2nd Round

... of sicknesses. Tracy and Mark are suffering, apparently with the same virus that Catherine and I battled last weekend. They have fevers, aches, and negligible appetites. Ibuprofen is the only thing standing between them and absolute misery. The illnesses prevented Tracy and me from fulfilling a dinner reservation at Rust en Vrede. I guess, we'll do a flip-flop: Catherine and I will attend church tomorrow while Mark and Tracy stay home. 

The timing is ironic, considering that today was the first real warm day of Spring. It was warm enough that Catherine played independently in the back yard for about 2 hours, and we went to Strand beach for about an hour this afternoon. Mark's friend Josh came for a visit, too. Lots of photos below.

I finished the final day of my Wind and Hydro class. Saturday morning is reserved for student presentations of their group projects. My students did a fantastic job. The hydro projects for the Municipality of Stellenbosch look very promising. It may be possible to replace an inefficient and leaky diesel generator in a sensitive ecological area with a small hydroelectric system for pumping municipal water. A next step might be a presentation to the municipality.

I started a new feature on the blog: Best of the Best. I'm collecting all the best photos of the year into an album on that page. The only criterion is aesthetic. If I like it, I'll post a higher-rez version on that page. There's also a link in the sidebar on the left of each page.

--Matt