... is in progress on the front porch this morning while mommy is off to give blood at the Red Cross.

- mike lee - baltimore

When you're 6 1/2-months-old, a blade of grass is equally as interesting as a cell phone case.

- mike lee - baltimore

 

 

 

 

Baby's fuzzy head
Grows under sun-drenched tree leaves
Wise clouds laze above

 

 

- mike lee - on a sunny fine day in baltimore

With all the state funeral activities planned for Reagan, our office has decided to close early today and all day Friday to avoid the traffic jams and crowds. As someone said in our office said, it's a snow day in June. Thanks to the Ghost of the Gipper!

But seriously, whatever your politics, the man was truly a great communicator and leaders around the world should take his example closer to heart.

- mike lee - washington, dc

Cianna liked her first taste of strawberry-banana smoothie.

My scale model of the NASA Mars Exploration Rover, just released by Code 3 Collectibles, arrived last week. The craftsmanship of the injection-molded, pre-assembled model is excellent--exactly as shown in these detailed photos on the CollectSpace web site.

In pic 2, you can see that the solar panels fold up. Pic 3 shows the wheels up close. Each wheel can roll, and the front and back pairs pivot. There's even a tiny NASA logo in each hub. Pic 4 shows the Columbia crew memorial plaque and martian sundial. The model sits on a heavy plastic base which is painted to look like the martian surface. I wish this model was available when I was moblogging the landings earlier this year.

The rovers represent a brilliant feat of engineering that was accomplished by NASA in a very short time of 3 years, and on a small (for NASA) budget of $835 million. Since their arrival, the two landers went on to accomplish their main mission goals and, as of this blog entry, are still going strong in their extended missions on Mars. To learn more, I highly recommend watching the PBS NOVA documentary which can be viewed online for free or purchased on DVD.

The next big planetary space science event will be when NASA's Cassini probe goes into orbit on the first day of next month.

- mike lee - baltimore

I'm decompressing my brain for a couple days at the swanky eastern shore house of a former boss. The weather has been perfect. For food, I'm snacking on crab cakes and soft shells pulled fresh from crab pots the inlet. The opportunity to hang out in this bit of paradise is in exchange for teaching him how to use his new Canon 10D system. As we wander around his multi-hundred acres of property, I'm also scouting photography locations for the future.

- mike lee - near cambridge, md

One night a week after our ride home from work, we stop into GaGa's Ice Cream on the corner of St. Paul and 32nd for fruit smoothies. We sit and decompress on the patio in front of the store, which has a good view of the "main street" of the local neighborhood. Good times.

- mike lee - baltimore

My baby's toes are so cute I want to eat them. "Waiter! Bring me some dippin' sauce!"

- mike lee - baltimore

After scouting houses for sale, we're visiting North Beach in Calvert County, Maryland. This community is on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The weather is beautiful!

- mike lee -