Exit78 » arkansas

Mr. Rogers of Salem – 1767

Mike Goad — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville Arkansas.

A painting of colonial ship owner and merchant, Daniel Rogers, by John Singleton Copley

Oil on canvas. 50″ x 40 1/2″

In 1915: “This fine picture represents Mr. Rogers sitting sideways upon a chair. His dress is a plum-colored coat and a gold laced waistcoat. His hair is without powder. This portrait was exhibited at the exhibition of the Society of British Artists in London in 1768. It belongs to the Estate of Morrill Wyman of Cambridge, and is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.^1”

¹The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley, by Frank W. Bayley of Copley Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts; 1915, Boston, The Taylor Press

Friday Flaire–Arkansas

Mike Goad — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Nine Arkansas images from Flickr.

suntreehaze Some rights reserved by baronsquirrel	Marco! blind paddling in the morning on The White River near Buffalo City, Arkansas. Some rights reserved by FreeWine	Arkansas State Police Dodge Charger Some rights reserved by cliff1066™
In the Land of Giant Mushrooms On a cool damp morning at Greers Ferry Lake in Arkansas. Some rights reserved by biggertree	Central High Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division escort African-American students to Central High School in Little Rock in Sept. 1957 (National Archives image)	Bull Elk Bugling, Arkansas Some rights reserved by Walmart Stores
Elkhorn Tavern, Pea Ridge National Battlefield Some rights reserved by Rob Shenk	Eureka Springs, AR. Some rights reserved by doug_wertman	CH-47 during exercise at Ft. Chafee Some rights reserved by The U.S. Army

Spring is in the air… a tad early!

Mike Goad — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:13:00 +0000

This early heat wave – if it was this much warmer than normal during the summer, that’s surely what it would be called – has resulted in early flowering of almost everything, including some plants that shouldn’t even be flowering until late April. As well, most trees have started leafing out and the hardwood portions of the local forests have started turning green.

The following video from our yard captures just a small part of this strange season in Arkansas. For this video, I didn’t add any music, just natural back ground sounds from our yard.

How are the seasons progressing where you are?

A year ago today…,

Mike Goad — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:09:27 +0000

The weather was much different. It had been a colder winter overall and, on February 9, 2011, we had our second snow in a week – and it was a very respectable snowfall.

This year, our warmer-than-normal winter has returned to seasonal temperatures, but we’ve not had any snow or ice since sometime in November or December, and that wasn’t much.

How is the winter trending in your neck of the woods?

Daffodils in January? – Crazy winter 2011/12.

Mike Goad — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Overall, for us, this winter has been crazily mild. While, we did have one spell in December that was cold enough to brown much of the ground vegetation that normally stays green in this part of the country, it has been much warmer than normal for most of the season.

Still, it’s not normal to have daffodils in January, but we have the first blossom of the year – and the forecast is for temperatures above 60°F (15.5°C) for the week ahead.

So is winter over? Where is all the cold weather? Is this global warming?

Winter’s probably not over here. Typically, our snowiest month is February, followed by March, and we’ve even had snow in April, though some years we don’t get any snow at all. Last year, on February 9th, we had nearly a foot, and that was the second snow of the week.

On the other hand, spring-like conditions in early February 2008 led to a tornado outbreak that killed 13 in Arkansas (55 in southern US) with widespread damage and power outages. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more big storms or winter weather in the next month, this year.

While it’s been unusually warm here,the reverse is true in other places. Alaska has seen some brutally cold weather, worse than normal, and very heavy snow in places. Sea ice in the Bering Sea is moving south much earlier than normal – and it’s moving fast, threatening to halt the snow-crap harvesting at the peak of the season. Very cold temperatures and strong winds are pushing the ice south at 10 to 15 miles a day, 5 times the normal rate, threatening $8 million worth of crap pots and other gear already in the water.

In my view, our warmer weather and the colder weather in Alaska are just regional climate variations, not global warming or cooling, not a direct manifestation of climate change, though change is coming – it always is.

Globally, temperatures have been relatively stable over the last decade.

