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
John went to the Maker Faire yesterday in San Mateo, California, and enjoyed it so much that he and Paul and I went again together today to see “The Greatest Show and Tell on Earth”.
“Maker Faire is an event created by Make magazine to ‘celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset’.”
“The maker culture is a contemporary culture or subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture. Typical interests enjoyed by the maker culture include engineering-oriented pursuits such as electronics, robotics, 3-D printing, and the use of CNC tools, as well as more traditional activities such as metalworking, woodworking, and traditional arts and crafts. The subculture stresses new and unique applications of technologies, and encourages invention and prototyping. There is a strong focus on using and learning practical skills and applying them creatively.”
(from Wikipedia)
As you may expect when the technical wizards of the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area use “do it yourself” tools, methods, and ingenuity, the results are fascinating. There were exhibits by young children, teens, male and female technical professionals, war veterans, and seniors. Maker Faire is summed up well as “Like Burning Man without sex, drugs, or dust!” Themes at this family-friendly event ranged from Steampunk to the slickest High Tech, with a generous assortment of Star Wars and Doctor Who in the mix.
 |
. |  |
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
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 was Mother’s Day here in the USA and I spent it with family, including two of my favorite artists:
| My mother Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson Professor Emeritus, California College of the Arts |
. |  |
| My son Paul Dickinson Goodman Art Student, Foothill College |
. |  |
After church and brunch in Willow Glen, the two artists sat on the porch and compared their latest works.
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family
In 2007, I wrote the blog entry “Peninsula School – A Successful Alternative” about the school my daughter Jessica attended from age three through 8th grade. Last weekend, many of her Peninsula School alumni classmates gathered at the annual Spring Fair in Menlo Park, California, to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Although they started at an alternative school with no grades or tests, she and her friends have done very well indeed.
Here is where they were in 2007:
What Jessica was able to discover about her class at their reunion:
Jessica was graduated in 2012 from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh PA, with college and university honors, Phi Beta Kappa. She is now working at Polaris Project in Washington DC.
 |
. |  |
Jessica and I traveled in Jordan and Lebanon together in February 2013. Here we are in Petra, Jordan:
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
For the last two weeks our house and garden have been in the annual dancing seed storm from the female Cottonwood poplar trees along San Jose’s Guadalupe River. Thankfully, we are now almost done with blowing fuzz for the year. All of my cactus have fluff caught in their spines. I will be watering down the garden all weekend. At least the white seeds make it very obvious where the spider webs are – giving me a target for the hose.
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
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
KatysBlog 