There is a tiny Anna’s Hummingbird sitting on a nest outside of my office window. My window is about six feet off the ground (in the bay of WP668, our backyard caboose here in Willow Glen), so I can see directly into the pear tree where the bird is hiding. Such a delight!
June 14 update: two baby birds!
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, Home & Family
I was suggesting images to my artist son Paul for his current animal series of water colors and thought that a blog with pictures of some of our local Willow Glen, California denizens would be of interest. Not pictured is the horrible towhee bird who is flinging himself repeatedly at my caboose office window as I type.
My cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus), Guapo and Sparky, eating a dried pepper:
Jerusalem Cricket (Stenopelmatus) in the side yard:
Big garter snake (Thamnophis) in front of our house:
(picture courtesy of neighbor Jamie Lynch)
Alligator lizard (Elgaria coerulea) on neighbor’s sidewalk:
American swallowtail butterfly caterpillar (Papilio polyxenes) on fennel in the front yard:
Redda the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) trying for a lick through her kennel fence:
Beggar dogs hoping for a handout:
Cat (Felis catus) dominating the neighbor’s car:
Garter snake picture Copyright 2013 by James Lynch, other pictures Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, Home & Family
Yesterday, the TechWomen mentors gathered at my house in San Jose to cook a dinner for eleven guests from the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the Institute of International Education (IIE West Coast). Our guests arrived from Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Here is more about the IVLP program:
IVLP at IIESF works to promote citizen diplomacy in the San Francisco Bay Area. Community supporters and IIE members are called “Citizen Diplomats” and promote international understanding through person-to-person interaction with emerging foreign leaders from around the globe. Through direct contact with these visitors, members have an opportunity to share unique aspects of the Bay Area and/or their professional field, while increasing the visitors’ understanding of local and national culture and institutions. In the past 53 years Citizen Diplomats have had direct dialogues with tens of thousands of emerging international leaders from more than 145 countries.
These particular ladies are part of WISE (Women’s Innovations in Science and Engineering), invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Their program was arranged by World Learning.
The TechWomen prepared a delicious potluck dinner, I showed them WP 668, our backyard caboose where I have my office, John and Paul helped and served as local guides to the house and kitchen, and everyone had a delightful time talking and learning. As always, I feel blessed in the community of my TechWomen sisters and look forward to our continued work together!
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
John and I just took Amtrak home to San Jose from Portland, Oregon. One of the disadvantages of air travel is that everywhere in between looks the same: airports connected by clouds. The train takes longer but the view and experience are well worth it. Passing through snowy mountain forests and beside alpine lakes, through rural back yards and city industry zones, watching seagulls and cormorants along the shore of San Francisco Bay, seeing the Drawbridge ghost town shacks sinking into the bay mud and reeds: all are a sweet experience of how America is put together.
Images copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains
I have been getting my garden in Willow Glen, California, ready for our annual children’s party – the great Easter Egg hunt this Sunday. We are also collecting goodies for our little guests, including stuffies, candies, and baskets. Every child in the hunt picks a stuffed animal to be their personal advisor (since parents are not allowed to help), plus a basket for their eggs. Last year, we hosted over a dozen children searching for eggs on Easter morning.
Over the years, I have collected ceramic flue liners of many sizes – to use as planters. Some I inherited from my father’s garden. I have just planted two of these (plus an old steel pipe section) with red and yellow kangaroo paws, to go with the two I already have filled with pink geraniums. These tall planters create a new visual level (and keep the flowers away from our boy dog’s attentions). In the pictures, you can see the pipes against the background of WP668, our backyard caboose. The new flowers will be a pretty background for the egg hunt.
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Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, Home & Family
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16 TechWomen 2011-2012 mentors (and potential-2013 mentors) gathered at my house in San Jose California last weekend for a potluck lunch and to hear Conference Chair Taghrid Samak tell us about EgyptNEGMA (Entrepreneurship for Development in Egypt – to be held next week at MIT). One of our own TechWomen mentees, Heba Hosny, is an EgyptNEGMA-2013 finalist. My guests enjoyed the new porch and a tour of WP668 – the backyard caboose where I have my office. Three had also been mentors in my SEED mentoring program at Sun Microsystems. It was such a pleasure to be able to host this remarkably talented and energetic group of technical women!
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Just in time for December, John put the twinkle lights around my caboose roof. WP668 is the 1916 caboose where I have my office. I have a fondness for twinkle lights, so John climbs up to the roof and gives me a fresh set for Christmas every year.
Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, Home & Family
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