Would you like to fly at treetop level above Greentrees Village, stop in midair, then look down and see your home? You can and without leaving the comfort of your easy chair.
There are a couple of requirements. First, you need a computer that is connected to the Internet. (The two computers in the Greentrees Fireplace Room are always connected if you don’t have your own computer.) Second, you need a program called Google Earth. It’s free. Here is the link to the download: http://earth.google.com/
Once you have the program installed, you can fly. Type in Florence, Oregon in the Fly To box in the upper left, press the Begin Search icon (a magnifying glass) and in no time you’re looking at a satellite view of Florence. Click the left mouse button to close in, the right button to gain altitude. Okay, so the resolution isn’t that great, especially when you get down to treetop level. Still, you should have no trouble spotting your place.
Type any place in the world in the Fly To box, press the search icon and Google Earth will take you there. Click on one of the icons atop the image and you can fly among the stars, print the image, measure distances (e.g., how many miles you go when you walk around Greentrees), show sunlight across the landscape using the slider, or stick a pushpin onto your place then write “This is where I live” and email it to your friends and relatives.
Tilt the image up and you’ll see mountains rise. Go to big cities like Boston or New York and you’ll see buildings in 3-D. Explore the Layers palette. Put a check mark in the Weather layer here and you’ll instantly see clouds and rain.
Stuck somewhere between the heavens and earth? Help is just a click away. Google Earth tutorials are here: http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/tutorials/index.html