While warming alarmists tout the decade as the warmest on record, “relatively stable” for more than 10 years isn’t warming.

As I’ve said in previous posts, my view is that we are on the verge of a significant drop in global temperature. When it starts, if it starts, is anyone’s guess. The loss of heat may have already begun in the waters of the world, without yet being felt in the weather.

One ominous prediction, though, says that the coming cold may move the geographical center of the corn producing region of North America from Iowa south into Kansas.

I’d rather have global warming.

What has the weather been like recently for you?

Hot cars.

Mike Goad — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 04:33:47 +0000

We spotted this “cute” car in a parking lot for some popular trails in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s a Lotus Elise, certainly a nice looking and sporty car and, at around $50,000, is more than we would want to spend on a car.

There was one other “sporty” car that I caught sight of last summer on the 4th of July weekend. As we were coming out of the parking lot of the Lake Village Tourist Information Center in Southern Arkansas, I saw an orange car that was shaped much different than most of the other cars on the road, but didn’t have a chance to get a picture of it. Now, I’m by no means an expert on automobiles and can seldom identify one without the help of the internet. For some reason, though, Lamborghini came to mind, even though I didn’t get a very good look at it.

A couple of hours later, after crossing a small corner, I spotted the same orange color on a car in a rear view mirror. We were on I20 east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, heading for Biloxi. I don’t know if it was the same make and model of the picture on the right (from Wikipedia), but the color was very close to this, if not identical – and, as it passed us, I spotted the logo on the back.

Like I said, I’m no expert on automobiles, but these sure seemed like a couple of hot cars.

Lorem ipsum–time lapse.

Mike Goad — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:25:00 +0000

Lorem ipsum is dummy text long used for formatting layout in the printing and typesetting industry. Today, it finds use in designing web page or blog layout. Dummy text is used to eliminate the distraction of reading the content of the page and allows the viewer or developer easier focus on how the graphical elements, including the text, work with or against each other.

I’ve never seen it in video – but, why not:

The time lapse is from 899 photos taken over a period of about 75 minutes and compressed in the video to about 53 seconds.

Davina Haisell as more information on Lorem Ipsum in her post, Lorem Ipsum for the Smarty Pants.

Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and more….

Mike Goad — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Whenever we go on a trip, I take a lot of pictures. Before I share any of the pictures, I post-process them – sort of like putting them through a digital darkroom – to remove flaws and adjust the saturation and contrast. It takes time, but I have been able to streamline my process somewhat.

I have just completed processing the last groups of images from the first big western trip we took after I retired in 2007. I’ve started creating videos using photos from that trip, with background music from YouTube audio swap. The first two of the series have been already posted:

Nebraska – A Ranch in the Sandhills
Have you ever seen a wild ass? – feral burros and more in South Dakota’s Custer State Park

Since I’ve finished with all the groups of images from the trip, the video for today is a montage of photographs from the trip; for the most part, one picture each day of our travels and explorations.

The audio track is Paul Mottram’s “Sidewalk Saunter.”

A submarine in the Arkansas River

Mike Goad — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

USS Razorback, SS 394, North Little Rock, Arkansas

A Balao-class submarine of the Sandlance variant, USS Razorback was built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Her keel was laid on 09 September 1943. Razorback was constructed in Drydock #1 at the shipyard, and she was launched, along with two sister ships USS Redfish (SS-395) and USS Ronquil (SS-396), on 27 January 1944. USS Scabbardfish (SS-397) was also launched at the shipyard that day. This was the largest single-day launch of submarines in US history.

After five WWII combat patrols and extensive service during the Cold War, on 30 November 1970, USS Razorback was decommissioned and transferred to the Turkish Navy, where she served until decommissioned on 08 August 2001. She reached her new berth in North Little Rock, 29 August 2004 at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

USS Razorback (SS-394)

Little Rock Area

Other posts related to the Little Rock area

Presidential Table

Mike Goad — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:10:00 +0000

William J. Clinton Presidential Center, May 12, 2007

The Clinton service is remarkable not only for its revolutionary design but also for its significance to the history of the American presidency.

