THE PUZZLE

 

I HAVE BEEN PUZZLING OVER A PUZZLE since April

'Earth Day' got me going. Earth Day has been around for 40 years, with a different theme each your. I had been unaware of Earth Day but, as you know, in this Internet Age we ae  frequently surprised to learn of things we did not previously know about. The theme this year was 'Restore Our Earth'. Then, in May, 'New Yorker' offered an article, Is Mars Ours?'

“Whoa,” I thought, “how could Mars be 'ours'?”

'Ours' here refers to the human race. Evidently we think we already own Earth. There was a time when Europeans would land somewhere and assume it for their nation. When I visited Anchorage, in Alaska, back in 1992, the locals told me that in 1778, James Cook had left a note in bottle, saying “I claim this land for King George III.” The Russians and the Spanish previously had done much the same (for their nations); that is, claiming what is now 'Alaska. The Inuit people do not take much notice. At any rate, Anchorage is located at the top of Cook Inlet, where has been a statue of Captain Cook for all to see.

Today, some hope to make Mars the 'second home' of the human race. Personally, I think that a somewhat long shot, not only by reason of distance. So...what is THE PUZZLE?

Has it something to do with how humans, just because we are some place, jump to the conclusion that it belongs to us? 

We forget our place as a recent addition to the primate branch of the mammalian group, havingbeen around for only two million years or so. Most species were here before us. Earth, the inventor of Life and the Great Collaborator with Evolution, was here much, much longer. Humans are no strangers to the enigma of our being. Learning to work with fire was the beginning of the great adventure in which we find ourselves but have not yet understood.

Coincidentally, I have discovered two very clever chaps, Peter Sterling, a neuroscientist , and Simon Laughlin, an information scientist, who have worked together on the design of brains. Designing brains!!! What on earth could that be?   I think they mean, 'If you set about designing a brain, what principles are important?'  This has kept them busy for two decades.

By comparing predictions of ideal brain performance with actual, using very delicate measurements, they have shown that brains are about as efficient as could be expected. This prompted me to venture that this must apply to all the parts of biological bodies. So, what goes for brains goes for the body overall. Running wild with this line of thought, species also have an excellent fit to the environments within which they have evolved. Evidence for the efficiency of the evolutionary process seems very strong.

Reaching even further, is it possible that species develop collaboratively to become collectively exactly what the environment 'needs'? According to this 'mad notion', taking some large environment as a whole (such as the Amazon rain forest), with all the plants and other living creatures, this entity in turn would be just what adjoining regions 'need', and so on?

 Evolution fashions the best fit all round. Nature is not chaotic; instead, exhibits perfect harmony.

The other side of this coin, the source of my puzzlement, is that we happen not see ourselves as part of Nature. Rather, Nature is to be possessed, conquered, plundered, developed, or bent to our purpose, which seems to be to dominate.This view prevents us from seeing the harmony; from seeing ourselfs as  part of nature. We have become powerful, but not humble; as would awareness of our place in the 'web of life'.

Lately, we have been discovering that our way of living has us in a mess. I have read that, for all the people on earth to live as we do in the developed nations, would require three Earths!  Part of the mess we are in is our mess. For all other creatures, what is not put to work in their bodies, gets passed on. As the famous biologist , Lyn Margulus, once quipped,  "What is leaked, others eat!"  We are exceptional; as a instance, consider plastic. When others eat it, it does them no good.

If that is our history, it is a puzzle to see how things might ever be different.

It seems to me that restoring Earth would involve accepting that we are of the earth, earthy. When we are gone, doubtless Earth will restore itself, as it has ever done.  Restoring means 'giving back' as well as 'making good'. It means making room for other critters, we need each other!

This is becoming a 'hot issue' (I hope you will notice the pun). Will we awake in time to take effective action?

Dream on, Roberto!

PANDEMICS, REVOLUTION, AND REFORM

In the Current Era, civilizations have received regular visit by Plagues. In almost all cases, Plagues were followed acute and serious social unrest, even outright revolution.

A factor in this might well be that inequalities tend to build up during eras, but do so slowly across generations so that the pain is incremental and tolerable. There may be occasional mobs protesting but with little effect. When mobs become overly rambunctious, authorities label them as lawless, security forces appear and put down the uprising. Since no society is perfect, over time imperfections, flaws, or (in the modern terminology) 'fault lines' appear. The news gets about that the 'one percent' have ninety percent of the total wealth. Tens of thousands invade the streets of large cities in protest. Nothing changes in our social structures and the people go home (if they have a home) to disappear from our sight.

Sometimes, however, a confluence of suffering happens; a coherent awareness that something dreadful is gathering form. Pandemic appears all around us. Soon the media reports that certain 'minorities' do not have equal access to treatment and more likely to die. In my country, the United States, racial differences suddenly receive a proper focus. We see a man (a descendant of the former slave class) who had peaceably agreed to arrest by police, apparently murdered by one of the arresting officers, his neck pinned to the pavement for minutes, protesting his treatment,'Help me, I can't breath...', until we witness his death. Unfair, even illegal, brutal actions by police joins the focus. Protest by crowds in the streets spread across hundreds of cities in this country and then internationally. The dark shadow that falls across us deepens, thickens... becoming darker, denser, palpable.

In societies less beleaguered by inequalities, a pandemic adeptly managed with sufficient understanding and resource, a plague might pass by with little disturbance, and fault-lines beneath the surface might remain unnoticed.

History does not encourage us when we consider plagues and their associated rebellions and revolutions. In the aftermath, more often than not, the downtrodden fare no better, while the well-off   emerge doing even better!

Are we, in the United States, really living within a looming revolution? Not a few columnists and opinion writers in respected publications appear to think so. Good revolutions occur over years and not months. The pandemic provides a moment awaiting proper birth, to look more perceptively at the economic and political structures that, over the last two generations have ceased to serve all equally well. If this vaunted 'greatest democracy' cannot seize such a moment, then perhaps woe betide the rest of the world.

The tectonic metaphor, 'fault-lines' developing in our social structures seems useful, evoking the distinction between cracks developing in the surface and deeper fissures causing the cracks, while raising the possibility that myriad tremors portent a disastrous 'quake'.

Sociologically, the body politic, humans in aggregate, resembles our own selves. We want so to be well and healthy that discovering signs of serious disease has us aghast. In the next postings, I will have a look at a few underlying problems that may underlie that cracks appearing in the fabric of our current order.

Mind you, I only speak of where I happen to live. I welcome your comments.

MORE TRAVELS

SINCE THE LAST POSTING, I returned to Australia for a month (in August) reuniting with family and friends. To tell the truth, I was more than a little worn down by the time I got back to Corning, mainly due to jet-lag.  I must be getting old!  Even so, it was very worthwhile.

JUST LAST WEEK, I flew down to Fort Lauderdale (Florida) to pick up a car that I had sucessfully bid for on eBay.  This was quite the trip, in more ways that one!

The Car?  A 2000 Mazda Miata!!  120,000 or so miles old and supposedly in excellent condition.  A real 'pig in a poke' That is:
"something is sold or bought without the buyer knowing its true nature or value, especially when buying without inspecting the item beforehand."

To make it worse, quite a few, friends and others, warned  that is was probably a 'scam'...there would be no car!  To be frank about it, I thought that it was probably it was a little rash.  However, I had not expected to win the auction and was greatly surprised at my unintended success. And I had done my due diligence researching the seller

You might guess that I was considerably relieved when Tom, the seller, arrived at the airport to pick me up in that very car!  The vehicle was as advertised...another source of relief!  Hooray and Hooray!!

Since very young I have wanted to own a sports car, and more than a few times came close to doing so.  But then, at 82 years, how many more years of driving might I expect to enjoy?  Sort of  'on my bucket list' if you like.

I was dreading the drive back (four days and 1600 miles). But the Miata got me home with only a problem with the alternator light (two hours at an auto-electrical shop somewhere along the way) caused by faulty wiring.  Here I am in Market St, Corning, showing it off to my coffee mates.

Actually, if you discount many boring miles, the trip was great!  Along the way I made new friends, benefited greatly by the kindness of strangers, and deepened friendships.

A mistake actually made the entire trip great, despite those boring freeway miles. I forgot to reprogram my GPS not to avoid toll roads!  So it frequently took me off highways onto byways.  In turn, this forced me to drive fewer miles eash day over the middle two days, adding some hours and wonderful passage.

By the time I had figured this out (GPS, why are you taking me off onto these strange back roads?), it was too late to avert traversing the rural roads of the Appalation Mountains during the peak Fall season.  How dreadful to have to view all those colors and the spectcular vistas of mountains and broad valleys!  And not be forced to keep an eye on the busy traffic.

By such means the journey became a consant delight.

As in life, the journey takes over, refusing to be compliant with what seemed to have been the plan. Of the many possible paths, the best may prevail.

SOME LAST THINGS ABOUT RUSSIA, AND THOUGHTS ON TRAVEL.

AFTER PERVOURALSK, I returned to Yekaterinburg, to the care of Natalia, who still had that long list of things to experience.

Back once more in Saint-Petersburg, I had quite a deal of time to myself, which was good for me and you lot benefited by way of a couple of postings.  I also walked about the neighborhood, visiting coffee shops, the bank and similar mundane things, still a little weary from travels.  On the last day in Russia, I was all settled down, my stuff packed for the return flight, and thinking that I would write up a last posting, when Bazhena texted me...Would I like to meet her at the end of her working day and go walking the neighborhoods of The Hermitage Museum.  Why not? I thought, so I caught the Trolley Bus around to meet her.  We had such a fine time, she telling me stories and showing me notable sights.

 Here is one:  This is the Church of the Blessed Blood.  As you can see from the exterior shot, the church is alongside a canal and occupies extensive grounds beside a large public park.

The interior is wonderfully beautiful with paintings and frescoes.  Unlike the Catholic Churches you may see in Europe, there is only small space to accommodate worshipers, who stand during ceremony.   This opens the floor as opportunity for religious art.

There are many churches to see in Saint-Petersburg, while the population generally are not so very religious.  However, interest in religion many be increasing as the stance of government toward the Church seems more favorable.  I would like to have seen inside the Cathedral Church, the tall spire of which is visible from many parts of the city.  We had walked by, on an earlier evening, but it had already closed.  I had thought to come by the next day, but needed to relax and wrote  emails and postings instead.  There the remains of the Czar and his family are interred, venerated a thousand miles from those mine-shafts near Yekaterinburg where they were discovered.

WHY RUSSIA? or: WHY TRAVEL?

Back here in Corning, before I left, some friends asked my why I was going.  It seemed an easy question to answer.  Then it seemed just to be about deepening friendships made here and finding out about the lives of my friends in Russia.  Long ago, in my first University  studies, I had studied the emergence of the Soviet Union, so knew a little about its history.  I had also read some of Solzhenitsyn's writings relating to the time of Stalinist Terror.

Until now, most of my travel has been targeted, related to maintaining family ties, professional interests, or personal interest (such as French language).  Even so, I experienced moments when meeting folk in foreign places, of understanding how very different but equally sensible are the views and cultural character of those who live in places far away, compared with one's own; and, at the margins, how some may be more so.

In Yekaterinburg, while visiting the Stone Museum, I met Olga.  She was telling my host, Natalia, of her visits to India and other places in Asia.  My guess is that Olga is in her 70's.  She was confiding that she considered love and travel the most important things in life, and that she had not had enough of either!  Can there be travel for its own sake? I began to wonder.  Here in Corning, I have a friend whose target is to visit 100 countries.  One way or the other, she is almost 90 percent to attaining her mark!  Has travel a gift not available in any other way?

When I returned home, I resumed reading 'The First Scientist: Anaximander and His Legacy', by one of my favorite authors, Carlo Rovelli.  His daytime job is as a leading theoretical physicist but he also has a deep knowledge of classical or ancient authors.; besides which he is absolutely a most wonderful writer!  Anaximander, who lived during the Sixth Century BCE in Miletus, happens to be one of his favorite thinkers and widely regarded as one of the originators of scientific thinking.  Miletus , situated in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean, was a center of trade and  scholarship.  From there one could travel easily to the four corners of the Earth, even as far a China, in pursuit of profit or learning.

Not surprisingly, Rovelli has some thoughts on how travel affects thinking.  That is does affect thinking and understanding is hardly in doubt.  We have a saying the 'travel broadens the mind'; Rovelli remarks that '(what ) opens our minds and shows the limits of our ideas is an encounter with other people, other cultures, other ideas.' and 'Each time we open ourselves to diversity and ponder that which is different from us, we enlarge the richness and intelligence of the human race.'

This can be astonishing or more subtle and hard to define quickly.  There is much in Russia that is astonishing, or deeply moving, as I have related.  However, I am aware of a more subtle effect that I am gradually realizing..  When complete, I will let you know,

Meanwhile, as ever, watch this space.

THE LAST OF RUSSIA?

WELL, THE LAST DAY OF THIS RUSSIAN ADVENTURE.

I do admit the last posting was somewhat somber.  It is false not to be so when I allow myself to imagine the terror of this times. Many years ago I had read the book about those times by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, so had some knowledge of the Stalinist Terror.  The woman in red top, in the last photo is Olesya.  She teaches English to adults and speaks this language very well.

She is also dedicated to show me how ordinary Russians live, and (like a good teacher) had assembled many experiences to achieve this goal  Such as going out into the country where were the small 'log-cabin like' homes where many once Russians lived.  Some still do but in this villages such dwellings are mainly let to people on summer vacation.  Here come those who want to garden!  This is a treasured break for retired folk who live apartment blocks.  One couple invited us inside (which they were most willing to do) so we could see how compact and neatly arranged the two rooms that comprise their house.

The village sits aside a once broad river over which is strung an ancient swing bridge, in which three young fellows were swimming, and across which a fine Russian Orthodox Church.

After which we attempted to throw a boomerang in a wheat-field, with little success, with Igor coming out the winner.  That is Igor next to Olesya on the swing bridge.

My third day Oleysa devoted to work with the local TV station news crew.  Yes...I became a TV personality (for a day) on the theme 'what does an American tourist think of Pervouralsk?' The clip will  turn up in a later posting or on Facebook.  Better brush up on your Russian!

PERVOURALSK

RUSSIA IS A VERY LARGE COUNTRY, as I am sure you will know.  It is much larger than it appears on a map, due to the convergence of the latitude lines near the pole.  Also, when you view a global representation of our planet, from the perspective of the North Pole, you will see how close are Russia and the United States, looking at Alaska.

Russia is divided into two huge regions, Europe and Asia.  Asia extends eastwards from the Urals, an area either side of the Ural Mountains; near the middle lies the 'line' that divides Asia from Europe (or vice versa, if you wish).  The city that sits, as it were, upon this line is Pervouralsk.  With a population of about 130,000, it is one tenth the size of Yekaterinburg, the major administration center of this region.  The major industry is the manufacture of steel pipes of all sizes.  In this it is like my home city, Corning, that has as its main industry the manufacture of all things glass.  Both industries are highly technical and require high levels of scientific support; over time, this has transformed the social structure of what once was a entirely rural area.

One might think of this region as the 'center of Russia' and this notion is supported by the local significance made of this.  On a main highway they have a monument marking the latitude.  It is possible to stand with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia; an Eurasian experience!

Here you see 'yours truly' doing so!  Many do likewise, as you might well imagine.  It is also a significant place for newly weds and others wishing to affirm their affinity.  A fence supports this intention, festooned with ribbons and padlocks, many of which have the partners initials or some wish for their future.  This is a common practice and bridges used by pedestrians in other cities do similarly.

A more sobering testament can be found on the road to Moscow.  During the Stalinist Terror on the 1930's, many thousands of innocent people were falsely accused of often absurd political crimes, found guilty, and summarily shot.  This aspect of the terror did not extend to this region, where none were accused and summarily shot.  These were the 'Victims of Political Repression'.  But what to do with all those bodies? 

In 1967, this mystery began to be solved when another sport stadium was planned for the Pervouralsk area.  During site preparation, workers discovered very many human remains.  Initially, law enforcement sought to quash further investigation.

This proved impossible, as local people demanded the truth; eventually witnesses to the burials came forward.  The truth was that, during the final years of the Terror, during the night hundreds of bodies were transported to this area in trucks, comprising 75 hectares.  At least 20,000 civilians are known to be buried in this place.  They are memorialized by walls on which are fastened metal plaques with their names embossed.  Walking along the walls, I felt the same emotions as I had when walking along The Wall in Washington, remembering the sacrifice of more than 60,000 US soldiers who had died during the Vietnam war  deep sorrow for the follies of humanity and admiration for those who refuse to allow the truth to remain concealed.

All this was long ago, back to the time when I was born.  How do later generations come to terms with atrocities long past?  It is surely better to know such things happened than for the knowledge to disappear for ever.

But we can reflect and learn. The past is fixed and cannot be remade.  We have only the present moment, yet somehow the future, which does not yet exist, is constructed from the present, including our imaginings

YEKATERINBURG AND PERVOURALSK I

THIS IS NOT A TRAVELOGUE!  Or so I remind myself of when I set to type...

It would take too long fully to describe my experiences in these two places so I must confine myself to significant impressions. I did not come on this journey with highly specific objectives, other than to extend and deeper earlier acquaintances, but these are folk that you, my dear readers, have never met.

It was a little strange to arrive at Yekaterinburg Airport to be met by someone I had never met, other than through emails. Natalia is cousin to a friend who lives in Corning, who was looking for a modern day, English speaking, 'pen pal'.  Her career is as a translator of English texts into Russian, who works independently.  She has international certification, having first studied in London.  There I was, just off the plane and, although I did not know it then, famously in the middle of a very long stretch without sleep.  Looking all about for someone who might fit my own picture of 'Natalia', when up from behind came a voice, 'Are you Robert?'  So began my Ykb adventures!

 In the Wikipedia article, you can find out much more than I can tell you.  For tour planning, The Lonely Planet article is a great place to begin discovering this amazing city.

In the last century this history became stained with blood and terrible political acts. These relate to the murder of the Czar, Nicholas II, and his family in 1918.  They had taken up residence near the city during the Civil War.  On the night of July 17, they were awoken from sleep and taken to the basement of the house and shot, the Czar and Czarina dying immediately. The children were more trouble to kill, as they were laden with jewels, secreted in their undergarments, that acted a body armour.

 After this their bodies were taken some 15 kilometers through dense forest to mine shafts, into which their remains were dropped and covered with earth and the shafts boarded over.  The intention was to render this ordeal secret.  So it remained until road building revealed the boards and then the shaft, many years on.  Now a monastery, Ganina Yama, established to memorialize the royal family, occupies the site.  Set remotely in dense forest, with a unique building for each of the family,  it is a beautiful place to visit.







A massive magnificent Church Upon The Blood, commemorates the place where these murders took place, now crowded about by city sprawl.

Natalia and I visited both sites.  Public transport goes right by the church, but a bus reaches to the monastery only a few times each day.  In July and October, many come from all over Russia to make pilgrimage between these two locations.




Yekaterinburg was founded almost 300 years ago by Peter the Great and named for his wife, Catherine.  It is the gateway to Asia and Europe and greatly favoured by mineral resources; due to the transport afforded by rivers and later railways, it was the early economic engine for Russia, and later much artistry flourished, in part made possible by the wealth produced there.  There are many museums that display its progress.  Natalia made sure I saw a good number of these and later admitted that she before seen them!  How often, is it not, that having a visitor leads to greater knowledge of one's locality and its history!  I thought it very suitable that ensuring the visitor's joy of discovery be rewarded and alloyed with one's own.  She had a long list of things to have me see!

Like Spb, there are many churches and therefore many domes and spires gold plated and splendidly glinting in the sun.  Only churches may have this gold-plate embellishment, much to the chagrin of one newly rich local who, some years back was denied gold plating for the roof of his huge mansion while, in his own neighborhood were many glittering all about!

The tallest building in the city provides a viewing platform at the 52nd floor from where one can view as far as the city outskirts.

SAINT-PETERSBURG PART 2

I LEFT YOU at the end of my first day, writing on the day that I arrived in Yekaterinburg, two days later.  It turned out to be an arduous 30 or so hours, as I have already described in my bulletin.  In part this was due to my excellent trip planning, which overlooked this aspect!  I am quite recovered.

The second day in Spb is easy to describe.  I took the river cruise option.  I got this idea from an article I had read while in the park behind the Admiralty Building (trip planning on the fly!) entitled “18 ‘must do’ things in Saint-Petersburg”, while checking my smartphone. How did Google know I was in Spb?  Ah, the wonders of the Internet age!  I met Bazhena at the end of her work day.  As we walked by Admiralty, on the way to the bus stop, a nice chap (Ahmed) caught our attention.  His job was to direct people to booking office so he was very happy, when we retraced our steps (it took a moment or two for me to make the connection with the article) to help us out.  From Syria only two years past, he seemed to be speaking fluent Russian, as my host later confirmed.  He offered us excellent advice that turned out to be much better than that I got when, next morning, I returned to buy a tour.  Thank you Ahmed!

Cruises depart from right out front of the imposing Admiralty building. So the next day I was aboard a cruise that took me around the islands that are part of Spb.  A great trip, whereon was served an excellent cuisine.  A ‘must do’ indeed!  Spb is ancient and modern, with many beautiful buildings old and new, and also an evidently busy seaport with tugs, dry docks, and (of course) cruise ships.

This tour lasted over an hour, so I had plenty of time for more exploring in the vicinity of the Admiralty. How pleasant to return to my now almost accustomed pastime of people watching,in the park.  This area is substantial and very cleverly designed for just sitting and for promenade.  I think I may even have noticed some characters from the previous day!  I had plenty of time to amble over to the Cathedral,

where the parking area was full of tour buses, to take a closer look at the most imposing structure, topped by a golden dome. Golden domes and spires abound in Spb!  Among the crowd, a couple in wedding dress posed for photos.  What a backdrop,,,the entrance doors are huge and magnificent.

Wearied by all this I found my own way home, with vigorous support from Google Maps,  The evening we spent going to a Modern Art opening event, where were many of my hosts’ friends (k\they are both artists), then to the airport bound for Yekaterinburg.  Luckily my hosts got me there in good time as it took me a little while to find the check-in area.  Then I was on the midnight special to Yekaterinburg (hereafter Ykb); as you know, the rest is staying awake history!

I will have three more days in Spb, including the weekend, so I am sure I will have more to share about life in a city where I am sure I would be happy to live.

Next pop,  Ykb; a city one might describe as ‘living down its past’.

HARD TO BELIEVE!!!

LAST POSTING WAS 18 MONTHS AGO:  I was promising to get my life in order.  Evidently, it has taken  while.  I had underestimated the subtle power of grief to take the edge of life.

That posting had nice pics of Granddaughter Stephanie, who now 19 managed to secure a place in an excellent (read: 'expensive') College in Salt Lake City (SLC).  She is so beautiful and clever.  Presently in Columbia (the country) on a project her school has there.  Maybe she is doing what she hoped; an internship teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).  A week back, it looked as if she might.

Here is one of me taken at Soulful Cup Cafe by my good friend Claire, a skilled photographer, not long back

Ah, that new motor in my little Subaru Impreza. Funny thing about that:  One year to the day of the guarantee on the new motor, while at the garage, it mysteriously stopped running.  A loose timing belt.  My garage shop crew, headed by their Manager (the irresistible and formidable Rose) negotiated another new motor, installed at the supplier's expense.  So a new start for it and for me.  I do love that little Impreza!

Presently I am in Russia, for two weeks, catching up with friends made during their visits to Corning or acquired in other ways (such as an email pen-pal).  We have just transited the Summer Solstice so the daylight lasts a very long time, and the weather enjoyable.  By this time you will each have received brief bulletins, much of which content will be in the next posting.

That anticipated return of energy did not eventuate and, until now, well past the Spring of the next year, seems really to have returned.  I am in good health, now turned 82 years (something I find incredible).  The great thing about writing a Blog is that this acts as a species of diary (I am not a compulsive diarist), reminding me of moments and realizations otherwise forgotten.  I have just read my NEW DIRECTIONS posting and see that I thought myself about to 'take off'.  Apparently, such was not to be until about now!  Ah well, as the saying has it...Man proposes but 'God' disposes!

Enough of this navel-gazing.  I promise to return to more interesting postings, ones that report fulfillment of intentions (thank you, Amazon, for bringing this word back into use!).  I suppose this 'Russia' episode might be one such?

I have had a few medical interventions, beginning with that heart trouble and now including fixing up of cataracts (also emplacement of a very small stent in each eye to manage my glaucoma, apparently effective).  My Type2 Diabetes, for which I have no physical signs or symptoms, seems controlled by medications, and this seems to be the entire story.  And hooray for that!  While these help one along they also act as 'slowers down' intermittently.  Hopefully, I am past such necessaries.  We shall see.

I hope that you enjoy the next few posting, all 'From Russia with Love'.

AT SALT LAKE CITY AIRPORT...

ON MY WAY BACK from visiting my daughter, Bronwyn, and my granddaughter, Stephanie, in Basalt, Colorado  They are still busy enjoying the snow.  Nowadays, it takes more than three or so days to get used to the elevation; at over 7,000 feet, it is about ten times higher than Corning.  So my lot has been to walk the dog and when not doing that, to walk myself (usually down to the coffee shop, 300 feet lower and almost two miles distant), with a careful eye on my wrist heart monitor.

My layover here, waiting for 'the midnight' to Detroit, is about six hours.  Time for a pleasant meal and maybe writing a blog posting.  I like the late flight as it means a good sleep before the morning flight to my home airport.

This is a 'big' time for Stephanie, about to turn 18 years.  College hunting time.  I have been most fortunate to have serious discussions with her about what she wants in life and what studies will assist her to attain her life goals. She is sharper than a tack, wise beyond her years, and lots of fun to be with.  How lucky am I!  Here is Stephanie, off to coach student skiers.

And here she is once more, at the coffee shop.

It will be great to be back home.  Spring approaches and lots of projects, particularly in the garden, to get underway.  If you have not experienced the transition from the coldest of Winters to the warmth of Spring, with its lengthening days, I regret to say that it is impossible to explain or describe the sheer joy of it.  Life bursts forth within and without, and on all sides!

I have just acquired another car.  My faithful Nissan is perilously close to rusting out (due to the salt they loving add to our roads in Winter).  It is a Subaru Impreza, with 150,000 miles.  Apart from the engine, in fairly good condition.  While I have been in Basalt, it has received a reconditioned motor.  I am looking forward to taking it over this week, including registration.  I expect to sell the older car; apart from the rust, it is in great mechanical condition.  I have had it ten years, not bad for a 1998 model with 230,000 miles on it!  Why and I doing this, well might you ask?

It is part of my 'makeover' for the next decade.  More of this another time, maybe the next post. I am a bit too tired to attempt an interesting account of that.

The car in the foreground is the new possession; the yonder one is the Nissan.  They are in the grounds of 'my kind' of mechanic's garage.  They have a bunch of cars held for sale, so I am hoping they will sell mine!


Until next time, when I have more energy and more to say.

ROBERTO IS BACK!!!

BUT THEN... I never left you.

Looking somewhat battered here. You do not have to worry about the other chap; unwittingly I did it to my self (no 'bumped into a door' story either).  Fittingly, it happened on the last day of 2017, which had not been exactly a great year in some respects.  Here is the real story: seems like, that morning, on waking I rubbed my left eye a tad too vigorously.  The rest was due to blood thinners I have to take following my unremarkable cardiac event back in November 2016.  These make it very easy to get bruised and usually, if I know I have knocked myself about, a quick rub and some application of ice will forestall temporary disfigurement.

Imagine my surprise when, brushing my teeth before going to bed, not having ventured forth during the day nor looked into a mirror,  I caught sight of this!  There have been moments during the year when I did feel a bit beaten; no wanting overly to burden you with complaints, here follows a brief listing. 

Already mentioned, the heart attack and resultant emplacement of a stent. I was very fortunate in that I recognized the slight symptoms and took myself to the ER, managing to have the event there.  In January, worn down by advanced cancer, my dearest Uma, the centre of my life, died.  A little later on, there was the small matter of a couple of stones in my bladder, that betrayed their existence by weird lower back pain, and removed mid-year.  Did I mention turning 80 in May?  Those stones had me feeling 100! Comforting myself with the saying, trouble comes in threes, I began to think it was now all in the past. The problem was one of logic, I had confused apples with oranges; grief is one thing and medical ailments another! 

In the last week of the year, my doctor called me in to tell me that recent blood tests indicate possible Type 2 Diabetes (T2TM).  'Not fair!' I appealed.  She comforted me with a comment to the effect that I was 'lucky' to have all these things happen within one year!

In fact, I do sense that the worst is behind me now and feel freed to focus on the way ahead.  There were times when I did feel discombobulated and set back. Just over a decade back I had left Portland in Oregon to come all the way across America to be with Uma and now she was gone from me.  Truthfully, the physical ailments were slight compared with my sense of loss; grief can be quite a grind.  On the other hand, there are treasures hidden within, such as the love and support of family and friends, also considerable and deep learnings about oneself and the nature of life.  It is also a process that refuses to be hurried; how foolish to attempt to whiz by, perhaps not to notice, the silver and gold amid the dross.  There may be more to say of this in another blog posting.

Being 80 has one deep in puzzlement.  How did I get to be so old?  I have so few mentors beyond this marker, the way ahead looks to be Terra Incognita (remember those old maps with areas so named, with annotations like 'There Be Dragons'?).  Dragons?  Dementia, Cancer...?

No matter, push on McDuck, and lay on him who calls 'lay off'!  In the immediate, the next three months, the task is to drive off the spectre of T2DM...watch diet (I turned vegetarian some months back), lose some avoir de pois,  exercise more, and reorder my life, which has been somewhat a mess this last year.

New adventures await...so, watch this space!

VALE CASSINI

WHAT A GOOD CHILD YOU HAVE BEEN

So many pictures, so much knowledge, so many surprises, such an achievement...

Who would have thought we would ever see Saturn so closely, and from so many viewpoints?

What will all those good folk who dreamt you into reality, watched over you, marveled at your development., made you the center of their lives, so now?

Indeed, what will we, the rest of us, do now?

And to think that you did all this with computing power many times less that which runs our smart phones.

Technolgy over 30 years ancient!

Tomorrow morning I will watch, along with countless millions, your last hours and salute the amazing, stupendous achievement of our humanity that you demonstrate.

What moves me most of all is that this was accomplished through the collaboration, ingenuity, creativity, and dogged persistence of scientists, engineers, and many other metiers of almost 30 nations.  None of these, so it seems, participated out of patriotism, to aggrandize their own particular countries, but out of curiosity and the desire to know.  Is this what makes humans human, I wonder?

Is not this better than war?

Could this be a path to greatness for us all?

And is it not sobering to think that we might well know more about Saturn, it rings, its moons than about the great expanse of our seas, their underlying landscapes, and the creatures that live therein?
We have come to learn so much in the last century or so.  When my mother was born (in 1901) we had no idea that the Universe was more extensive than the Milky Way, or just before my elder brother was born, that there were many galaxies beyond our own.  Between his birth and mine, much of our understanding of the quantum level laboriously unraveled. And so on....

Might not the amazing advances on all knowledge fronts be a clue to understanding the essence of being human and that our ability to collaborate in such ways portent that we may be nearing the end of our adolescence, and be about to grow up?

Yet the pursuit of knowledge, which the scientific method has so aided, of itself, cannot yield the secret, or understanding of what it is to be human. Perhaps it is our reflection on what may be the implications of our discoveries, and what we have done, or not done,  that can take us to that level.

We have a little way yet ahead, miles to go and promises to keep.

Meanwhile, many thanks to the Cassini Team.

NEW DIRECTIONS?

MY, MY...OVER TWO MONTHS, since my last posting!

As you can see, I have not died.

When I wrote that last posting, I really had no idea of what might be ahead of me.  On the other hand, can one ever know what is ahead!  Is that light at the end of the tunnel daylight gleaming the end of darkness, or is it the headlamp of the train that has just entered the tunnel?

Do not be concerned, I do not intend to bore you with the litany of recent troubles, except to report that getting rid of two one centimetre ball-bearing-like stones from within one's bladder can be a very good move.  Life has been a little chaotic due to some remodelling work, mainly to do with converting the lower floor of my home into an apartment, now all done and leaving me to restore some order and get on with things I want to do.

I started the '...accordingtoRoberto' blogs about a decade ago in response to some friends suggesting that I write about my various adventures.  But which adventures?  Looking back on postings (is this why folk write blogs, a form of keeping a diary?), I see that I have written about many things.  Not all would appear to be adventures and what seemed like adventures to me might have seemed mundane to many of you.  I have one reader who, with her partner, goes all about the globe looking after other people's houses.  That seems pretty exciting.  Another is required by her sister to travel to
France to look after her house and her dogs from time to time.  Oh dear, someone has to do that sort of thing!

Is riding a bicycle and pulling a suitcase transmogrified into a trailer from Quebec to Montreal the sort of adventure you readers might want to know about? Or working on an organic farm in the Pyrenees for a couple of weeks (WWOOF, WWOOF*)?  Or going to Costa Rica for dental work?  Or remodeling a house?  There were some things that seemed like adventures to me that I refrained reporting, like some 200 books I read in the first two years that I came to live here, happily surfing topics as many and diverse as my heart desired. Or like going on hut-to-hut cross country skiing across the border in Canada for a week? Or even the miracle of composting?

Perhaps the most exciting adventures have been in theology, an original and persistent interest (some of you will know that my first career was in the Christian ministry), evolutionary biology, and cosmology. Long term followers of my blogs will also recall the brief existence of the series, 'beliefaccordingtoRoberto', which is still up if you want to look at it.  These are areas that I did not count as general interest although I may yet touch on them. Not so much fun was trying to understand how cancer begins, progresses, and results in death.

What might I write of in the future I wonder, and ought I seek to tell you only of things that I think you might find interesting?

The truth seems to be that I find myself in a very curious place.  My life appears to lack, for the first time, 'intention'.  This is hard to write about...and perhaps I mean to say that it lacks the property of 'in order to...'?  This last year has brought some close touches with dying and death.  Yet I am unconcerned about my dying.  What concerns me is that now, at the age of 80 years, I very likely still have quite a deal of time left to me (barring the unpredictable, of course), since I may carry the genes of longevity (my mother lived to 102, and my two half brothers, one on my mother's side and the other on my father's, are now into their 90s.  What I fear, like many my age, is the onset of dementia, and an inability to care for myself.  I know what can offset these: eat properly, be active, stretch one's mind, maintain social ties, and so on.  Above all, I desire a life that is interesting and interested.

Perhaps my pursuit of these essential goals may be interesting to you?

Here is what is currently to hand: via CoursEra, six weeks online study of epigenetics at Melbourne University, travel to India and Nepal in October, some hut-to-hut skiing in Maine, relearning some cross country skiing skills in Colorado, and more exploration of Costa Rica.  I think that there may be some matters of interest here and there worth reporting.  Please do let me know and, as we have noted from time to time:

Watch this space!

*WWOOF:  Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms

JOURNAL ON JOURNEYS

I HAVE BEEN TRAVELING...
And not quite back home yet.  When I do get home, early next week, I think distance travelled may  almost equal around the globe!

In a sense, I have been time travelling as well, reaching the absurd age of 80 while in Australia.  In my home town (Adelaide, in South Australia), I visited some of the old spots, where I was as a boy, noticing that nothing stays the same.

The best of this trip occurred in Canberra, Australia's Federal Capitol, where, over the weekend just prior to the BIG EVENT (May 29) I enjoyed the company of my three children and my six grandchildren, like as not a once-in-a-lifetime event for each of us.  It would be truly amazing were the like of this to happen again.  My eldest daughter and her daughter live in Colorado, my son and his three live in Sydney, and my younger daughter and her two live in Canberra, while I live in Corning, New York State!  Thus, a special event in all respects.  In addition, I was able to visit with my sister (in Adelaide), and one of my two brothers (in Sydney).  For what more might a fellow wish, entering the ninth decade of life?  The pic is from the second picnic

And a Kangaroo looked on...

Other special events marked this journey.  In Denver, I attended the graduation of Uma's younger daughter from the prestigious Law School there, something that she longed to see (so, in a sense, I felt somewhat in her place), and catching up with several of her family, including her brother Ravi, with whom I plan to travel in India and Nepal later this year.  Here in San Francisco I took my goodbye with a longtime friend who had elected to die under California law. Now I am back in time to join with her family in the celebration of her life at week's end.

So, you see, much by way of significant events marked the way.

As I think of my life, I muse, "Who could have predicted all the twists and turns of the path that has led over the years to the NOW?" Not that I am unique in this since it is so for everyone!

 Particularly for an uncle of mine whom I discovered only in this past year.  Like me, he too was born and grew up in Adelaide, but toward the end of the Nineteenth Century.  He was the second child of my grandmother's first marriage.  Her husband was a mounted police trooper.  When Walter was only three months old, his father died when his horse fell and rolled on him.  A decade later, my grandmother was courted by my grandfather and things did not go well for young Walter, the upshot of which was that he took off by ship to begin life anew in Western Australia.  Toward the end of the century, the great gold rush in that part of the world caused the population of the state to double within a decade!

So, just eleven years of age and alone, he began his journey into manhood.  Who could have guessed that, at age 24, he would be about to embark, as an immigrant arrived at Ellis Island, on the great adventure of life in the United States and be buried in Vancouver, British Columbia?  His focus was on going to Columbia to study there at the University of Missouri.  A year later, the local newspaper described his journey of 20,000 miles to achieve this goal.  What are the chances of such an amazing exploit happening.

In Canberra, at the National Library, I was able to read the memoirs he wrote about this formative epoch in his life.  He was an excellent raconteur; sot well he writes that it is almost impossible to put his work down! Since learning of him, I have been embarked on discovering as much as I can about him.  Fortunately, others have been very interested in him and their work has provided many clues to his very adventurous life.  No one, however, has attempted to tell the whole story.

This is the adventure upon which I have embarked.  My plan is to complete the necessary research and to have a first draft done during this first year of my ninth decade.  Of course, there are other interesting things to do but Uncle Walter will be a main focus for the time being.  If I gain the confidence, I will mount the various chapters in The Cloud as they evolve.  Let me know if you are interested to follow his story, which I will tell as through his eyes, but informed by my own experience of clinical psychology and work with dysfunctional families.

Here in Walnut Creek the weather is warm and balmy.  I find myself recovering from the rigors of the journey so far (not a few beds, all differently comfortable, long periods in airplane seats, and the like).  It is very pleasant to be nearing where I feel to be my home.  Another week and I shall be back in Corning.  I shall be glad indeed to be once more amongst my good local friends and to take coffee at Soulful Cup.

ON GRIEVING II...Two Months On

FORGIVE ME IF I SEEM TO BE GOING ON WITH THIS A BIT MUCH...
On the other hand, this blog did start because some of you wanted to follow my adventures.

I am discovering that 'getting on with it' is not so easy as one might think, nor do previous grievings assist one through the next.  Each, it seems, is its own beast; all the more so should the experience of the one now missed have been intense and intimate.  On some days a small event can precipitate, without warning, a vague sense of something missing, a loss of direction, an extended difficulty of finding and maintaining focus, when there seems to be too much to do, when one feels as if wading through thick mud.  And so one falls, not into despair, but into a determination to get just some things done, and it does not matter which.

How good it is to get out of the house, to go downtown to the familiar coffee house to meet one's friends, or to go to the 'Y' to work out and catch up with other friends.  Or just to take a walk.

If you have to do this grieving business, I suggest you try a different season than one might term 'WinterBecomingSpring' (Germans must have a special compound word for that), particularly if the  Spring bit is delayed, hesitant, or just not straight forward.  It really helps if the lengthening days are filled with sunshine, and not at all if there are days of rain followed by (oh no) more days of rain.  On the other hand, just trudging along, getting more done each day, may well be the thing to do.

Actually, this is how grief happens to be, so I have decided to get with the program and see how it turns out.  Not even psychologists can 'push the business on', it would appear!  This seems to be working.  Apart from the constant support of friends, and the happenstance of good wishes from acquaintances met accidentally, some really good things have helped me along.

For instance, I have had three 'Couch Surfer' guests, each of whom has been very interesting. One from Northern Quebec Province, a glass blower doing a week's training at the Museum of Glass (hereafter 'MOG'), for a week.  Another was a Conservator from the Hermitage Museum St Petersburg Russia, consulting with MOG staff about her professional interests. And last weekend, someone from Philadelphia on a road trip and wanting to revisit the MOG.  All three most interesting women.

Being a Couch Surfer Host is a great boon and it may be that I am the only one in or near to Corning.  I suggest you 'google' Corning Museum of Glass.  It is internationally famous and  folk from many nations visit, as well of folk from all over North America.  Lucky me!

Oh...last week, I graduated from the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program.  It is amazing how I have come back from that rather unremarkable cardiac event at the beginning of Thanksgiving Week.  One relevant fact: following the insertion of the stent, my resting pulse rate was 75 bpm; now it is in the low 50's.

And that is not all.  Next weekend I begin my trip back to Oz, via Colorado, where I will visit with my daughter and granddaughter, and attend the graduation of Suju (Uma's younger daughter) with Tara, her older sister, and her Uncle Ravi.  By the end of June, I will have visited my three children, seen each of my six grandchildren, and caught up with my sister, brother, and other members of my family, plus several friends of yore.

While I am away, Daniel, my friend and contractor, will have completed converting the lower level of my house into a separate apartment so that I can have more visitors from afar.  So the future continues to unravel!  By then the weather should be perfect for lots of cycling and the next Decade will begin.

As I began...WATCH THIS SPACE!

ON GRIEVING...

ACCORDING TO HINDU BELIEF, 40 days after a person's dying is the time that the soul is released from the body to continue its journey.  At the end of this period, members of the family are freed also, to take up life once more and to move on from their sorrow.  Uma grew up in this belief and later adopted Buddhist ways. A period of 40 days is quite significant in Eastern cultures, including stories from the Bible.  In Islam too it is the end of the period of mourning.

Earlier this week, Uma's brother, Ravi (next one up in the family, she was his 'little sister'), reminded me that Sunday last was the 40th day since her passing.  I was just back from three weeks in Colorado, with my daughter and granddaughter

This was very helpful and  interesting to me, as over the weekend I had begun to feel lightened in mood and found that I was more free to think of what might lie ahead for me.

Maybe this is the time to post something about my grieving.  I am sure that I will continue to miss Uma and discover moments of sadness regarding her long struggle with cancer.  However, you may be heartened to discover that I do feel freed up from grieving.

In truth, I began to grieve for Uma some three years back, two days after she told me of her diagnosis of cancer.  It was fierce grief that struck me unexpectedly many times over that weekend.  This was quite shocking to me as I regard myself as having a sanguine disposition.  The saying goes that 'ignorance is bliss'.  However, those of you who know me well will understand that I am prone to set to researching whatever serious thing that turns up in my life.  So here it was, a diagnosis of Stage III C Breast Cancer, and triple negative, basal type (TNBC) at that!

This was news of the most sobering sort.  I discovered that this was ill fortune of the worst sort.  If caught very early in Stage I, TNBC is quite responsive to therapy.  However, it is a most aggressive cancer and quickly progresses.  At later Stage III, it has already infested the lymph system and there is every likelihood that there are freely circulating cancerous cells, having separated from the original tumor.  Uma chose to have surgery, radiation and then chemo-therapy.  I will not go into the detail of this except to say that it was not successful in preventing cancer taking possession of various skeletal sites.

