Some slightly better pictures than before . . . Maus    (p. "Mouse")

Okay, I have more pictures of her, but because of perpetual motion not all of them really turned out. By the time I get her framed and in focus she's moved. And if I do get lucky and snap the shot, she moves in the middle of it so she ends up blurred. I'll keep trying to get some good ones that I can put up.

Here's one someone else took with the auto-focus, digital lazyman's camera.
Maus in her native habitat: the high-tech office.

Just for fun, here's an aerial photograph of my house in Tacoma. The landscape has changed a little, but I guess it probably looks about the same from a low-earth orbit.

Here's an updated aerial photograph of my house taken in 2002. The biggest difference is the missing brush at the back of the lot. It took about 25 loads in my little 5' X 8' utility trailer (lower right) to clear it, not counting the other loads from around the yard. Boy is my back sore... You can also see the contour lines in red. The one at the front is 270' and the one at the back 310'. I also had to carry the sod up the hill after I cleared the brush. You'd think my back would be getting stronger by now. Go figure. I'm not sure but I think that's me in white by the fence near top center (no, not the neighbors cabana, below that). Maus was probably in the shade somewhere.

Not quite low Earth orbit . . . it's a partial view from my back yard. That's my house in the foreground, with that sod I mentioned in the lower left. Then houses in West Tacoma and a few in Ruston. The water is Commencement Bay, which is part of Puget Sound. In the distance (left to right) are Vashon Island, Maury Island and Des Moines, WA. On a really clear day the Cascade Mountains can be seen in the distance. On Independence Day Seattle's fireworks can be seen between the two islands and Tacoma's can be seen 90 degrees to the right, where you can also see Tacoma's Air Show.

To the right (not shown) is Brown's Point (a.k.a. Northeast Tacoma) and more of Commencement Bay. A walk around the neighborhood reveals more of North Tacoma, Mount Rainier, Tacoma Narrows (permanent home of Galloping Gertie) and the soon-to-be-doubled Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Gig Harbor and the Olympic Mountain range. Point Defiance Park, Zoo, and Aquarium as well as the Ruston Way waterfront (with a level 2 mile concrete bike / walking / rollerblading path just 10 feet above sea level with a 180 degree view of Commencement Bay) are less than a mile away. I think I like it here.

(As a side note, the approaches to 5 airports can be seen from here. It's hard to find a time, day or night, when there isn't a plane visible in the sky. During the week after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon all the planes were grounded. Except for the occasional flight of a military aircraft, the silence in the sky was a constant reminder that things had changed for all of us.)

With no concept of low Earth orbit . . . frequent visitors to my back yard. And, of course, the ever vigilant watchdog. So far I've seen peacocks (refugees from a nearby zoo), deer, raccoons, an otter or weasel, dogs, cats and an obnoxious neighbor.

Here's a fun one. Taken from a helicopter off the Napali coast of Kauai.

The truck

1948 International KB7

   Side View:

   Front View:

It has seen better days. I'll try to get less recent pictures up soon.

Here's a link to more pictures of the truck, all courtesy of  Tod Cole

If you'd like to send me an e-mail, just click here:jbecker@jbecker.org

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