This topic contains 30 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by 
BeccaDay 9 years, 2 months ago.
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Okay, I’ll give this a whirl. The drivelers were talking about caching less and doing more of other things. Mister Greenthumb suggested a thread with this title. So feel free to share those things you do that don’t require an electronic device. Our day today will be one of those… This afternoon, we’re going to a fundraiser for Habitat being put on by the Beer By Bike Brigade in LaCrosse. Chili slam. After we load up on chili, we have tickets tonight to see Copper Box at the Pump House.
BTW, these things don’t have to be big events. Just anything. It just happens that we have a couple events to attend today. Heck, if you want to churn some butter and make your own clothes, that counts! 😉
When I saw this post the first thing that popped into my mind was viewing the Northern Lights. When there’s a prediction for a good showing that evening, I’ll jump into the truck and drive down the street to an open field less than a mile away to enjoy them. Another good spot a few miles away is Schoolhouse Beach on the north end of the island. At the cabin up north I have a view to the north over the lake which also makes for great viewing when “Up North”.
Your churn some butter comment got me to looking for butter churns on the net. The number that I found, both manual and electric, surprised me. It may be that more people than just ‘settlers’ are churning their own butter.
Tom, You are so lucky where you are. I joined a facebook page for aurora hunters and have run out a couple times myself and taken some photos, but they aren’t very special. Some of these people will drive hours to certain photogenic locations and wait. There’s been a long dry spell for good shows, although it looks like there were people in the midwest who caught some the other night. We’d been clouded in here.
Our niece now lives in Norway. Trekkin’ said he’d fly on a plane if we have an opportunity for some big concert in which she features. (She’s a professional violinist). Besides seeing some gorgeous scenery, maybe I could add on a northern junket and hope to see a real show!
I had a free subscription to “Alaska” magazine not to long ago and they had an article on the Aurora Borealis. Viewing in Alaska is especially good. Short of taking a loooong trip, know a good location where you have an unobstructed view to the north away from lights (lookout towers and hills work quite well) and keep your ears open for when there’s a good viewing. We have a group of friends that alert each other when there’s a nice display.
The last time I churned butter was in kindergarten… Its been a while.
Here’s a current low tech adventure. For the next two weeks, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter will be visible in a line across the sky to the southeast just before dawn.
I lived and worked in Iceland for a year and a half and never saw the Aurora. It seemed that whenever there was any activity, I’d be on duty and by the time I got off and walked out to the headlands to get away from the light pollution the sky would be clouded over.
That’s just lousy, jar!
If the clouds ever lift around here, I hope to see the planetary alignment.
I looked out yesterday morning (or maybe it was the day before), but I should have gotten up earlier. There was too much light already, and all I saw was a very bright Venus. I though for sure I would spot Jupiter, but nothing. I will have to go somewhere with a clearer view of the horizon to spot that little bugger Mercury. Too close to the sun.
I’m hoping tomorrow to be adding another bird to my Life List. A family in Clark County has a cool bird visiting their feeders and they have given permission for visitors. It’s a finch of the high Arctic and I think the Bering Straits. Though the camera does have electronics, I could enjoy this one (probably better!) without it.
This morning I was up a little after 6:00, and as I could see the moon shining brightly outside, I slipped my bare feet into my warm boots and went out to stand on the back deck at 6˚ to check for the planets. No Mercury because of our obstructed eastern horizon, but I spotted Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter strung out across the southern sky along with the moon and a few bright stars. The planets are not as tightly compacted as I thought they would be, but they are there from southeast to a high southwest.
I had not looked far enough west on my previous attempt, and I stayed inside then, which did not allow for a clear enough view of the fainter celestial objects. It was also a half hour closer to sunrise on that day.
On February 20, there will be an Almost Full Moon snowshoe hike at the Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge, hot cocoa afterward. If the weather is nice, I think we’ll be going. No GPS needed.
The middle of the week I was coming back from a early morning squad call and the planet alignment in the south was perfect and clear. Great viewing and not many more days left so go out and give it a look.
Tomorrow we’re going to brew some beer with some friends. I may just pick up a cache or two along the way, or not, we’ll see how I feel tomorrow.
Not all who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien
We have a beer making kit and we still need to actually use it.
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