Sanity in politics

These remarks were well received on Facebook, including getting applause from a retired Congressman, so I venture to post them here as well.

(1) It is healthy and reasonable to dislike both parties or both candidates, and choose the one that will do the least harm in the short term, and immediately prod the newly elected officeholder to do some things differently. That is how a democratic republic should work. Starry-eyed fascination and "loyalty" are NOT democracy.

(2) It can be healthy to switch parties or directions periodically. It's like steering a bicycle; to go straight, you have to zigzag a little. If you have 2 parties, each of which will do some harm that would be counteracted by the other, then the straightest course may be to alternate between them. You are NOT obligated to take the same side forever.

(3) Football fandom is NOT what politics should be. If your goal is to have someone to root for, boo the other side, and be "loyal" to your side forever — then you need to look for a football team, not a candidate or party.

I know some of you will disagree bitterly with all of this. But it was common sense back when American politics was less extremist, when both parties were trying to get the same people to vote for them.

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Deerlick!

Last night (Nov. 9) I finally did astronomy at the Deerlick Astronomy Village for the first time since November 13, 2020, although Melody and I did visit the place in the daytime in July 2024 when we had had to go to Madison to take a package to DHL and she suggested going to Deerlick as a way of prolonging our country drive.

It was sad not having Melody to share the results with. She went to Deerlick with me regularly during the first years, including my first visit in October 2007 and (according to my notes) Nov. 2, 2007, Oct. 20, 2009, and three nights in early July 2010, and no doubt several others. One time we shared a late-night meal at the Denny's restaurant in the Flying J truck stop. The Flying J is still there, but the Denny's became an IHOP and then closed. More recently, I would call Melody from the site and check in with her.

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A deep look into M31

One of my goals was to take a long exposure to look for faint gas clouds (IFN) in the direction of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). I got a basically negative result; even more exposure would be needed. This is a stack of 62 1-minute exposures, Canon 60Da, Sigma 105/2.8 lens wide open, iOptron SkyTracker:

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Hodierna's Luminosa 8 (ψ 1, 2, 3 Aquarii)

This compact group of stars was listed by the pioneer deep-sky observer G. B. Hodierna as a star cluster, which it isn't; it's just a chance arrangement. He was the very first person ever to investigate clusters and nebulae with a telescope (beyond Galileo's few observations); more about that here.

This is to the same scale as the picture of M31 above.

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Some of Melody's last nature and scenic photography

Today marks 51 years since Melody and I met, and this time she is not around to mark the occasion. Instead, I want to show you some of her last photography, pictures that other people have not seen yet. There will be many more.

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Melody's pictures from our 50th anniversary trip

When we went to Amicalola Falls last year to mark the 50th anniversary of our meeting, Melody took a good many pictures with her iPhone SE that I did not get into my own collection at the time. Here are five of the best; several were taken through the car window. There are many more.

"The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended..."

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Melody's very last scenic photograph

The very last scenic photograph that Melody ever took is this one, taken as we were passing by (but did not stop in) the scenic area on I-75 in Ooltewah, Tennessee, on the way home from our late-June visit to the grandchildren. Latitude and longitude 35.1269979, -85.0269207; date and time, 2026 June 30, 5:06 p.m. EDT.

She took this through the car window, and I have color-balanced it and corrected the tilt. She used her iPhone SE (3rd generation) with 2.1× digital zoom. Sadly, the sharpness suffered a little from the car window, the digital zoom, and vibration.

Although taken casually and in haste, it shows the sureness of composition that was the hallmark of her photography — if you use Google Street View (or go to the site in person) you will see how hard it is to get such a neatly composed picture. In earlier years, this is the kind of picture she could have used as the basis for a painting.

Subsequent pictures on her phone were for mundane record-keeping and not works of art. So this is Melody's final opus. May her memory be eternal.

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My message to the Democratic Party

Today is a turning point in American politics. I am a swing voter, not closely tied to either party. Here is my message to the Democrats, posted on Facebook:

Never forget that you won by winning the votes of dissatisfied moderates and conservatives who do not see themselves as left-wing and who feel no loyalty to your party.

Do not take this as a mandate to go far left. Take it as a demonstration of what you can achieve by reclaiming the middle of the road.

Neither party has wanted the middle of the road for a long time. I wish they both did. That would give us much better government.

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Bunnies on the eyeglass frames?

This memorable conversation from Facebook needs to be preserved:

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Another rose for Melody

Today, at our All Saints' Day service, our church displayed white roses for the eight members who passed away during the past year. This one was for Melody.

They were displayed at the same place as the flowers we gave last year in thanksgiving for the 50th anniversary of our first meeting.

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"My name is 'My Name'"???

Microsoft has given a product a surprisingly inconvenient name.

The Remote Desktop Protocol client is being replaced by a new app that also adds some special functionality on their Azure servers, or something (I haven't delved into it). I know that as a substitute for the old client, the new app works just fine.

There's just one problem.

The name of this new Windows app is "Windows App."

I'm not kidding. That makes it hard to get a search engine to tell you anything about it as distinct from all the other Windows apps that exist.

It's as if someone introduced himself by saying, "My name is 'My Name.'"

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