Are flying cars for real? After nearly a century of trying, inventors have the right materials and technology
1Imagine a flying car. Does it look like a fancy sports car with foldable wings? Or a Jet Ski-like craft that seems to float above water?
These aren’t make-believe.
That sports car/plane combo is called the AeroMobil Flying Car. The latest model — which can be ready to fly in less than three minutes — was previewed recently with a promised arrival of 2020. The vehicle zooming above water has a name, too: the Kitty Hawk Flyer, an all-electric creation expected by year’s end.
These are two of more than a dozen present-day plans.
What’s driving this sky-high frenzy?
“Technology has changed,” says Dorothy Cochrane, a general-aviation curator at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. “The ultimate design of a flying car is going to be so much different than what people were trying to do for years.”
Read more (Washington Post KidsPost, May 16, 2017)
These aren’t make-believe.
That sports car/plane combo is called the AeroMobil Flying Car. The latest model — which can be ready to fly in less than three minutes — was previewed recently with a promised arrival of 2020. The vehicle zooming above water has a name, too: the Kitty Hawk Flyer, an all-electric creation expected by year’s end.
These are two of more than a dozen present-day plans.
What’s driving this sky-high frenzy?
“Technology has changed,” says Dorothy Cochrane, a general-aviation curator at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. “The ultimate design of a flying car is going to be so much different than what people were trying to do for years.”
Read more (Washington Post KidsPost, May 16, 2017)
The rise of the consignment parent
Clutching a snowsuit, I faced a marital dilemma.
Before I left to buy winter attire for our daughter, my husband, Sean, had one request in anticipation of my anti-pink penchant when it came to Juniper’s clothing: “Don’t buy something too boyish.”
This snowsuit was blue. With a football helmet on it.
It was also $7.
There was another option in the 12-month size at my local Kid to Kid children’s resale store — a more attractive plaid for $15 — but to pay twice as much seemed silly, even downright wrong. Chuckling, I wondered if other parents were increasingly following variations of what I’ve dubbed my “consignment mama” mindset – i.e., a preference for buying youth clothing and toys secondhand.
Are we in the midst of a children’s resale renaissance? Or is this something I’m only aware of as a new parent? After all, eBay is well beyond its adolescence and Goodwill is a household name. So I did what any curious, stay-at-home mommy/reporter would do: I set up nap chats (i.e., interviews during Juniper’s afternoon snooze) to dive into the bargain bin of buying for kids.
Read more (Washington Post On Parenting, April 25, 2017)
Before I left to buy winter attire for our daughter, my husband, Sean, had one request in anticipation of my anti-pink penchant when it came to Juniper’s clothing: “Don’t buy something too boyish.”
This snowsuit was blue. With a football helmet on it.
It was also $7.
There was another option in the 12-month size at my local Kid to Kid children’s resale store — a more attractive plaid for $15 — but to pay twice as much seemed silly, even downright wrong. Chuckling, I wondered if other parents were increasingly following variations of what I’ve dubbed my “consignment mama” mindset – i.e., a preference for buying youth clothing and toys secondhand.
Are we in the midst of a children’s resale renaissance? Or is this something I’m only aware of as a new parent? After all, eBay is well beyond its adolescence and Goodwill is a household name. So I did what any curious, stay-at-home mommy/reporter would do: I set up nap chats (i.e., interviews during Juniper’s afternoon snooze) to dive into the bargain bin of buying for kids.
Read more (Washington Post On Parenting, April 25, 2017)
Punxsutawney Phil isn’t your everyday — or even your one-day — groundhog
Punxsutawney Phil is legendary. After all, the 20-pound groundhog has made famous forecasts on February 2, Groundhog Day, for decades.
That morning, the Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, resident is lifted from a stump at Gobbler’s Knob, the ceremony site two miles from town. If he sees his shadow during the annual folkloric tradition, it is believed that six more winter weeks are coming. If not, expect early spring.
There’s a live broadcast. Thousands of spectators. Then it’s soon over.
What’s Phil doing the rest of the year? Probably munching a favorite vegetable.
“We tried corn on the cob, and he fell in love,” says 56-year-old John Griffiths, one of two volunteer handlers who cares for Phil year-round. In addition to carrots, celery, lettuce and kale, Phil eats granola bars. They’re treats with a purpose: Groundhogs have two teeth that never stop growing, so the bars help Phil wear them down.
