Let There Be Light: More Experiments in Upcycled Light

I've dabbled with oil lamps in the past, but when we ran out Shabbat candles a few weeks ago, I decided I'd give this ancient lighting strategy another go.

For millennia, oil lamps were a common choice for lighting, and using them on Shabbat sparks a deep connection that goes back to our earliest records. When the Torah talks about collecting up oil for lighting, I'm like, I got you.

Oil lamps are little more than a container, a wick and fuel. Because of this simple design, it's possible to create unique and meaningful lamps with ease. For example, the clam shell I collected a few weeks back while fishing with my Dad is both a practical receptacle for oil and a fun reminder of that experience. There's also a sense of empowerment that comes from knowing that if you have cooking oil and matches, you're only a few improvisations away from having light and heat.

For the last few weeks, my oil supply has come from a couple of long forgotten bottles of cooking oil. It's nice putting these to work instead of chucking them. For wicks, I've experimented with both the floating variety as well as traditional lamp wick.

Floating wicks are the easier option and turn any pool of oil into a lamp:

One lesson learned, however, is that floating wicks tend to drift to the sides of the oil. This baby food jar seems like a good fit for a floating wick, but because the sides slope in, it's not.

What ends up happening is that the wick floats to the side and burns the edges of the glass. Floating wicks work best with a container that's wider at its opening than its base. This clam shell is an extreme example of this shape and works perfectly:

The other style of wick I've used, known as 'lamp wick,' is nothing more than cotton cordage sold with a fancy name. Any length of cotton should do the job, so I'm sure I could have improvised this from an old t-shirt or other materials around the home. However, buying this on Amazon gave me the best chance for success. You need to secure the wick from sliding into the resevoir, and I've found that wrapping the end of the cordage in foil and piercing it with a safety pin does this job nicely.

My first attempt at using lamp wick was a fail. The wick would light and in a minute or two, burn out. The problem was that I had too much distance between the pool of olive oil and the flame. The flame needs to burn the vapors of the oil, not the cotton wick. To make the lamp above work properly, I needed to fill it to the top with oil. However, I don't need that much burn time, so an unexpected solution is to fill the glass jar mainly with water, and then add some oil. The oil naturally seperates from the water, forming a layer of fuel above it. Now the oil is now close to the flame and can be slurped up by the wick with ease.

This version of the lamp burned 1oz of oil for a little over an hour.

There's no doubt that candles are a more straightforward lighting solution than an improvised cooking oil lamp. It's less messy and Just Works. But the benefits of oil lamps are just too numerous to pass up. So I say go the messier and trickier route, it's worth it!

Review: Manual of Field Sketching and Reconnaissance

How do you make a map of an arbitrarily large area without the benefit of GPS or other modern instruments? And how do you do this while under fire from the enemy? The Manual of Field Sketching and Reconnaissance, published in 1903, covers precisely this topic.

The recommended answer, by the way, involves setting an appropriate scale (say, 1 inch = 1 mile), methodically measuring and plotting out a number of points in that scale (say, walking 1.5 miles and then drawing the corresponding a 1.5 inch line on your paper), and then using these established points to triangulate other notable locations on your map. Finally, add symbols, text and perhaps contour lines and bam! you've got a map!

Admittedly, this process isn't quite as easy as I'm suggesting above. But, it is certainly a learn-able skill, and requires only the minimum of technology to accomplish.

Because the manual is written for the creation of maps and reports during war time, there's an emphasis on being creative and improvising. For example, rather than measure distances using precise instruments like chains, a number of other option are given:

The straight lines, called traverse lines, are measured with a chain or tape, or by pacing, or by cyclometer, pedometer, perambulator, or by time, or by estimation.

If if you're performing recon of an area by horseback, then this advice would be especially handy:

As regards the measurement of distances when sketching on horseback, it used to be the custom to count the horse's paces. But this system has great disadvantages; it is vexatious and laborious, and the resulting preoccupation of mind prevents the sketcher from looking about him and studying the country through which he rides. By far the best way is to measure distance by time.

