Category Archives: Horsetooth Mountain Open Space

Air Quality, Alien Life, Art, Book Review, Climate Change, Colfax Marathon, Colorado, Covid 19, Denver, Dogs, Environment, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Pandemics, PurpleAir, Quad Rock 50, Science, Science Fiction, Space, Trail Running, Wildfire

MUSINGS FOR MAY 2023

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“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.” – Joshua Becker

This is an image from the Hubble Space Telescope of two galaxies interacting due to a super massive black hole at the heart of the pair. The galactic structure is called AM 1214-255. The swirling gas that is being pulled in to the black hole creates a much higher level of luminosity and is referred to as an AGN or active galactic nucleus. These areas create a huge amount of electromagnetic radiation as they pull in material. There are many different subclasses of AGNs based on the observable characteristics. The most powerful AGNs are called quasars and when you have an AGN with a jet of electromagnetic radiation beaming toward earth it is called a blazar. Image credit: NASA, ESA, A. Barth (University of California – Irvine), and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/hubble-captures-extraordinarily-bright-interacting-galaxies and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_galactic_nucleus and https://www.britannica.com/science/active-galactic-nucleus

“It’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less.” Nathan W. Morris

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of a lenticular galaxy called NGC 5283 and it too contains an AGN or active galactic nucleus. NGC 5283 is called a Seyfert galaxy because the amount of luminosity is just a little bit less than the typical AGN. Here due to the decrease in radiation you are able to observe the structure of said galaxy, whereas with the typical AGN the prodigious amount of radiation outshines the galaxy structure itself. NGC 5283 is located in the constellation Centaurus and is approximately 168 million light- years away. It was first discovered by the German astronomer Heinrich Louis d’Arrest in 1866. Image credit: NASA, ESA, A. Barth (University of California – Irvine), and M. Revalski (STScI); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/hubble-views-a-beautiful-luminous-galaxy and Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 5283 | Sci.News

“More is better” turns out to be a formula for dissatisfaction. If you live for having it all, what you have is never enough.” Joe Dominguez/Vicki Robin

This May is the 50th anniversary of the first US space station – Skylab, and it was operated by three different astronaut crews. The top picture is of the Saturn V launching with major components of the space station, which included an orbital workshop, a telescope mount, docking adapters and a airlock module.

On May 14th, 1973 a Saturn V rocket launches with the components of the first US space station – Skylab. Image credit: NASA
This is an image of Skylab by the fist crew to the station, June 22nd, 1973, just before they departed for earth. The crooked golden blanket was a parasol sunshade that was used by the crew to protect the lab from solar heating. The original sunshield was lost during the launch along with one of the main solar arrays. Image credit: NASA/MSFC

Over the course of it’s lifetime three different astronauts crews visited the space station (May 25th, 1973 to February 8th, 1974). They were able to carry out 270 scientific and technical investigations in the fields of physics, astronomy, and biological sciences. There were plans to boost the lab with the Space Shuttle to a higher orbit and give it five more years of service, but unfortunately the shuttle was not ready in time and Skylab came to an end in July 1979. The early re-entry of the almost 200,000lb lab created a lot of criticism of NASA and generated an international media event.

An interesting note is that Skylab was not the worlds first space station, that honor belongs to the Soviet Union. Salyut 1 was launched into low Earth Orbit by the Soviets Union on April 19th, 1971.

If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/50th-anniversary-of-the-skylab-1-launch and https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/gallery/msfc_iow_18.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salyut_1

“Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 and so have I!! Yea for both of us again!! Hopefully you are not one of the 16 million Americans with some form of long Covid. It is estimated that one in 10 that had the variant Omicron will have some kind of long Covid symptoms.

So where are we with Covid? The honest truth is that no one really knows for the moment. The federal COVID 19 public health emergency declaration ended on May 11th, 2023. Does this mean that the virus is done and it is over with? Nope. It just means that most of the official data collection, reporting and surveillance has ended. Fortunately, there are going to be some metrics that will still be reported on but just not as frequently. The best place to see if it is increasing or decreasing in your area is the CDC wastewater surveillance system. Hospitalizations and deaths are not a good indication of what is going on in the country due to faulty and ambiguous reporting from each state. And of course, home testing does not give an accurate count of what is going on. It might at some point be a good indication if you can track where the demand for home testing kits is rising or dropping based on individual internet searches. But not yet.

So why should we still be interested in what Covid is doing? Isn’t it over? Nope. And to add a little weight to that “Nope”, the Chinese public health ministry issued a statement, at the end of May, that says they are going through a second wave of the virus, XBB variant, and the peak is forecasted to be in late June at 60 million new cases per week.

So how do you stay safe and make the best decisions for this busy holiday and summer travel season. First, find out what the virus is doing in a particular area. The best way to do this is the CDC waste water surveillance web site. See the link below. Second, if your over 65 or have an autoimmune disease, think about getting a prescription for the antiviral Paxlovid. It is now fully approved by the FDA and this should make it easier to get a prescription. If you are traveling overseas you might want to prefill a prescription or find out the availability before travel. Some countries have not been as fortunate as the United States for access to this antiviral meditation. Of course you have to check with your health care provider to make sure you can take this medication due to it’s potential interactions with other meditations. Third, choose actives that are outdoors as opposed to indoors if possible. And if it is indoors, look at the size of the room, the number of people and ventilation. A small overly crowded room with poor ventilation is going to be much more of a risk than a larger room that is lightly crowded and has good ventilation. Fourth, if your planned activity is something that puts you at high risk and you cannot avoid it, consider wearing an N95 or KN95 mask. Yes, they do work, ignore the social media hype. Last, but not least, if your not vaccinated, get vaccinated and boosted before travel. This one should be a no brainer but for some reason, it continues to be issue. We are so fortunate in this country to have access to mRNA vaccines. Not everyone in the world has had this access.

Here are the links if you are interested in more information from the remaining reliable sources. I have included the CDC waste water reporting section. It give the best estimate if Covid is increasing in your area, but remember it is a week or two behind what is actually going on: https://www.youtube.com/c/OsterholmUpdateCOVID19 and https://www.youtube.com/c/VincentRacaniello and https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance/index.html

May was a somewhat good month for getting outdoors. If you got out early, the air quality was pretty good and the winds for the first part of the month kept the early season wildfire smoke away.

Of course this did not last last. By May 20th, there were more than 200 active wildfires across Canada. Over 90 of those were in Alberta alone. Around 3.2 million acres as of now and counting. Just in comparison, their yearly average is about 55,000 acres per year. I find it crazy that parts of Northern Alberta are already having wildfires. And this does not include a significant fire events going on in Central Mexico, fires in Spain, the Middle East, Nova Scotia, etc… And all of this can be attributed to climate change. Oh well.

Fire and smoke from a wildfire are shown in Hay River, Northwest Territories in a handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/James Cardinal Jr.)

So during the last 10 days of the month, things got a little more interesting here on the Front Range as a strong cold front ushered down significant amounts of smoke into the lower 48. Especially, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. By Friday afternoon (May 19th, 2023), Fort Collins was measuring one of it worst air pollution days in years due to the smoke. What this means in more scientific terms is that particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or less was very high. Some readings on Friday afternoon around the city were in the 200 range. Denver was said to have had the worst air quality than any other city in the world on that day.

Image of the Denver’s skyline from Friday, May 19th at approximately 6:30am. Image credit: CDPHE (Colorado department of public health & environment)

And we really did not get a break in the smoke until late Wednesday afternoon. The picture below is from our neighborhood lake on Tuesday 23rd, 2023 at about 7pm in the evening.

This picture was taken on Tuesday 23rd, 2023 at about 7pm in the evening. The AQI was still in the 100 range.

The picture below was taken on Thursday 25th, 2023 about the same time as the above picture and location. Here the smoke has totally cleared. The AQI was down to less than 30.

This picture was taken Thursday 25th, 2023 at about 7pm in the evening. What a difference two days make.

So you may ask, why am I so concerned about the wildfire smoke. Well, it has to do particulate matter less than 2.5 microns or better known as PM 2.5. I have written about this kind of particulate matter before but let me review a few facts. These tiny particles are so small that they can get deep down into our lungs where they can cause damage, but it does not stop there. They get into the blood stream and travel to pretty much every part of the body and they are highly inflammatory (think disease causing). They have been shown to cross the blood brain barrier and can even be found in the fetal circulation of the unborn. Long-term exposer to pm 2.5 is considered the largest environmental risk factor for human health, with an estimated 4.1 million attributable deaths worldwide.

This graphic gives you some idea of size of PM 2.5

With that said, I check air quality every time I go out to exercise. It is not just caused by wildfire smoke but by coal fired power plants, wind blow dust, industrial processes, automobiles, etc… And it can combine with other types of urban pollution to really make a toxic mix. If the levels are high in my area I stay inside, close the windows and turn on the air purification system in the house and use the treadmill, rower or spin bike. Why do I go to great lengths to avoid this pollutant? Because it is like cigarette smoking and the damage to your body is accumulative. Just like smoking. The pictures below are from the Denver Colfax 5K race that occurred Saturday 20th, 2023. There are approximately 6000 participants that have chosen to run in this very polluted air. None of them are doing themselves a favor. From a public health perspective this is not health. They would have been more health conscious if they had stayed home and smoked cigarettes. I love it that race directors will talk about what to do if you feel symptoms running in polluted air, but leave out the most important part, what happens years down the road when you develop adenocarcinoma of the lung or cancer in another part of the body due to the accumulative effect of PM 2.5. Or some kind of autoimmune disease. It’s not the short term exposure that is the issue, but what happens long term. In my opinion events that require exercise should be canceled or better yet, have a built in “make-up” day when air quality exceeds standards. Would this be inconvenient? Yes. Would it cost extra money? Yes. Would it be a headache for race directors and organizers? Again yes. Would it be much better for your long term health? Absolutely.

Of course there are races now that allow participants to do the race “virtually.” This is where you run the race at home or at some other time when the air quality is better and send in the results and get your finisher medal. This is left up to the race participant on whether they choose to do this or not.

This was the start of the Colfax 5k on Saturday morning the 20th. AQI was in the high to very high range. Over 150 in some parts of the city. Very unhealthy. When local veterinarians are telling the public to keep their pets indoors due to the air quality, humans should probably do likewise.
Very dirty air during the Colfax 5k with around 6000 participants.

Well enough about the wildfire smoke and PM 2.5 but if you’re interested here are a few links for great articles on the subject and why it is so potentially detrimental in the long term to exercise when the levels are high: https://www.howardluksmd.com/pm-2-5-levels-air-pollution-and-our-health/? and https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-11-decades-air-pollution-undermine-immune.html? and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33198760/ and https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/air-pollution/index.cfm

On a much more positive note, I was able to run the Quad Rock 25 on May 6th, 2023. I had signed up for the 50 back when registration had opened last December but due to a nagging knee injury, I did not push my luck in making things worse and ran the 25 instead. This was my 7th time to be in the race since 2013. I missed two races due to injury and one due to Covid. This has been and continues to be a great trail marathon and ultra put on by GNAR Runners. It is a loop course, through Horsetooth Mountain Park and Lory State Park. You get the 50 mile distance by doing the loop twice, once in reverse. It is a challenging and scenic course and well worth your consideration if you want a tough early season trail marathon or ultra in Colorado. The nice part is that it is very close to Fort Collins, about 20 minutes from downtown, and this provides great post race opportunities to kick back and enjoy the finer things in life. Next year’s race is already schedule for May 11th, 2024 and registration opens December 15th, 2023. Here is a link to the race and GNAR runners: https://gnarrunners.com/quad-rock-50/#register and https://gnarrunners.com/

The pictures below are from the race that was held on Saturday 6th, May 2023.

This was the start of the 50 mile race at 0530 in morning. It turned out to be a beautiful day this year. Nice and cool for the first part of the day with gradual warming into the afternoon. The starting temp was somewhere in the upper 30s to lower 40s for the start. And I believe the high for the day was somewhere in the low 70s.
This view is looking East across Horsetooth lake and toward Fort Collins. Besides the views, the volunteers, and the location of the race, the one thing that I love the most is the ability to start the 50 mile race but still get credit if you only do the 25. On a personal note, I have never completed the 50. Lol. I usually time out at the turn around point. Part of the reason is that it is a little early in the season for me. I seems to be in better running form by middle to late summer. (that is what I tell myself – Lol) This year, it was due to an injury which caused me to be really slow on the downhill sections.
This is looking West in Lory State Park at the iconic rock formation called Arthur’s Rock. It is named for one of the previous landowner’s that sold the land, Arthur Howard. If your interested, a short history of the area from Colorado State Parks can be found here: Colorado Parks & Wildlife – History (state.co.us)
This is one of my favorite views in the race from Horsetooth Mountain Park. Here I am looking South towards Denver.
The icon rock formation that gives Horsetooth Mountain Park and Horsetooth Lake their names.

Again, this has been and continues to be a great trail marathon and ultra put on by GNAR Runners. It would be worth your time to check it out for next year.

This picture was taken on Saturday 27th, May 2023 at about 11am in the morning. Here Janet and Marvin are enjoying a nice walk in the park.

The last few days of the month were pretty good as far as air quality goes. The smoke had shifted further east and the Front Range of Colorado was spared the added air pollution. Of course, like any spread out metropolitan area we generate enough on or own. Lol.

If was another good month for reading and I would like to share a few book recommendations.

The first book I would like to review and recommend is called “The Possibility of Life” by Jaime Green.  The book is about the likelihood of alien life in other parts of the Milky Way Galaxy. 

Now, before I leap into the review, I would like to give a little background why this book appealed to me in the first place.   I became significantly more interested in books on the subject of life in other part of the galaxy after learning that every star you see in the night sky, almost without exception has at least one exoplanet.  And this idea was sealed for me after reading the book by the physicist and astronomer Adam Frank.  His book is called “Light of the Stars:  Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth.”  A quote from his book:  “From the exoplanet data, astronomers can now say with confidence that one out of every five stars hosts a world where life as we know it could form.  So, when you’re standing out there under the night sky, choose five random stars.  Chances are, one of them has a world in its Goldilocks zone where liquid water could be flowing across its surface and life might already exist.”   

Think about that for a moment.  Hard to get your head around.  And that is the very reason I feel that books by Jamie Green and Adam Frank are so important. 

Jamie Green is a Science writer, among other things and she approaches the philosophical questions about the possibility of alien life in a somewhat different perspective.  She uses Science Fiction.  Yes you heard that right, she uses the imagination from SiFi writers to weave an interesting narrative about how humanity will react when alien life is discovered.  In the process she intersperses real science in with the creative writing to tell an interesting story.  Now some might be turned off by this style because it is not all hard and fast science, but what was the quote by Einstein?  “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”  Meaning the most important thing to have is the ability to imagine and embrace novel possibilities with the search for alien life and what to do when we find it.  And for the time being, until we have hard scientific data on the subject, what a better way to prepare for the inevitable first contact, than by tapping in to the years and years of creative and imaginative writing on the subject from SiFi.