Read more (Washington Post KidsPost, Feb. 1, 2017)
That morning, the Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, resident is lifted from a stump at Gobbler’s Knob, the ceremony site two miles from town. If he sees his shadow during the annual folkloric tradition, it is believed that six more winter weeks are coming. If not, expect early spring.
There’s a live broadcast. Thousands of spectators. Then it’s soon over.
What’s Phil doing the rest of the year? Probably munching a favorite vegetable.
“We tried corn on the cob, and he fell in love,” says 56-year-old John Griffiths, one of two volunteer handlers who cares for Phil year-round. In addition to carrots, celery, lettuce and kale, Phil eats granola bars. They’re treats with a purpose: Groundhogs have two teeth that never stop growing, so the bars help Phil wear them down.
Read more (Washington Post KidsPost, Feb. 1, 2017)
Thanks for getting me through the early days of being a mom, NPR
Having a baby gives a person perspective on their life relationships … for better and worse. There are people who show up empty-handed during the delirious early days and drink most of your diminished beer supply. Others arrive unannounced, leaving an aromatic bowl of beef stew on the front stoop.
Yet it’s the increasing essentialness of one particular acquaintance that’s surprised me most.
The NPR News app on my iPhone.
While I’ve listened to NPR for years — usually when driving or doing housework — I’ve recently noticed that the app I’ve often taken for granted (like a faucet I could turn on and off when needed) is gaining appreciated prominence in my daily life.
Why? It likely has something to do with the fact that the two beings I spend the most time with — a fearful dog and a feisty 1-year-old — communicate mostly through barks, babbles, whines and cries. As a fledgling stay-at-home mom, sporadically listening to public radio throughout the day has been a sanity-saver as I adjust to a life that’s dictated by nap and meal schedules.
Read more (Washington Post On Parenting, Jan. 12, 2017)
Yet it’s the increasing essentialness of one particular acquaintance that’s surprised me most.
The NPR News app on my iPhone.
While I’ve listened to NPR for years — usually when driving or doing housework — I’ve recently noticed that the app I’ve often taken for granted (like a faucet I could turn on and off when needed) is gaining appreciated prominence in my daily life.
Why? It likely has something to do with the fact that the two beings I spend the most time with — a fearful dog and a feisty 1-year-old — communicate mostly through barks, babbles, whines and cries. As a fledgling stay-at-home mom, sporadically listening to public radio throughout the day has been a sanity-saver as I adjust to a life that’s dictated by nap and meal schedules.
Read more (Washington Post On Parenting, Jan. 12, 2017)
Six-year-old shares his love of science through a podcast
Nate Butkus isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions.
“Have you ever met a space shark or space dolphin?”
“What type of heat does Rudolph’s nose give out?”
“When do ants start to hibernate?”
These are just a few the 6-year-old has asked on “The Show About Science,” a podcast he’s hosted since July 2015.
The recorded audio show — which can be listened to on a computer, cellphone or other streaming devices — features the Wilmette, Illinois, first-grader talking with experts in the subject he’s loved for half his life.
“Back when I was 3, I mixed water, salt and food coloring, and I made red salt water,” he says. “I’ve been interested in science ever since.” Read more (Washington Post KidsPost, Dec. 12, 2016)
“Have you ever met a space shark or space dolphin?”
“What type of heat does Rudolph’s nose give out?”
“When do ants start to hibernate?”
These are just a few the 6-year-old has asked on “The Show About Science,” a podcast he’s hosted since July 2015.
The recorded audio show — which can be listened to on a computer, cellphone or other streaming devices — features the Wilmette, Illinois, first-grader talking with experts in the subject he’s loved for half his life.
“Back when I was 3, I mixed water, salt and food coloring, and I made red salt water,” he says. “I’ve been interested in science ever since.” Read more (Washington Post KidsPost, Dec. 12, 2016)
New parents take baby steps toward family travel with a three-day getaway to Annapolis
"Hold that boat!”
One thing I’ve learned as a new stay-at-home mom is to make the most of life between my baby’s naps and mealtimes. That’s why I ran past the yachts and sailboats anchored along “Ego Alley” in Annapolis, Md., to flag down the Harbor Queen before its last daily departure at 4 p.m.
Moments later, my husband, Sean, and our 10-month-old daughter, Juniper, basked in the early fall sunshine atop the double-decker boat as we took a 40-minute tour along Annapolis Harbor, taking in sights that included a sailboat race, a Naval Academy football team practice and a cameo by Woodwind II, the schooner that Christopher Walken pretends to sail in “Wedding Crashers.”
