… today was a special day with a drive down to Lake Pleasant to see the Martin Philippine Mars which landed on the lake Monday. It has been removed from the water and is now stored at the SW corner of the parking lot for the ten south boat ramps. There is fencing around the entire area and a lot of equipment and people as they are starting to dismantle the aircraft for transport down to the Pima Air and Space Museum located in Tucson, AZ. A friend of mine was a pilot of this extraordinary aircraft post WW II. This project will take about six weeks, so if you would like to see the plane before it is disassembled head over to Lake Pleasant soon.
For those who look up, check out the astronomer in residence program that Grand Canyon Conservancy has going … they do a fabulous job in everything Grand Canyon.
A few weeks ago I resumed faceting a large citrine that I started about 20 years ago … it still had a few facets on the pavilion that needed polishing … after weeks of looking every where I could think of I was unable to find the diagram I was using … so I started over with a new design … finished cutting and polishing the pavilion and now working on the crown and should have it done in a week or so. The photo below shows me putting a pre-polish on the facets with a 3000 diamond grit sintered steel lap … polish is with a cerium charged phenolic lap. Citrine is a yellow color quartz. I’m taking a series of photographs of it as I go and will share them when finished. The primary key in faceting is patience, it is not that complex.
Into the weekend, sleep in, in the morning if it is cold and rainy … if not, up and on the go. Back Monday morning, at least that’s the plan. Smile, be kind and enjoy life each day.
Cheers,
Ted
But from the brooding beauty of the night,
And daily dancing shafts of golden sun—
The mystery and wonder of the world—
That play the soundless music of the soul
And fill the heart with memory’s olden dreams—
From these will come at last your faith in God.
excerpt from Breaking Home Ties by Max Ehrmann (1904)
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
More about Ted Grussing …