World Rivers Day

September 28th marks World Rivers Day, established in 2005 to promote a greater awareness of the role rivers play in our lives. Unfortunately I won't be out on a river tomorrow, since I've already made plans to attend the Ohio Renaissance Festival with friends, but I did paddle the mighty Muskingum River for sixteen miles last weekend with a good friend (pictured). The village of Dresden, Ohio held its first annual Melon Festival last Saturday along with the first annual Paddlefest.

The Muskingum River flows 111 miles through Ohio, joining the Ohio River at Marietta. The river begins at Coshocton, which is where we put in and paddled down to the historic suspension bridge at Dresden. In this section it is a broad, sleepy river, tree-lined and peaceful if one overlooks the power plant at Conesville. Bald eagles are known to nest along the river, though I didn't spot any on this trip, we were lucky enough to watch an osprey dive and catch a fish while we were having dinner later that night at Muddy Misers in Zanesville.

Storm Front

Re-posted from the Jim Butcher Announcements Yahoo! Group:

Great news for American fans of the Dresden Files TV show. On March 8th, the Sci-Fi Channel is finally broadcasting the unaired pilot in the US! This two-hour cut of "Storm Front" made its debut on Canada's Space network last month. Unfortunately, it's slated for 3 A.M. I think this is why they invented TiVO.

Night Lights

I have never been able to sleep throughout the night; I'm usually up and prowling around at least once, more often twice during a typical sleep cycle. Because of this I have three night lights placed in strategic locations. The one in the bathroom up and died recently, so I purchased a light sensitive LED plug-in unit to replace it. I quite like its bluish, icy glow. I also ordered some LED replacement bulbs for the rest of the night lights. I think that leaves me with just one light bulb I've not converted to CFL or LED. The last hold out is a bare bulb, suspended by an ancient cord, that lights the pantry. I've not changed that bulb in the six years I've lived here; I'm just wondering how long it will last at this point.

The weather forecast is calling for an ice storm and other assorted nasty weather tonight. The city is going to be trying out a beet juice formula on the icy roads tonight. Sadly, it's not going to turn the roads bright pink in the process.

I may take a snow day tomorrow, depending on the conditions of the not-pink roads and my overall mood. I've put some cranberry beans on to soak overnight - bean soup is on the menu for dinner tomorrow. I almost always make my bean soup with tomatoes; I'm going to try using tomatillos instead this time and see what the results are like. I'll report back.

Finally, Jim Butcher will be posting the first four chapters of Small Favors, Book 10 in the Dresden Files series, which is due out in April. Chapter One is up now, with a new chapter to be released over the next three Tuesdays.