The Sky !

Our planet is fantastic !

The sky is a wonderful show.

It's free to see, 

and it's happening all the time !

                                - M

 Storm clouds over Colorado

 Dawn in Venice

 The San Jacinto Monument, just across from the Battleship Texas.

 Sun peaking through the fog, Kaziranga, India.

 Just North of Big Bend National Park.

 Dawn, east of Marathon, Texas.

 "The Shaman", Seminole Canyon State Part, Texas.

Sunset, Laguna Beach, California.

George Washington Bridge, New York.

"A Bridge Too Far", Arnhem Bridge, The Netherlands

 Moon rise, Shillong, Assam, India

Dawn, Port of Kochi, India.

I call this "Indians just wanna' have fun".

Pre-dawn arrival back in the USA, Newark, New Jersey

"The Edge of Space" (not really...it's out my airplane window)

 "Blood Moon", with Jupiter off to the lower right.

A very chilly April morning on the Gulf of Finland 

(chunks of ice forming on the surface)

 1880's Lighthouse, Port Aransas, Texas.

 Dockside in Montreal.

Dawn launch, Albuquerque Balloon Festival.

Stormy day, Lower Manhattan, New York City.

 And, swinging all the way back around...

the sun coming up over a flood control pond, Houston, Texas

Look up.  Keep looking up !

- Mark

Explosion in Houston

At about 04:24 this morning, this plant blew up in Northwest Houston.  The explosion was felt up to 40 miles (65km) away.  My house, is 4 miles (6.5km) away... we really felt it.  My son's house is only 2 miles away, he said car alarms were set off all over his neighborhood.

Sadly, two employees who came in early to work out at the small gym they had on site, died when their entry to the building set off gas that had been leaking into the building overnight.

As I stood outside, trying to figure which direction the noise had come from, just a few minutes after the explosion, I noticed small bits of what looked like building insulation falling down, like snowflakes from the sky.  Eerie.

Y'all take care.
- Mark

25,000 Visits !!! ... ( Thank You !! )

Hello Friends !

Well now, WrittenPost has been up and running for a little over 8 years, 
and has recently passed 25,000 visits ... from a total of 114 countries !!

As always...Thank You !! for "tuning in" !! 

I appreciate your reading and I always appreciate your COMMENTS and e-mails !!

Y'all take care,

- Mark

Great Wall, China - Mark W. Laughlin

USA   Japan   Canada   Singapore   Denmark   Iran   Ukraine   Finland   India   Germany   Spain   United Kingdom   Peru   Estonia   South Korea   Russia   Bahamas   Netherlands   Brazil   China 

"A bridge too far..." Arnhem, Netherlands - Mark W. Laughlin

  Lebanon   United Arab Emirates   France   Taiwan   Thailand   Italy   Kazakhstan   Zimbabwe   Philippines   Sweden   Ireland   Viet Nam   Moldova   Romania   Saudi Arabia

A donkey - M.

   Malaysia   Lithuania   Trinidad and Tobago   Suriname   Mexico   Georgia   Nigeria   Pakistan   Israel   Belgium   Chile   Poland   Serbia   Switzerland   Turkey   Austria   Colombia   

A little east of Marfa, Texas, Dawn - Mark W. Laughlin

Belarus   Panama   Morocco   Croatia   Luxembourg   Slovakia   Indonesia   Bulgaria   San Marino   Australia   Portugal   Norway   Oman   New Zealand   Argentina   Iraq   

Helsinki, Eastern Harbor, also dawn - Mark W. Laughlin

South Africa   Bangladesh   Sri Lanka   Hong Kong   Czech Republic   Montenegro   Greece   Ecuador   Sudan   Costa Rica   Egypt   Paraguay   Turkmenistan    Antigua and Barbuda   Mongolia  

Chur, Switzerland, alpinehorn - Mark W. Laughlin

Tunisia   Bhutan   Namibia   Syria   Ghana   Jordan   Qatar   Ethiopia   Guam   Rwanda   Algeria   Guyana   Boznia-Herzgovenia   Afghanistan   Hungary   Myanmar/Burma 

Holi-Houston, festival of color - Mark W. Laughlin

  Palestine   Liberia   Kenya   Seychelles   Honduras   Cambodia   Nepal   Azerbaijan   Equatorial Guinea   Macao   Albania   Cyprus   Kosovo …

Cochin Ferry, Kerala, India - Mark W. Laughlin

THANK YOU !! 

