Cosmos Computed

Last Friday I went skiing at Arapahoe Basin. Yes, there's still snow up there - but the warm weather is melting it, resulting in conditions known as Spring skiing. The water from the melted snow collects in valleys and trenches, forming ponds excellent for skimming. Skimming is skiing on water. To skim a pond, the upward force from the skis must exceed the skier's weight, and it must continue to exceed his weight until the skier gets across the pond. The force is determined by the skier's forward velocity, the surface area of the bottom of his skis, and the angle of his skis. On Friday when I visited Arapahoe Basin, I skimmed a few ponds. It's lots of fun, as long as you don't slow down too much halfway through the pond. Here's a video from my trip:

Finally - it's nice and warm outside. The meadowlarks are singing, and cumulus clouds fill the sky. In some places, this kind of weather has been going on for the past couple of months. Where I live, though, we've been having cool weather, so a 70° day seems very warm. Here are some of the pictures I took today: The photo above is of some purple mustard flowers. I really don't like purple mustard, but unfortunately it always comes with summer where I live. Sure, purple mustard might look okay, but it smells awful. This is a western meadowlark. I wanted to get a photo showing his breast, which is yellow with a black V, but he was always facing the wrong direction. Whenever I moved to a different angle, he changed position accordingly. So I had to be satisfied with a photo of his back. Dark, big clouds, with precipitation. Precipitation is what water is called when it condenses and falls out of the sky. Rain and snow are forms of precipitation; so is hail. Meteors are not. A