The Clinton administration coincided with the bicentennial of the White House as home to America’s first families, a role it had played since John Adams, the second president, took up residence there on November 1, 1800. To commemorate this event, and also replenish the stock of official state china for the first time in nearly two decades, President William Clinton and his wife, Hillary, commissioned Lenox to create 300 12-piece place settings in 2000.

In a dramatic departure from previous White House services, the Clinton china features a border of pale creamy yellow, instead of a bright primary color, and images of the White House facades, in place of the customary presidential seal. Each piece in the placesetting is decorated with a different pattern, the motifs derived from outstanding architectural elements found in the State Dining Room, East Room, and Diplomatic Reception Room.

Fittingly, the china was used for the first time at a dinner attended by former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush, their wives, and Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady.

Lenox White House China

Clinton Presidential Library and Center

William J. Clinton Presidential Library (.gov)
William J. Clinton Presidential Center (.org)
Wikipedia

Little Rock Area

Other Exit78 posts related to the Clinton Presidency:

Other posts related to the Little Rock area

57 Chevy convertible.

Mike Goad — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:10:00 +0000

1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air Convertible, Museum of Automobiles, Petit Jean mountain, Arkansas, July 2005

1957 Chevrolet:

Museum of Automobiles:

For more images from the Museum of Automobiles and Petit Jean State Park, visit our Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain photo gallery.

26 of my photos at once!!!

Mike Goad — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0000

If I were to post a photo a day – or even 5 a day – it would take quite a while just to share those that I have selected for posting.

By putting together a video, I can share a large number at once – and create a video library that we can view on a TV screen. The original of the video below is higher definition than what I uploaded to YouTube.

The photos, in the sequence that they appear:

Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, September 2009
Menor’s cabin and store, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, September 20, 2007
Canton Lake, Oklahoma, August 29, 2009
Canyonlands national Park, September 23, 2007
Pronghorn, Custer State Park, South Dakota, August 22, 2007
Wild burro, Custer State Park, South Dakota, August 22, 2007
Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, March, 2011
Devil’s Tower National Monument, August 27, 2007
Devil’s Tower National Monument, August 28, 2007
Texas Interstate HighwayI40, eastbound rest west of Alenreed
Devil’s Tower National Monument, August, 2007
Cottonwood Tree, Lake Ogallala, Nebraska, July 8, 2010
Clouds, Lake Ogallala, Nebraska, July 8, 2010
Lewistown, Montana, August 30, 2007
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, September 14, 2009
Nuthatch
Ouray, Colorado, September 2010
Rest are at Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge and Kansas Highway 52
Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, 2009
Rocky Mountain National park, somewhere trail to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, & Emerald Lake, 2009
Pea Ridge National military Park, Northwest Arkansas, July 15, 2011
Abyss Pool, West Thumb, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, September 12, 2007
Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah, September 24, 2007
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Visitor Center, Colorado, 2009
Garvan Woodland Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas, April 13, 2010
Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, Gardiner, Montana, September 13, 2007

The music, Improvisation On Friday… by Alex, is licensed under a Attribution (3.0).

Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Mike Goad — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:48:00 +0000

I guess we’re getting the flip side of our colder than normal winter. It certainly gives one an appreciation for air conditioned living and working spaces.

While this is a hotter than normal summer, it is not without precedent. The summer that we moved here, 1980, was much worse. Many of the rural volunteer fire departments in the area were created as a result of the widespread wild fires that year. The hot dry conditions lasted from June into early October, from what I remember.

We did have a break last week. On Tuesday, we got about 3 inches of rain in downpour that lasted an hour. Then, during the night, we had another inch and a quarter for a total of about 4.25 inches (10.8 cm). Then the temperature stayed under a hundred through yesterday.

I guess I can’t complain too much. When I was a teen, I lived in southeast Texas the summer of 1965 and from June 1967 to December 1971. That was 6 summers in a hot and humid part of the U.S. – and we did not have air conditioning.

These days, though, we’re not acclimatized to the heat and tend to hide from it – as much as we can.

A cloud timelapse photo experiment.

