Terran monitoring · Hood Canal sector · relay 7

Larch Station

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

The view

Live · 05:00 · drizzle · 51°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.
51° FAHRENHEIT
Thermometer
high 56° · low 42°
30.02 IN HG
Barometer
falling
90% RELATIVE
Hygrometer
dew point 48°
1 MPH · N
Anemometer
gust 2 · Beaufort 1
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.

Thu 5
☁
None° / 47°
64% rain
cloudy
Fri 6
☂
55° / 49°
74% rain
rainy
Sat 7
☁
62° / 48°
93% rain
cloudy
Sun 8
☂
55° / 42°
39% rain
rainy

“For tomorrow: the reference observers say 62°/48°, 93% rain. Vell's model says 61°/50°, 100% rain. Orm's barometer says 54°/40°, 80% rain. The intern says 62°/40°, 0% rain. The intern's method (looking out the window) is beating our method (looking at the instruments). We have ordered a bigger window.”

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.
Drizzle, 51°, gusts to 2 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 1 from the N, 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 90%, everything is wet. 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 falling: 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 curvirostra3
2RedpollAcanthis flammea1
3Sooty GrouseDendragapus fuliginosus1
4American BullfrogLithobates catesbeianus1
5Common RavenCorvus corax1
6Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus1
CHAPTER V

Observer's log

05:00
The large biped photographed the small bipeds again. We photographed him. Someone is photographing us. It's turtles.
03:00
waning crescent moon over the wide water. Nothing to report. Reporting it anyway. That's the job.
00:00
Day 448. Morale: adequate. Weather: see above. Snacks: see nothing, because there are none.
20:00
Supply drop: still unscheduled. We asked. We were told to 'keep observing.' We are observing the word 'keep.'
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.