Lighthouse of the Week, January 26-February 1, 2019: Lõu Lighthouse, Estonia

I found this lighthouse by going to Helsinki and then searching for "lighthouse" on Google Maps.  This one caught my eye, even though Estonia (across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki) has quite a few lighthouses, several of which are admittedly more striking than this one -- so I'm coming back.

But this one caught my eye because of its name, which is simply Lõu. And it's on the island of Saaremaa (which could easily loan a vowel or two), and it is actually more across the Baltic Sea from Stockholm than across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki, because that lies to the northeast.

Here's the location.

Let's learn more about it!

Kõrgus alusest 9m
Kõrgus merepinnast 11m
Ehitusaeg 1921
Rekonstrueerimisaeg 1934

Lõu oli ehitatud, et juhatada meremehed halbades ilmastikuoludes Lõpe lahe varjulistesse soppidesse tormivarju. Samuti moodustavad Anseküla ja Lõu tuletornid ühtse liitsihi.


Oh, you don't speak Estonian? Well, neither do I.

Height from the base 9m
11m above sea level
Built in 1921
Reconstruction time 1934

The chin was built to guide sailors to storm shelter in the shady marshes of the Gulf of Fin in bad weather. Also, the Anseküla and Lõu lighthouses form a unified leader.


So Lõu translates to "chin", apparently.

Here's a little more information from the Lighthouse Directory:

1934 (station established 1921). Active; focal plane 11 m (36 ft); four quick flashes every 15 s, white to the west northwest along the range line, red to the left and green to the right of the range line. 9 m (30 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery, painted white with green and yellow trim.  

 Located just off the beach on the west (Baltic Sea) side of the Sõrve peninsula, north of the village of Lõu and 3.1 km (2 mi) west northwest of the Anseküla Light.

I'm not sure what "unified leader" means, but Lõu and Anseküla lighthouses are on opposite sides of the narrowest part of the peninsula.

Here's a video about the island of Saaremaa.  The lighthouse appears at the 5:15 mark.

Here (well, actually right below here) are the pictures.

How long have we been waiting for this?

Every time that extraordinary Michelle Keegan is in a swimsuit, preferably bikini, on the beach is cause for celebration amongst those who prize pulchritudinity.

(By the way, that might not be an official word in English.  But I am not the first to misuse it.)

Back to Michelle, as our attention should be. She was in Barbados, walking the beach, and photographed while doing it.

This is a good thing.

Michelle Keegan displays her tanned physique in a white crochet bikini as she enjoys a relaxing beachside stroll in Barbados


It's also a good thing that she's still with husband Mark Wright, who for awhile was in the States, and the marriage was conducted long distance.  Which boggles the mind.  But he's back where he can be in much closer touch -- wink wink wink -- with gorgeous Michelle.

Another new kind of aurora

Not long ago (like last year, I think), aurora watchers discovered a new kind of aurora, which was given the name Steve.  Subsequently it turned out that it really isn't an aurora, but it's still named Steve.

But now there is a new kind of aurora:  the "green dunes".

Glowing green 'dunes' in the sky mesmerized skygazers. They turned out to be a new kind of aurora.

This article includes a fun video to watch.

Here's what one astronomer thinks about it.

"This is a very interesting observation," said Steven Miller, the deputy director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University, who was not a part of the study. "My first reaction when seeing the pictures were that those might be atmospheric gravity waves that are being 'highlighted' by the auroral activity — it appears that this is the hypothesis of the authors as well."

On Highway 41 in Kentucky

More stops and scenes in Kentucky on the Highway 41 end-to-end StreetView trek, but it won't be in Kentucky much longer.



Crossing the Green River




Edge of Sebree Springs Park




Sebree, Kentucky, by the Sebree Dairy Bar




Robards, Kentucky, by the water tower. The actual town of Robards is a little ways away on Route 416.




Entrance to Farmer and Frenchman Winery and Cafe (https://farmerandfrenchman.com/)



We're getting close to THE river. Hang in there.

Anatomy of a slap shot

At the American Hockey League All-Star Game, Martin Frk of the Ontario Reign set an all-time record (including the NHL) for the hardest slap shot.

Here's the video of the feat:



I captured a couple of screenshots to show how slapshots are so hard/fast now.  If you didn't know, the way that they work, basically, is that the player strikes the ice in front of the puck, so that it flexes right before impact, and then whips the puck forward, with more force.   The screenshots show the amazing flex of the current equipment.  No wonder they break a few sticks.

If not before then, then here

If you wish, you can go back in the history of my voluminous posting here and find several posts about the subject of sex in space.  I have speculated several times regarding when this great leap forward will "officially" be consummated.  My speculation includes the idea that there is some rich guy out there somewhere who wants to put his name in the record books in a way that even Neil Armstrong wouldn't be able to contend with.

One aspect of this idea is that there has to be a place in space where "it" could be accomplished.  In the next couple of years, there will be suborbital flights into space with passengers, and if one of them is a couples' ticket, then the first time could be a several miles high quickie.   And there are also missions on the board, including a moon shot -- yes, moon shot -- that are actually space orbit missions where private citizens in space can do what they want to do if the spirit moves them and they can deal with weightlessness.

But ... none of that is a sure thing.  This, apparently, is.

Inside NASA's private 'space home': Padded walls and 'the largest window ever constructed for space' to feature in 'holiday unit' to accommodate the first commercial tourists visiting the ISS

Initially it will be module attached to the International Space Station.  Eventually, it can be a free flier.

Exterior (it's the brown and white module in front):

Interior:

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that when this ultimate room-with-a-view is operational, that some very fortunate and fairly wealth bride and groom is going to book it for the honeymoon cruise into history.

Agreed?

Lighthouse of the Week, January 19-25, 2020: Fourteen Foot Shoal, Michigan, USA

This is an interesting lighthouse -- it's a man-made island in Lake Huron, south of Bois Blanc Island, northeast of Cheboygan, directly north of Duncan Bay.  If you look at this satellite view, you can see the little white point of light north of Duncan Bay -- that's the lighthouse.

It's also slightly unusual in that it was never meant to be a manned lighthouse, but was manned temporarily.  More on this from Lighthouse Friends:

Poe Reef Lighthouse was placed in operation on August 15, 1929, but Fourteen Foot Shoal Lighthouse was not finished before the end of that shipping season and instead went into service on April 18, 1930.

The superstructure consists of a 1-story steel house rectangular in shape with sloping copper roof. A conical cast-iron tower rises from the center of this structure and houses the fog-signal diaphone and tanks as well as supporting the lantern and lighting equipment. Quarters are provided for one or two attendants. A boat crane, electrically operated, is provided on one corner of the pier.

Illuminating apparatus: The light is electric, of 11,000 candlepower, shown from a fourth-order lens in a fourth-order lantern 51 feet above water level.

Fourteen Foot Shoal Lighthouse was designed to be radio controlled from Poe Reef Lighthouse, located just four miles away, but until this system could be thoroughly proven, an observer was stationed at Fourteen Foot Shoal.

The lighthouse was purchased at auction in 2017.  The owners are restoring it, but a storm in the summer of 2019 damaged the roof.

Here are some pictures: