Running the numbers and the experiment

Because some people don't understand how an earth warming cycle looks I have included a highly technical schematic as part of my blog today.

On the top line of the drawing we are looking at a warming and cooling trend on the earth that has a period of around 20,000 years. While my drawing isn't based on specific data this is pretty much what it looks like. You can find the real 12,000 year span on Wikipedia.

The second line is a magnification of one 10,000 year section through which time we cycle down to a cool era and are heading up. This is what we call an ice age. Not a "little ice age." A full blown ice age.

The third line represents a 2,500 year time span and when you get this close to the data it gets much harder to figure out what is going on.

I then drew a one hundred year stretch with a very steep upward trend. The real data shows a very steep upward trend, changing higher upwards than anyone has ever seen since the last ice age. The problem is we can't reconstruct the data going any further back. So it leaves people guessing what is going to happen. People who are convinced that humans are the cause for this trend jump up and down swearing that the curve will go up forever, swamping all of the the world's low lands in the process.

My undergraduate is in Geology and a student once asked the professor if he believed that there was global warming and if we were causing it. He pointed to the same data I layed out and then sidestepped the issue by pointing out that whether or not you agree on the cause, man is running a global science experiment. We are converting all of our fossil fuels into Carbon dioxide, heat, water, and a few other nasties. So, whether or not you agree that man is the cause, the data shows a phenominal uptick in the OVERALL global temperature.

Being a geologist and used to thinking in terms of Millions...and Billions of years, I personally think that even if we humans are supplying our inputs, our impact or even a major change in our behavior will not change what the earth has done forever. And that is be a huge chemistry lab where oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water are the main chemical reactants.

Anyone that claims catagorically that man is the main cause for global warming has left the realm of science and entered the realm of politics. A realm that in order to look like a hero, you've got to create the problem you are going to solve first.

Protecting My Daughters

My daughters are beautiful.

Sometimes I'll see them dressed for church and wonder how in the world they are getting so big so fast. The older, Miss M, can appear at times to be a young woman. She's only 9.

I don't think she understands why I am always fussing over how modest her clothing must. Indeed, I can see the pressure she already has to dress "cool."

I am very grateful for a wife that is with me ideologically. That doesn't solve all of the problems. But I believe we are doing as much as we can.

I constantly ask myself: "Are we missing anything?"

Ultimately, all of the children will get older and develop their own values. I hope that what they develop resemble what we give them.

Political Core Beliefs

I have recently been joined at work by a VERY liberal colleague. Lately, she has given me more reason to be politically minded than I would care to admit.

I just found out what makes her gears tick. Now, admittedly, this is a right wing opinion. But its good for a laugh.

I imagine that a similar list could be made for us right wing nuts.

I'm open for suggestions on what makes you a right wing nut. Something like:

1. You oppose abortion but you believe in capital punishment

2. You believe that homosexuality is a CHOICE (as opposed to genetic) but you believe that diabetes "runs in the family." (Because the family never runs.)

Any others?

Working on the poem

So,

The second stanza of the poem in my last blog has bugged me for a couple days. Lets try this version:

One builds it up
One tears it down
One more does nothing
Just one gains renown.

Not that fame is what we're after, but lets face it. When you get stuff done people notice. That applies to just about every endeavor.

My headstone won't say, "I wish I had spent more time at the office." But I hope my obituary reads: "He was a hard worker (not a hardly worker.)"

The Construction Gang

My grandfather Barlow was a prolific poet. When he died my grandmother spent more than a year compiling and editing his poetry. She gave a copy to all of her children and grandchildren. My favorite poem of his is this one:

A good thing to remember
A better thing to do
Is be part of the construction gang
And not the wrecking crew.

I've been thinking about it a lot lately.
Since I have a propensity to procrastinate I've decided that the poem needs a second stanza. I hope my grandpa would approve.

One builds it up
One tears it down
One more does nothing
Only one is renowned.

I can remember as a child, teaching myself how to braid by playing with a pine needle. When I had finished the braid I felt like I had created something wonderful. Not that the braid was fantastic, the point was: I had created. That feeling of accomplishment was/is so wonderful. I love being part of the construction gang.

What makes you feel that way?

Camping in February

We've committed to taking the scouts out camping once a month no matter what. So, when a snowstorm rolled in earlier this week I was afraid that we'd be camping in the snow. Well, the good thing about New Mexico is that the snow is allergic to the ground here and quickly leaves with teary itchy eyes.

It was warm. Seriously, it took two hours after the sun went down for us to see our breath. There wasn't any frost on us when we woke up either. Weird. I expected at least a weak attempt from mother nature.

We had hiked up from a nice lake over on the Mimbres. Of course because it was a late start (someone's car backfired at the high school and they locked down the schools in the neighborhood thus making us start our campout an hour and a half later than we inteded.) So with our late start we didn't hike too far before we all agreed that hiking up a running crick in the dark was not a *bright* idea. We camped about a quarter mile from the cars. The local high school students (no doubt celebrating the big fuss at the school) then moved into the lake and played their thumping music until past 1am.

