End of the Public Space Era

 Stardate 65757.2

 

14:05 – Space--- The Final Frontier. This is the tale of the end of the public space era and the glorious ride of the space shuttle Discovery to its new home. Discovery hitched a ride on a 747 and was escorted by a fighter jet to Washington DC. It was a sad sight to see this once-spacecraft bound to an earthly vessel, but we are moving forward into a different era of space flight. To watch the end of the public era, Discovery did a couple of victory laps around the capital. We ran to the roof to watch the shuttle up close and personally. Being next to the NASA HQ, the shuttle nearly went over our heads, and we could pluck it out of the sky.

We watched as it started making wider and wider loops around the district. It made its final descent into Dulles Airport on the edge of the metro area before it will be carted off to the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Here it will be on display for generations after us to see a  space ship that boldly went where no man had gone before.

The Maryland Zoo Circle of Life

Stardate 65753.9

I was literally growled at by a large predatory cat! How cool is that?

09:00 - From the morning we arrived at the Zoo, the animals were frisky and ready to go. We stormed past most of the animals to see the penguins (we had a breakfast date - see Stardate 65751.6). On our mad dash one big kitten caught my eye because he was so close to the edge. In turn, if it were not for the electric fence between us, I would have been caught in its teeth. We had to move onward on the winding path, but I was more than aware in this jungle zoo that I was just a small part of the circle of life.

After our breakfast with penguins, we meandered through the zoo to find more chains in this circle.  Stepping into the sun to see a giraffe, we watched him bend down to drink his morning water. They really bend down in funny ways; I guess if you have a long neck, you might as well use it. Funny story, I tried taking another picture of this giraffe later and he was able to hide his neck and face behind a pole. My mind was blown. There’s far too much to take in here. We traveled forth to see the one with fast paws: the cheetah! These cheetahs were out and about in the morning. They were pacing around and we could get up close to them! They even allowed me to video their shenanigans.

 

But with the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky, we moved on to see the King of the Serengeti (or as I call him: Meow Face #1). The zoo lions were sitting around casually acting like they had no cares in the world. Yet, they watch you with their eyes. Focus Foxies, I am not stranger to the gaze of the fearsome lion. In the Houston Zoo, when I was two years old, I attracted the stare down of a pride of lionesses. It scared Mama Fox half to death. This day was no different; these lions watched me as I went from one glass to another. Once again, I was glad an electric fence was between me and a really big cat.

We had more to find on our adventure, and we ventured to where the rhinos and antelopes roam. Keeping these animals great and small for all to see, the Maryland Zoo has many African animals, but our real discovery came in the colder region animals. We said hello to the three huge polar bears that horse played in there exhibits. We moved forward till we found our place in the zoo, and my life and blog would never be the same.

Focus Foxies, I really make a big deal out of nothing, but today was a big day for Focus Foxies everywhere. Today, I found us a mascot! I have been searching high and low for a fox that was not orange because orange is a dirty color for hippies. The Maryland Zoo had such a fox, formally known as an Arctic fox. They can survive blizzards by curling up into a ball, they fight off wolverines to survive, and they champion causes of foxes everywhere. While I have no idea what this little fox’s name is, I can only imagine it is Focus! So, Focus Foxies, I introduce Focus to you!

I did not want to leave this little guy, but our time at the zoo was coming to an end. I could have stayed here and lived in the Circle, The Circle of Life!

Focus Foxies in attendance: Rob aka Meow Face #1 of my heart! and of course FOCUS!

Breakfast with Penguins

 Stardate 65751.6

12:30 - I am here to tell you that dreams can come true.  My whole life I have wanted a close encounter with the penguin kind, and on April 14^th, I got it. The Maryland Zoo hosted a penguin event called "Breakfast with Penguins". So I bought myself a ticket two months in advance and waited for the moment when I would get to meet the penguins.

The Maryland Zoo is located outside of Baltimore and is home to a colony of Black-Footed penguins. They are also known as African Penguins. In the wild, these awesome birds live on the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. Feeding on small sardines and anchovies, Black-footed penguins swim in the ocean at 12 mph, darting away from sharks, Cape Fur Seals, and sometimes Killer Whales! Fun Fact, Focus Foxies - African penguins’ coloring protects them from predators. Their reverse colorings make their white bellies look like the sky, when predators are swimming below. Their black backs look like the sea from above. Clever birds, I tell you! To sustain their cute physiques, African penguins must eat a pound of food a day (or roughly one-eighth of their body weight). African penguins participate in the penguin tradition of monogamy. Both females and males take turns incubating the eggs. Females lay two eggs per clutch, meaning two baby penguins at a time.