Eighty percent of progressed beast tumors can treated with some success.  However, ninety percent of deaths from cancer occur once metastases begin.  It is even worse with TNBC, for which there are no 'targeted' therapies.  Death within a year is certain in all but a few cases.

So there I was, a 'fix it if yon can' sort of fellow, knowing that Uma's 'cancer journey' could have only one outcome and the most I could do was to love, care for, and support her.  Partly, I grieved that this was all that I could do.  Mostly I grieved for the life that was being taken away from her.  She was much better at this than I and, toward the end, seemed more concerned for me than about her approaching death.

Cancer is a fierce and relentless foe.  I am not sure that the treatment is not worse.  As I said in my previous post, there comes a time when hope dissolves and one wishes for the end.

Mostly I have simply missed Uma.  For the first few days that I was away in Colorado, I found myself wanting to call her to tell her what I was about. In truth I do not think that I could bear to hear her voice on the answering service.

To manage my grieving, I have been writing 'letters to Uma'.  I wrote one last one since talking with Ravi.  I notice that I am now organizing myself to move on.  So, those of you 'out there' who may be concerned about me, have no fear for me.  I seem to be doing 'OK'

A DIFFICULT YEAR...

I SEE that it almost a year since I last posted.

PRETTY AMAZING, when you consider what a talker I am!

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE:  Here in NYS, seniors are encouraged to audit courses at University and Community Colleges, the cost of tuition being forgiven.  Last semester, my friend (Daniel) and I enrolled in two courses at the local College,  Introduction to Philosophy and also Cell Biology.  The former was a good refresher and the lecturer was brilliant (I did four years of philosophy in my first undergraduate degree but that was many years ago!).  The latter, a second year course, was quite a stretch but totally rewarding for the work I had to put into it.  Biology has greatly changed since when I did it (many years ago), especially in the last decade, and is now very molecular.  All very good for the brain.  Quite wonderful to discover the inner workings of living cells, down to the molecular level.

THEN THERE WERE THE ELECTIONS.  Six months after my last note, in which I discussed the interesting differences between election time in Oz and here in the US, we were at the Polls, having to choose between the two most unpopular candidates for a long time.  Now we have 'The Donald', whose 'First Hundred Days' may be proving a prelude to most likely 'interesting times'.  It is difficult to take politicians seriously after the wars of abuse and so little to hear about just what the candidates really intended to do.  The winner, real estate mogul and star of so called 'reality TV', seems to be coming up against a strong dose of Washington DC reality and there is even talk of how we might get to say 'You're fired!'.

AS IF THIS WAS NOT BAD ENOUGH, Thanksgiving Week began with a weekend of a blast of cold air.  Caught in a swirl of frigid air and leaf dustings as I crossed my back alley to talk with my neighbor, I experienced a brief bronco-spasm.  Then, on Monday morning, I had a similar experience walking to coffee with my regular mates.  Going home from the coffee shop, I felt a slight ache in my left shoulder that became a tingling in my left palm.  Arriving a home, these sensations had departed but I did feel somewhat lightheaded.  Of course I 'googled' these signs, only to discover that they might well be signalling a heart attack.  A call to to the doctors' office resulted in an instruction to go to the ER...which I obeyed forthwith!  Once there, only 15 minutes away, everything seemed relatively normal with no confirmation of an earlier angina.  However, two hours later the second blood take revealed those dreaded enzymes indicating that I was in fact suffering a heart attack right there in the ER.  What better place could there be for that to happen!

The next morning, after all the usual workups, I had a stent placed well down in a branch of my right coronary artery.  Luckily, my heart incurred only slight damage.  I have been busy in the cardiac rehabilitation program since, making good progress.  And very glad I am that I had the good sense to pay attention to only the slightest of signs of impending trouble.  Frankly, it does have a salutary effect of one's appreciation of life.  At church the next Sunday, I was especially appreciative of the blessing of health, as you might easily imagine.  A wonderful thing about that week is that a quirk of circumstances made it possible for my daughter Bronwyn, and granddaughter, Stephanie, to visit with me on Thanksgiving and a further day or so.  As they say, it is an ill wind that blows no good.

SPEAKING OF ILL WINDS, the one that had been blowing all this last year was that my beloved friend, my belle amie, Uma, who was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago, received the news that the cancer had returned as metastases in her hip.  Thus began a long year of various treatments and surgeries, all of which resulting in her becoming progressively debilitated.  I am sad indeed that she succumbed to the cancer just four weeks ago.  She had been a very wonderful part of my life for a decade (the Decade of Uma).  I will have some things to say about cancer in a later post.  I will miss her undoubtedly.  However, we talked a good deal about her inevitable death (metastatic triple negative breast cancer has no effective treatment as yet), yet she was as much concerned about me as I for her.  Her question to me, over our last coffee on the last fine day of last year, 'Robert, what are you going to do when I am gone?', is a driving force for me.  On her account, I am, in more ways than one, in good heart and pressing on.

Here is a picture of Uma in better times, before cancer possessed her.  She will always be very dear to me:

Two weeks back, we put on The Party at 74 Sterling Street, to celebrate the Decade of Uma.  It was quite 'a bash', the house bursting with friends.  How blessed indeed it is to love and be loved!
  on
This is my first experience of someone very dear to me, in the sense of an intense relationship.  I tended my father in his dying, which extended over several months, most of which time he was in a coma. He was 70 when he passed away. My mother died at a good old age, almost 103, in Australia.  I was fortunate to be with her a month before her passing.  My best friend, Barry, whom I had know since my theological college days, died at age 55, soon after I had arrived in the US, his heart transplant having failed.  I have had numerous experiences of the dying of others as a pastor for some eleven years, some very good friends.  However, this three year so called 'cancer journey' was full of heartbreak, accompanying a dearly loved one along the road to death. Eventually, their suffering brings on the wish for their dying.  This seems a hard thing to admit, unless one has been along that road. Against all odds, one keeps alive here and there a shred or two of hope but the approaching end is eventually powerfully persuasive.

All of which has me treasure the life that I have had,  which continues, and which brings to focus that one can make the most of what is fleeting indeed.  As I have remarked, it is an ill wind...

A BIZARRE WORLD?

THERE IS THE STORY of the old Cornish couple, sitting comfortably before a warming fire in the grate.  One says, "The whole world is a little queer (aka 'strange')"
"Except me and thee."
"Come to think of it, Thee are a little odd!"

This came to mind the other day, down at Soulful Cup coffee shop, around a table with the ageing regulars.  One has just said to me, 'Robert, as an Aussie, do you not think at times that America is somewhat bizarre.'

Not always prudent in utterance, I carefully replied,
'Every country I have visited is a little bizarre in it own way.'

I am writing this on Easter Sunday evening.  Consider that Australia, possibly the least religious country in the world, is careful to observe Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter Monday as public holidays (used to be called 'holy days').  Now consider the United States, likely 100 times more religious, where none of these three are holidays!

And how about politics?  In Oz (aka 'Australia'),  everyone must vote and they do it on a Saturday.  In the US, everyone has a choice whether to vote or not, but they can only do so on a Tuesday.  In Oz, just now, the Prime Minister (the Leader of the Party that won the last election and thus controls at least the Lower House) is threatening to call a 'Double Dissolution'.  The reason for this is that it looks like the Upper House (the Senate), under the control of the Loyal Opposition and a few Independent Members, may refuse to pass two important Bills.  If they do this, the PM can ask the Governor General (representing the Queen), to dissolve both Houses and all Members and Senators will then have to stand for election.  He hopes that he will win control of both Houses and then pass these vital Bills.  It does not happen very often and usually when the Senate twice returns the annual Supply Bill back to the Lower House, not approved.