At the end of the day both Bug-O-Rug and I were so wiped out that waking us up from our recovery naps was a life threatening action for the waker.

I can't wait until the next campout.

A love poem

I would have posted yesterday but there were some technical difficulties.

Read the Large text first, then you can go back and read the small text to find out what I was thinking.

Two eyes that sparkle, emerald and blue
*wait a second, that sounds like she has one green eye and one blue eye*
Skin o'er her face, soft like the dew
*read no reference to acne or otherwise, I just like her skin*
Two lips plump and pouting
*Not that she's sad, I like it when she pouts for me*
Gentle her touch
*I'm not into the rough stuff*
I reach to caress her
*You know, like a back scratch or a foot rub*
I need her so much
*Not just because you make my lunch for me and wash my socks*
My soul feels with longing
*A word that here doesn't apply to the length of something but rather the desire for something*
My heart skips a beat
*Don't worry, I don't have an arithmia or any other heart conditions*
Forever I'm with her
*Bwa Ha Ha, you'll never get rid of me*
Come share my VD
*That's shorthand for Valentines Day*

More moisture

Crud!

Its snowing again. When I was little ... no, when I lived on a paved street my mantra was "Let it snow!" After spending all of January fearing the trip home, mainly because I knew that my wife was pregnant and had the potential of getting stuck, I was ready for a dry February. Nope, its snowing today and the snow isn't sticking. Everything is wet and I've got the brown snot road to look forward to on the way home. Of course, the fact that it is good to have moisture in a desert isn't lost on me. I just felt like doing a little whining.

The weather I truly love is deep snow. While that is what made January so miserable, at least you get some joy in return.

I'll also take a scorching hot summer day next to a swimming pool anytime. Better yet next to my favorite swimming hole....I'll have to post on that one later.

Happy Music

My Sister in Law likes Metallica. I can honestly say that my teenage biases have stopped me from ever listening to that music with an open mind. So I downloaded "Enter Sandman" (because it was the most popular of their songs on i-tunes) and I have to admit, that while its not the worst music ever, I won't be rushing out to buy the rest of the album. I won't even be going slowly out to buy the album. Definitely a matter of tastes.

The other day coming back from Phoenix I listened to a bunch of happy tunes and when I got home that combined with the joy of being with my children created a positively euphoric mood. (I think my wife was a little freaked.)

I remember that my twin used to listen to some heavy metal tune just before a football game. He swore that it would rev him up.

I have no doubt that music CAN alter your emotions. While I don't think that it always does.

One of my all time favorites is "Man its so loud in here" by They Might Be Giants. My favorite Lulliby is "Cradle Song" by Shriekback (Cool, I just found out that they have a new album.) So I'm curious. What music do you listen to to put you on top? ...If for any reason you are tempted to say "Afterglow" for any reason. Just stop yourself. You know that can't be your favorite. (Whoa! I just found out they made it out of the '80s.)

Light

Looking down,
I see the light of my neighbor’s barn
One light I know in Silver City
This time, the silver of the lights
Shining in the obscurity
Swallowed whole
In the land’s dark and gaping maw
Headlights declare
“I am a human here
speeding forward towards purpose
conquering darkness
with my glow.”
I recognize the cities below
That creep into view
Car’s lights pointed toward work
Illuminate the path
From my vantage
Their sparks along the way
Crossing road that I have crossed
I recognize their desire
Bright stars above
Wonderous and far
The stars below
Hold my imagination fast
These are the stars I know
The meaning I lend them
Drives mystery away
Great city Phoenix rises
Orange wings spread wide
Fire from the people
Burns away the night
The light attests
We fight against the night.

I flew from Silver City to Phoenix yesterday on business. Watching the towns and cars in the dark early morning brought out the poet in me.

The House of the Lord

Okay, I just found a scripture that I could have written. I don't mean that it is simple, but that it perfectly expresses the way I feel.

We live about four and a half hours from three different temples. We usually go to the Mesa, Arizona temple. We have been to the Albuquerque temple a couple of times. We went to the Snow Flake, Arizona temple's open house but we've never attended a session. We are actually going to the "wrong" temple when we go to Mesa. Albuquerque is our district, but Arizona is our home.

So, in Psalms 122 David says, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." We try to go to the temple about once a quarter. Somewhere along the line we'll be looking at the calendar and my wife will say, "We need to plan our trip to the temple." I AM glad when she says that. The ball will start rolling, and away we go for a weekend excursion to Mesa. I don't often have ground shaking experiences at the temple but David got that right too. At the end of his short psalm he says, "Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good." He's talking specifically about seeking the good of Jerusalem. For me, metaphorically, he is talking about the kingdom of God. I find myself energized after attending the temple. More willing to read my scriptures, say my prayers, and fulfill my callings.

There's more in that chapter that applies, I won't break it down verse by verse. Just take a minute and read it. It will make you want to go. I'm already whipping out my calendar.