Gretel's Baptism!

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." -- Romans 6:3-6

This past Lord's Day was a memorable day for our family in that Gretel was baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and our family became members of Providence Church. Praise God for his grace toward us, and for our dear church family at Providence.

The mystery is solved!

Finally some clear images to explain what the mystery is all about. Lily has been busy on a little project for the colonial me, and it is now ready for unveiling. The curls peeking out from under my hat in the image below are not the result of follicle fertilization, but Lily's first attempt at wig making. Actually it was more like wig manipulation, but I'll explain that below.

Lily worked hard since the first mystery post to get the wig ready for its debut at Liberty Day, but that plan was foiled when I forgot to pack a critical part of my costume: my breeches. So this is the first public viewing of the finished product. I had to adjust my hat a bit to accommodate the extra volume on top of my head, but I think we'll be able to make it work.

A "hats off" view so you can see a bit more of the wig. Please pardon the beard and mustache -- I know it's not period-correct, but I wasn't motivated enough to shave it off for just a few photographs.

Here's a rear three-quarter view so you can appreciate the side curls and the pony tail complete with ribbon bow.

This is what we started with (and what appeared in that first Bigfoot-esque mystery photo). This is obviously a different color, but the same brand and style: the Lacey Deluxe Showgirl! The online store selling the wig says it makes a fine Miss Piggy, Mae West, Mona Lisa, Ivana Trump, and others, but they don't mention middle-aged colonial gentlemen. Go figure. I guess they don't have much imagination.

Things are getting a little clearer...

Hmmmm.....

Decomposition update

As promised, I took the camera to the corn field to record the progress of the decomposition there. As you can see from the photo, things look a little different now than they did at the time of our first decomposition report.

The field was tilled just a few days after our first report, so the stalks have been laying as you see them here for about five months now. Decomposition is a little harder to measure than growth, especially when you can't find the same stalk as the one you looked at the first time. I'm sure there are plenty of good things going on beneath the surface where earthworms are busy making the black dirt even richer. Soon, Farmer Wagenbach will be back in the field planting something that we'll just have to measure.

An unwelcome sign of warm weather is this dandelion sprouting from a seam in the concrete. I don't think we'll measure this pesky plant, but I do anticipate an opportunity to do a Roundup experiment! Thanks for visiting!

Happy Pi Day!

i.e. March 14 = 3.14

If you weren't at Providence Church to help us eat these today, I guess there's always next year....

High-Tech Mystery-Solving Assistance

It's a good thing we have computers and the internet to help us solve the mysteries that spring upon us. I found GazoPa, a "similar image search" engine that tries to match all the images on the internet with an image that you upload. Desperate for help in solving our mystery, I gave it a try. There are literally thousands of images that share some similarity to our mystery photo, ranging from scenic shots to x-ray photos to portraits. These two seem to be the most likely matches:

This first one is Dmitri Mendeleev (try wikipedia if you don't remember him from your chemistry studies).

The second is a statue of Vladimir Lenin (if you must, you can also learn about him at wikipedia). Do these images have anything to do with our mystery photo? If they do, what is the connection? Is there another image on the internet that gives us more insight into this mystery? So many questions.... but so few answers.

Is it warm yet?

The temperature here just made it past 50° today, for the first time in a long time. Ever since December 1, 2009 to be exact. That's 95 days below 50°, which is over a fourth of a year. That's kind of unusual, even for this part of Illinois. Has the winter been colder than average? I'll present some data soon that should answer that question.