This may seem very odd to Americans but it could be that the President of the United States might like to have this kind of card up his sleeve.  Just get rid of those pesky opponents who persistently refuse to 'play the game' by sending them back to the hustings!

Sometimes I feel a little like I imagine Bill Bryson (one of my favorite authors) did when, having returned to the US after living in the UK for quite a while, and finding himself in a small New England town writing a weekly column for a local newspaper about odd things that came up.  Eventually these became a book, 'I'm a stranger here myself.'   You know the situation...you are walking down a street in some town you have never been in before.  A car pulls up and a passenger lowers the window to ask, 'Can you tell how to get to...?'.

Oddest of all was the article I read just this morning in the Australia Broadcasting Corporation (the ABC, very like the BBC) online news.  It seems that the National Capital, Canberra, has become the coffee capital of the world!   A local barista had taken out, for the second time, the world title in, of all places, Seattle WA.  I thought Seattle is the coffee capital of the Universe.  So there you go, a 'little Aussie battler' from Down Under has come out On Top!

Seriously, Canberrans are true coffee cognoscenti and I can attest the excellence of local coffee.  I have to say this as my younger daughter lives in Canberra and we do drink coffee together a lot when I visit.

Yes, this world can be a little bizarre!

HUMAN DESTINY: or Learn to Think BIG!

IT COULD BE that human kind may be the sole avenue the Universe has to consciousness.

According to two scientists at the Australian National University, Aditya Chopra and Charles H. Lineweaver, we should consider the fragility of life throughout the Universe.

In this article, they address Fermi's Paradox, which draws attention to the increasing number of planets that astronomers are discovering where one might expect life to arise.  Paradoxically, there appears to be virtually no evidence that life has thrived anywhere else but here on Earth.  This article has attracted a lot of attention in this past week.

At such great distances, truly astronomical, how is it possible to determine whether life is present on planet?  One way is to use spectroscopy to analyze the planet's atmosphere.  Where humans now live, over billions of years, early life transformed the atmosphere, increasing levels of oxygen and nitrogen while decreasing the proportion of carbon dioxide.  If these constituent proportions show up as more like what we believe the original atmosphere of Earth to have been, we might conclude that life as we know it is not present.  Chopra and Lineweaver suggest that life might very well have begun on many planets but was not able to get sufficient hold to be able to 'terraform' the surface.  Thus conditions may have been adverse to life after only a brief appearance. 

While we still do not understand exactly how life began, most cosmologists and astro-biologists believe that early planetary conditions, such as after the cessation of sustained bombardment by meteorites about 4 billion years ago (4Bya), cooling and constant rain produced conditions favorable to life processes appearing.  Increasing complexity of life forms over the next 3.8 By finally led to intelligent life forms, of which humans are the superior example.  We have a long way to go to become sufficiently intelligent, in my view.

Though still mysterious to us, consciousness at some level seems to be shared by vertebrates with sufficiently complex nervous systems.  To get to this point has required a lot of time and considerable 'luck'.  If Chopra and Lineweaver are almost right, then it is likely that humans, with our ever-increasing knowledge of how the Universe works, as far as the proverbial eye can see, may be the only consciousness the Universe has of itself.

In their book, The View From the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos, Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams make the point that we humans a currently nicely placed to think about this role.

I suppose that, by obdurate striving or out of just plain ignorance, we might ignore this invitation.  Far easier to keep on with our tragic and silly wars, disregard of human worth, or whatever else might be proposed should occupy our interest.  How could anyone suggest seriously that this might be our destiny, to lead the Universe into an understanding of Itself?

My reading of cosmology leads me to consider that, if not struck out by a vast natural disaster like the collision with a very large meteor some 65 Mya,  or by devising our own destruction, or by determination to think as small as possible, we could arrive at a sustainable occupation of this planet, our Earth, our Mother, for at least a billion years more.  What might become of us should our prowess and sagacity continue to grow over such an expanse of time?

NEVER DID...GET TO WRITE MORE ABOUT CANBERRA

Actually, after my return to Corning...

I FELL INTO SOMEWHAT OF A SLUMP!!!
A despondence being perhaps the nicer term

Slumps can be hard to figure out, as one can be in a slump for a while without perceiving that 'in a slump' is where you are.

Slumps can be hard to figure out due to that they are at the convergence of several factors. Or the  the slide into the 'slough of despond'  (taken from Pilgrim's Progress), is so gradual as to be almost imperceptible.  Anyway, there I was for several months.

I put it down, in part, to seasonal mismatch.  I did this to myself once before...going to Australia at the end of  Winter (here) to the early Autumn (there).  Winter really hung on here and was very cold. To give all due credit. Spring 'Down Under' was wonderful.  Lots of fine days with only one day of rain.  The problem seems to be that the days (there) are getting shorter when my constitution, at Winter's end, is expecting them to get longer.  Once back here, it was lots of rain and Spring still struggling to get going.  Perhaps a case of 'Not enough production of that happiness messenger molecule, Serotonin'.

But then too there was the signs that my dearest friend's breast cancer might have reappeared.  Uma had begun to experience pain in the hip.  It was thought that this may have been a feature of ageing. However, since this type of cancer is most likely to metastasize to the bone of the pelvic region, dark clouds of dread began to gather. And so it has proven to be.  So we are into a new round chemotherapy and tomorrow is the day when a PET scan tomorrow morning will determine whether the new treatment regime has been effective.

I suppose that I will write more about this sometime, but not yet.  Being the support for a person so situated is a difficult role and one hard to learn.  Along the way I have learned a lot about cancer; fortunately, reading journal articles is something I have done most of my life, so it has been not so difficult to turn over many in this area.  Always one is searching for the next stepping stone.  Most important of all is to surround the one you love with the best and strongest affection.

So I suppose these two streams, converging, have swept me to a place I would prefer not to be.  I am amazed at how the threads of life can so quickly come to disarray here and there.  However, I am glad to report that they are coming together and am accepting of the reality that they will do so in their own good time, so long as I keep pegging away, usually in no particular order.

Uma being no longer to rider her scooter, I have taken it over.  I thought this picture might brighten this narrative for you.

It is a 2008 Yamaha and very swish.  Just 50 cc, liquid cooled, and fuel injection.  Does 100 mpg but is strictly an 'around town' vehicle,  I had it inspected (for registration) at the local Harley Davidson shop.  They asked me how fast it would go.  They though it very funny when I told them this depended on wind direction and slope of the road!

It had been sitting around doing nothing much and seems to like being around and about.  It gets lots of attention, I can attest!

Now at the end of November. the days are really drawing in. Some are fine and relatively warm in the middle (40 to 50 deg F today), and the mornings, especially after a clear night sky, quite' brisk'




This is what my outside (outsize) thermometer showed this morning!  It got down to 10 deg F.

I think I am picking up.  It has been good to write this little piece.  I find myself looking forward to the snow, a little of which we have already seen.

Thanksgiving was fun.  The church I attend from time to time does a TG dinner for any who have no place to go.  About 100 attend.  This year I served the squash.  Late afternoon, I joined Uma and Tara (her daughter) for drinks and something TGish to eat.  A pleasant day indeed.