget of $165 million.

It even costs less than some houses. The UK’s most expensive house, for instance, went on sale at £200 million, or nearly three-and-a-half missions to the Moon.

Here is a great animation of the trajectory the space vehicle followed to get to the moon.

Today is the 4th Anniversary of Ollie’s gotcha day. I vividly remember what a champ he was on the ride home (from Southern California to the Bay Area). He did not have a single accident in the car.

The 1st image was taken at 8 weeks old.

The second was taken today morning. He barely fits on the lounge chair, but that is one of his comfort spots at night.

Ollie used to be quite a shark when he was a puppy. Luckily I was not his first target. I think Apoorva got the brunt of this phase. I did manage to capture a video of the 2 of them playing and tried to apply my amateur video editing skills.

The Beauty of Japanese Gardens. This picture was taken at the Kubota Garden near Seattle.

Japanese Gardens make excellent subjects during the rainy season. The rains really complete the landscape.

Talking of the Kubota Garden here is some pertinent history about the garden and its creator …

Fujitaro Kubota emigrated from Shikoku, Japan in 1907 and established the Kubota Gardening Company in 1923. Projects of his included the garden at Seattle University and the Japanese garden at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. In 1927, he bought 5 acres (20,000 m2) of swampland in Rainier Beach with the help of a friend, as he was not able to make the purchase because of his Japanese descent.

In 1930, he went on to increase the size of the garden to 30 acres (120,000 m2). Kubota Garden served as the cultural center for the Japanese community in Seattle, as well as a home, office, and nursery for his business.

During World War II, Kubota Garden was abandoned for four years as Kubota and his family were interned at Camp Minidoka in Idaho. During his internment, Kubota supervised the building of a community park, which included a Japanese rock garden. After the war, he and his sons Tak and Tom Kubota rebuilt the business.

The Kubota Gardens are free to visit, the couple of hours I was there was time well spent.

Over the last several months I feel like there has been a Cambrian explosion in the number of PKM Apps out there. I have been curiously watching (and trying) some of them. I don’t know how note-taking suddenly became a problem that companies are trying to solve.

I also think what has been crazy is the fact that a number of vloggers pushing these apps as productivity enhancers. One week there will be a video about “How Obsidian is the killer PKM App”, the next week there will be a video “How Tana will make your brain melt?”. Are these vloggers really using all these apps to take notes, I highly doubt it.

I have more thoughts on this topic … (To be continued)

I love hikes in the PNW. The air is always so fresh and the forests have so much water. Everywhere you hike in winter you have all these little streams and when you can actually catch the sun during the wet winter season, you get to see beautiful scenery like this where the sun shines through the mossy trees. The picture below just reminds me of how enchanting the forest really is.

Moss can be found all over the world, from tropical rainforests to arctic tundras. It is especially well adapted to moist, shady environments, and is commonly found growing on the forest floor, on rocks and stones, and along streams and rivers. Moss does not have roots in the traditional sense, but it absorbs water and nutrients through tiny hair-like structures on its leaves.

In the PNW, moss is found everywhere. I am always drawn to photographing them because to me they represent a miniature world of their own. I think of a moss forest pretty much like the one you see below as having its own ecosystem with several insects and other organisms going about their day-to-day life with no care for the world around them.