I got this book as an audio book but it would work in any format.  You can probably find it at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the amazon link:  https://a.co/d/8qU6DOX 

The next two books I would like to review and recommend are part of a series written by Daniel Suarez. They are Science Fiction but are in the realm of possibility.  I call these books “brain bubble gum books”, fun to read but not always a lot of real world substance. These books are a little different and have an important message for humanity.  It is the argument that getting off the planet and starting to make a permanent human presence in space is the only way for humans to survive the existential crisis of climate change. 

The first book is called Delta-V and the second book is called Critical Mass. 

It all starts off when an eccentric billionaire that sees where humanity is heading on an overcrowding and warming planet with dwindling resources is inevitably heading.  And he comes to the conclusion that the only way to save humans is to get off the planet.  Of course, even a billionaire does not have that kind of money.  So the big question is how do you pay for it all.  And this is where the story gets interesting.   What if a private company could create the first near asteroid mining operation?  How much would that be worth to the world economy?  What technologies would be developed to make this happen? Would there be people on earth that would try to stop it and why?   

The first book introduces us to the main characters and their struggle to make the team and eventually survive the harsh realities of space.  The second book picks up where the first book leaves off.  Now that you have shown commercial asteroid mining is possible, what is the next step?  How do you start the process of getting large numbers of humans into space?  Is control of such a potentially lucrative space operation better left in private hands, or existing world governments? Set all of this against a world that is starting to come apart and you have the makings of a very interesting story.         

All these questions are what makes this series of “brain bubble gum books” such a great read.  It is one of the rare opportunities of getting to read for the sheer enjoyment of the story but you might learn something in the process.  Good food for thought.  

I got both of these books as audio books but they would work in any format.  You can probably find them at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here are the Amazon links:   https://a.co/d/jl0LIGs and  https://a.co/d/ji2hpsX

The last book I would like to review and recommend is called “The Long View:  Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time” by Richard Fisher.  In a world where the old saying “time is money”, a book like this is more relevant and urgent than ever.  The author argues that this is one of the very reason that we need to slow down a bit and take a much longer view of things.

What would happen if we were all taught from a young age to look at things in the long view?  To really see the results of our immediate actions ten, twenty, thirty or more years down the road.  It is an interesting idea.  There are so many examples of this idea being explored throughout history, even in our current literature, musical art and life.

The first example that came to my mind, was the quote in the second or third movie of the Lord of the Rings.  When King Theoden says: “To whatever end.  Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this?”

The second one is the music from the Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime. Part of the lyrics are: “And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack, And you may find yourself in another part of the world, And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile, And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife, And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”

A third one that is personnel for me, was when I worked in the ER.  And I would see people in their 60s and 70s or sometimes much younger, their bodies permanently wrecked by poor life style choices, on death doorstep and wonder; did they as teenagers and 20 year old’s, see their lives ending like this.  Ten, twenty, thirty years down the road, in a wretched state of affairs.

A lot of the book is all about how we operate half-awake most of the time, not seeing where our actions are taking us down the road.  Again a short view of time.   

This is a very thought provoking book and well worth the read.  It is about slowing down but more importantly it is about taking a longer view of all things in life.  Maybe if we looked at how our immediate actions would influence things much further down the road, than tomorrow or next week, we might create a much happier and friendlier world for us all.

Richard is senior Journalist with the BBC in London and now an author.  If you would like to learn a little more about him check out his webpage: https://richardfisher.carrd.co/

I got this book as an audiobook but it would work in any format.  You can probably find this book at your local bookstore or at Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link: https://a.co/d/44gAK9j

Last but not least, I would like to show case one new piece of artwork that I finished at the first of May. I call it “Painted Chicken Boy.” It is 9×12 inches, acrylic paint on canvas paper, mounted to a cradled wood panel and sealed with archival varnish.

“Painted Chicken Boy”

This piece and other types of my art work can be found at my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

In support of Prochoice and Separation of Church and State, I will donate 10% of any sales to Planned Parenthood or the Freedom From Religion Foundation, but only if you wish me too. If not, I will be more than happy to keep money! Lol

Well I have come to the end of another blog post. Yea! And I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated or boosted, even if you have had Covid, then get it done. It would be a damn shame if you were to die or suffer significant disability with this virus when vaccines are readily available in this country. So until next time Adios!!

“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” Carl Sagan

“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.” Yuval Noah Harari

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Science, Space, Trail Running

MUSINGS FOR APRIL 2023

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“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is an image created from the Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxy NGC 5486. It is an example of what is known as an irregular spiral galaxy and is about 110 million light years from earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was first discovered by William Herschel in May of 1785. The pink regions in this image are areas of star formation.

On a separate note about constellations:  “Constellations are not only patterns of bright stars, but also a system that astronomers use to divide the sky into regions. There are 88 of these regions, and each has an associated constellation depicting a mythological figure, an animal, or even an item of scientific equipment. This strange celestial menagerie contains everything from Ursa Major’s great bear to a toucan, a sea monster, a telescope, and even a painter’s easel!” Image and Text Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick

If you would like to know more please see these links: https://esahubble.org/images/potw2310a/ and https://phys.org/news/2023-03-hubble-irregular-spiral-galaxy-ngc.html

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.” Arundhati Roy

This image was created using the Hubble Space Telescope. The celestial object depicted is one that defies classification. It is named Z 229-15 and at first seems to be a spiral galaxy, but also has an active galactic nucleus (AGN). An AGN is a region at the center of a galaxy that is exceptionally bright due to a supermassive black hole at it’s core. And it is also what is known as a quasar. This is a subtype of AGN based on brightness and distance from earth. The image is approximately 390 million light years away in the constellation Lyra. Now add to this, another aspect of being a type of quasar that has to do with it’s brightness. It is bright but not that bright, which allows us to see other stars, so it is considered a Seyfert galaxy. So, in a nut shell it is a Seyfert spiral galaxy with a quasar-subclass AGN. NASA calls it, “everything, in one place, all at once.” Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Barth, R. Mushotzky

If you would like to learn more, please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/hubble-views-an-intriguing-active-galaxy and https://www.space.com/hubble-telescope-mystery-object-lyra-Z-229-15 and https://esahubble.org/images/potw2313a/

“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exist.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.” Ayn Rand

This image is of a barred spiral galaxy and was created using the Hubble Space Telescope. It is the galaxy designated as UGC 678 and is about 260 million light years from earth in the constellation Pisces. This galaxy was flagged for a closer look by Hubble, when an automated system, that was looking for hazardous asteroids, discovered the remains of a supernova explosion. Astronomers are now trying to use the data to better understand the star that caused the supernova. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick, R.J. Foley

If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/hubble-spotlights-a-swirling-spiral and https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/04/Hubble_spotlights_a_swirling_spiral and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_spiral_galaxy

“Don’t let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It’s your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don’t let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality — not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others’ prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being.” Roy T. Bennett

This is an image from the Hubble Space Telescope that is known as a “Jellyfish Galaxy” because of the bright spiraling lines of gas that appear to be hanging from the bottom. This particular one is labeled JO204 and is almost 600 million light years away in the constellation Sextans. The effect is created by what is know as “ram pressure stripping” or the pressure exerted on a body moving through a fluid medium. An easy to understand earthly example of this is when you are riding a bike and you feel the pressure of the air against you, even if there is no wind. Any lose clothing or hair will flap around you as you move through the air. These galaxies experience pressure as they move against the intergalactic medium. The less bound gasses are stripped away and this is what helps to form the tendril like structures. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA; M. Gullieuszik and the GASP team

If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/hubble-spots-a-galaxy-with-tendrils and https://phys.org/news/2023-04-hubble-captures-jellyfish-galaxy-jo204.html and Ram pressure – Wikipedia and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish_galaxy

“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and—in spite of True Romance magazines—we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely—at least, not all the time—but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.” Hunter S. Thompson

This is an image from the Hubble Space telescope of NGC 1333. It is called the reflection nebula and it is located in the northern constellation Perseus. And is about 960 light years away. It was first discovered by the German Astronomer Eduard Schonfeld in 1855. NASA used this nebula image to celebrate Hubble’s 33rd anniversary. The telescope was named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble and was deployed by the space shuttle Discovery in April 1990. It has made more than 1.5 million observations since it was put into service. Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI.

If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/about and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1333 and https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/04/Hubble_celebrates_its_33rd_anniversary_with_NGC_1333#.ZEMltsYyFek.link

“The thing is, the more stuff you have, the more places you travel, the more beautiful things you see, the more wonderful people you meet, the more you will realize that none of that fixes anything, you are still alone with whatever is broken inside you.” Samuel Decker Thompson

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 and so have I!! Yea for both of us again!! Hopefully you are not one of the 16 million Americans with some form of long Covid.

Due to the decrease in reporting on Covid from most of the world’s governments and public health agencies there is not much information on what is actually going on in the world with the virus. In the United States, the best place for the moment, is the CDC. If you want to check it out yourself please see this link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html

Of course the CDC information is about a week or two behind by the time it is reported.

What I find interesting about the monitoring of the Covid situation is that we spend more effort in monitoring Flu and Norovirus. And while we can get a bad flu year every now and then, Norovirus rarely causes the devastation that can happen with Covid. It does make you wonder how much of this is still politically and economically influenced.

There are two new variants of concern, XBB .1.9.1 or Hyperion and XBB.1.16 or Arcturus. The second one, Arcturus is now detected in over 20 countries and has created a recent surge in cases in India. As of right now it can be assumed that XBB.1.16 will continue to increase in frequency around the globe, but at this time it does not appear to be causing an increase in hospitalizations or deaths. The World Health Organization did upgrade it to a “variant of interest” due to it ability to spread over existing subvariants and evade the immune system. By the end of the month it was greater than 10 percent of reported cases in the United States.

The FDA on April 18th authorized a second booster of the bivalent vaccines for those over the age of 65 or are immunocompromised. This was based on data showing that immunity wanes in these populations over time.

If you are interested in more information from the remaining reliable sources please check out these links. I have included the CDC waste water reporting section. It gives the best estimate if Covid is increasing in your area, but remember it is a week or two behind what is actually going on:

https://www.youtube.com/c/OsterholmUpdateCOVID19 and https://www.youtube.com/c/VincentRacaniello and https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance/index.html

April was another good month for getting outdoors. The wind and weather patterns held again and for the most part the air quality was good. We did have some very warm days with a lot of sunshine in April and with it, our ozone levels went into the moderate to high range by each afternoon. Most of this being formed by the burning of fossil fuels: i.e. tailpipe emissions. Nitrogen oxides and other volatile organic compounds added in with the sunshine and heat to create ozone. And this is not good for your health, no matter what your age. So the key, for the month of April soon became readily apparent – get out early before it forms. Particulates were not an issue for the month for the most part. I am guessing that the “get out early” way to protect yourself will be for the rest of the spring and summer. Until we can switch over to a majority of vehicles being electric this will only get worse, unfortunately.

This picture of Marvin and Janet was taken on April 1st, 2023 at about 6:45pm in the evening. It was a beautiful Colorado evening.

The four pictures below were taken on April 3rd, 2023 at about 3pm in the afternoon. They were from a trail run with Marvin in an open space behind Fort Collins called Horsetooth Mountain Park. The temp for the day was cool so we were out a little later in the afternoon. In the shaded areas there was still some snow on the ground.

This is the iconic rock structure that gives the park and the lake it’s name. It is the idea that it looks like the back molars of a horse. You can easily see this rock formation from the city. I am not sure if this was the native American name for the rock formation or even if they had a name for it. And it seems that no one is exactly sure when the “Horsetooth” name started, but it does seem well suited to the shape of the rock.
Here I am looking South East over the lake and part of the city of Fort Collins.
Marvin on Tower Road in the park. A great steep 3 mile section to do hill repeats on, if you’re so inclined. Lol.
This picture is looking South towards the cities of Loveland, Longmont and eventually Denver. This is one of my favorite views in the park.

The two pictures below were taken on April 6th, 2023 at about 3pm in the afternoon. The temps were still in the 50 degree range for the day and this kept the ozone in the low range. So another beautiful day for a trail run with Dogboy. These pictures are from another open space behind Fort Collins called Reservoir Ridge.

In this picture Marvin and I are right down at the lake (Horsetooth Reservoir). In another month or so all of this will be underwater from the spring run off. When the lake is full, it’s max depth is about 200 feet.
This picture is looking South across the northern most dam that creates Horsetooth reservoir. I believe that there are four total. The land to the right of the lake is Lory State park and Horsetooth Mountain Park.
This image was taken on April 12th, 2023 at about 11:30am in the morning. This trail is called the Powerline Trail due to the high tension lines that run along its length. This one I can access right from the neighborhood and it’s total length is about 4 miles one-way. I love this trail due to the fact that it has a dirt path that runs along side the concrete tail. There is a park and restrooms at one end of it so it makes a great trail if you just want to get out and do “back and forth” miles without a lot elevation gain. My nick name for it is the “Powerline Treadmill.” Lol
This image was taken on April 18th, 2023 at about 11:45am in the morning. This is a picture of one of the Great Blue Heron rookeries in Fort Collins. There are several around the city. This one is at the eastern end of the Spring Creek Trail.

The two pictures below were taken on April 19th, 2023 at about 1pm in the afternoon. Here I am in another area of open spaces behind Fort Collins. Specifically Pine Ridge and Maxwell Natural areas and a trail that is known as the Foothills trail that runs along the eastern side of the lake. This is one of the things that I love about Fort Collins, there is a plethora of trails for just about any outdoor activity.

This is looking south on the east side of lake. The trail that I am on is called the Foothills trail and runs for a few miles of shoreline.
This is looking north and I am at the top of the Maxwell Natural Area. Fort Collins has done a good job of connecting different trails over the years and this has really paid off in giving the public access to a great outdoor experience that is right in the city’s backyard so to speak.

Well I won’t bore you with anymore pictures. Lol. Time to move on.

It was another good month for reading and I would like to share a few book recommendations.

The first book I would like to review is called “The Day the World Stops Shopping:  How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves” by J.B. MacKinnon.  The author is the same one that co-wrote a book with author Alisa Smith called “The 100-mile diet,” in which they decided that for one year they would only consume food that came from within a 100-mile radius of their Vancouver home.  Pretty hard to do when you think about it.        

The current book by J.B. MacKinnon, is one that I came across when looking for books on climate change.  A part of decreasing the carbon footprint is slowing our level of consumption.   And it turns out, slowing our consumption, is one of the best ways to take a bite out of the carbon dilemma so to speak.   

Of course there have been several books written on this subject over the last 15 years, but what makes this book a little different is that the author uses a “thought experiment” that was tested in real time by the forced shutdowns of the pandemic.  The book was published in May 2021.  

The idea being, what would happen if shopping was to come to an almost complete stop?  How would we deal with it, would the world end?  In the book he goes through all the different areas of concern with the experts, from issues of planned obsolescence with our possessions, to food production, to vacations, to possible job loss or gain, health, etc… And on a different note, he covers some areas that you might not associate with consumption.   One of my favorite sections of the book was on the use of air conditioning and how it did not really come into being for the private individual household until the 1960s.  And how this created its own issues.  One being, the hypothesis that keeping people at a constant temperature all the time, neither too cold nor too hot, might have led to an increase in metabolic disease syndrome.  Very interesting.

