Will I Glow in the Dark?

From The Hartford Courant, Nov. 4, 2005: A Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspector Monday will conduct radiological tests and remove samples from the decommissioned Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant, a week after the agency learned contaminated water had leaked from the spent fuel pool building.

The pix in my earlier post showed an idyllic place to live. Today's post was shot the same day and time from the same location. I just looked farther south down the riverbank. The dome is the central cooling tower of the decommissioned CT Yankee plant. They are in the process of removing the spent fuel rods from the spent fuel pool and storing them in concrete casks on site a little farther off the water. At one point in the debate over whether to allow the utility to store the rods in this manner it was discovered that there was nothing in federal or state law that prevented Northeast Utilities from bringing in spent rods from other decommissioned facitlities. The only thing that prevented it was the local zoning regulations, and they were being challenged! A deal was negotiated that has since ended that possibility. This beautiful place in the most populated region in the country will not become the national nuclear waste repository.

The news clip and the pix are not meant to be a rant against the despoiling of my perfect little corner of the world. It's a reality check for myself and any who might be envious of my habitat. In spite of all our efforts to re-discover it, or re-create it, there is no going back to the Garden of Eden. We live After the Fall. Time to turn our focus forward toward redemption and transformation. Our efforts are wasted in vain attempts to reclaim some perfect past, whether they be of the Noble Savage variety espoused by so many left-leaning folks, or the pure Americana of the right that seeks a Christian America that never was.

Fall Color Washed Out

I now know what color burnt umber is. Not quite brown, definitely not red, and with a hint of orange. And that's the color of Fall here in CT this year. No brilliant yellows, reds and oranges. Even the sugar maples lack their usual color. It's still quite beautiful. Just not the incredible palette we're used to each year. Instead the hills have a soft washed color to them; a comfortably faded look like your favorite pair of jeans.

The meteorologists say the reason for the lack of color is the warm, wet weather we've had. Instead of warm days in the 60's and cool nights in the 30's we've had an October that was rainy in the upper 50's, and rainy in the upper 50's, and rainy in the upper 50's..... the wettest October on record. It rained nine straight days at one point. All those hurricanes and tropical storms pass by this way on their way to hurricane heaven, whether they come through the Gulf or run up the Atlantic coast. Either way, we get the remnants. We got a month's worth of rain in a week. Caused enough flooding that at one point I-91 (the major north-south interstate) was under the Connecticut River at a point between Hartford and Springfield.

Halloween

Daisy was talking about the weather in DFW last week. I wanted to add my thoughts on it as well. This is what one of my flower beds looked like on Halloween this year. For a yankee from Connecticut, this still blows me away after 25 years.

For the second year in a row, our church hosted a Trunk or Treat event. This is an event where the sponsoring organization has participants that dress their vehicles in "costumes" and children come around the parking lot for a safe trick or treat experience. We sent flyers home with kids from the elementary school next door, to the families of our pre-school and posted some around the neighborhood. Last year we may have had 10 ir 15 kids come by. This year it was probably 75 or 80.



Here is a picture of Stephanie and I in front of our treasure chest (trunk). Put together on the fly much like a junior high science project (we spent ALOT of time THINKING about it), this actually yielded first prize in the judging. I think they just feel sorry for Stephanie. At least she finally found something to use my pierced ear for!

I hope y'all had a great weekend too.

It Feels So Good

It feels sudden and slow together.
Every nerve ending seems to come alive, sending joy from inside out and back again.
Is it possible for skin to laugh? Uncontrollably?
My knees get weak and my entire being relishes in this sensation.
It flows over me.
It repeats, but never with quite the same intensity as the first rush.

I love to step under a hot shower when I'm cold.