Day 5070: Henderson, NV - Day 6 & Czech Restoration Project.

  

"Joy": junk papers collage.

  

Want music?

    Click: Al Green, Change Gonna Come

2GN2S

 

Day 6

Saturday is not normally a work day for GH#3, Zack, but he had special clients coming in and he said we would only be an hour and asked if I wanted to go, I did. In came a mature couple dressed in red and black Ferrari sports attire and Zack discussed car stuff with them, and then they waited for their car to be washed. Zack introduced me as grandma, and they said I had a great grandson. I agreed. Then Zack told them their car would be ready soon, so we left and as we got in his truck, the most beautiful red convertible Ferrari pulled up! They matched their car! We met GH#1,Joran and Raquel at ...

 

When I was here on an earlier trip we tried to go here, but the crowd waiting was out to the sidewalk, and we went on. Today we ordered ...

Your mission if you choose to accept it, determine who ordered what? One was a "to share" extra. 

Zack, Grandma, Raquel, Jordan

As you might guess, we left as happy campers.

Ah, family!

For seven years, officials in the Czech Republic planned a wetland restoration project that was expected to cost around $1.2 million.

Then the beavers arrived. Before construction could even begin, a family of beavers built a series of dams in almost the exact locations engineers had planned.

Without blueprints, machinery, or construction crews, the animals naturally slowed the flow of water, restored the wetlands, and created the conditions the project was designed to achieve.

The result was so effective that the planned restoration work was no longer needed, saving authorities an estimated $1.2 million.

Beavers are often called nature’s engineers for a reason. Their dams create wetlands 

that improve water quality, reduce flooding, store water during dry periods, and provide habitat for countless birds, fish, amphibians, and other wildlife.

In this case, they accomplished in a matter of months what had taken years of planning.Sometimes the best engineer is not an engineer at all. Sometimes nature already knows exactly what to build.

 

  

 

A 3 minute video, Lab & 3yr.old, here.

 

 

Just because ...

 

Painted Francolin

  

Sunday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you see all the good things in your day.

  

 

 

Day 5069: Soleri Bells & Solar Megaproject for Zero-Carbon City.

"Vintage": junk papers collage.

     

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: Yes, Oh Yeah.

2GN2S

 

Day 5

WonderWoman and Superman are in Newport Beach for the weekend, they have a friend's house warming this evening and will be home Sunday. Meanwhile GH#1, Jordan and his beautiful wife, Raquel are staying with me, and GH#3, Zack is, as well.

Soleri Bells

Soleri bells (often called wind bells) are handcrafted, resonant bronze and ceramic sculptures designed by Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri. Produced since the 1950s at his Cosanti studio in Arizona, sales of these iconic, collectible bells primarily fund the non-profit Cosanti Foundation and the sustainable city of Arcosanti. Each bell is individually sand-cast. The molten bronze is poured into molds where artisans have hand-etched unique geometric patterns and organic motifs. Unlike standard hollow wind chimes, Soleri bells feature fluted, conical chambers that produce a distinct, melodic ring when the breeze moves the multi-faceted clapper. They come in different patinas and burnished finishes, which are heat-treated to create vibrant, incandescent colors and weather beautifully over time. At my home in Tustin, I have a collection of Soleri Bells in my little yard. Wind bells and wind chimes are said to ward off evil spirits. If so, I am taking care of the whole neighborhood.

Saudi Arabia just switched on a 2,000-square-kilometer solar megaproject — built to power an entire city that runs on zero carbon.

Saudi Arabia activated the solar energy backbone of its NEOM development in the Tabuk region, a 2,000-square-kilometer installation combining photovoltaic panels and concentrated solar thermal arrays designed to supply 100 percent of the electricity demand for the planned NEOM city complex and its supporting industrial zone. The site receives over 3,600 hours of direct solar irradiance annually — among the highest recorded at any large-scale installation globally.

The installation is paired with a 4-gigawatt green hydrogen production facility using solar-generated electricity to power electrolyzers that split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen feeds directly into NEOM's industrial and transport systems as the city's primary energy carrier, replacing fossil fuels entirely across every sector of the development simultaneously.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy confirmed the project generates 14 gigawatts of peak solar output and produces 600 tonnes of green hydrogen daily. The facility marks the first time a major industrial city has been designed from the ground up with zero carbon energy infrastructure as its foundational requirement rather than a retrofit.

Source: Saudi Ministry of Energy, NEOM Development Authority, 2024

 

  

 

A 4+ minute video, Strandbeest, here.

 

 

Just because ...

Fire-tailed Myzornis

Saturday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you see all the good things in your day.