Another aspect that I liked with this book is that it points to ways that you can make a difference, on the individual level, in the climate crisis so to speak.  Very similar to being minimalist.  You just buy less.  Lol.  Just that simple. Buy less. 

Ok, enough of the soapbox.  I listened to the book as an audio book but it would work in any format.  You can probably find this book at your local bookstore or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link:   https://a.co/d/4uQi8im      

The next book I would like to recommend is called “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity” by Peter Attia MD. Now that I am older, I am always on the look out for books on longevity and this is a perfect example of one that I came across during a recent search of the literature. I had heard about Dr. Attia from a Star Talk podcast with Neil deGrasse Tyson. They were doing an episode with him about Human Lifespan extension and the meaning of medicine 3.0. If your interested you can find this episode and many more at this link: https://startalkmedia.com/

I found the book quit interesting and it helped to solidify some beliefs that I had about longevity and exercise from other sources. The first big one was the fact that exercise is the single best way to improve your health and longevity.  It is better than diet, medication and just about anything else that has been tried by humans.  A second one dealing with exercise is the idea of staying in the zone 2 training category for about 80 percent of your workouts.  I have consistently tracked this level of training with a heart rate monitor for the last 6 months and I have seen consistent improvements each month.  The third one with exercise is you need to become a decathlete.  If don’t remember or don’t know, (I didn’t) let me familiarize you with what a decathlete is.  In simplest terms, it is someone that participates in ten different track and field events at the Olympics.  The idea being for us “mere mortals” is that you need to do a variety of exercise types.  People run into problems when they do too much of their favorite sport with not enough variety.  If you’re a runner, biker, swimmer, etc.… and that is all that you do, you’re going to run into over training issues before long.  By being the “decathlete” you are a much more rounded athlete and significantly lessen the risk of over training, burn out and most importantly, injury.

This book is not just about living for as long as you can, it is about living as long as you can with being as healthy as you can.  And this includes our mental health.  Dr. Attia goes in to significant depth in describing his own challenges with mental health and how this cannot be ignored if we want to live a long and healthy life.  

This is a great book and well worth the read.  I got the book as an audio book but it would work in any format. You can probably find the book at your local bookstore or on Amazon. Here is the Amazon link: https://a.co/d/arSWlbv

Last but not least, I would like to show case one piece of new artwork that I finished in the month of April.

This is the fourth painted Wolf Face I have done. It is called Canis 4. I have always had a fascination with wolves. They have always seemed larger than life to me. The wolf has been a common theme in mythology since time immortal. Especially in the cultures of Eurasia and North America. I got the initial idea for doing a series of large wolf faces several years ago while reading the Game of Thrones books by George R.R. Martin. After watching the HBO adaption, I knew I had to do this. Instead of trying to do a realistic version, I thought it might be more interesting to create paintings that evoke more of the potential mythology of the wolf.

These are large acrylic paintings that are done on OSB or Oriented strand board. The boards or sheets were given to me by my neighbor when he was remodeling his basement several years ago. He was in the process of throwing them away but thought I might want them. In keeping with North American wolf symbolism, I cut the sheets into circles to symbolize creation, death and rebirth.

The diameter is about 47 inches across, and the weight is about 50 lbs.

Canis 4

This piece and other types of my art work can be found at my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

In support of Prochoice and Separation of Church and State, I will donate 10% of any sales to Planned Parenthood or the Freedom From Religion Foundation, but only if you wish me too. If not, I will be more than happy to keep money! Lol

Well I have come to the end of another blog post. Yea! And I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated or boosted, even if you have had Covid, then get it done. It would be a damn shame if you were to die or suffer significant disability with this virus when vaccines are readily available in this country. So until next time Adios!!

“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” Carl Sagan

“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.” Yuval Noah Harari

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Climate Change, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Pandemics, Science, Space

MUSINGS FOR JULY 2022

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“We study history not to know the future but to widen our horizons, to understand that our present situation is neither natural nor inevitable, and that we consequently have many more possibilities before us than we imagine.” Yuval Noah Harari

These are images from the Hubble Space Telescope of two different galaxies. The dominate one is a large spiral galaxy named NGC 3227 and the second one is called NGC 3226. The two galaxies are gravitationally linked with each other. Together they have the destination of Arp 94. They are 50 to 60 million light years away in the constellation Leo. Pretty cool. Image credit: NASA, ESA, and H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University); Image Processing: G. Kober (NASA Goddard/Catholic University of America)

If you would like to learn more about these images please see this link: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-captures-a-galactic-dance

“It takes a lot of courage to fight biases and oppressive regimes, but it takes even greater courage to admit ignorance and venture into the unknown. Secular education teaches us that if we don’t know something, we shouldn’t be afraid of acknowledging our ignorance and looking for new evidence. Even if we think we know something, we shouldn’t be afraid of doubting our opinions and checking ourselves again. Many people are afraid of the unknown, and want clear-cut answers for every question. Fear of the unknown can paralyze us more than any tyrant. People throughout history worried that unless we put all our faith in some set of absolute answers, human society will crumble. In fact, modern history has demonstrated that a society of courageous people willing to admit ignorance and raise difficult questions is usually not just more prosperous but also more peaceful than societies in which everyone must unquestioningly accept a single answer. People afraid of losing their truth tend to be more violent than people who are used to looking at the world from several different viewpoints. Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.” Yuval Noah Harari

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the Spiral galaxy NGC 3631. It is called a Grand Design Spiral due to it prominent and well-defined arms. It is around 50 million light-years from earth looking in the direction of Ursa Major. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Filippenko (University of California – Berkeley), and D. Sand (University of Arizona); Image Processing: G. Kober (NASA Goddard/Catholic University of America)

If you would like to learn more about his image please see this link: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-looks-at-a-face-on-grand-spiral

“Each and every one of us has been born into a given historical reality, ruled by particular norms and values, and managed by a unique economic and political system. We take this reality for granted, thinking it is natural, inevitable and immutable. We forget that our world was created by an accidental chain of events, and that history shaped not only our technology, politics and society, but also our thoughts, fears and dreams. The cold hand of the past emerges from the grave of our ancestors, grips us by the neck and directs our gaze towards a single future. We have felt that grip from the moment we were born, so we assume that it is a natural and inescapable part of who we are. Therefore we seldom try to shake ourselves free, and envision alternative futures.” Yuval Noah Harari

This is an image from the Hubble Space Telescope of what is know as a globular cluster. This one is known as Liller 1. It was discovered by the American astronomer William Liller in 1977. These clusters are spherical collections of stars bound by gravity. They are found almost in all galaxies. Liller 1 is about 30 thousand light years from earth going towards the center of the Milky Way. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Ferraro

If you would like to learn more about his image please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-gazes-at-a-dazzling-star-cluster and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globular_cluster and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liller_1

“There are no gods, no nations, no money and no human rights, except in our collective imagination.” Yuval Noah Harari

This is also a Hubble Space Telescope image of a globular cluster and it is called Ruprecht 106. It is named after Jaroslav Ruprecht who I believe was a Czech astronomer. This cluster is approximately 69 thousand light years from earth in the constellation of Centaurus. Most clusters contain stars of different ages, but Ruprecht is in a type of cluster where there is no formation of second or third generation stars. There are only a small number of clusters in this category. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Dotter

If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-investigates-an-enigmatic-star-cluster and https://www.republicworld.com/science/space/hubble-spies-star-studded-globular-star-cluster-located-69100-light-years-from-earth-articleshow.html

“People fear that being trapped inside a box, they will miss out on all the wonders of the world. As long as Neo is stuck inside the matrix, and Truman is stuck inside the TV studio, they will never visit Fiji, or Paris, or Machu Picchu. But in truth, everything you will ever experience in life is within your own body and your own mind. Breaking out of the matrix or travelling to Fiji won’t make any difference. It’s not that somewhere in your mind there is an iron chest with a big red warning sign ‘Open only in Fiji!’ and when you finally travel to the South Pacific you get to open the chest, and out come all kinds of special emotions and feelings that you can have only in Fiji. And if you never visit Fiji in your life, then you missed these special feelings for ever. No. Whatever you can feel in Fiji, you can feel anywhere in the world; even inside the matrix.” Yuval Noah Harari

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! Yea for us again!! I am still hoping that I can keep saying this until the Covid Marry-Go-Round is done!! Enough is truly enough!!

By the 6th of June we were still in the 100,000 new cases per day range. The variant of concern was BA.2.12.1 and it was responsible for 62% of Covid cases the first week of June in the US. It has a delta mutation that appears to allow it to escape pre-existing immunity from vaccination and prior infection. The people that caught the omicron wave are not immune. The kicker is that there are two new variants that are starting to gain traction in the US: BA.4 and BA.5. They also have the same delta mutation.

Well again the picture has not changed for the number of deaths. These are still the top 10 states for mortality from Covid. What I really find interesting is that North Carolina is not in the top 10. It is listed as the 7th highest state in the country for Covid cases but drops to 13th when you look at deaths. Oh well the CDC has no power when it comes to getting states to give accurate numbers. I am guessing when this is all said and done and the true numbers are known, we will get a much grimmer picture of what the true mortality and morbidity was for Covid.

By the middle of the month (June 2022), we were still adding 100,000 cases each day officially, but some in the public health sector think this number is probably double due to unreported home testing. The death count was still about 300 people per day unfortunately. The total death count stood at 1,038,000 for a total of 4000 deaths in the last 9 days, but my guess is that number is under reported again. The good news is that even with the under reporting the mortality count does seem to be headed in the right direction. Of course we were at this same place last year before the Delta and Omicron Variant did their unfortunate things.

By the end of the month (June 2022), the total death count was about 1,043,000 or a total of about 10,000 deaths for the month of June. Or another way to see it, about 100,000 people per year die due to Covid, at the current rate. Granted that is not the numbers we were seeing last January and February but still staggering when you think about it. BA4 and BA5 are now the dominate stains in the US and we are still adding about 100,000 new cases per day. Oh well. As much as we want it to be over, it is not over.

If you interested in looking at the numbers for yourself, please see this link: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

If you interested in getting a good understanding of what is going on with Covid every other week without having to watch the news, check out this link for the Osterholm Update on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FC1G09xkOFc

And if you don’t want to listen on YouTube you can check out Apple Pod cast. Dr. Michael Osterholm is an American epidemiologist, Regents Professor, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm gives an update each week on where we are with the virus. Really good information directly from the source and not spun by the news media channels.

Another great YouTube channel to follow on Covid, especially if you are someone that is medical is this one: https://youtu.be/786kiTxg6Bk

It is a part of microbe.tv/twiv. Vincent Racaniello and Dr. Griffin do a great job in presenting the “information” each week. Vincent R. Racaniello is Higgins Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Daniel O. Griffin is an American infectious disease specialist. He is an instructor in Clinical Medicine and an associate research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University.

The month of May was another good one for getting outdoors. Cool weather and great air quality.

The above picture was taken on May 5th, 2022 at about 5pm in the afternoon. It was another beautiful cool day on the Front Range of Colorado.

The above picture was taken on May 9th, 2022 at about 6pm in the evening. Here I am looking West along the Poudre River as it flows through Fort Collins.

The above picture was taken on May 14th, 2022 at about 7pm in the evening from one of the many parks in Fort Collins. The Dandelion seed pods were popping up in many locations around the city. While walking Marvin, I came across the sun shining just at the right angle to backlight the seed pods and I thought it would make a great picture. Sometimes it is just luck to be in the right place at the right time. Lol.

The above picture and the below picture were taken on May 16th, 2022 at about 11am. This is a picture of Janet and the three daughters and Janet and I with Marvin in the bottom one. We all did a short hike together in Horsetooth Mountain Park. This was the first time we had all been together as a family in a long time.

The above picture was taken May 20th, 2022 at about 10am in the morning. While temps were gradually starting to get warmer for the month, we did get a few days where it was good to have a fire in the woodstove. These cool spells used to be more common when we first moved to Colorado in 1987, but over the years the lower temp extremes have just disappeared. After moving to Fort Collins, it was unusual to buy a new car or home WITH an air conditioner. We were told that you just did not need it like you would in the Southern States. Over time that has changed. Last year I had the air conditioner on almost everyday from the month of May through November. This was the first time we have felt we needed to do this in over thirty years of living here. Unreal.

This picture was taken on May 22nd, 2022 at about 12noon. Here Marvin and Janet are standing next to an enormous Cottonwood tree in one of the many open spaces in Fort Collins.

The above picture was taken on May 23rd, 2022 at about 6pm in the evening. Another cool day in Fort Collins. Here Marvin and I were checking out the water levels on the Poudre River. The river really does go down to a trickle in the winter months, only to swell to many times it usual size during spring run off from the mountains. Normally at this time, there would be much more water in it, but due to the change in climate, the cities in the area pull as much water from it as they are legally allowed, in order to fill all the reservoirs. Colorado is considered a “head-water” state. Meaning that we are the source of several major rivers / streams and the water we get in the mountains is pretty much all the water we get. Water is considered liquid gold in Colorado.

The above and last picture was taken on June 1st, 2022 at about 4pm in the afternoon. This is a picture of our old cat Leeloo or Lenny as the kids called her. Yes, she is named after one on the main characters from the movie the Fifth Element. One of my all time favorite Science Fiction films. I take so many pics of Marvin, I thought I would include one of her. She loves the warm weather and prefers to spend as much time outside as possible when it is hot. In the winter, it is not uncommon for her to get under the woodstove late at night to heat herself up so to speak. Lol

It was another great month for reading and I would like to share a few book recommendation.

The first one I would like to talk about is called “Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed or Fail” by Ray Dalio. Let me start by saying I had first heard of Ray at the start of the pandemic when he was speaking at a TED talk. In his talk he was offering advice on what might happen if the government did not bail out hospitals and other businesses. How the pandemic with its shut downs would create havoc on the entire economy and how we might best recover from it. All of it sounded very interesting. So I decided to get one of his books on economic history to see if I could gain a little better insight into what might be instore for the United States and the rest of the world. And I am glad that I did. The book looks at the big picture of what has happened over time, from ancient Rome to the present without getting lost in the details. This is a “big picture” type book and does not touch on all the topics that might be covered in a book say on just Great Britain when it was the global power in the early 1800s. Ray’s book looks at the bigger picture.

There is a great section towards the end of the book on China and its ongoing relationship with the USA and what that might mean for the future. He also talks about how it is difficult to predict how things might turn out when looking at the past due to unforeseen events. Like Pandemics, wars and technological advances. Of course a great example of this is the current war in Ukraine. Because the book was published in 2021, the war had not started yet. And Ray makes no mention of it. But in the book he mention several times how “big events” both natural and man-made can change national trajectories. And that is exactly what is happening globally with the war in Ukraine.

I got the book as an audio book but I think it would work a lot better in traditional format due to the number of charts and graphs the book has in it. It is a little difficult to see all of that with an audio book. Lol.