  Allow 12 miles an hour for a canter,
        8  „                 „ trot, 
        4  „                 „ walk,

under normal conditions.*

Then draw a scale of minutes at the trot on the ruler.
Thus: Scale of sketch 2 inches to 1 mile,—
In one minute at a trot 8/60 mile, or 235 yards, will have been covered, 235 yards at 2 inches to 1 mile = .27 inch.

One aspect of the text which I found unexpectedly eye-opening was the chapter on scale. As a map reader, scale isn't something I'd given a whole lot of thought to; it just is what it is. But, as a map creator, the choice of scale has far reaching implications. Say you have a 10 by 10 mile area you'd like to map. If you're working with an 8½x11 inch sheet of paper, then a 1 inch per mile scale simply won't fit on the page. The scale you choose directly reflects how much detail you can capture on a map. I'm so used to digital maps where you can zoom in and out, effectively morphing the scale at will, that the idea of picking one scale to work in is truly an exercise in balancing competing needs.

I found the section on night time sketching to be enlightening. In the early 1900's the flashlight would be considered futuristic tech; invented but hardly practical. Yet, I was surprised to learn that luminous paint was available. The idea of marking compass points with this type of paint seems modern, and yet, this is precisely what the manual recommends. This theme of finding seemingly modern map and navigational concepts in the text was common. For example, the role of countour lines or how your location on the globe impacts your magnetic North, are just two small examples of this phenomena. While the language of this text seems dated at times, so many of the concepts are as true today as they were back then.

Overall, I found the field manual to be a fascinating read. There's practical advice here that's useful in situations when you don't have access to a GPS or Google. But more than that, the book is a window into the mind of the map maker. This volume contains an impressive number of reproduced maps. These show, even under trying circumstances, the kind of high quality creations that can be authored when soldiers in the field combine skill, improvisation and artistry that's called for in this text.

The US Navy Band I Didn't Expect To Hear

Back on July 20th my Mom suggested we all meet at the Fairfax County Government Center for one of their Thursday evening summer concerts. Fairfax County offers a heap of free entertainment throughout the summer, including Thursday evening concerts. Mom told me that the US Navy Band would be performing. I figured we were in for a night of patriotic classical music; I was in.

When we arrived at the Ellipse, I noticed that the stage was set up and there was country music softly playing from the speakers. I found the choice of music odd, but enjoyed it none the less. If whoever set up the equipment was a fan of country, then heck, why not play some tunes before the event started.

As the concert began I realized I'd read the situation all wrong: we were here to listen to the US Navy's Country Music Band, Country Current. The warm up music wasn't out of place, it was carefully selected. So this was going to be a night of country and blue grass; yeehaw, that's my jam!

The band's performance was outstanding. I didn't capture any video, but if you check out this past performance, you'll get a feel for how high quality these musicians are. The band played mainly classic country hits, which I thoroughly enjoyed. My parents and brother got into the toe tapping fun, but it was G who was really loving tunes. He danced and goofed around while the band played. The whole experience far exceeded my expectations.

Another highlight: I grabbed some random snacks from our pantry to eat during the show, including a packet of peanut butter and a bag of chocolate chips. Noshing on spoonfuls of peanut butter covered in chocolate chips with G may not have been the most nutritious thing to eat, but it sure was fun. And as an uncle, my prime directive is fun.

After the concert we stayed an kicked a soccer ball around. G plays kiddie soccer, so he was able to demonstrate some impressive skills.

What a fun evening; well done Fairfax County and the US Navy!

Travel Games: Kid Tested, Uncle Approved

Traveling to Tucson with 5 kids, I wanted to be prepared with plenty of offline activities. Here's a handful of games that we brought and how they faired among the kids.