The outing came at the tail end of our three-day getaway, our first solo vacation as a young family. We had settled on this early fall trip to the small, coastal city after booking — and then canceling — a trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, after realizing that the prospect of flying and sharing a hotel room with a baby, while doable, didn’t sound all that relaxing.
Read more (Washington Post Travel, Dec. 6, 2016)
One thing I’ve learned as a new stay-at-home mom is to make the most of life between my baby’s naps and mealtimes. That’s why I ran past the yachts and sailboats anchored along “Ego Alley” in Annapolis, Md., to flag down the Harbor Queen before its last daily departure at 4 p.m.
Moments later, my husband, Sean, and our 10-month-old daughter, Juniper, basked in the early fall sunshine atop the double-decker boat as we took a 40-minute tour along Annapolis Harbor, taking in sights that included a sailboat race, a Naval Academy football team practice and a cameo by Woodwind II, the schooner that Christopher Walken pretends to sail in “Wedding Crashers.”
The outing came at the tail end of our three-day getaway, our first solo vacation as a young family. We had settled on this early fall trip to the small, coastal city after booking — and then canceling — a trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, after realizing that the prospect of flying and sharing a hotel room with a baby, while doable, didn’t sound all that relaxing.
Read more (Washington Post Travel, Dec. 6, 2016)
At This Artist Retreat in Lexington, Va., You Paint Your Own Vacation
Rembrandt I am not. Nevertheless, I’m residing in a room named for the Dutch artist. The well-appointed space — outfitted with a queen bed and private balcony— is one of eightbedrooms named after creative masters (Dalí, Vermeer) at the Shenandoah Art Destination, a few miles from Lexington, Va. I’ve come to unwind, work on my oil-painting technique and, as it turns out, paint a manure spreader.
Husband-and-wife owners Jan-Willem and Nancy Boer opened the bed-and-breakfast in fall 2012. The next spring, they launched the business component for which they had intended the 10-acre, two-home property: an artistic getaway where guests arrive toting paintbrushes, sketch pads and imaginative aspirations. It’s a retreat where visitors experience “a relaxed, productive feeling,” Nancy says. “Like they’ve accomplished something with their art, but at the same time they’ve been pampered.”
Read more (Washington Post Magazine, Sept. 13, 2015)
Husband-and-wife owners Jan-Willem and Nancy Boer opened the bed-and-breakfast in fall 2012. The next spring, they launched the business component for which they had intended the 10-acre, two-home property: an artistic getaway where guests arrive toting paintbrushes, sketch pads and imaginative aspirations. It’s a retreat where visitors experience “a relaxed, productive feeling,” Nancy says. “Like they’ve accomplished something with their art, but at the same time they’ve been pampered.”
Read more (Washington Post Magazine, Sept. 13, 2015)
George Washington Had Lots of Little Lambs, and His Estate Follows Suit
George Washington wasn’t sheepish about his love of sheep. In fact, America’s first president was quite proud of the fluffy four-legged animals he raised as a gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon in the mid-18th century. In a letter, he called them the livestock “in which I most delight.”
Today, visitors to the historic estate can see animals representing those that would have been present during Washington’s life, such as horses, hogs and chickens.
Other attention-getters are just a stone’s throw from Washington’s former home. Take a short walk from the main house, and you’ll probably find a crowd gathered around a fence — oohing, awwing . . . and shouting, “Baaah!”
There, enclosed in a paddock and a fenced field, are more than a dozen sheep — one of five locations on the 500-acre property where an estimated 70 sheep are kept. They snooze. They munch alfalfa and grass. Sometimes they clunk heads. A couple of them are black, some are white or brown, others have spots.
Read more (Washington Post, KidsPost, Mar. 25, 2015)
Today, visitors to the historic estate can see animals representing those that would have been present during Washington’s life, such as horses, hogs and chickens.
Other attention-getters are just a stone’s throw from Washington’s former home. Take a short walk from the main house, and you’ll probably find a crowd gathered around a fence — oohing, awwing . . . and shouting, “Baaah!”
There, enclosed in a paddock and a fenced field, are more than a dozen sheep — one of five locations on the 500-acre property where an estimated 70 sheep are kept. They snooze. They munch alfalfa and grass. Sometimes they clunk heads. A couple of them are black, some are white or brown, others have spots.
Read more (Washington Post, KidsPost, Mar. 25, 2015)