Of course you can find this book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Changing-World-Order-Nations-Succeed/dp

The next book I would like to give a recommendation to is called Ageless:  The New Science of Getting Older without Getting Old by Andrew Steele.  I first hear about this book in a talk by the Author on the YouTube channel called “The Royal Institution.”  The link for it is here: https://youtu.be/fX9P1xuIJGg.  It is a pretty good talk and it got me interested in his book.  The author did not start out as a biologist but as a physicist.  And he felt that ageing was the most important scientific challenge of our time.  So he switched to computational biology.  In the book he covers some of the long standing beliefs on aging and disease.  And how we all seem to think that Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, etc.… are the big causes of death and suffering in the human population.  But he tells us, in reality we have all gotten it wrong.  It is “Aging” in and of itself and not those diseases that are the problem.  When I was younger and starting my medical career 40 years ago, I remember hearing people say he or she died of natural causes and even then, I thought what does that actually mean.  It didn’t really make sense to me. I thought, shouldn’t we treat the underlying process of aging?  If treating the process would end a majority of the other diseases, why are we not doing it?  

The book made me really question why are we spending so much money on Alzheimer’s, on Heart disease and Cancer?  Granted we have had some success in those areas but if we shifted the lion’s share of available research dollars to slowing or even reversing the underlying cause – “aging” ;  We could hit all the preverbal “disease birds” with one stone.  Otherwise we are just playing Whack-A-Mole with the process and wasting billions of research dollars.  This is an excellent book on the topic and the author does a great job of illustrating where we are at now and where the research might take us.  There is no reason to not believe that a greatly extended and healthy lifespan could be in our future. 

I listened to this book as an audio book, but it would work well in any format.  And of course you can find it on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Ageless-Science-Getting-Older-Without-ebook/dp           

The next book I would like to give a recommendation to is called Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom.  I first heard about Nick from multiple different books on the development and potential pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence.  So much so, I thought that I should check out his book.  And I am glad that I did.  It is a little bit older as to having been published in 2014 but after listening to it, I think the relevance for the book is still there.  Especially when you look at it from a philosophical point of view, of which Nick’s book is about.  It is not a book about the technical details of how to build the best neural network or computer chip for AI, no it is about what it means when algorithms are so advanced that it is very difficult for humans to keep up.  The fact that you don’t even have to have a sentient AI for this to occur.   It is a discussion of all of those challenges that will inevitability crop up when you put a significant part of the human population out of work due to AI and automation.  No matter how, when and where the technology develops this will still be an issue. 

If you have been following some of the more recent news beside the political shenanigans, you get the idea that we are already fast approaching this pivot point in human history.  Think self-driving trucks and cars.  Yes they are still in the development stage but there will be a time coming up when that R&D is done and you don’t need a human driver.  More recently in the news was the google engineer that thinks Google’s AI program, which he has been working with, is now sentient.  I think the program is called LaMDA.  Even if it is not sentient, it has gotten good enough to fool an engineer that is working with it?!  It is a chatbot.  Imagine a very intelligent chatbot that can answer all customer questions, HR employee questions, book appointments, schedule maintenance, tell you when you are doing something wrong or right, become a virtual girlfriend or boyfriend, be your doctor, etc.…. Lol.  Of course, all of this is out there now, but think of it as being 10,000 or 100,000 times better that current versions.  It does not take long to realize that this will not only be fantastic (my personal opinion) but also create some truly scary scenarios if not handled correctly.      

I listened to this book as an audio book. I think it would work in any version but the ideas are dense and if you are like me, you will need time to truly think about them before moving on.  Of course the book can be found on Amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Nick-Bostrom-audiobook/dp

The last book I would like to review and give a recommendation on is called Still Running:  The Art of Meditation in Motion, by Vanessa Zuisei Goddard.  Let me start off saying that this is a great book for all runners both experienced and first timers.  But with that said, I think it will be the experienced runners that are going to get the most out of the book.  Especially someone that has put in the miles so to speak and can relate to what the author references and talks about.  It is a book about “more” than just running.  A lot of the principles discussed in the book can also be applied to life in general.  I have to be honest; this was my second reading and review of the book.  The first read through was when it first came out in 2020, and it had spiked my curiosity due to its Buddhist philosophy and the fact that I was reading several other books on Buddhism at the time.  Unfortunately, I was very busy with work and I read it pretty fast and superficially.  Fast forward to this year, knee injury, time to read more, and I thought I would go back though it, but much, much slower.  I am so glad that I did.  What is the old saying “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear?”  Lol.  And that is exactly what happened.  It was as if I was reading and understanding it for the first time. 

The author does a great job of tying together two seemingly unrelated practices, running and Buddhism, and by doing this she gives the reader a deeper insight into both.  It does not matter if you’re not a Buddhist, she approaches the topic in a secular way and is not trying to convert you.  We can all use a little meditation in our lives and she shows you how to turn your long hours of running into an enjoyable moving experience.

This is one of those books that I will read again and again.  It is that good.  I got it in traditional format.  Unfortunately, it does not come as an audiobook.  Of course, it can be found on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Still-Running-Art-Meditation-Motion/dp                 

Well no new artwork for the moment but I would like to showcase the “Jesus Brothers.” I have called these studies in Jesus by several different names, Jesus of Borg or SiFi Jesus or the current name of Transhumanist Jesus.

I decided to do these pieces initially over anger of the Texas GOP’s enactment of their draconian anti-abortion law. I had only planned to do a limited number, but now with the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs Wade, I will continue to make them.  I have three adult daughters and while they might not agree on whether it is right or wrong to get an abortion, they all agree that it is “their right” to choose. And I agree with them. So that is how the project started out, but it morphed into something a little different. Did you know that there are at least 10,000 different denominations of Christianity in the world? Of course, some say this number is much higher, but I figure 10,000 is a safe estimate. Knowing this I thought why not make up my own Jesus?! A lot of other people have. So, I did. And what I came up with was a tough but accepting LGBT SiFi Jesus. A Jesus that would assimilate all other Jesuses, even Republican Jesus, into a hive mind and create an accepting and loving collective for all people and all religions. AND the Jesus Brothers would support all women in their right to choose! In Star Trek, the Borg are considered the enemy but, in my version, I have turned it around and made “Jesus of Borg” the good guy, the savior from the Conservative Christian Taliban.

These pieces and other types of art work are for sale and can be found on my Etsy site:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

In support of Prochoice and the Separation of Church and State, I will donate half of any sales to Planned Parenthood or the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Well I have come to the end of another blog post! Yea! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it!  Due to the craziness in the world this past month, I am forgoing my usual rant to you about become minimalist.

But if your interested and want to learn more about sustainability, minimalism and the steady state economy, please see these sites: https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/what-is-sustainability/ and https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ and https://steadystate.org/ and https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/12/27/35-ways-reduce-carbon-footprint/

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated, then get it done. It would be stupid to lose your life or suffer significant disability with this virus when vaccines are readily available in this country. So until next time Adios!!

“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.” Yuval Noah Harari

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Marshall Fire, Minimalism, Pandemics, Space, Trail Running, Wildfire

MUSING FOR FRIDAY 28TH, JANUARY 2022

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“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” Aldous Huxley

The above image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope over a ten day period in 1995. It is called the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). The telescope looked at a very narrow speck of sky, or about 1/30 of the diameter of the full moon, and reveled a baffling number of other galaxy shapes and colors that had never been seen before. Some of these may have formed in the very early universe after the Big Bang. Three years after this observation, a region in the southern hemisphere was imaged in the same way. The similarities between the two regions strengthened the belief that the universe is uniform over a large scale. There are over 3000 objects in the above image. Bluer objects contain young stars and are relatively close, while redder objects contain older stellar populations and are farther away. Image credit: NASA/JPL/STScI Hubble Deep Field Team. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia12110-hubble-deep-field-image-unveils-myriad-galaxies-back-to-the-beginning-of-time and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Deep_Field

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad.” Aldous Huxley

The above image is a picture from the Hubble Space Telescope. It is of two galaxies, the big one is NGC 105 and is about 215 million light years away in the constellation Pisces. While it looks like NGC is crashing into a smaller galaxy, this is not the case. The smaller one is much, much further away and is relatively unknown to astronomers. This is a common occurrence in astronomy. One of the best examples are the stars that form the constellations in our night sky. Ancient humans were creative in connecting dots with the stars to establish patterns that looked like animals, gods, goddesses, and heroes. But in reality, these stars are at vastly different distances from Earth, and only appear to form patterns due to a chance alignment to other stars. Two other objects that are present in this photo are pulsating stars called Cepheid variables and supernova explosions. They are both important to astronomers trying to measure the vast distances in space. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Jones, A. Riess et al.
Acknowledgement: R. Colombari. If you would like to learn more about the above image please see this link: https://esahubble.org/images/potw2201a/

“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly – they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” Aldous Huxley

The above image is of the galaxy NGC 976 and is from the Hubble Space Telescope. This spiral galaxy lies around 150 million light-years from the Milky Way in the constellation Aries. The space based Hubble telescope was launched in 1990 from the Space Shuttle Discovery. It has made over 1.5 million observations and it allowed the publication of thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers on its discoveries. Just incredible when you stop and think about it. I am hoping that the James Webb Space telescope will turn out to be as significant as Hubble has been. The acronym NGC in the galaxy name stands for New General Catalogue. It is an astronomical catalogue of deep sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. There are a total of 7,840 objects in the catalogue now. They are galaxies, star clusters, emission nebulae and absorption nebulae. Credit for image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Jones, A. Riess et al. If you would like to learn more about his image, Hubble and the New General Catalogue, please see these links: https://esahubble.org/images/potw2202a/ and https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/about and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_General_Catalogue

“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” Aldous Huxley

This galaxy image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and is named Messier 94. It is an example of what is known as a spiral galaxy with a starburst ring. These types of galaxies are undergoing a high rate of star formation as compared to other types of galaxies. As an example, our own Milky Way is about 30 times slower than the typical starburst galaxy in star formation. Interestingly the star formation in one of these is so large that it consumes a huge amount of the interstellar gas and thus is consider just a “phase” in the galaxies evolution. The above bright ring, seen encircling the rest of the galaxy is called a “starburst ring.” It is the region of intense star formation. The galaxy is about 16 million light years away in the constellation of the Hunting Dogs or Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1781 and catalogued by Charles Messier two days later. Image credit: ESA/NASA. If you would like to learn more about the above image or starburst galaxies please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/a-hubble-view-of-starburst-galaxy-messier-94 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_94 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starburst_galaxy

“You build the best possible story from the information available to you and if it is a good story you believe it. Paradoxically it is easier to construct a coherent story when you know little, when there are fewer pieces to fit into the puzzle. Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense, rest on a secure foundation – our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” Daniel Kahneman

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! Yea for all of us!! I am still hoping that I can keep saying this for all of next year. I really, really mean that, especially if you are someone who has not gotten your vaccine. Go get it. There is no shame in waiting as long as you did. Just do it like the Nike ad says.

Looking at the numbers on January 6th, it appears, unfortunately, that in the last 30 days (December 6th to January 6th), we have added another 44,000 deaths – for a total of 855 thousand individuals. Up 8,000 individuals from the previous 30 days. In October and November we had started a downward trend but I am guessing the holidays and the advent of the Omicron variant has led to this increase. And of course the deaths are predominantly the unvaccinated. To say this is a senseless and tragic loss of life is an understatement.

The above image has not changed. It shows the top ten states with the most cases and deaths. California still leads the country with Texas trailing by a small margin. Florida is the mystery state. They seem to be reporting their new cases but have not reported more than a few hundred new deaths in the last 90 days. Every other state that has as many new cases as Florida with similar populations, has a significantly higher death count. So what is it with Florida? I am guessing it is due to the economic interests in the state. You want to make things seem rosier than what they actually are so that people will come and spend money. What is the old saying: “It’s nothing personal, it is just business.” The pandemic has defiantly been one of misinformation and incorrect reporting. I am guessing, but I bet the death count in Florida is a lot higher than what is being reported. So you don’t lie about it, you just leave the relevant information out.

By the first week of January new cases really started to sky rocket due to this variant. I don’t think people really wanted to hear this news and continued on as if nothing had changed. But by the middle of the month, we were adding over 800 thousand new case each day and the death count was back into the 2000 per day range. On January 15 total deaths for the US stood at 873 thousand. Or 18,000 new deaths in 9 days (from January 6th). More than 60 thousand deaths from December 6th! Unreal.

The news media has been playing down the Omicron variant as less severe, but that is not the case for the unvaccinated, those over 65, and the immunocompromised. Of course this includes kids that have not been vaccinated or are too young to get vaccinated. Unfortunately, Omicron is just as significant for these populations.

Nation wide we passed the peak of infection for Omicron at the first of January, but the increase in deaths and hospital utilization will not occur until the end of the month.

By the time of publishing, January 28th, the daily death count was well over the 3000 mark, and this includes states that are slow in reporting or fudging their numbers like Florida. So I am guessing that we are much, much higher. We were at 900 thousand total reported deaths at the time of publication. Or 45 thousand deaths in just 22 days. The only good news was that the number of daily new infections was heading in a downward trend. Hopefully we can keep this daily infection numbers headed in that direction.

If you interested in looking at the numbers for yourself, please see this link: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

If you interested in getting a good understanding of what is going on with Covid each week without having to watch the news, check out this link for the Osterholm Update on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FC1G09xkOFc 

And if you don’t want to listen on YouTube you can check out Apple Pod cast. Dr. Michael Osterholm is an American epidemiologist, Regents Professor, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm gives an update each week on where we are with the virus. Really good information directly from the source and not spun by the news media channels.

Ok that was enough about Covid! Time to move on to something much better to talk about! For the most part… Lol. I swear, it is one tragedy after another this year. Oh well, now to get on with it.

The month of December, like November, was another beautiful one for being outdoors here on the Front Range of Colorado. And again it was a very, very mild month. We really did not get any “winter like” weather until the last day of December. And that was not until later in the day.

