Terran monitoring · Hood Canal sector · relay 7

Larch Station

A weather outpost, staffed, against the wishes of the staff
CHAPTER I

The view

Live · 17:00 · overcast night · 49°F
Bearing 1 of 7 · Structures A and B
The ship's camera. Arrows, the dots or the keyboard to look elsewhere; drag to scan.
49° FAHRENHEIT
Thermometer
high 55° · low 39°
30.03 IN HG
Barometer
steady
88% RELATIVE
Hygrometer
dew point 45°
0 MPH · N
Anemometer
gust 1 · Beaufort 0
0.00 IN TODAY
Rain gauge
0.00 in this week
CHAPTER II

Hypotheses

What the crew expect, and what the reference observers on the surface say. Graded afterwards, on the hypotheses page.

Tue 3
☁
54° / 42°
3% rain
cloudy
Wed 4
☀
55° / 47°
86% rain
sunny
Thu 5
☀
56° / 48°
75% rain
sunny
Fri 6
☂
55° / 48°
75% rain
rainy

“For tomorrow: the reference observers say 55°/47°, 86% rain. Vell's model says 56°/43°, 88% rain. Orm's barometer says 55°/39°, 56% rain. The intern says 56°/37°, 33% rain. We have no better idea and are saying so in a smaller font.”

CHAPTER III

Expeditions

Whether the bipeds should attempt the things they attempt. Advisory only. They never listen.

The path

Hike

Go. Take the long way. Tell no one.
Overcast night, 49°, gusts to 1 mph. The hill is dry enough. The crossing is always fine.
Closed for the season
The rectangular pond

Pool

Closed for the season. Reopens 29 May.
Open from the Saturday before Memorial Day to Labor Day. 207 days until the bipeds submerge themselves again, on purpose.
The shore

Beach

Go. The wide water is behaving, which it does twice a year, low water at 7:17 pm.
Next low water 7:17 pm at 4.3 ft, so not much beach. Wind calm, which the canal rarely is, the far shore is visible.
Open flame

Campfire

Light it. Dry wood, no wind. Smoke goes up. Up! For once.
No burn ban in effect (checked by hand). Humidity 88%, dry enough. No wind, so the smoke will sit in the yard and come indoors.
The wide water

Fishing

Yes. The fish are 'running,' which we assumed was a joke. It is not.
The salmon are back in the wide water and nosing up the creek. Overcast, pressure steady: the fish approve. Tide going out until 7:17 pm.
CHAPTER IV

Fauna census, today

The small flying ones, counted by the microphones. The full census, with recordings, is on the bird site.

1Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus554
2Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra248
3Common RavenCorvus corax149
4Northern FlickerColaptes auratus132
5Spotted TowheePipilo maculatus112
6Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis89
7Steller's JayCyanocitta stelleri69
8Barred OwlStrix varia62
9Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon58
10Pacific chorus frogPseudacris regilla54
CHAPTER V

Observer's log

17:00
Day 445. Morale: adequate. Weather: see above. Snacks: see nothing, because there are none.
15:00
Grey. The Great Horned Owl doesn't care (554 calls before noon). We are learning not to care. Slowly.
12:00
Pressure steady. Orm says this means something. Orm's track record is in the appendix. The appendix is short.
08:00
The instrument turned 40 times this hour. Who is counting? The intern. The intern is always counting.
CHAPTER VI

From the files

Fungal activity, autumn. The bipeds photograph them and do not eat them. Correct.
The shore at low water. The far ridge is the edge of what we are allowed to watch.
The shore at low water. The far ridge is the edge of what we are allowed to watch.
Structure B. Lit at all hours. We think it's a shrine. To what, we are not cleared to know.
Structure B. Lit at all hours. We think it's a shrine. To what, we are not cleared to know.