ArcGIS Server up and running

fter slogging along with ArcGIS Server, I finally have it installed and running a web service.

I went ahead and took an Agricultural NonPoint Source Pollution study (AGNPS) I did on the Rock Creek watershed in Seneca County Ohio and published it in our new ArcGIS server.

Like a Led Zeppelin

Yeah... so that was a fun experiment in the new customizable blogger.

To the point: 'customizable' is not the word I would use to describe updating from steaming pile alpha to steaming pile beta.

So, here I am back to the old version. But I will play with the look some bit.

New Look

I've finally decided to go ahead and let the new Blogger futz around with my oh-so-carefully-bodged-together template file. So now that blogger has a GUI-enhanced template generator, I can go ahead and get the generic layout all fixed, then go into the template file and muss it up some more. Hooray!!! (I mean, c'mon... what is the idea of not giving me a target="_blank" option on my links list?!). Then there's the whole can't set your background image to something else deal, etc. etc..... sheesh!

To Heck with John McCain

...I'm the Maverick!

Walking the path

Here's an excerpt from Stephen Batchelor's "Living with the Devil"

" Yet the well-intentioned urge to preserve a religion runs the risk of mummifying it. Although you might succeed in preserving its institutions and dogmas for a while, you cannot preserve a path any more than you can preserve the current of a river or the whistling of a wind. Insidiously Mara (the devil) attempts to secure what by nature is open and fluid. The survival of a path is achieved not by preserving it but by walking it-- even when you have no clear idea where it will lead.
As religions grow from humble beginnings into churches and orthodoxies, the narrow path turns into a brightly lit highway. The risk of embarking on a journey into the unknown is replaced by the confidence of setting off on a well-planned excursion. Homelessness starts to feel like home again. The freedom of the open road is replaced by the drudgery of repeating a cycle of routines. As we proceed along the well-trodden paths of Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, we may begin to weary of their certainties. Perilous trails that branch off the main track and peter out in the anarchy of wilderness catch our attention. We realize that the path we are taking might too disappear into a pathless land."

So much to absorb, but the passage in a way describes where I am right now.

I can sense the dessication of the preserved religions, their dogmas, institutions.
The drudgery of routines and cycles leaves me uninspired to continue down the highway.
The journey is no longer into the unknown but is one of confident certainties.
I am wearied of their certainties, their misplaced confidence.
I see the narrow path, perilous, as it branches out into the anarchy of the wild.
I long for the unknown, for the journey, for the freedom, for the uncertainty.
I seek the narrow path, one preserved only by my walking it.

A 'Berry' Good Day

Last evening Kelly & I rode our bikes down to a nearby raspberry farm, Pullins Raspberries.



We've been driving by the farm on our way to work since last winter, and for the past month we've been waiting for the sign to change from 'closed' to 'open'. So last night after work we got out our bicycles, made space in the trunk pack I have attached to mine, and rode off to get some fresh fruit.

Soon enough we made it there and pulled into their gravel driveway, heading around back to register pavillion. We met the owner and he handed us some paper cartons. Then he took us out to the field to show us where the best berries could be picked. We started with the black raspberries.

Now I have picked black raspberries in the wild but they never were as big as the ones on the farm. We didn't have to go very far to find the good ones here.



They were plentiful and in no time Kelly & I had a carton each filled.



We resisted our temptation to eat them right there (okay - one just for a taste!) and brought them back to the register. Next were the red raspberries.

Now I had never picked red ones, nor seen them growing in the wild, but the owner took us out and showed us what to look for... or better still, what to feel for. Since the berries are already red, he said, you have to feel them. They should be soft and should pull off the stem with little resistance. It is still a little early for the reds, so the going was slow. Kelly & I scoured and eventually filled up a single carton until it was overflowing.

The owner rang us up, and for 3 cartons of berries the grand total was $5.35... not bad compared to buying store-bought, and no contest when compared to freshness.

I wrapped the containers in plastic bags, placed them in my bike trunk, and we rode back home.

That night we made pancakes, and by this morning all the red raspberries were gone.

Guess we'll just have to go back in a few days once the reds are riper.

Pullins is open for a few more weeks. If you'd like a chance to get out, enjoy the fresh air, and pick some good raspberries, here is their contact info:

20780 Liberty Hi Road, Bowling Green, Ohio 43402.
Phone: (419)823-3024.
Open: Mon-Sat 8am-8pm; Sun 12-6pm.
Picking starts Sun 6/24/07.
Black Raspberries and Red Raspberries.

Hangin' in the Bunny Garden

With the pleasant weather last weekend, I had the opportunity to bust out the grill and cook Kelly & I some veggies (and meat for me... I can't quite go all veg like Kelly). The grill is a little 10,000 BTU tabletop grill, not much but plenty big enough to cook dinner for two. We grilled up some freshly picked radishes, some onions, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and burgers.

We've finally got the backyard set up how we like it... a screened in pavillion tent, chaise lounge for two, wind chimes, and prayer flags. Ditzy has a new cat harness and I've attached a long leash to the clothesline to make a cat-run. So while we were waiting for the food to cook we relaxed and wathced Ditzy 'stalk' the bunnies running in and out of the cornfields. It was also a good opportunity to read. I am just starting to read one of Kelly's condensed versions of the Dhammapada.. a very enlightening read (pun intended). Only the occasional drone of farm machinery lurching down the country lane disturbed the serenity of our bunny garden. (Kelly & I affectionately call our backyard the Bunny Garden, though we have yet to see any bunnies actually help themselves to the contents of our garden.)

And our garden has really grown. We found our first green tomatoes this weekend. And we learned a lesson about planting our veggies too close together for next year... it looked like they would have so much space when we first planted them!

Dinner turned out great, though the cooking took longer than expected due to my overenjoyment of a quiet Sunday evening. I had to change to spent propane canister that I thought was still cooking our dinner. Wow those things go fast!

Speaking of going fast, soon we found our day had come to an end. Long shadows cast across the bunny garden and into the farm fields. Eventually only the faraway barn had any sunlight to share, and then even that was gone. 

We we took a moment to watch the sun set behind the clouds. Then we tidied up our mess and headed inside to prepare for the looming work week. With us both working full-time, it is nice to have a little place like the bunny garden to sit and unwind for a spell.

May you all have your own bunny gardens!