This picture was taken on December 2nd, 2021 at about 2pm in the afternoon. Here Marvin and I were running in an open space behind Fort Collins called Pineridge Natural Area. This picture of Marvin says it all. I think that the temps that day were in the 60 to 70 degree range. Way too warm for the month of December!
This picture was taken on December 9th, 2021 at about 2pm in the afternoon. Here we were just finish up a walk in the neighborhood. Again, I think that the temps for this day were in the 50 degree range. Marvin with his “serious face” was watching another dog across the street.
This picture was taken on December 13th, 2021 at about 2pm in the afternoon. The temps were down in the 50 to 60 degree range with some clouds so I could run Marvin a little longer without having to worry that he would overheat. Here we are looking North from the Maxwell Natural Area. The lake in the background is Horsetooth Resivor.
This picture was taken on December 16th, 2021 at about 2pm in the afternoon. You are probably wondering where the snow came from since I already said it was a very mild month. Lol. Marvin and I had to go up into the mountains to find it. Here we are in the Roosevelt National Forest close to Cameron Pass, just off highway 14. I think the elevation at this location was about 10,000 feet. Even though there appears to be a lot of snow it really should be a little deeper for December. Never the less, it was a fun day on Snowshoes. And the snow did get better in January.
This picture was taken on December 19, 2021 at about 5:30pm in the evening. It is looking West across a pond in our neighborhood. Besides the beautiful colors reflected off the clouds, you can see Mount Meeker and Longs Peak in the background. They are in Rocky Mountain National Park. The air quality on the Front Range was great for December. There was enough wind to keep the atmosphere clean, so you could see the peaks in the distance. When you look at the above picture, the mountains you are seeing are about 40 miles distant in a straight line. Pretty cool.
This picture was taken on December 25th, 2021 at about 8pm. Happy Holidays from our Fort Collins family to yours!!
This picture was taken on December 27th, 2021 at about 3:30pm in the afternoon. Here Marvin and I were looking West from the top of Horsetooth Mountain Natural Area. While it looks cold, the temps were actually close to 50 degrees. And still no significant snow. Where we were standing is about 7500 feet and you can just see a tiny amount.
Wow! Finally! Lol. This picture was taken December 31st, 2021 at about 4pm in the afternoon. The first significant snowfall for the winter of 2021/22. The very last day of 2021. Crazy. Here Marvin and I were doing some walking in one of the parks.

Now for something that was not so great…

Thinking and writing about the past month of December 2021, I have come to realize that this is the longest dry spell for snow/rain, Janet and I have experienced here in Colorado, so far. We moved here in July of 1987, so almost 35 years ago. It does make me wonder what the future holds in store for citizens along the Front Range in a warming climate. I could have devoted a whole blog post to talking about the devastating fires that occurred in Boulder County on December 30th, 2021. Now called the Marshall Fire. When you think “fire danger” in Colorado, you think mountains and forest fires but this one did not happen in the mountains. It was out on the plains. I did not mention it in the above pictures, but that day I was actually running with Marvin in Horsetooth Mountain Park just west of Fort Collins. The temps were again in the 50 to 60 degree range. There was a high wind warning in effect for all of the Northern Front Range and this included where we were at. The crazy part is that we did not experience any significant wind, maybe 10 to 20 mph at best. While the areas that burned, were hit with 70 to 100 mph wind. I did not even realize there was a significant weather/fire event taking place just 40 miles away, until I heard it on the radio. Crazy. Where Marvin and I were, it was beautiful. Unusually warm, but it made for a beautiful day. Check out the picture below of Horsetooth Mountain Park looking Northeast across Fort Collins and compare it to the bottom two images from Boulder County – same day. Unreal.

This picture was taken on December 30th, 2021 at about 3pm in the afternoon. The day before it snowed. It is looking northeast from Horsetooth Mountain Park. Light winds. Nothing like the gale force winds just 40 miles to the south that fueled the Marshall Fire, destroying more than 990 structures/homes and parts of the towns of Superior, Louisville and unincorporated Boulder County. Just unreal.
This is an image from MAXAR Aerospace. The top panel shows a pre-fire image. The bottom panel is an afternoon image of the same area.
Early evening photo on December 30th, 2021 – provided by Boulder County showing the Marshall Fire. This is only about 40 miles from where I live.

If you did not know about the Marshall Fire on December 30th, 2021 in Boulder County check out this Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021%E2%80%932022_Boulder_County_fires#:~:text=On%20December%2030%2C%202021%2C%20shortly%20before%2010%3A30%20a.m.,permitting%20the%20Federal%20Emergency%20Management%20Agency%20to%20intervene.

There are a lot of reason why the Marshall Fire occurred, but a big contributing factor was how dry and warm it has been in Colorado for several years now. A good article to read on how a “warming climate” created the perfect conditions for the Marshall Fire is this one from the Climate Adaptation Center (CAC): https://www.theclimateadaptationcenter.org/2022/01/10/another-climate-catastrophy-the-boulder-colorado-fire/

It is written by Bob Bunting, who is the Chairman and CEO of the center. The CAC is an independent, non-profit organization headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. Their mantra is that if all carbon emissions stopped tomorrow, the increase in warming will not stop for another 100+ years. So how can we adapt to mitigate the disruptions that are occurring now and in the future. How can we help individuals, business and states adopt practices that will help to protect life and property. Check out this link to learn more about the CAC: https://www.theclimateadaptationcenter.org/about-us/

December was another good month for running and therefore good for reading. Ok – it is listening to audio books. Lol. So, I have a few books I would like to recommend.

The first one is called Real Zen for Real Life, by Bret W. Davis. He is a professor of philosophy and the T.J. Higgins, SJ, chair in philosophy at Loyola University. This is a great lecture series if you are interested in getting a deeper understanding of Zen. The lecture series is from the great courses, but it is much cheaper to get it on Amazon as audio only. The course is divided up into 24 lectures, each covering a different aspect of Zen and what it means to the Western audience. There is a lot of information to unpack so to speak from the lectures and this will be one of those courses I will go back and listen a second time or even a third time. One of the things that I found very helpful in my practice of Zen covered in the lecture series was the idea of “when sitting, ask yourself what are you leaving behind – not what you are getting out of the sitting.” We all have this tendency, myself included, to think we have to be getting something out of whatever we are doing. But in Zen it is the other way around – “What are we leaving behind, letting go of.” Not ignoring it, but inviting the feeling, the emotion, the whatever it is… IN. But after that, you leave it behind, let it go. This course is for both the beginner and the experienced practitioner of Zen. The great Courses Plus ( Now called Wondrium) has a good description of what each lecture covers and can be found here: https://www.wondrium.com/real-zen-for-real-life

Of course you can find the lecture series on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3GQKCPA

The next book I would like to talk about is another one by Yuval Noah Harari and is called 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. In the last Blog post I reviewed his book called Sapiens. Sapiens is an excellent book and should be required reading for all high school and college students before graduation. His second book is called Homo Deus. This one is his third book in the series. Of course, I listened to the book as an audio book but I am thinking it would work much, much better in traditional format. There is so much provocative information presented that I found myself going back and forth between chapters and listening again and again. While the first two books should be required reading for high school and college students, this one should be required reading for everyone that is in political office or some kind of advisory role. One of my favorite section of the book was his look at world religions. How they all feel they are the one true religion and all others are fictitious at worst or misguided at best. All I could think about is the line from George Carlin, “Someone is going to be disappointed.” Lol. The other part is how the combination of A.I. and Biotech is going to change the world in ways we will have a great deal of trouble wrapping our heads around. The book also looks at history, politics, religion, philosophy and so much more through the lens of how we invent stories to explain our reality, but then betray those very stories when we need to. Lol. A great book and again I think it would work better in traditional format so you can go back and forth between chapters.

Of course you can find it on Amazon at this link: https://amzn.to/3qPovUp

Last but not least, I would like to showcase a new piece of art work before I go. This is the second “Sun Face” in a series I started in October 2021. It is constructed of 3/4 inch plywood and painted with high quality latex paint. Then sealed with a clear latex primer. The sculpture measures about 28 inches by 28 inches by 3 inches deep. Its weight is about 25lbs. They are designed for exterior placement, but if you are putting it outside, I would suggest a protected location. The latex paint, while durable, will gradually fade over time if placed in a location with strong sunlight. And like all paint, it is susceptible to the whims of harsh weather. This one is called “Squished Lego Sun Face 2.”

This piece and other types of art work are for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Well I have come to the end of another blog post! Yea! I hope you enjoyed reading it. Of course before I go, I would like to give my usual spiel about Minimalism. A couple of weeks ago the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published an article about the record number and record cost of all the weather disasters in 2021. The article is pretty interesting and gives a good picture of how much a warming climate is costing us in lives and dollars. This should be a wake up call to us all. The part that I find fascinating is that we are in the “chaos” of the a changing climate right now. Not 20 years from now. It is actually happening right now.

The original article that contained the above graphic can be found here: https://www.noaa.gov/news/us-saw-its-4th-warmest-year-on-record-fueled-by-record-warm-december?fbclid=IwAR3uRq9xLaNPUMxyuoGKmZImJaeDIga7vB2mrkzL-NIKp9D7prKMCYIsmcE

So with that said, what can we do as individuals about it? How can we start to decrease our carbon footprint? One answer is minimalism. Become more minimalist. Buy less, buy long term, reuse or recycle before buying new. If you in the market for a new car in the next year or two – buy a hybrid or full electric. Cut your meat intake and go plant based. You will reduce your carbon footprint and be healthier in the process. Ride you bike to work or school if possible. Like to travel all the time? Ask yourself why? If you thinking about your next vacation as soon as your back from your current one, maybe it is past time to design a life you don’t need to escape from…

Being minimalist is not all black or all white way of life. There are shades of gray. Minimalism is different for each individual. You choose how much “minimalism” you want in your life and how much you don’t want. It is about understanding what matters most in life and removing the things that do not support the “what matters most part.” It is a way to break free of a rigged consumeristic system. A way to buy time for the planet and bring back the joy we all want and need in our lives.

Ok, ok enough of the soapbox, but if your interested and want to learn more about sustainability, minimalism and the steady state economy, please see these sites: https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/what-is-sustainability/ and https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ and https://steadystate.org/

So take care my friends and if you are have not gotten vaccinated, then get it done. We all want this “Groundhog Day – Covid – Marry- Go – Round” to end. Until next time Adios!!

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Economics, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Life and Meaning, Minimalism, Pandemics, Psychology, Science, Space, Trail Running

MUSING FOR FRIDAY 31ST, DECEMBER 2021

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.”

Lord Byron

The above image is a picture of what is called the Flame Nebula or NGC 2024. A nebula is a distinct body of interstellar gas and dust. At one point before telescopes became much bigger and refined, the term was used to describe any diffused astronomical object, including galaxies beyond the Milky Way. A good example of this is the Andromeda galaxy. It was known as the Andromeda Nebula until the early 20th century when Edwin Hubble discovered that the Andromeda “nebula” was outside of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Up until this point, nebulae were thought to all be in the Milky Way. And that the MW was the only galaxy in the Universe. Hubble discovered that Andromeda was millions of light years from the MW and a galaxy in its own right containing billions of stars. In a sense, Hubble discovered the Universe for humanity. Image credit:  NASA, ESA, and N. Da Rio (University of Virginia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) If you would like to learn more about the Flame Nebula, and Edwin Hubble please check out these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-spots-swirls-of-dust-in-the-flame-nebula and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_Nebula and https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA_history/Edwin_Hubble_The_man_who_discovered_the_Cosmos

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”

William Blake

This is an image from the Hubble Space telescope. It is what is known as a planetary nebula. The name is a misnomer because they are unrelated to planets. It is thought the usage of the term originated in the 1700s with William Herschel and others. They described these types of nebulae as resembling planets due to their shapes. In reality, they are known as emission nebulae consisting of expanding ionized shells of gas that are ejected from older red giant stars as they become white dwarf’s. A white dwarf is the exposed, naked core of a former red giant star. The above is a picture is NGC 6891 and is located in the constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin. Image credit: NASA, ESA, A. Hajian (University of Waterloo), H. Bond (Pennsylvania State University), and B. Balick (University of Washington); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) To learn more about NGC 6891 and planetary nebula, please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-s-view-of-planetary-nebula-reveals-complex-structure and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

Lewis Carroll

This is an image of four different Nebula. The Eagle Nebula, the Omega Nebula, Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula. In the 1950s, astronomers were able to use the distances of some of the stars in these nebulae to infer the existence of the Sagittarius Arm of our Milky Way Galaxy. At the time, scientist were trying to figure out what kind of galaxy the Milky Way was – i.e. was it a spiral galaxy like Andromeda or something different. This was and still is to some degree a big deal because we are embedded in the Milky Way, so it is hard to know our position and the shape of the galaxy. Plus the fact that the Milky Way is really big, anywhere from 100,000 to 120,000 light years across, 1000 light years thick and containing 400 billion stars. As big as it is, it is only considered a middle weight when compared to other galaxies. New studies have shown that the above Nebulae are part of a substructure in the arm that is angled differently from the rest of the arm. These substructures have been called spurs or feathers and can be found on the arms of other spiral galaxies. Our solar system (including earth) is located about 25,000 light-years from the galactic center and 25,000 light years away from the rim. So if you use the analogy of a vinyl record, we are about half way between the center and the edge of the Milky Way and the MW itself is a barred spiral galaxy with two spiral arms. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. If you want to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/eagle-omega-nebula-trifid-and-lagoon-four-famous-nebulae and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carina%E2%80%93Sagittarius_Arm and https://phys.org/news/2016-07-earth-milky.html

“Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.”

Thomas Hardy

The above picture is from Hubble. It shows a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 3568. It lies 57 million light years away in the constellation of Centaurus. It’s first recorded discovery was on April 21st, 1835 by the English astronomer John Herschel. It is more recently famous for a supernova discovery in 2014 by amateur astronomers from the Backyard Observatory Supernova Search in New Zealand. While most astronomical discoveries are the work of professionals, the Backyard Observatory Supernova Search or BOSS is an amateur collaboration of 6 friends from Australia and New Zealand. They are a dedicated amateur astronomy group that have been searching for new supernovae sightings since 2008. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Sun. If you would like learn more please visit these web sites: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-views-a-galaxy-with-an-explosive-past and http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/hubble-image-ngc-3568-10358.html and https://www.bosssupernova.com/

“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!”

Rudyard Kipling

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! And that my friends is a very, very, good thing. I am still hoping that I can keep saying this for all of next year. I really mean that, especially if you have not gotten your vaccine yet.

Looking at the numbers on December 6th it appears that we have added another 36,000 deaths in the last 30 days for a total of 811, 000 individuals just in this country alone. And as big as that number is, it is actually down for the second month in a row. So yes it is terrible, but for the moment, we are heading in the right direction. Over 80 percent of those deaths have been the unvaccinated. What a needless and tragic loss of life. So senseless.

I thought for sure that Texas would surge ahead of California but it is still neck and neck, with Cali pulling ahead by a few hundred more deaths over the last month than Texas. The above picture has not changed. It represents the top 10 states with the most deaths. California is at 1st spot with 75,000 and Michigan is at the 10th spot with 26,000 thousand. Florida is not reporting as much and I wonder if they are actually much higher than 61,000 they say? This has been a pandemic of misinformation besides one caused by a virus. The economic powers that be are in the process of trying to stay afloat and recoup losses sustained since 2020, so it behooves them to make things sound better than they are to bring in those consumer dollars. Of course the virus does not care what you say or do and will go right on causing mayhem, death and disability.

The big news is the new variant called “Omicron.” So far at the middle of the month the mortality and morbidity did not appear as severe as Delta, but the transmissibility was significantly higher. At the middle of the month, the number of new cases per day was in the 150 thousand plus range but by December 22nd and 23rd the forecasted increase with Omicron started to skyrocket as it became the dominate strain in the country. On December 22nd the new positive cases were 236 thousand and on the 23rd it had jumped to 267 thousand. On Friday the 24th, there were 200,000 new case reported but from only 20 states due to the holiday. My guess, the number was closer to 400,000 new infections for Friday. At the end of the day Wednesday, December 30th, the new infections for the day were 572 thousand! Wow!