Mike Goad — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 03:32:25 +0000

Did a little bit of experimenting today with time lapse photography. This short video was shot off our front deck this afternoon. It actually consists of 500 photos. The camera was on a tripod and programmed to take one photo every 5 seconds. In Windows Live Movie Maker, I set the duration for each photo to .05 seconds. The audio is from YouTube audio swap, which has a wide variety of audio that has been made available to apply to uploaded videos.

The weather today was atrocious. I know that I said I’d much rather have the heat and humidity than the storms we were getting a couple of months ago, but this is more than I asked for. Today was 101.9° on our porch. Down in town it was 105° – we’re always cooler up here in the warmer months.

If I wasn’t working this contracts we’d be heading to cooler climate – Colorado, Wyoming, somewhere cooler than here.

Torrential rain 2 years ago.

Mike Goad — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 01:00:00 +0000

We had a bout with severe weather two years ago today. Debris from trees is flying horizontal in this picture. Shortly after this picture was taken, the large tree across the road went down.

This year, after the threat of severe weather continuous for long periods in April and May, it has turned hot and muggy – about normal for this time of year.

Full Flow

Mike Goad — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Cedar Falls, Petit Jean State Park, October 31, 2009

Information: Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain

Gallery: Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain

See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

More posts on Petit Jean State Park and area (We’ve been there more than just a few times):

Suspended

Mike Goad — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Hummingbird, August 1, 2008, Arkansas

McVicar House–Historic Arkansas Museum

Mike Goad — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

May 12, 2007

Historic Homes – Guided tours of four restored early 19th-century houses are offered daily on the hour, except noon.

Late 1840s. James McVicar built this wooden house, using white oak logs and square pegs, on the same block his friend Robert Brownlee built a brick home. Their homes follow the symmetrical 1840s style with a large central hall bordered by two rooms of equal size. McVicar was director of the state penitentiary, a Mason, a veteran of the Mexican War, and a slave holder.

Historic Arkansas Museum

On edge.

Mike Goad — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:30:00 +0000

A lot of people in the middle of the U.S. have been a bit on edge this storm season – for good reason. This has been a bad, bad season, with over 500 severe weather related fatalities and over 540 confirmed tornados in the last 8 weeks.

What has made it particularly bad is that we have had several periods where a front – with a mass of warm, moist air to the south and cooler, drier air to the north – has stalled for several days. During these times there have been multiple outbreaks – until the front finally gets pushed out to the east.

We are actually about as prepared as you can get. We live in the country, but can hear the sirens in a nearby town. A television station in Little Rock has an automated system that will call our cell phones and send an email message if there is a tornado warning for our area. There is a a storm shelter in our house.

But still, after Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama last month, and Joplin, Missouri on Sunday, we pay attention when there is a threat of severe weather.

Yesterday started out with a low risk of severe weather here. Oklahoma was under the gun with a very high risk.

As the day progressed, we were upgraded to a moderate risk. As I had time, I kept track of the weather conditions at work, watching a line of storms break out in Oklahoma and start moving east. There were a lot of tornado warning boxes.

I had thought to work a little late prepping for upcoming classes, but decided to come on home when the last class finished at 8 pm. Storms were still headed this way.

We usually go to bed at 10, but decided to stay up a while to see what it looked like the storms were going to do. They were at the state line and there were a couple of warnings for counties in northwest Arkansas.

At 11 or so, it looked like the bulk of the storms were going to either dissipate or go around us, though there was one cell that was heading in our direction that might reach us if it held together. It didn’t look like it would, so we went to bed, though I had my cell phone next to me, just in case we got a storm alert call.

Apparently the cell broke apart in the cooler night air – after it destroyed Denning, Arkansas.

My New Video “Production”–just playin’ around with the video editing software–check it out.

Mike Goad — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:12:15 +0000

We have somewhere in excess of 8 inches right now. Other areas got a lot more snow than we did.

It should all melt over the weekend as we have warmer temperatures on the way.

I got my class out of the way early today because of the impending/ongoing inclement weather and came home before noon.