I’m not here.

Some friends at work were recently interviewed by Matt Asay on the release of our monitoring software, ERMA, as open source — an unconventional move for corporate America.

We have a long and quiet relationship with open source at Orbitz. In the article Matt O’Keefe was kind enough to throw a compliment my way:

We have a history of contributing to other open-source projects. Brian Zimmer and others on the team have been very active in open-source projects.

You can read more coverage about open-sourcing ERMA here and be sure to check out the real-time visualization software we released, Graphite, as well.

Congrats Matt!

Sunday, another gloomy day this spring/summer, found us in Seattle checking out the Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) locks and the neighboring Carl S. English, Jr botanic gardens.

The docks were originally built so coal and timber could be easily transported by boat but today salmon, seals and pleasure boating dominate the landscape.

A few boats were loaded into the locks while we watched, a couple apparently doing it for the first time given the general confusion around what to do. We started to watch the water rise but having risen in locks while kayaking, we knew the proceedings and left early to check out the botanic garden …

which I found more interesting.

After we spent some time chasing squirrels and running through the lawns we went to the Ballard Market and Clover Toys, the kind of toy store we love with lots of European-imported toys and almost no plastic crap (though we did walk out with a new rubber duck named “Ben”). The owner of the store introduced us to Froebel Gifts which we had to buy because I loved them so, my daughter taking to them (Gift 1) as much as I.

I love farmers’ markets. In Chicago I would shop three days a week in the summer and arrive at work loaded down with bags of currants, blueberries, bread, … whatever was seasonal. The BI market is great but the Ballard Market is really my kind of affair, reminding me a little of the markets in Paris with a full complement of products on display.

For as often as we attend a farmers’ market I rarely take photos even though I feel it’s a wonderful display of color and textures — I rushed these photos not wanting to look like that-guy-with-the-camera. I can’t wait to go back and fortunately it doesn’t conflict with our local market.

Back home in the garden we have our own peonies opening slowly.

In a departure from our usual naturalizing, I persuaded the family to attend the Battle of Port Gamble, a Civil War reenactment in Port Gamble, an event type we had never before attended.

It started innocently enough with an Equestrian Parade over the battle field.

Then the problems started. I should have realized the guns would be loud, but they were LOUD — the canons literally shook the earth when they fired, startling my daughter to tears. My wife and daughter departed for an ice cream cone while I stayed behind to shoot some photos. I was not alone; I had no idea these events attracted such a large contingent of expensive camera gear.

Let the battle begin.

I love this photo. I don’t remember seeing the girl in the middle when I was shooting but when I was going through the photos it really jumped out at me. I love how she’s standing so innocently among the battle.

The battlefield as the end of the Northern victory was secured.

The camp after the battle was lively with food over open fires and musicians playing our favorite Southern music.

I’m happy we went, but I don’t think we’ll be going again, not because the event wasn’t well staged but rather that’s enough loud noises for a while — back to the woods, mountains and birds for us.

The would-be naturalists chose Dungeness Spit as this year’s Father’s Day destination. Some research on the web unearthed The 3 Crabs as a highly recommended crab shack right on the Sound with birding on the adjacent beach. Lunch plans decided, we packed the car and drove up to Dungeness.

We arrived at The 3 Crabs a bit early, lunch not served until 11:30am, so we tried to do some birding while we waited — the Sound did not cooperate.

The 3 Crabs opened and we had crabcakes for lunch. While I like Dungeness crab, I generally finish wanting more, especially for the price, and this time was no exception. I’m still looking for a real crab shack — a dive.

Fortunately the Sound cleared while we ate. If you look closely dead-center on the horizon you can see the New Dungeness Lighthouse. Compare this photo to the one above, taken maybe thirty minutes earlier; the weather on the coast is volatile.

Somewhat disappointed, we left The 3 Crabs and drove to the Spit. Paying our three dollars we headed down the trail and stopped at a lookout which gave a great view of this unique formation.

A spit (courtesy Wikipedia):

A spit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, while at the far end they exist in open water. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove’s headlands, by the process of longshore drift.

Basically, it’s a long, thin sandbar and in the case of the Dungeness Spit it protects the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. If you look at the extreme right of the horizon in the photo below you can see the Lighthouse, 5.5 miles down sand, stones and driftwood. This is one long finger.

The Black Brant winters here and while not threatened yet it is being watched because of habitat loss.

On the way home we stopped at Nash’s Organic Produce in Dungeness. My daughter loved the broccoli and almost refused to hand it over to be weighed. The produce was delicious — and cheap! I can’t wait to go back. As unimpressed as I was with The 3 Crabs, I loved Nash’s!

I’m happy to announce SmugNDrag v1.4 has been released. The primary change is the addition of the Sparkle framework to automate version updates with a minor change to the UI. The new release is available here. Enjoy!