By the end of the month, we had added another 36,000 deaths for a total of about 847,000 fatalities in the United States. Another 36,000 lives lost in less than 30 days. Most of these were an unnecessary, tragic loss of life due to the unvaccinated. Thousands of individuals that thought it “won’t happen to me” or that it was a big lie. Oh well, what is the saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” I am thinking that the number of deaths for next month are going to be dramatically higher due to the Omicron variant, especially for the unvaccinated. Hopefully that will not be the case, but I guess time will tell. If you interested in the numbers please see this link: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/.

If you interested in getting a good understanding of what is going on with Covid each week without having to watch the news, check out this link for the Osterholm Update on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FC1G09xkOFc and if you don’t want to listen on YouTube you can check out Apple Pod cast. Dr. Michael Osterholm is an American epidemiologist, Regents Professor, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm gives an update each week on where we are with the virus.

Well again, enough about Covid!! Let’s move on to something much better to talk about!! And that was the month of November for being outdoors. The weather was simply beautiful here in Colorado with an exceptionally mild month.

The above picture was taken on November 3rd, 2021 at about 2pm in the afternoon. This is looking South East from Horsetooth Mountain Park. It is one of my favorite views in the park. Here I was looking out over the Front Range of Colorado, down towards Denver. The air quality was great and the temps were in the 60 to 70 range. A little too warm for November but nice never the less.

The above picture was also taken on November 3rd, 2021 at about 5pm in the afternoon. After finishing up a little trail running, Marvin and I did a short walk with Janet. We got in the habit of walking two times per day back in the summer when it was abnormally hot for Colorado and there were significant air quality issues from the fires out in California. Even though conditions have gotten a lot better, we decided to continue the practice into the fall. This way I get to go for a run with dog boy and a walk with Janet later in the afternoon after she gets home from work.

The above picture was taken November 5th, 2021 at about 12noon. Here Marvin and I were doing a little in town trail running at the back of Spring Canyon Park, in the Pineridge Open Space. Another beautiful fall day.

The above picture was taken on November 13th, 2021 at about 1pm in the afternoon. Here we are just walking in our Neighborhood. Our youngest daughter was house sitting and decided to walk the owners dog with us – Haley Jo. Marvin always seems happy to have another dog walking with him.

The above picture was taken November 17th, 2021 at about 1pm. Another beautiful trail run in Horsetooth Mountain Park. Here I am looking East across Horsetooth Reservoir and across Fort Collins. I did not have Marvin with me this day. It was way too warm for him and there is very little water access up on the mountain, so he got to stay home with his dog buddy Cash.

The above picture was taken on November 18th, 2021 at about 2pm in the afternoon. It is from the Hewlett Gulch Trail that is just west of Fort Collins off of Highway 14. It is part of the Canyon Lakes Ranger District in the Roosevelt National Forest. I really like this one for the dog due to the water access along most of the trail. Especially with the abnormally higher temperatures that were the norm this year. If your interested in more information about this trail check out this link: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/arp/recreation/recarea/?recid=36779&actid=50

The above picture was taken on November 20th, 2021 at about 3pm in the afternoon. Janet and I were out for our usual daily walk and exploring a downed cottonwood tree when Marvin jumped up on it unexpectedly. Which was a surprise to both of us. With his heavier bone structure, he is not a dog know for his jumping abilities. Lol.

The above image was taken on November 25th, 2021 at about 3pm in the afternoon. Marvin and I were doing a run along the Poudre River Bike trail. It was another warm day for November, so I stopped to let him get a drink out of the river.

This last picture was taken on November 30th, 2021 at about 3pm in the afternoon. Here I was looking Southwest across Horsetooth reservoir from the Fort Collins side. The sun seemed to be at a perfect angle with the clouds for what I think turned out to be a great photo. It was more of a typical fall day in Colorado, with temps in the mid 40s, so Marvin and I got in a long trail run along the lake.

While the month was unseasonably warm and dry for us in November it did make for some great days of running, walking, biking and just being outdoors. We did miss the early season snow a little bit but not too much. Lol

Like October, I did get a few more books and “lecture courses” finished up during the month. The first one I would like to talk about is a lecture course from the Great Courses website called “Years that Changed History: 1215” taught by Professor Dorsey Armstrong, PhD. She is an Associate Professor of English and medieval Literature at Purdue University. I watched this lecture series in video format but it would work as well in audio only. (It is a lot cheaper in the audio only version).

I got this course out of curiosity when I was reading about the importance of the Magna Carta and how it is consider the basis for the creation of the US Constitution. In the process of looking up more information on it, I came across this course. To my surprise, there were many different events that happen in and around the year 1215, not just the signing of the Magna Carta by King John. This year and the years around it, turned out to have pivotal turning points in world history.

Without giving too much away, the course covers the signing of the Magna Carta, the meeting of the Church’s Forth Lateran Council, the crusades, and the rise of Genghis Khan, to just name a few. Not only do you get a look into what was going on in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, but Dr. Armstrong also gives a look at what was also happening in the rest of the world (Japan, Africa, and Mesoamerica) at the same time. I had no “idea” is to put it mildly. This is one of those lecture series that I will listen to a second time. The course is divided up into 24-thirty minute lectures for a total of about 12.5 hours of listening. Another bonus is that Dr. Armstrong has a good sense of humor when presenting the material and makes what could be a dry subject very entertaining. You can find the audio version on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qk82WC and if you prefer the video version, you can find it here at the Great Courses: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/years-that-changed-history-1215

If you want to learn more about Professor Armstrong please see this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsey_Armstrong

The next book I would like to give a recommendation on is called “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari. Let me start off saying that this is a great book. It is one of those that I will listen to a second time or reference back to. It is that good. The book was published in 2015 and is just as relevant today as it was when it was first published. The book is what the title says it is. It is a brief history of humankind from about 100,000 years ago to the present. In the process of presenting the story, Dr. Harari integrates history and science in a way that makes you ponder the currently accepted narratives found in society today. It is one of those books that give a fascinating look at how humanity became what it is – the dominate species on the planet. This should be required reading in all colleges. Heck, it should be required reading for High School Seniors before they graduate.

This book was very easy to listen to. Dr. Harari’s prose was smooth and concise. It made for a very enjoyable experience. I listened to the book as an audio book, but it would probably work even better in traditional format so that you can reference previous material much easier. There is a lot of information presented and I found myself re-listening to sections to help with digestion.

If you would like to learn more about this amazing author, Yuval Noah Harari, please check out this link: Yuval Noah Harari – Wikipedia

Of course you can find this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/32tfaHR

The next book I would like to talk about is called: “80/20 Running, by Matt Fitzgerald.” Since I run a lot, I am always looking for books on running and especially audio books that I can listen to while running.

This is a great book to get you started in the principles (the whys and how’s) of doing most of your runs at lower intensity and only 20 percent at the at higher intensity levels. I have been seriously running now for about 9 years and I had been exposed to this idea before from Joe Friel’s book “Fast after 50.” (another great book). What I liked best about the 80/20 book is that it explained, in easy to understand detail, the importance of slowing down a bit in training to help improve overall performance. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but it does work. Now don’t get me wrong, you still have to do a fair amount of the much harder intensity part, but not all the time. When you are training with out a coach to watch your progress, there is a tendency to get in a rut with moderate effort being the main workout all the time. And this just wears you down. Or you put in too much high intensity training and get injured. Either way this is counter productive.

I listened to this book as an audio book but it would probably work better in traditional format, especially if you are new to running or a seasoned runner but want to take it up a notch or two.

Of course you can find this on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3moFvOu

I also recommend Joe Friel’s book “Fast after 50” – especially if you are over 50 like me! Lol. You can find it on Amazon too: https://amzn.to/3Hfu03S

Last but not least, I would like to showcase a new piece of art work before I go. I started a “Sun Face” series in October and this is the first one of the series that I have finished. It is constructed of 3/4 inch plywood and painted with high quality latex paint. Then sealed with a clear latex primer. The sculpture measures about 28 inches by 28 inches by 3 inches deep. Its weight is about 25 lbs. This one is rated for interior or exterior placement, but if you are putting it outside, I would suggest a protected location. The latex paint, while durable, will gradually fade over time if placed in a location with strong sunlight. And like all paint, it is susceptible to the whims of harsh weather. I call this one “Squished Lego Sun Face.”

SQUISHED LEGO SUN FACE

These piece and other types of art work are for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Wow! I have come to the end of another blog post! Yea! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Before I go, I would like to touch again on the idea of becoming minimalist. This past month I was reminded of the importance of this idea when I came across an art installation post on FB that I had forgotten about called “Can’t Help Myself.” The piece was done by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu. It was first seen at the Guggenheim Museum in 2016.

You can see it at work in this YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/ZS4Bpr2BgnE If you want to learn more about the artists check out their inks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yuan_&_Peng_Yu and http://www.artnet.com/artists/sun-yuan-and-peng-yu/

It is of a large robotic arm that is constantly trying to save it’s hydraulic fluid that is colored red like blood. The arm makes other movements that give it anthropomorphic (human like) characteristics. The robot is in a losing battle trying to contain the very fluid that allows it to move and hence live. It is designed to lose a little more each day than it can recollect and so eventually it will cease movement and die (it bleeds out). I believe the robot finally came to rest in 2019. There are several interpretations of what the artists meant with the work, but the one that resonated with me the most is that it is a metaphor on modern life. On how we kill ourselves and others in the pursuit of money and profit in an effort to just keep living. And that the system is set up by others to keep us enslaved to the system so that the majority of profit goes to the wealthiest of the wealthy.

Here we are working and working, spending the best years of our lives, playing the game that the richest people in the world have designed. Trapped and slowly drowning with a growing list of responsibilities, debt, and expectations – combined with decreasing pay in relation to inflation and free time for exploration. And where does it all end? In death… It all ends in death. So you might find that interpretation depressing and I do too, but relevant and fitting.

So how do we combat such an overwhelming and fixed system? Well, if you have read my previous blog posts, you know what I am going to say, become “Minimalist.” It is really the only way on a personal and individual scale to combat a rigged consumeristic system. It is something that we can all do to fight back against the current order. When I first heard about the idea of minimalism I thought of a monk living in a monastery, bare walls, owning nothing, eating the same gruel each and everyday, etc.… But in reality this is not the case, though I guess if you wanted to do this you could. Lol.

Minimalism is different for each individual. You choose how much “minimalism” you want in your life and how much you don’t want. It is about understanding what matters most in life and removing the things that do not support the “what matters most part.” It is a way to break free of a rigged system. A way to start on the path of bringing back the happiness and joy we all want and need in our lives.

Ok, ok enough of the soapbox, but if your interested and want to learn more about sustainability, minimalism and the steady state economy, please see these sites: https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/what-is-sustainability/ and https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ and https://steadystate.org/

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated, then get it done. We all want this “Groundhog Day – Covid – Marry – Go – Round” to end. Until next time Adios!!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, AllTrails, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Family, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Pandemics, PurpleAir, Religion, Science, Space, Trail Running, Wildfire

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 24TH, SEPTEMBER 2021

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“Science is the one human activity that is truly progressive. The body of positive knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation.” Edwin Powell Hubble

This image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is a picture of what is know as the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) – a dwarf galaxy. Another name it goes by is Nubecula Minor. In Latin, Nubecula means little cloud. The SMC is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere, but can be seen low on the southern horizon from latitudes south of 15 degrees north. Meaning – To see it in North America, you would have to be in the Southern Caribbean or further south. The SMC is about 210 thousand light years away with a diameter of about 7,000 light years. It contains several hundred million stars. In comparison, our galaxy the Milky Way, contains an estimated 100 billion. The SMC is one of the nearest intergalactic neighbors to our galaxy and one of the most distant objects that can be seen with the naked eye. Image credit: NASA, ESA and A. Nota (STScI/ESA). If you would like to learn more about the SMC please visit these sites: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/brilliant-hot-young-stars-shine-in-the-small-magellanic-cloud and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Magellanic_Cloud

“You are what you know. Fifteenth-century Europeans ‘knew’ that the sky was made of closed concentric crystal spheres, rotating around a central earth and carrying the stars and planets. That ‘knowledge’ structured everything they did and thought, because it told them the truth. Then Galileo’s telescope changed the truth.” James Burke

This is an image of a part of the Gemini Constellation. It is located in the norther celestial hemisphere. It’s name means “the twins” in Latin. The constellation was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century ce. The picture was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and features a stellar nursery named AFGL 5180. It is about 5000 light years away. Due to the stellar dust associated with star formation, it can be difficult to see the newly formed stars. But Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 was designed to do this very thing by capturing detailed images in both visible and infrared light. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. C. Tan (Chalmers University & University of Virginia), R. Fedriani (Chalmers University); Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt. If you want to learn more about this image please check out there links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/star-formation-in-the-constellation-of-gemini-the-twins and https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/gemini-constellation/ and https://www.sciencealert.com/hubble-s-latest-image-release-is-so-beautiful-it-should-be-illegal

“What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.” Werner Heisenberg

This image is showing the Lagoon Nebula or Messier 8. The picture was created by using X-ray data (pink color) from the Chandra X-ray space telescope and optical images from the Mt. Lemmon Sky Center in Arizona (Blue and White Color). Messier 8 is about 4000 to 6000 light years from earth. It was first discovered in 1654 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna. This star-forming cloud of interstellar gas is located in the constellation Sagittarius and can be slightly visible to the naked eye in a very dark sky. Image Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona. If you want to learn more about this image or the Sky Center in Arizona please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-lagoon-nebula-gives-birth-to-stars and https://skycenter.arizona.edu/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagoon_Nebula

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Max Planck

This is an image of the spiral galaxy NGC 2276 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. It lies about 120 million light years away in the northern constellation Cepheus. One of its spiral arms contains an intermediate mass black hole with 50,000 times the mass of the sun. First discovery credit is given to Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke in 1876. Of course at that time it was not understood that it was a separate galaxy from our own. That would have to wait until Edwin Hubble came along. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Paul Sell (University of Florida). If you want to learn more about his image please visit: https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2021/029/01F60K4CF8WRAD8GQ03HEBNBMQ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_2276

“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” Carl Sagan

This is an image showing Dr. Nancy Grace Roman (third from left), Nasa’s first Chief of Astronomy and “The Mother of Hubble” visiting the Space Telescope Operations Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center in 2017. This was about one year before her death (1925 to 2018). Pictured left to right are: Beverly Serrano, Morgan Van Arsdall, Nancy Grace Roman, Olivia Lupie, Padi Boyd, and Erin Kisliuk. Nasa posted this picture on August 26th, 2021 to celebrate Women’s Equality Day. The day is celebrated each year on August 26th and commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote in the United States in 1920. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jim Jeletic. If you would like to learn more please visit these sites: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/paving-the-way-for-future-generations-of-women-in-stem and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women’s_Equality_Day and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Roman

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! And that my friends is a very, very, good thing for all of us. I am still crossing my fingers and now my toes, hoping that I can keep saying this for the next year. I really mean that. I am hoping that I can.

