"Botanic beauty,
Wellington's garden unfolds.
A stroll through joyous."
—h/t ChatGPT
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| From 2023 03 11 Wellington |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Wellington Botanic Garden in Wellington, New Zealand. I won't compare different cities' botanic gardens. I find them all joyous. Wellington's is no exception. It's a wonderful place for a romantic stroll.
"Funicular climbs,
Wellington's view unfolds wide,
Top of the city."
—h/t ChatGPT
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| From 2023 03 11 Wellington |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the top of the funicular ride in downtown Wellington, New Zealand. Travel tip: buy a one way ticket. We paid for a round trip only to discover that a stroll through the botanic gardens at the top is all downhill, finishing back down in the central business district. Our funicular return tickets were never used. I know — first world problem.
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At the November 13, 2023, Richardson City Council meeting, the Council approved a resolution naming a new park "Twin Rivers Park" and naming the bridge there "Bob and Lynn Townsend Bridge." The vote was 7-0. An uncontroversial action. So why did it feel like some people were left feeling more than a little frustrated, if not with the result, then at least with the process, or lack of one? And why did Mayor Bob Dubey feel a need to apologize?
This week, the Texas House voted in favor of an amendment stripping school vouchers from a school funding bill. You can read elsewhere how significant this vote is (in the short run, very; in the long run, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), but here I want to report on how my Texas representative, Angie Chen Button (R-Richardson) voted.
"Lumber on the dock,
Tauranga's tale unfolds here,
Shipped dreams but which way?"
—h/t ChatGPT
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| From 2023 03 09 Tauranga |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the port of Tauranga, New Zealand. According to IBIS World, online retail, IT security, and sports administration are among some of the growth industries tipped to boom over the next five years in New Zealand. But forestry is more photogenic, so the photo you get is of lumber stacked up on the docks waiting to be shipped overseas. Or, maybe that's wrong. Maybe the lumber is waiting to be picked up and delivered to New Zealand's construction industry to be turned into homes. You see, I heard that New Zealand exports logs and imports lumber. Why they don't cut the logs in New Zealand I'm sure can be somehow explained by David Ricardo's economic law of comparative advantage, but I'm sure I've lost you now, so let's drop it. I was just struck by the pretty picture of logs and lumber on the dock.
"On Tauranga's shore,
Ellen, kin reunited,
Photobombed by fate."
—h/t ChatGPT
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| From 2023 03 09 Tauranga |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Tauranga, New Zealand. Ellen poses with her DNA cousin and her husband. From DNA results, they know they are distantly related, but try as they might they have been unable to find a common ancestor. They suspect it's someone in Scotland, maybe in the 1700s. As I was taking this photograph, Mother Nature, as she is wont to do, serendipitously photobombed it with a young woman heavy with child, preggers as they might say in New Zealand (and if they don't say that, I apologize).
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