Shoals

The B-Sides of Remote Sensing

Some of the edgier things to which humans have attached cameras in the hope of gaining contextual knowledge of their surroundings

Posted on September 10, 2023

In the course of a lifetime in the almost-accidental study of Earth observation, I’ve found that - over centuries of innovation - humans have tried a million strategies to build the Tower of Babel; not to compete with god, exactly, but to see ourselves more clearly. Inevitably, I’ve acquired a... [Read More]

Dryland XYZ tiles

In which I discover how much geoprocessing you can get done with inline SQLite

Posted on August 17, 2023

Mapbox is occasionally referred to - not uncharitably - as “The Tile Company”. It’s true; we deal with big amounts of data, and the most common map/reduce unit we use is the old standby Mercator/XYZ tile. My past and present colleagues have built some really cool tools to make these... [Read More]

Tradewinds

A message in a bottle (or a laminated bar menu)

Posted on July 25, 2023

Yesterday a friend asked for my help hauling his boat closer to shore, along Lake Champlain in the Northern part of town. The recent flooding elsewhere in Vermont had now reached the lake, and he was worried that the rising waters would carry off his summer recreation plans. So I... [Read More]

A beautiful summer

Can tragedy fade into the background when it's on your doorstep?

Posted on July 12, 2023

Summer is great. I keep forgetting this, but the shores of Lake Champlain - for a blessed few months every year - are an absolute paradise. As I biked with my son to his summer camp this morning, I saw it in full display: boats on the water, strolling couples,... [Read More]

Once a cyclist

A short history of the author on two wheels.

Posted on April 2, 2023

Now that I’ve been forced to ditch running, I’ve started cycling. Late in a Vermont winter, this has meant ponying up for a trainer attachment, plugging my old cross bike into it, and trying my damndest to occupy exactly the same workout schedule, but now with spins instead of paces.... [Read More]

A New Story

Posted on March 10, 2023

It’s late winter. I still run in the dark, though I get traces of dawn now. Surfaces are ice, the wind blows viciously, and my miles get slower and slower. This is always a hard time of year to be a runner. [Read More]

Migrating with tusks and a trunk

Posted on November 13, 2022

Y’all. I’ve wandered over to Mastodon from Twitter, along with a goodly number of other folks from the broad geo-sphere, and it’s . . . nice. Feel easier to post random musings. Less motive, less image. But I rolled back over to Twitter right quick when I wanted to get... [Read More]

Adventures of a smartwatch in Paris [UPDATE: MYSTERY SOLVED]

In which I learn a thing or two about novel GPS errors.

Posted on October 10, 2022

One day this past July, I got up early and started a long run around Paris. I’ve found this practice to be the easiest way to explore without being an insufferable tourist. As I usually do, I started tracking the run with my Garmin Forerunner 245 watch. (Follow along using... [Read More]