The virus is back and with a vengeance. The death toil has skyrocketed again and when I started to write this blog post on September 7th, we were at 669 thousands death. This was an increase in the last 30 days of 36,000 individuals. To put this in perspective, between June 6th to July 6th we only had 9,000 deaths. A significant drop, and it really looked like things were headed in the right direction. Of course “the experts” were warning about the Delta variant by this time and did we listen? No, not really. Events that were planned back earlier in the year for July, August and September were not canceled or modified for the most part and have been going off as planned. So the last 30 days has seen a huge increase in infections and death. 36,000 thousand individuals and counting… My question is how high is this going to go??

Well it has been 9 months since I got the initial two doses of the Pfizer Vaccine for Covid and when the third shot became available, I jumped on it. So did my wife. By the time of publishing it will have been 3.5 weeks since I got the third booster and no side effects so far. There has been some debate from the FDA, CDC and the President’s health advisory committee about whether the booster is needed for the general population. At the time of publishing it was not being recommended for the general public in the United States, unless you were a health care worker, over the age of 65 or immunocompromised. In Israel, it is being offered to everyone over the age of 30 and at least 5 months since their second shot.

By the middle of the month, September 15th, we had added another 16,000 deaths since September 7th. Wow, that is only 8 days and 16,000 more deaths. And that is with several states, like Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa and Wyoming not reporting on a timely basis. So the toil is probably much higher. Or to put this another way: one person in every 500 individuals dies because of Covid now in the United States.

By the time of publishing on the 24th, the death toil was over 700,000 thousand individuals in the USA. So what that means is that we added another 30,000 plus deaths in 17 days or 70,000 deaths since August 6th. A little more than 35,000 for each month of August and September. Unreal. And again, this is with some states not reporting in a timely manner. How high will the toil go by the end of the year?? My guess is that it will be 800,000 to 1 million deaths. Especially with Thanksgiving coming up and of course you have X-mass and New Years… Almost all of this has been preventable. From the Grand Cheeto’s debacle in how he handled the early part of the pandemic to now with the anti-vaccine people.

Of course much of the morbidity and mortality in this fourth wave of Covid is due to the unvaccinated. So if there ever was a time to get vaccinated, it is now. Actually it is past time. So do yourself and your loved ones a favor and get vaccinated.

If you want to see the numbers for yourself check out this link: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

I am tired of talking about Covid but what are you going to do? You are not going to get anywhere by ignoring it. But life does go on, so lets move on to something a little different and somewhat better. During the month of August there were only a handful of days that the air quality was good enough to really get out and push the pedal to the medal so to speak. I did get in a few trail runs but nothing like I did in June and July. Believe it or not the air quality went from bad to worse by the end of August. It was really not until the second week of September that things started to improve a little bit.

This picture was taken on August 8th, 2021 at about 7:45pm in the afternoon. It is looking West and you can see the smoke in the area. I wanted to post this picture because this was pretty much everyday for the month of August. Most of the air quality alerts for the month ranged from Moderate to Unhealthy. Not really good for any kind of heavy training in the outdoors. The only good thing to come out of the smoke is that it made for some spectacular sunsets in the area. Every morning the first thing to do was to check the Purple Air Map (https://www2.purpleair.com/ ) and the Open Summit Map (https://opensummit.com/ ) for current air quality and smoke forecast. You could not even get away from it by going up into the mountains. The entire state was covered.

This picture was taken on August 13th, 2021 at about 12 noon and it is one of the last days that I ran in the Horsetooth Open Space behind Fort Collins. This was due to smoke issues. If you look between the trees you can see the haze out east. The wind had made a tiny window of opportunity to get a run in before the smoke came back and made things unhealthy.

The next three pictures were taken on a hike / run with my oldest daughter. It was in a wilderness area called the Rawah’s. It is in Northern Colorado, about 70 miles west of Fort Collins. The elevation ranges from 8500 feet to over 12,000 feet.

This picture was taken on August 21st, 2021 at about 10am in the morning. It is a picture of my oldest daughter Kayla and me. We are just a couple of hours into a hike / run on the West Branch Trail in the Rawah Wilderness Area.

This picture was taken on August 21st, 2021 about 10:30am in the morning and it is a view of Clark Peak. It is the highest point in the Rawah’s at 12,950 feet and part of the Medicine Bow Mountain range: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_Bow_Mountains In this picture I am standing on the West Branch Trail looking West.

This picture was taken August 21st, 2021 at about 11:45am in the morning. Here we are sitting at the end of the West Branch Trail, elevation over 11,000 feet. It was a great hike/run and fun to do with Kayla, Marvin and Marvin’s dog buddy Cash. Again, I cannot over emphasize the issues with the smoke this year. Even though the sky in the pictures looks clear, the air quality was moderate to moderate high for 2.5 particulates and we both experienced some upper respiratory symptoms after the run. This is a great area to go hiking, running, back packing, etc… A good app to check out this area is on AllTrails: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/west-branch-trail

The next three pictures are from a third and last trail run in August. The air quality had dramatically improved for a day with the passage of a weak cold front and associated rain. It is in the same general area as the above three pictures but with much better air quality on this date.

This picture was taken on August 24th, 2021 at about 12:00noon. In the first couple of miles of the West Branch trail there is a huge grove of Aspen Trees. The stark white bark of the aspens contrasting with the dark green foliage of the spruce and pines makes for an interesting landscape. I am planning to come back here later in the fall to see the leaves changing color.

This picture was taken on August 24th, 2021 at about 2:30pm in the afternoon. Here Marvin and I are on our way to Twin Crater Lakes. We took a fork in the West Branch Trail at about 3 to 4 miles in and headed up a different drainage. There were lots and lots of deadfall on this trail from the previous winter. Most of the trail clearing effort was still being focused on repairing fire burned areas from last year. It made for some interesting trail acrobatics to say the least! Lol.

This picture was taken August 24th, 2021 at about 3:30pm in the afternoon. Marvin and I had made it to one of the lakes. Here we are enjoying the sunshine at about 11,000 feet. It was a beautiful windless day. There were a few people up here with us either fishing or just enjoying the view like we were. You can check out this route via the AllTrails app: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/west-branch-to-north-forks-trail-and-twin-crater-lakes

Due to the poor air quality and high temperatures for Colorado’s front range, we decided to divide our walks with Marvin into smaller segments for August. Heavy exercise outdoors such as running was not something I wanted to do. It made no sense to put in all that effort, only to make things worse due to breathing in bad air. The days for August went something like this: easy walk in the AM with Marvin, heavy workout indoors using Rower, Nordic Track, or Spin Bike, easy walk with Marvin in the afternoon. This was one time I wished that I had a quality treadmill but that will have to wait until next year.

This picture was taken on August 26, 2021 at about 11:45am in the morning. Janet and I are just finishing up a morning walk with Marvin. The temperature was already in the high 80s but would continue to climb into the mid nineties by the afternoon. Air quality was in the moderate range as it was most mornings, but would climb to a much unhealthy level by afternoon with the addition of ozone created by the higher than normal temperatures.

With the rise of the Delta variant of Covid and the continued unhealthy air quality in Colorado the prospects of competing in my planned ultrarunning events (Leadville 100 and Run Rabbit Run) did not go off as planned. Oh well what are you going to do? I know that there were those that pushed the safety zone and did these events regardless of the risk factors. But that is not for me. I get it, it is hard to not do something that requires so much training and self sacrifice and then have the world throw you curve balls. It is like getting ready for a huge “party of the year” and at the last minute, while your heading out the door, canceling it. You experience a sense of loss. And for some, that is hard to work around. I am 59 years old and I still want to be doing the ultra running thing when I am in my 80s. So the risk was not acceptable.

I did get a lot of reading done with the “Marvin Walks” in the sense that I listened to several audio books. So I would like to review a couple of them.

The first one I would like to start with is The Premonition written by Michael Lewis. Let me say that this is not a book just about the current pandemic and who did or did not do what they were suppose to do. It is about several different public health experts and their stories over the last 10 to 20 years and what roles they played at the start of the current pandemic. If you were looking for an anti-trump book then you might be disappointed. It does point out the fallacies of the Trump admiration but not in an over bearing manner. I would say that over all this book paints a very negative light on the CDC that started way before the Trump era. If anything needs to change, it is the CDC and how they advise the public, handle data and help other public health officials dealing with public health issues. None of the characters, outside of the CDC, paint the organization in a glowing light. And to me that says a lot.

The author does a good job of bringing what can be a dry topic ( public health) to life. I would say that it almost reads like a novel. I listened to this book as an audio book but I feel it would work well in any format.

From the Amazon site: Michael Lewis, the best-selling author of The Undoing Project, Liar’s Poker, Flash Boys, Moneyball, The Blind Side, Home Game and The Big Short, among other works, lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, Tabitha Soren, and their three children.

You can find this book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Premonition-Pandemic-Story-Michael-Lewis/dp/0393881555/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+premonition&qid=1632257294&sr=8-1

The next book I would like to talk about is “Why Trust Science?” by Naomi Oreskes. I first heard about Naomi Oreskes from a YouTube video from “The Royal Institution.” This is a channel were scientist talk about their research and sometimes promote their book about said research. If you interested in her talk, check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7PwqiiQmVM

I would have to say that the book did not disappoint. It was published in 2019 and is very relevant to the issues of today and the future. She gives a good historical perspective on science from the past all the way up to today. What I liked best is that she uses case studies to show where science got it wrong so to speak. And how we have learned from those mistakes.

In the book she does not shy away from some of the issues associated with the scientific process of today. The proliferation of what is know as “preprints” and how they are good to get information out but at the same time have a down side in that they have not had a formal peer review in a scholarly or scientific journal. And the whole idea of “Publish or Perish”, that creates issues for scientist to get something out “there” as quickly as possible before all the data collected can be fully analyzed. And she addresses some of the issues with corporate backed research. You do have to ask yourself is there going to be a “conflict of interest” in this research if XYZ corporation is backing it?

This is a great book if you want to understand, even with all of the issues in scientific research, why we should trust science. I listened to this book as an audio book but I think it would work great in any format.

Naomi Oreskes is an American historian of science and author. To learn more about her please visit this link: Naomi Oreskes – Wikipedia

Of course you can find this book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Trust-Science-Naomi-Oreskes-audiobook/dp/B07W99GTG3/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1632430393&sr=8-1

Well last but not least I would like to showcase one piece of newly finished art work before I go. It is a pen and ink with water color drawing of Jesus of Nazareth, except I have given it a little more of my own personal interpretation. Lol. I call this piece “Jesus of Borg.” Now if you are not a Star Trek fan you might not know who the Borg are in the series. But in a nutshell they are cybernetic organisms linked in a hive mind called “The Collective.” They are known to assimilate others into their collective whether they want it or not. If you are interested check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg

I started this piece with anger over the Texas GOPs enactment of the anti-abortion law. I have three adult daughters and while they might not agree on whether it is right or wrong to get an abortion, they all agree that it is “their right” to choose. And I agree with them. So that is how the piece started out but it morphed into something a little different. Did you know that there are at least 10,000 different denominations of Christianity in the world. Of course some say this number is much higher but I figure 10,000 is a safe estimate. Knowing this I thought why not make up my own Jesus?! A lot of other people have. So I did! And what I came up with was a bad ass LGBT SiFi Jesus. A Jesus that would assimilate all other Jesuses, even Republican Jesus, into a hive mind and create an accepting and loving collective for all people and all religions. In Star Trek, the Borg are considered the enemy but in my version I have turned it around and made “Jesus of Borg” the good guy, the savior. What is Jesus of Borg’s religion? Why Science Fiction of course. All religion is mythology and so is Science Fiction, therefore the largest religion in the world and the only one that has a chance of ever coming true is SiFi.

This drawing is done in pen and ink with water color and is protected with a traditional picture frame and glass. It measures approximately 12 inches wide by 15 inches tall.

“Jesus of Borg”

This piece and others are for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Wow! I have come to the end of another blog post and before I close, I want to say this again, if you have not thought about the mindset of “Minimalism” you should. The consumeristic culture we have created is not sustainable. That is if we don’t want to destroy the very environment that makes all human life possible. I have no doubt that the earth will survive, but will humanity? That remains to be seen.

Ever since the early 1900s when the people that make light bulbs decided to limit their lifespan so that consumers would have to buy more, we have been locked into this engineering and marketing principle of “planned obsolescence.” According to “Free Market Capitalism” we have to grow, grow and grow – therefore corporations have to sell us more stuff every year, after year, after year, with no end in sight. They have to make more in profit each year than the year before. They cannot just be profitable but have to make more each and every year or they are looked at as a failure. When I seriously think about this I am always reminded of the maxim: “Growth for growth’s sake is the definition of a Cancer Cell.” And that is what we have. Our economic system in the United States could be considered a cancer. And it needs to change.

So you might be wondering what YOU can do to help kill this cancer?! Well the first thing you can do is to become Minimalist! Stuff is stuff and you can have too much of it. Just like food. Too much of a good thing is going to cause problems. Cut out the empty calories so to speak by buying less and making good decisions on what you buy. Buy used when possible, pass it on when you are done with it, care for the stuff you already have, and if you absolutely have to buy new – look for durability, fixability, sustainable, and ethically made products that will last for years. Become the change you want to see.

