Jogging after lunch

One good habit I have is jogging after lunch, almost every weekday - hot or cold, sunny or cloudy, windy or drizzling. It is a good exercise and an escape from staled indoor air.

test rig

The place I work is an industrial site - test rigs, manufacturing plants, equipment storage areas. There is no natural beauty around, all concrete and steel, but there is a 1 mile loop "trail" on the backside of the industrial campus. The towering rigs and the grand crane under blue sky illustrate the mighty of masculine. Despite this environment, there are two persons at this site who jog outside after lunch regularly - Wade and me. Even though we don't jog together, and our jogging time is almost random between 12 - 1pm, we see each other several times a week on the trail. We will know the other person is offsite if we don't see each other at least once a week.

crane

The fast changing Texas weather provides plenty to see in the sky during my jog - rainbows after flash rains in summer, beautiful cloud formations on a windy day. Even when the sky is a monotone blue, there could be something interesting to see. One day I looked up the "pure" blue sky, I saw a "white bird" high in the sky - a silver plane under bright Texas Sun at noon time! I looked up again  - I saw 5 planes in the sky at the same time.

beautiful cloud

During my jogging, there is no distraction, my body is in motion, and my mind is free. I observe many things I would otherwise not pay attention to. One day I saw two technicians working on a Cell tower at the northern end of our campus. The other day I saw 2 to the power of 485 on a container and quickly compared it to google (10 to the power of 100).

cell tower

a huge number

There are wild life in this concrete and steel world. In late Spring and early Summer, I see and hear house finches under the roof of the chemical storage building. Rabbits live under the pipes in an unpaved area. I also have frequent encounters with plovers - bird with a white collar on its neck.

This 20 minute solo jogging after lunch, provide me fresh air, time to relax, and to observe.
It is a 20 minute bliss of solitude.

Lucky Night

I attended a couple formal dinner parties to celebrate lunar new year for the first time. The second party night was a lucky night.

lion dancing

At the first dinner party a couple weeks ago, I went there solo as a VIP representing my non-profit organization at a sister organization's event. I sat at a table with a state representative, Dallas county GOP chair, a Congressman's outreach director, and two other non-profit organizations' representatives. There were Lion dancing, costume show, and many performances from various Asian Pacific cultures.

my table

Fashion show - Qipao

Last night Lily and I went to the 2nd dinner party together by my non-profit organization, in night gown and suits, siting at table 4 near the stage. We were a little bit late to arrive at the restaurant, most everyone was seated already. As an officer of the organization, I was pretty "outgoing", I introduced myself to everyone at the table, 3 other parties, a longtime volunteer and his date, a newly wed couple who have no relation to the organization but wanted to expand their connections, and a mixed race family of 4.

The stage design was beautiful, the program/performance was lively, and an online a game played during the dinner generated quite a bit excitement. The food was great. The conversations at the table were interesting. 

dancing

stage

Near the end of the dinner party, there was a raffle drawing. First the mixed race family won a prize, after couple rounds, the volunteer's number was called, and then our number was called. It caused quite a roar - Table 4 was the lucky table at the party!! We were rooting for the newly wed to win - but they had no luck. Lily gave our prize to the newly wed to celebrate their wedding and wish them a happy year of Rooster. In the end everyone at the table was very happy!

It was a lucky night and It was a memorable night! 

From Dawn to Dusk at Bosque del Apache

Bosque del Apache is a great place to see and be amazed by migrating sand-hill cranes and snow geese during winter time. The following are some pictures we took during our Thanksgiving trip to Palo Duro Canyon and the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge. 

Sandhill Cranes leave their roosting area - shallow water around sunrise

They chirp loudly before they fly out. They fly out in small groups - 2 ~3 to 7 ~10 cranes

this group of cranes was late to fly out

After some "deliberation" they finally decided to take off

they flew higher and higher 

then they made a turn to the northwest for day time meal

As you can see from the photo, the Sun was behind me 

Thousands of snow geese were in a nearby pound and they flew out half an hour later

snow geese flew in hundreds 

some snow geese and sand hill cranes did not fly far, they stayed near the refuge at corn fields

there are many other birds in the refuge

thousands of snow geese landed in this pound in late morning

sand hill cranes and snow geese would go back to the same roosting area for the night before sun set.