Tag Archives: Japan

Space race

Not us and the Russians. Japan, India and China. Japan’s moon probes entered lunar orbit earlier this month, China’s launched today and India is planning one for next April. Competition is good. Especially in space. Somebody needs to shake us out of our low-orbit inertia.

El Nino part 2

Rain is coming down hard at times at the Rancho with already four inches in some spots across the city, and a flash flood warning and a tornado watch until 2 p.m. It’s ponding on the walks in the back yard. Mark Murray, KVUE meteorologist, says in today’s paper that this is "a typical El Nino autumn weather pattern" and the radar shows plenty of yellow and some red, the colors of storm intensity. After more than a year of drought we can sure use the rain. But I am reminded of the rain in the Shenandoah Valley last week, which was steady instead of coming in bursts like our climate gets. I heard the valley’s apple crop was losing out this year to Japan, free trade the old timers could not have imagined.