Lake Forest: busy; from space; world’s biggest basket; me and a Chinese ivory carver

Above is yesterday morning’s  tracking map of tropical storms just before Ida came ashore.  There were five.

I saw headlines this morning about Louisiana suffering Ida’s wrath.  If you’ve been reading this journal for a while you know that Ida is not a person but an insentient natural phenomenon which is incapable of wrath.  Sigh.  Sometimes I feel this is a losing battle.  

Here is a screen shot of a site that provides a live view of the Earth from the International Space Station.  In fact as it states on the screen the view is not always live if transmission is lost or the station is on Earth’s night side.  Nevertheless that this is possible is amazing.  I have bookmarked the site and check it frequently.  I thank James for the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEIk7gwjgIM

From my San Diego friends, Susan and Howard, who are driving through the Midwest on their way to leaf peep in New England for the first time, comes a link to the World’s Biggest Basket.  I present it to you in my ongoing efforts at broadening your education.  I had no idea that such a marvel exists, though I probably should have, much less that it is so near.  However tempting,  I am not planning a visit.

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10658

I continue to go back to the main site and make minor corrections from time to time.  There is no set pattern to this and I am aware that the changes I make will not likely be noticed by anyone else.  I am sometimes surprised by how much I got right when I was young.  Here is the penultimate paragraph of STORM PASSAGE.

In Auckland, Suzanne and I attended an exhibit of Chinese art. One of the objects was a figure holding aloft thirty-two concentric spheres, only the outer half dozen of which were visible, all carved from a single piece of ivory. The satisfaction of the artist upon completing carving all thirty-two spheres and knowing that each—even the innermost which would never be seen—was perfect, is the same as that of a man who completes a solo circumnavigation, who fulfills any dream, even though no one else knows.