Cat Tales ~ Cat Cafe

This past weekend PURINA hosted a pop-up Coffee Shop in New York. This fleeting coffee bar, while only open for a few brief days, allowed the customers to enjoy a cup of 'joe' along with a Cat. All the Cats at the cafe were available for adoption.

She could give Mes belly rubs anytime....

Customers had to go into the lounge area to enjoy the company of the Cats - for some silly reason, the Dept. of Health doesn't like Cat fur around the food! Me says a little Cat fur never hurt no one! Just adds fiber to the diet!

The House Specialty - Cat'achino

And while this coffee house might have been ever so fleeting, permanent Cat Cafes are in the works for several U.S. & Canadian cities.

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Purz and Catnip Dreams ....... Gomez

Light and Dreamscape

The Art of Patrice Pit Hubert

Weird Wednesday ~ Frozen Light

German researchers have frozen the fastest thing in the universe: light. And they did so for a record-breaking one minute. Light is electromagnetic radiation that moves at 300 million meters per second. Over the course of a one minute span, it can travel about 11 million miles (18 million km), or 20 round trips to the moon. 
For this particular experiment, researcher Georg Heinze and his team converted light coherence into atomic coherences. They did so by using a quantum interference effect that makes an opaque medium — in this case a crystal — transparent over a narrow range of light spectra (a process called electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)). The researchers shot a laser through this crystal (a source of light), which sent its atoms into a quantum superposition of two states. A second beam then switched off the first laser, and as a consequence, the transparency. Thus, the researchers collapsed the superposition — and trapped the second laser beam inside. And they proved the accomplishment by storing — and then successfully retrieving — information in the form of a 100-micrometer-long picture with three horizontal stripes on it.

Got That?

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Phairy Tale Photography

The Photography of Katerina Plotnikova

Easter Witches

I just knew that a holiday as fun as Easter (Who doesn't love running around playing hide and seek with a bunch of eggs? And eating the ears off of chocolate bunnies?) had to have Witches involved some way, some how! And so they are!

In Scandinavian countries there is a tradition where young children dress up as Witches and then go door to door bringing willow sticks which have been decorated with ribbon and crepe paper to drive away evil spirits. In return, the children are given treats like small chocolate eggs or other sweets.

The Little Witches recite a rhyme at the door - I wave a twig for a fresh and healthy year ahead; a twig for you, a treat to me. 

Excuse me......I need to go find my Witchy Hat and some willow sticks.

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Newspaper Lace

The Art of Myriam Dion

Roadtrip ~ Cave of the Winds

With warmer temperatures and nicer weather on the horizon, Hubby and I have been planning out our Roadtrips for the year. Our first one of the Season was to Cave of the Winds. And since we both have a Season Pass, we'll be making several more trips here. But I'll only drag you along for one of them. Okay, maybe two if we find something interesting the next time we go.

The Cave of the Winds is located in the foothills of Pikes Peak. The road to the Cave of the Winds sits on top of a ridge and has an incredible view - in clear conditions. And even though the day was blustery with intermittent snow showers, the magnificence that is the Rockies could still be seen. (Okay, maybe I'm just a bit partial to the region!)

image source 
This is the Cave of the Winds Facility and Cave entrance as viewed across the canyon

The Cave of the Winds was formed 4-7 million years ago when the limestone rock of the area was below the water level of the inland sea which covered this region. Rainwater mixed with carbon dioxide and formed a weak carbonic acid that dissolved away portions of the limestone, leaving passageways and caverns. These open areas grew over time and when they filled with air, speleothems (cave decorations) began to form.

Cave of the Winds was first discovered in 1869 by Arthur C. Love, a settler to the area. Later in 1880, two brothers by the name of Pickett explored the original cave and discovered a larger cave system and the tourist attraction of Cave of the Winds was opened the following year.

Cave of the Winds map

The Native Ute tribes who traveled through this area called the Cave of the Winds an opening into the Underworld and used the chambers for burials. Many artifacts and bodies were found when the caves were more formally explored in 1880.

The broken column seen on right side of photo was once connected but due to shifting rock formations, the column has broken and moved apart over the eons.

Original tours were conducted by lantern light and most visitors had to crawl through passages to see the hidden beauty of the caverns. Today's tours are conducted in electrically lit passageways which have been excavated out to accommodate walking. Tour Guides in the beginning allowed visitors to break off stalagmites and stalactites as souvenirs - not knowing that it takes thousands of years for them to form. Evidence of these broken gems are seen throughout the Caves.

The shiny knob on the left has been rubbed so much over the years that the
oil from peoples' hands has been left behind. When this occurs, it 'kills' the
growth of the stalagmite. Touching rock formations inside caves like this is
strictly forbidden and punishable by severe fines. Scientists feel that if left
alone, the formation will once again begin to grow - after a few thousand years.

Now for the eerie side ~ There are reports of supernatural happenings occurring in the caverns. These reports date back to the opening of the Caves in 1881. People feel tugs on their clothes, taps on their shoulders. Lanterns will be blown out and strange mists will appear. The scent of perfumes will be detected by visitors and orbs can be seen. And the occasional strange phone call on the emergency call box has been received. I can't exactly say we encountered anything strange except for the fact that my camera's flash would only work half the time. (no problems with it before and after this trip) Hubby had no issues with his camera so the pictures you see here are courtesy of him.

polished flow stone

Perhaps this truly is a door to the Underworld....

A Sign of Spring

For Hubby and I it isn't Spring until we attend our first car show. And what a coincidence that our son's car club hosts one of the first car shows of the year. 

A variety of years, makes, models were on display.

To be admired by Young and Old alike.

Geometric Coins

The Art of Robert Wechsler

Weird Wednesday ~ 3D Body Parts

Not that long ago in the past, science-fiction books and television shows were the only places a person would find stories about man-made body parts mass-produced by machines.

Now it is a reality. 

Printers are now able to generate body parts - ears to eyeballs, skulls to pelvic bones - for implant into humans. These prosthetic body parts are inexpensive to make, generally a better 'fit' for the intended recipient and easily replaceable.

Science fiction has become science fact.

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