Kariba: Winner! Shira and I walked into Labyrinth Games & Puzzles in DC and said: we need an easy to travel with game that 5 kids--pre-teens to teens--are going to love, what do you got? Without missing a beat, they pointed us to Kariba. And they nailed it. Kariba is fast to learn and fun to play. It requires enough thinking to be engaging, but it's not so intensive that you can't kibbitz about other things while playing. It was a hit.

Bandido: Good, maybe great. Bandido is another compact card game. This one is cooperative and is a "route building game"; a form of game that was new to us. We have yet to beat the game, and so we haven't had the thrill of winning yet. But, that's probably a good thing as we've played this only a few times and it's cooperative so it should be tricky. This game is probably more suitable for older kids who are interested sticking with a challenge. Still, it's compact and clever, so perfect to travel with.

Lucky Doug 12-in-1 STEM Solar Robot Kit: DO NOT BUY. Don't do it. Trust me. Don't buy this. This isn't a game, but I figured building a robot would be a fun way to keep the kids occupied. Alas, this kit is a disaster. We spent the first 30 minutes of the building process unclipping tiny plastic pieces and putting them in tiny plastic bags; all the while imagining that we'd surely lost or damanged one of the tiny plastic pieces. When we finally got to building stage, we found the instructions complex and the pieces impossibly finiky. If you're an adult who likes to build complex puzzles, or a masochist in general, then enjoy. But yeah, this is not a kids toy.

Mate: Clever, unique, and accessible. Mate is card game played with a standard deck of cards that is a sort of distant cousin to chess. Mate, like chess, is a "game of perfect information: both players know the location of all cards from the start." This was a great game to experiment with when I had one on one time with the kids. We didn't play it enough to get out of the awkward learning phase, but I've added it to my offline games repository, so I hope to keep playing it. I love that you get to sharpen the skills involved in chess but in a more portable package.

Snip Snap Snorem: quick, all-ages fun. We didn't play this card game this trip because I'd forgotten about it, but in the past it was a staple. It was especially useful in restuarants when the kids got antsy and we were waiting for our food. I've added this to my offline games list so I'll have it at the ready in the future.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Kids loved it, I was utterly confused. Early in the trip, J took out his Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and asked if he could teach us to play. We were all psyched to give it a go. Within seconds of him explaining what was going on, I was lost. To my surprise, the other kids were totally tracking. The thing is, it wasn't that J was bad at explaining things; there's just a heap of new concepts that you need to hold in your head at once, and my brain wasn't having it. Consider this how-to play page. It starts off gentle enough, explaining:

The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG is played in turns that follow a specific order of operations. To begin a duel, the decks are shuffled and each player draws an opening hand of five cards.

OK, fair enough. That makes sense. But then, in the very next set of instructions, it becomes overwhelming:

In this phase, you make most of your non-combat actions. These include the normal summon/set of one monster (in face-up attack position or face-down defense position respectively), any special summons you are allowed, the activation/setting of spells and traps, and changing battle positions of your monsters, including flip-summoning facedown defending monsters into the face-up attack position.

Wait, what? That second sentance contains like 8 different operations you can perform. Mind. Blown.

What I need to do is hire a 10 year old to coach me to success. Just you wait kids, next year I'll be flip-summoning monsters in attack position in no time!

Tucson Adventure - Day 9

[Composed: July 13, 2023, High in Tucson: 106°F ]

The last day of our Tucson Adventure went off without a hitch. We delivered J to his Mom and caught our flight from Jacksonville without incident. Arriving in DCA, we were pleased to learn that our DFW delayed luggage had beat us home. When we got to the baggage claim area, our two bags were parked off to the side, waiting for us. See, I explained to Shira, it was a good thing that our bags were delayed in Dallas: it meant we didn't need to schlep them from Tampa to Jacksonville (Shira did not appreciate my gratitude gaming of the situation).

As we walked into our home, we finally breathed a sigh of relief. We'd done it: we'd gotten the 5 kids from their respective homes to Tucson, had an amazing adventure in Tucson and gotten everyone home in one piece. We'd avoided sunburns, heat exhaustion, spider bites and even most cactus spines (sorry D)!

