Preventing Christmas Tree Fires

Have you ever seen a Christmas tree fire? I doubt it will surprise anyone that I have, though at least my fires were always intentional. That’s more luck on my part than skill because I’m terrible about keeping my Christmas tree watered. I was bored yesterday and decided to write up a quick Squidoo page on Christmas tree care. It basically describes how to keep your tree green and healthy for the duration of the holiday season, but I can sum up the most important part very concisely: don’t let the tree run out of water. If you do… well… watch the YouTube video. Impressive, isn’t it? The tree on the left was watered by someone like me. The tree on the right is nice and hydrated. I think my favorite part of the video is the sound of the popping ornaments.

Here’s another video. This one was taken by the NIST. That would be an example of a dry tree burning.

New Aquarium Creatures

I’m not really sure of the name of this fish, but they walk really well, considering they are fish. This one partially buries itself in the sand. It blends in so well I can look right at it and not see it.

Walking Fish

Blue Crab

The last time I kept a blue crab it ate pretty much everything in the tank. This one hasn’t eaten its companions, but I haven’t turned out the lights yet either.

Kayaking at Pawleys Island

First off, my apologies to the fishermen at the south beach at Pawleys Island this past weekend. Even though I didn’t trip anyone’s line, I think the splashing and occasional capsizing probably hindered anyone’s attempts at catching fish on the inlet. We went back and forth across the inlet, learning how to deal with the current and looking for aquarium creatures. Here are some photos:

Sea Eagle Kayak

Sea Eagles are inflatable. It’s really pretty cool. The kayak is sturdy and easy to set up and take down. It’s not exactly light, but it’s small enough to toss into the trunk of a car.

Pretty Driftwood

Sam

Eric found a hermit crab that had an anemone, a barnacle, and some coral growing on its shell.

Wordless Wednesday – Seigfried & Roy’s Cats

White Lion

[caption id="attachment_228" align="alignnone" width="455" caption="White Tiger"][/caption]

Jaguar

[caption id="attachment_226" align="alignnone" width="455" caption="Black Panther"][/caption]

Sunset at the Cherry Grove Pier

Sunset at the Cherry Grove Pier, November 1, 2008

If you drive to the very end of the road of the Cherry Grove, SC beach at low tide (just past the Cherry Grove Pier), you’ll encounter a wide stretch of tide pools and can cross the inlet to the island. This is a great place to find interesting sea creatures. David (pictured in the sunset) found a sea cucumber on the sand. It didn’t seem particularly healthy, but we brought it home and added it to the aquarium. It expanded and started pumping water through its body. The starfish ambled over and checked it out, but didn’t try to eat it. I unintentionally have an echinoderm theme going on in the aquarium, with two starfish, a sea urchin, and the sea cucumber. I haven’t seen a living sand dollar yet, but it would fit right in.

Sea Cucumber