Welcome to 2008!

Heron in Japanese Garden

When you give a cat some catnip...

This kitten decided to sit in the garden tools basket

After one sprig of catnip...
Sleep comes easily after the excitement

Beautiful weather phenomena

Here's a picture of a 22-degree halo that appeared yesterday as a cold front moved in.



Notice faint rainbow colors
Twenty-two degree halo

Trains and Graffiti

When completing the outer loop trail in the Arboretum I always climb over the small fence enclosing the center to go the train tracks right next door. Often there are trains standing there. The cars are usually brightly decorated with graffiti.

Solar energy at $1 a watt

"A Silicon Valley start-up called Nanosolar has shipped its first solar panels — priced at $1 a watt. That's the price at which solar energy gets cheaper than coal. While other companies have been focusing their efforts on increasing the efficiency of solar panels, Nanosolar took a different approach. It focused on manufacturing. 'The company [has developed] a process to print solar cells made out of CIGS, or copper indium gallium selenide, a combination of elements that many companies are pursuing as an alternative to silicon.'" The outfit also happens to be backed by Google, a fact that's getting some attention at tech media sites.