 

An unfortunate reality is that the Black-footed penguins are an endangered species. The Maryland Zoo remains on the forefront in combating Black-Footed penguins’ population decline. With the largest colony in North America, the Maryland Zoo has one of the most successful breeding programs. The zoo matches each pair of penguins up and gives them a nesting room inside the large rock island. Within the colony, you can see penguins at different stages of life, but the little chicks are not on display. They reside inside learning to eat from their caretakers and not worrying about a thing. The offspring from the Maryland Zoo’s colony can be found in aquariums around the United States.

 

Our breakfast consisted of a warm meal, a meet and greet with "Ambassador" penguins, and a penguin feeding session. We ate our breakfast and listened to an interesting talk about the Penguin Programs. Fun Fact number 2, Focus Foxies - the African penguins are also called Jackass penguins. They get this name from the noise they make, not their attitudes. They make braying noises like a donkey! After the talk, we were in the first group to meet the Ambassador penguins. These penguins are a separate colony because they do not breed and are considered really nice penguins for human interactions. Focus Foxies, to save you the embarrassment of asking what diplomatic duties these Ambassador penguins have to perform, they have no diplomatic duties in conjunction with an embassy. They specialize in zoo education and photo ops, which judging by our pictures they do quite well. The last part of our adventure involved feeding the penguins, but by the time we got over there, the penguins were mostly full. They were cute to watch swim around.

I waited 24 years to see penguins closely, and they did not disappoint. It is a good thing we were not allowed to touch them because I would have taken one or three and never looked back!

Focus Foxies in attendance: Rob. Thanks to him we got to the zoo, despite me being a nervous wreck.

All Suck it! Happy Hour

Stardate 65746

Artsy picture with the police in the background. They weren't called on us.

11:45 - Happy hour is a magical time when people sojourn across the district to find the bestest prices on drinks. My party planning skills have been put to good use at the office, but they have not been tested with my friends. I am part of a social sports league, called Nakid (mentioned on Stardate 65379), and within this league, we have a group of connected teams called Suck it, Trebek! Not to brag, but I am the captain of the volleyball team. It is kinda a big deal. Part of the responsibilities of being a captain include planning happy hours for your team. Challenge Accepted! I didn't want this to be just any happy hour. I wanted it to be Legen..wait for it...dary. LEGENDARY.

To accomplish this, I invited the whole Suck it, Trebek! crew. This means the volleyball, kickball, dodgeball, and bar sports teams. Next, I secured a sweet location: Sign of the Whale. We are natives of the Mighty Pint, but we braved the two doors length of sidewalk to go to the Sign of the Whale. What truly makes this legendary is that I worked out a deal with Sign of the Whale. We got the usual specials of $1 Miller Lites plus $3 rail drinks/beers and a whole tray full of food for our enjoyment. Also, I got free drinks for my troubles.

Well, Focus Foxies, the Suck it, Trebekers! respond in mass amounts. We got nearly 30 people to show up for at the Sign of the Whale. Fun was had by all. So if you are in town next time, stop on by our completely successful, very much SWAG-ful happy hours.

Proud and Loud Focus Foxies in attendance: the usual suspects of Suck it, Trebek!

Port of Baltimore

  Stardate 65743.4

The ceiling of the main port building

12:45 - With so many of the products that we use traveling across the borders, the average Jane/Joe knows little about how those products physically get to us. I could probably explain why they do with supply-chain theory and gravity models, but you would give up the coveted Focus Foxy title in a heartbeat. Mainly because your heart would stop beating due to boredom. What I have for you is cool.

For work, I and a few colleagues ventured over to Baltimore to visit their port. The Baltimore port is a mid-sized port compared to the likes of the ones in Louisiana, Texas and California. Their biggest import would be coal, and their biggest export is salt. Around the ports you will find mountains of minerals being transported around the world. If you added a bit of hot lava, the coal section looks like a ending scene out of Episode III. Fun fact, Focus Foxies, we actually export coal in vast quantities. So why do we import and export coal out of Baltimore/other ports? Fantastic question, Focus Foxies! The answer lies in the environmental laws. We like to burn imported clean coal, and other countries do not have laws against burning our dirty coal. Selling our bad assets off shore never came back to hurt us.

Cranes that can go 12 boxes deep!

