Terran monitoring · Hood Canal sector · relay 7

Larch Station

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

The view

Live · 07:00 · overcast night · 50°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.
50° FAHRENHEIT
Thermometer
high 56° · low 42°
30.01 IN HG
Barometer
steady
88% RELATIVE
Hygrometer
dew point 47°
0 MPH · N
Anemometer
gust 1 · Beaufort 0
0.00 IN TODAY
Rain gauge
0.02 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.

Fri 6
☂
55° / 49°
74% rain
rainy
Sat 7
☁
62° / 48°
93% rain
cloudy
Sun 8
☂
55° / 42°
39% rain
rainy
Mon 9
☂
53° / 47°
84% rain
rainy

“For tomorrow: the reference observers say 62°/48°, 93% rain. Vell's model says 60°/49°, 100% rain. Orm's barometer says 56°/42°, 64% rain. The intern says 62°/40°, 0% 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. The canids have already decided and are waiting by the door.
Overcast night, 50°, 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. 204 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 8:19 am.
Next low water 8:19 am at 4.2 ft, so not much beach. Wind calm, which the canal rarely is, the far shore is visible.
Open flame

Campfire

Yes. Conditions are perfect, which we will be logging as 'suspicious.'
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 8:19 am.
CHAPTER IV

Fauna census, today

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

1Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra6
2Song SparrowMelospiza melodia5
3Pacific WrenTroglodytes pacificus3
4Pacific chorus frogPseudacris regilla3
5Common RavenCorvus corax2
6Spotted TowheePipilo maculatus2
7House SparrowPasser domesticus1
8Green FrogLithobates clamitans1
9RedpollAcanthis flammea1
10Sooty GrouseDendragapus fuliginosus1
CHAPTER V

Observer's log

07:00
Grey. The Red Crossbill doesn't care (6 calls before noon). We are learning not to care. Slowly.
05:00
Overcast, 50°. This is the territory's face when nobody is looking.
02:00
Pressure steady. Orm says this means something. Orm's track record is in the appendix. The appendix is short.
22:00
Cloud, no rain. The bipeds call this 'nice.' We have filed it under 'nice.' The folder is enormous.
CHAPTER VI

From the files

Fungal activity, autumn. The bipeds photograph them and do not eat them. Correct.
The canids, at rest. The pale one is in charge. The brown one is in charge of the pale one.
The canids, at rest. The pale one is in charge. The brown one is in charge of the pale one.
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.