Looking back at our trip, it was clearly crazy to visit Tucson in the dead of summer. And yet, it totally worked. There were two factors more than anything else that made this trip such a success.

First, the vacation rental home was ideal. It was spacious enough so the kids could spread out during the day and not feel like they were stepping on top of each other. More than the house itself, the location was key as it was essentially in Saguaro National Park. This meant that we didn't need to go any further than our backyard or even the home's picture window to be face to face with an amazing landscape. Having such effortless access to the desert meant that even though the temps were high, we could still be immersed in unique flora and fauna. And finally, the pool was legendary, giving the kids and adults a heat friendly activity that everyone relished.

The other primary factor that made our trip work was letting go of the normal expectations for visiting such an outdoor friendly location. Normally, for a location such as this, I'd want to spend every minute hiking and exploring nature. But with temps well over 100°F every day, this just wasn't possible. So we had to get creative and find either indoor activities or outdoor activities that we could do in short bursts. This creativity lead to some really fun experiences.

Next year, we'll no doubt try to select a cooler location to take the kids. But Tucson, even with its insane temps, was a winner. 10 out of 10, would recommend.

Tucson Adventure - Day 8

[Composed: July 12, 2023, High in Tucson: 100°F ]

This morning we were up, out of the Airbnb and standing in line at the airport to drop off our luggage by 8:15am. We boarded our flight to Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) with plenty of time and had a relaxing flight to Texas. Flying through DFW on the way out to Tucson required that we sprint from one terminal to another, leaving just minutes to spare. This time, we not only had plenty of time but were arriving and leaving from the same gate and plane.

As you can see from the pic below, we used our the layover to taste-test some prickly pear cactus candy. Yum!

Our flight from DFW to Tampa seemed uneventful. However, while flying Shira checked the status of our luggage and found that it was still in DFW. I assured her this was just a lag in the status update and that surely the airline didn't miss transferring our bags when they had so much time to do so.

When we landed in Tampa we found out, sure enough, that for the second time this trip DFW had eaten our bags. The main complication was that of the six bags, three needed to remain in Tampa, two needed to be forwarded to DCA and one needed to be forwarded to Jacksonville. It took a bit of explanation, but Shira got it all sorted out.

When our bags were delayed flying out to Tucson, I tried to think about the lessons I should learn from this. Should I be bringing a change of clothes or toiletries in my carry-on? Should I give up on checking bags and insist we all fly one bag style? I decided at the time that, no, I didn't need to make any changes to how I packed. I figured losing luggage was such an infrequent occurance, why bother?

So now that both legs of our journey resulted in delayed luggage, I again find myself asking: what should I be doing differently? Surely, I need to respect that anytime there's a layover there's an increased chance our bags will be delayed. But ultimately, I'd had the essentials--medication, mouthguard, USB charger--in my carry-on as is recommended. It only took a quick trip to Walmart to stock up on other supplies we needed. Heck, the hotel probably would have given us toothbrushes and toothpaste if we'd asked and we could have probably skipped the Walmart trip.

As long as I'm honest with myself and don't attempt to stash essentials in my checked bag, which you're never supposed to do, than I think it's safe to live like a wild man and hand my bags over to the airline. I've dabbled in the one bag lifestyle and for the majority of travel we do the Internet points you score for traveling with a single bag are far outweighed by the convienience of just taking what you need and having the airlines shlep it for you. More than that, it didn't take long for me to gratitude game this whole ordeal and come up with the fact that I appreciate the opportunity to improvise for a night or two without bags. Staying flexible and problem solving when the stakes are low is great practice for what may be more more serious challenges in the future.

Waving to the Tampa crew as they drove off in their minivan was bittersweet. On one hand, we were sorry that our adventure with the kids was over. On the other, we'd safely delivered the kids back to their parents--sunburn free no less--and had a fantastic time in Tucson.

Our travel experience, however, wasn't quite over. We had to deliver J to Jacksonville and fly back to DCA ourselves. Onward!