Asian Rhino, Kaziranga, Assam, India - Mark W. Laughlin

West Texas - II ... Observatory and Seminole Canyon

The "center piece" or our trip was a visit to The University of Texas' McDonald Observatory, a working observatory about 20 minutes northwest of Fort Davis, Texas.  It has several large telescopes and also has programs for visiting amateur astronomers.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

You check-in at the visitors center which has a museum, theater, cafe and gift shop.  They have a "twilight program" indoor at the center that ends when it's finally dark enough to go out and observe.  They start the outdoor portion by pointing out several stars, planets and constellations in the night sky. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

After the twilight program, we went to the "Star Party", where you look through several smaller and medium telescopes and visiting with the observatory staff.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

If you take the in-depth program, they take you in a bus up to one of the main telescopes where you spend the evening talking with the professional astronomers, viewing what they see, and hearing about their research (but that's not available every night, so we'll try that again later).

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We had a clear blue sky in the afternoon, but it began to cloud up later.  One thing about going in April, the altitude and the season combined to get a bit chilly.  It was 38 degrees (3 deg C) when we left, about 11:30 pm.

Our next stop would be Seminole Canyon State Park (next post).  To get to our guided tour, I had to get my lovely wife up early.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We headed east from Alpine well before sunrise and saw the dawn just east of Marathon, Texas.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Snapped this one just a second or two before the sun peaked over the hill.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The Pecos River meets the Rio Grande (which is the Texas/Mexico border) at what is now Lake Amistad (friendship).

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Out on the highway, traffic is quite light and the cars travel pretty fast.  The speed limit is 75 mph (125 km/hr), but people tend to drive just a bit faster, say around 80-85 mph (130-140 km/hr).  I noticed quite a few of the small night-critters, rabbits, etc. fall prey to the night-time traffic, providing a steady diet for the local buzzards (Turkey Vultures).

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Next stop, Seminole Canyon, where several thousand years ago, paleo-Indians spent their winters under the protection of the overhanging cliffs along the Pecos River.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Y'all come visit.
We'll take a drive.  ;-)

- Mark

West Texas - I ... Big Bend

Last week, Brenda and I took a drive.  We headed WEST !

One drawback about visiting West Texas, is that there is a whole LOT of it, and it's quite spread out.  So, you have to do a bit of driving to see it.  We saw some, but of course there's still a lot more of it out there.

Our first destination was Alpine, Texas.  Primarily, our trip was to visit McDonald Observatory, run by the University of Texas (my university), just northwest of Ft. Davis, Texas.  Since we were "near" Big Bend National Park (we were 125 miles away), dad suggested we zip down there and take a look, so we did.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

I'm not sure my wife is so keen on it, but I like to get on the road before sunrise.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

These three shots are from the main road down into the park.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

One can see a sunset developing and prepare for it.  But one never knows what will happen as the sun rises, because you can't see clouds, colors or potential backgrounds in pre-dawn darkness.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We didn't drive all the way down into the park, the the southern border of the park is the Rio Grande, the US-Mexico border, and would have taken a couple of hours longer to get down to.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We drove up into the Chisos Basin, in the Chisos Mountains, in the north-central portion of the park.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

I don't know the geological origins of the basin, but it looks as if it could be the crater of an ancient volcano, which blew out on one side.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Today of course, the danger of big explosions has passed, and there is a nice restaurant and a campground in the basin.  

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

So we had a wonderful breakfast overlooking the basin and the "gap" in the side, which looks out over the valley below.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Then we got back in the car, and started to drive again.

Next:
- photos from the observatory and another sunrise drive
- Seminole Canyon State Part (winter home of "The Walking Men")
- a few shots of a quiet, cool Monday morning on the river in San Antonio

Photo by BRENDA S. LAUGHLIN

Montana says they are "The Big Sky State"...

Sorry, "Big Sky" = Texas !!

Y'all take care,
- Mark

Notre Dame...A dark, dark moment...

Horrible news today, not just for the people of France, but for all the people of the world, whether they have had the opportunity to visit this great treasure or not...

Photos from a beautiful day back in 2009:

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

At this moment, it seems that the two main bell towers are still standing...let's hope.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

But many, maybe all, of the beautiful stained glass windows are gone.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Some items have been removed from the building because of ongoing renovations.  Let's hope many things were saved in this way.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

But the main portion of the cathedral has been severely damage, the roof has collapsed.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 ...and the tall spire was completely engulfed and collapsed.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Hopefully, portions of the massive stone structure will be undamaged, and can serve as a foundation for the rebuilding.

Awful.
- Mark