Although Baltimore is a midsized port, the port itself can accept some pretty big ships, approximately 12 cargo boxes deep. They maintain that ability by dredging the port and bay areas. Sediment shift around and makes dredging necessary. In the future, the Panama Canal expansion will allow huge ships from China to come to Baltimore. To prepare for this, bigger ‘cranes’ that can unload boats with 20 boxes will be coming from China (of all places). Four of these cranes are coming, which costs $40 million.

A X-Ray Scanner that can 'see' thru 18 inches of steel

The security of the port is pretty tight. Check out the x-ray scanner to the left. It can see through 18 inches of steel. It runs off an ounce of cobalt and is completely self-contained. Also, every Port Officer has a  radiation sensor to be carried and on the whole time they are on the port grounds. One time, they found a cargo box that was setting off the radiation sensors. The cargo box was full of de-barked trees; most natural things have radiation, but not trees and especially not at the high levels reporting. The cargo was sent back to the exporting country. It turns out that these trees were cut down near the Chernobyl site. The exporter thought that since the trees did not have bark, they could be exported. So wrong, and so scary.

They filmed parts of Ladder 49 here

Another part of the port is the entry point in BWI airport. With flights landing in the U.S. in the afternoon, the port authorities have to check all the bags/people and determine if someone is a threat. Some of the more interesting finds are smoked bats/monkeys brought here as food and Grandmothers used as drug mules. I understand the need to get your home delicacies of small smoked animals to the US. Safeway does not really specialize in that. But, setting up your own Grandmother to carry your drugs for you? That’s low. Fun Fact #2, Focus Foxies traveling to Jamaica be forewarned. They get the most drug mules from Jamaica. If the security dog starts to sniff you, you are busted.

The work that goes into the Port of Baltimore is mind boggling. With so many records, threats, and firms’ well-being to keep track of, the Port of Baltimore takes care of a ton of business. I certainly learned more than I can contain and cannot wait to go back to ask more questions.

Hopkins Farm Creamery

Stardate 65723.7

In mint condition!

08:45 - A small dairy farm sits on the countryside highway in Lewes, DE, named Green Acres Farm. This farm  houses 1,000 heads of cows with 500 milking cows and a wonderful creamery. When they are not selling their 12 million gallons of milk from the farm, Hopkins Farm Creamery makes some delicious ice creams in a billion different flavors. My Mom and I stopped off here on our way back from doing some heavy outlet shopping in Rehoboth. We literally were driving one moment, and she swerved into this small place the next. We had no idea what it was driving up; we just noticed a line of people at a 'shop' in the middle of no where. The locals knew the place to sell the best homemade ice cream around. Hours were not posted; they just knew it when to come. I guess that speaks to the old adage if you build it, they will come.  Mom snagged some apple pie ice cream, and I stuck to my usual mint. After having the dairy farm in the family for four generations, they sure know their way around frozen milk products. Next time you are in the middle of no where, DE, stop by.

Look! Real cows are there!

Wild Horses!

Stardate 65721.5

12:45 - Recently, my Mom came to D.C. for adventurous shenanigans with me. So we packed up a rented VW and left for where the wild horses roam, Assateague and Chincoteague islands.

On the Maryland and Virginia coast, barrier islands are home to herds of wild horses. Horses have been domesticated for years in the U.S., so the origin of these wild horses remains a myth. One myth states the horses swam to shore in a Spanish shipwreck off in the Atlantic. The Spanish shipwreck was real, but a more probably explanation is that local colonists placed the horses here to evade taxes on horses when officials came around. The horses freed themselves and now travel the islands mostly as they please.

Assateague Island boasts of a national and state seashores to protect the environment and animals. These wild horses are considered non-native species, but the Park Rangers manage their herds without interfering in the horses' lives too much. These wild horses have adapted to the salt water marshes of the island; many of them look bloated because of the salt. These marshes have been affected by the horses living here. The grasses would usually be knee high or taller and be home to native species. The grasses we see now are only knee high to a grasshopper. Other famous residents of the island are Bald Eagles. Currently, a mother eagle has two little chicks hatches, and the state park has a camera on the nest for visitors to see the chicks.
 

This guy nearly attacked our car!

The island's seafaring history can be linked to a lighthouse build on the island. Peaking out over the trees. This lighthouse is the highest landmark on the island. Visitors can climb up for a great view of the island. Fun fact, Focus Foxies, the lighthouse light blinks twice every 5 seconds to let sailors know this is Assateague.

My Mom and I had a wild time on the islands. So wild, we were almost run out of town by the wild horses themselves. True story.