Ok, ok enough of the soap box but if your interested in “minimalism” a good place to start is here: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated then get it done. Like the Nike slogan says: “Just do it!” We all want this “Groundhog Day-Covid-Marry-Go-Round” to stop. Until next time! Adios!!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Leadville Run 100, Pandemics, PurpleAir, Science, Science Fiction, Space, Trail Running

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 27TH, AUGUST 2021

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All the atoms we are made of are forged from hydrogen in stars that died and exploded before our solar system formed. So if you are romantic, you can say we are literally stardust. If you are less romantic, you can say we’re the nuclear waste from fuel that makes stars shine.” Martin J. Rees

This is a composite picture of the Orion Nebula and it was created by using images from the Hubble Space Telescope and images from ground based systems. This picture was created in 2006 and at the time it was the sharpest view of the Nebula ever taken. When looked at in detail the image shows more than 3000 stars, some of which had never been seen in visible light. Even though the Nebula is about 15,000 light years away, give or take a few, it is visible to the naked eye. It is the middle “star” in the sword of Orion, which are the three stars located south of of Orion’s Belt. Image Credit: NASA,ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team. To learn more about this image or the nebula please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/a-peek-inside-the-orion-nebula and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_Nebula

“I’d like to widen people’s awareness of the tremendous timespan lying ahead–for our planet, and for life itself. Most educated people are aware that we’re the outcome of nearly 4 billion years of Darwinian selection, but many tend to think that humans are somehow the culmination. Our sun, however, is less than halfway through its lifespan. It will not be humans who watch the sun’s demise, 6 billion years from now. Any creatures that then exist will be as different from us as we are from bacteria or amoebae.” Martin J. Rees

This is an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxy known as IC 5063. It is 156 million light years away. Astronomers believe that at its core is a supermassive black hole and the interplay of light and shadow you see in the image is created when light strikes a dust ring surrounding the black hole. The light is created by gas that is being sucked in by the black hole. As the gas gets closer, it is heated up and this action creates an accretion disc that radiates brilliant light. This phenomenon is similar to what we see on earth with sunlight streaming through broken clouds at sunset or sunrise. The light beams are scattered by the atmosphere creating bright rays and dark shadows. In the above image the scale is much, much larger – 36,000 light years across. Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI and W.P. Maksym (CfA) To learn more about this image please visit this link: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/bright-rays-and-dark-shadows-in-a-nearby-galaxy

“Our universe, extending immensely far beyond our present horizon, may itself be just one member of a possibly infinite ensemble. This “multiverse” concept, though speculative, is a natural extension of current cosmological theories, which gain credence because they account for things that we do observe. The physical laws and geometry could be different in other universes, and this offers a new perspective on the seemingly special values that the six numbers take in ours.” Martin J. Rees

This is an composite image of our Sun. How cool is that? On April 29th, 2015, three different instruments were used to look at the Sun: the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), Japan’s Hinode spacecraft, and Solar Dynamics Observatory. NuSTAR images are in blue, Hinode are in green and Solar Dynamics are in yellow. The NuSTAR data shows the most energetic spots. It was launched in June of 2012 and is still functioning. It’s mission in a nut shell was to study the universe in high energy X-rays to better understand the dynamics of black holes, exploding stars and active galaxies. It was the first hard-focusing X-ray telescope to orbit Earth. The Japan Hinode spacecraft was launched in 2006 and it mission was to explore the magnetic fields of the Sun. The mission was only for three years but has been extended to sometime in 2022. Another interesting part of the Hinode mission in my opinion is that it was a collaborative effort between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory, NASA, and the space agencies of Norway, the United Kingdom and the European Space Agency. Wow! The Solar Dynamics Observatory was launched by NASA in 2010 and was designed to understand the Sun’s influence on the Earth. SDO has been investigating how the Sun’s magnetic field is generated and structured. And how this effects earth. It’s mission was only to last 5 years but it is still in use at the moment. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/JAXA. To learn more about this check out this link: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/staring-at-the-sun

“Incidentally, if any signs of life were found elsewhere in our solar system – and if we could be sure that it was based on a different kind of DNA, implying that it had a separate origin from terrestrial life – then we could immediately conclude that life was widespread in the universe. Something that had happened twice around a single star must have happened on millions of planets elsewhere in the Galaxy.” Martin J. Rees

This is an image of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede! Now let that sink in a minute. It is a somewhat close up view of the moon of a different planet in our solar system. How cool is that? It was obtained by NASA’s Juno Spacecraft using an instrument called the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper or (JIRAM). The Juno Spacecraft was launched in 2011 and did not reach Jupiter until 2016. It was designed to study the planet. The above image was produced by the Juno science team by combining the data from three flybys, the latest approach was on July 20th this year. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM. If you want to learn more about this image or the Juno Spacecraft please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/juno-celebrates-10-years-with-a-new-view-of-jovian-moon-ganymede and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(spacecraft)

“We’re not aware of the “big picture,” any more than a plankton whose universe was a liter of water would be aware of the world’s topography and biosphere.” Martin J. Rees

This is an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of a section of the Perseus cluster. The cluster itself is one of the most massive objects in the known universe and contains thousands of galaxies. The above picture shows just two of the galaxies. The one on the left is a lenticular galaxy, named 2MASX J03193743+4137580 and the one on the right is a spiral galaxy named more simply UGC 265. Both lie approximately 350 million light years from earth. Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Harris; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz. To learn more about the above image please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-glimpses-a-galactic-duo and https://phys.org/news/2021-07-image-hubble-glimpses-galactic-duo.html

“Humanity’s long-term impact on Earth depends both on population and on lifestyle. The World Wildlife Foundation, a conservation group, has published estimates of the land area, or “footprint,” needed to support each person: It concludes that an area equivalent to “almost three planets” would be required to support the world’s population with the lifestyle and consumption pattern that it predicts for 2050. This particular calculation is controversial and perhaps somewhat tendentious: For instance, the “footprint” includes the area of forest needed to soak up the carbon dioxide arising from each person’s energy use, making no allowance for a shift to renewable energy sources, nor for the tenable viewpoint that modest rises in carbon dioxide levels are tolerable. Nonetheless, the world plainly could not perpetually support its entire population in the present style of middle-class Europeans and North Americans.” Martin J. Rees

You will never be as cool as Apollo 15 Commander David Scott as he drove the lunar rover on the surface of the Moon. It has now been 50 years since the Apollo 15 mission. It was the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and greater focus on science than earlier landings. The astronauts were David Scott, James Irwin and Alfred Worden. This was the first mission in which the Lunar Rover was used. Image Credit: NASA. If you would like to learn more about this picture or the Apollo 15 mission please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/taking-a-ride-on-the-moon-in-the-lunar-roving-vehicle and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_15

“It may not be absurd hyperbole — indeed, it may not even be an over statement –to assert that the most crucial location in space and time (apart from the big bang itself) could be here and now. I think that odds are no better than fifty-fifty that our present civilization on Earth will survive to the end of the present century. Our choices and actions could ensure the perpetual future of life (not just on Earth, but perhaps far beyond it, too). Or in contrast, through malign intent, or through misadventure, twenty-first century technology could jeopardize life’s potential, foreclosing its human and posthuman future. What happens here on Earth, in this century, could conceivably make the difference between a near eternity filled with ever more complex and subtle forms of life and one filled with nothing but base matter.” Martin J. Rees

Martin J. Rees is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He is a recipient of numerous awards and author / co-author of many book and publications. To learn more about this distinguished astrophysicist please visit this site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Rees To see the books please check out this link: Amazon.com: Martin J. Rees: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! And that my friends is a very, very good thing for all of us. I am still crossing my fingers and hoping that I can keep saying this for the next year.

When I started to write this blog on August 8th, the death count, unfortunately, had increase by 10,000 deaths (total of 632 thousand). This is 1000 more individuals from the previous 30 days. It looks like most of these people were the unvaccinated and they had the Delta variant. The day before I started writing, the city authorities in Austin, Texas issued an alert via text, phone calls, email, social media and other channels to warn people in the area that hospitals were open but due to the surge in Covid cases, resources were very limited. There ICU bed capacity for the entire city was down into the single digits. Unreal when you think about a city of almost 1 million people. It is the 11th, largest city in the United States.

Part of this unfortunate surge in cases in the Lone Star State is due to the governor issuing an executive order back in May, preventing counties, cities, public health authorities and local governments officials from requiring people to wear masks. He signed a more far reaching order at the end of July barring both mask and vaccination mandates, and prohibiting public agencies and any private entities that take public funds, including grants and loans, from requiring proof of vaccination. Of course Texas has not been the only state to record increasing infections and deaths. Florida is not far behind. To read more about this check out the New York times link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/07/us/austin-covid-dire-abbott.html

It has now been 32 weeks since I got the Pfizer Vaccine for Covid and…. so far there have been no side effects for me! And I really don’t expect there to be any. If you have not gotten vaccinated by now because you refused it…. Then you are the problem. Get vaccinated. No ands, if or buts, get vaccinated. Or don’t and you may win a Darwin Award Honorable Mention! While not a full fledged “Darwin Award”, dying of Covid because you refused to get vaccinated will at least get you an Honorable Mention. Of course this is just my opinion but should be put in the Website. If you do not know what the Darwin Awards are please check out this link: https://darwinawards.com/

You don’t have to remove yourself from the gene pool in “spectacular fashion” to get an “Honorable Mention”. Not getting vaccinated and dying of Covid will do just fine.

By the middle of the month Texas had finally surpassed New York for the most deaths from Covid and it had put them in second place, right behind California. The “state of interest” in the Covid debacle will be Florida. They are currently in fourth place right behind New York now and would need 14,000 more deaths to catch up but I am guessing that by the first of the year this might be possible. Unreal and not in a good way.

Toward the end of the month we were up to 150,000 plus new cases each day, with the top states of course being Texas, Florida, and California, unfortunately deaths were starting to follow as expected. In June, deaths were down to 200 per day or so, sometimes lower, but by the end of August we were up 1000++ per day (total of 652 thousand). The crazy part of this is that some states were very reluctant to report their case numbers. So the totals might have been even higher.

By the time I published this blog on Friday 27th, approximately 20 days since starting it, we had added 20,000 deaths due to Covid! Let that sink in a moment… 20 thousand deaths due to Covid in 20 days. The fourth wave is truly upon us…

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Well enough about Covid for the moment, lets move on to something that is a little better for the month of July – but not by much! Lol. I swear, if it was not the Covid BS then it was fires on the West Coast from California to British Columbia and the resultant smoke issues for the rest of the nation, including Colorado. July here on the Front Range warmed up fast. The 90 degree plus days were back and in full force for the month of July, which was not unexpected. Unfortunately the air quality really took a nosedive at the same time. Mainly due to the big fires out West and to a lesser degree the increase in Ozone from the higher temperatures. With the combination of the two, it really became challenging at times to get out doors.

This picture was taken July 5th, 2021 at about 12:15pm and the temperatures were already in the 90 plus range. Too hot for the dog and almost too hot for me! Lol. This image is showing the Poudre river with it still flowing pretty good. While the Front Range was hot and dry, the mountains were getting some rain, so the river flows were still up. You cannot really see it in this picture but the river was pretty black and not it usual clear color. The dark color was created from the burn scars in the mountains west of town.

This image was taken July 8th, 2021 at about 1:15pm in the afternoon. This was in the open space west of town called Horsetooth Mountain. The mountain was still pretty green at this time but the temps were in the lower 90s. I really had to pick and choose my days carefully and consistently check the air quality website called Purple Air. (https://www.purpleair.com) Luckily I would get a few hours mid-morning in which the AQI was in the 50 to 60 range (not the best but not the worst) before Ozone levels became unhealthy. It was this combination of high AQI for PM 2.5 and afternoon ozone that really created some dirty air.

This picture was taken July 12th, 2021 at about 1pm in the afternoon. Again another hot day. The picture does not really do it justice. The temperature was about 90 degrees give or take a few points. The parking lot temperature was close to 100 at the trailhead. Again, this is in the open space west of town call Horsetooth Mountain Park. I did a lot of running in this area due to proximity to town. Training for an Ultra can eat up a lot of time in the process and anything you can do to decrease driving time to a training area helps in the long run. In this picture you can just see the smoke layer out east. It is that light dirty brown haze in the distance. The winds had just pushed it away from town for a bit and the air quality had improved dramatically.

This picture was taken July 16th, 2021 at about 1pm in the afternoon. Another hot one on this day. In the 90s again. This is looking west at the namesake of the open space – Horsetooth rock itself. Some people think the rock looks like the back molars of a horse.
Another reason I did a lot of training in this area and instead of the higher mountains was the risk of flash flooding across the burn scars. While the Front Range remained dry the mountains were getting the usual afternoon thunderstorms and it does not take much rain to create a flash flood in burned areas. So while the rain was a good thing to keep fire danger down in the mountains, the downside was the increased risk of flash flooding.

This picture was taken July 20th, 2021 at 10am in the morning. It is on the banks of the Poudre River. For most of the month of July we walked Marvin in the AM a short distance to beat the heat and then again late in the afternoon when the temps had dropped to 90 or below. On some afternoons we were back to wearing an N95 for smoke, if the AQI got into 150 range.
If your someone that gets outdoors a lot in the mountains, there is a great app out there called Open Summit. I use it for snow forecast in winter and in summer, for weather in mountains. Also they have a great “Smoke Forecast” map that was a big help in planning trail runs. If your interested check them out at this link: https://opensummit.com/
This picture was taken July 26th, 2021 at 12:30pm and I am in Horsetooth Mountain Park doing another trail run. The tree in this picture is a Ponderosa Pine. The open space has a lot of these trees. They are a large species of pine native to the mountainous regions of the western North America. If left alone this pine species can live 300 to 600 years and get very big – up to 200 feet in height and 8 feet in diameter Most of the ones in Horsetooth are secondary or even tertiary growth. Thinking about this I wonder what it would have been like to see these trees as the first settlers to the area did. They had to be massive. If you are interested in more information about these trees please see this website: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/pinus/ponderosa.htm

As you probably have realized by now from the above pictures, I spent a lot of time, I mean a lot of time running on the trails in Horsetooth Mountain Park in order to get ready for the Leadville 100 but it was all for naught. Remember back in late May and early June there were the warnings about the Delta variant on the rise. Well that as we all know now has come to pass. While looking at these increasing numbers back in June, a realization started to form in my mind, that would result in two decisions. The first one occurred by July 1st. I left my health care job after being a registered nurse for over 39 years. The majority of that time was spent in Emergency Medicine. To say that 2020 was a terrible year while working in the ER is an understatement. Seeing the writing on the wall, so to speak, I quit. I decided to not go through that again. It was not the number of patients with Covid that created the issue for me, but the “hospital’s response” to Covid in general. I won’t go into it here but let me say it was beyond ugly last year and I was not going to experience that again.

This picture was taken August 4th, 2021 at about 11:30am. It is in Horsetooth Mountain Park looking up Tower’s Road. Another trail run to build up the climbing endurance needed for the Leadville 100. It has been disheartening to see the rise of the Delta variant and knowing that a lot of runners will take the virus home with them after competing in this years race. If we were really interested in the welfare of the public and not just an economic one, there would have been a lot of cancelations or mandated vaccines for ultra events and other outdoor activities. Unfortunately this has not been the case. I get it, we all want it to be over. But that is not reality.

The second one was I deferred my entry to the Leadville 100 until next year. Knowing what I know of how the virus spreads and what it can do to the human body, it did not make much sense to go and compete in an event at the height of an ongoing Pandemic. I know we all wanted to think it was done by the middle of May but unfortunately that has not been the case. By the time you are reading this blog post, booster shots will have been approved, mask mandates will have come back, and dinning or practically doing anything indoors will not be safe again. AND due to the significantly increased transmissibility of the Delta variant, outdoor events with large crowds will have a higher risk than what they did this time last year.

A couple of book reviews and a piece of art work before wrapping things up. The first book I would like to talk about is called “Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life” by Nick Lane. Let me start off by saying this book contains a lot of information. I mean a lot of information. It is one of those that you need to read a section and let it digest, maybe reread it, and then move on. There has been a lot of research in molecular biology over the last 20 years and a great deal has been on mitochondria. I could say that is what this book is about in a nutshell but that would be doing it an injustice. The book is about how mitochondria came to be and in the “process of discovery” the book covers so much more. Why do mitochondria have their own genes? What role did they play in the evolution of complex life? What do mitochondria have to do with sexual reproduction? What role do they play in aging and death? Nick does a great job in answering these questions and many more. The book is very thought provoking. I got the book as an audio book but I am thinking of getting the paperback version to read and listen at the same time to get a better understanding.

The book was released in 2005 and then a second edition in 2019. I am guessing this was due to new research that has come to light.

Nick Lane is a Biochemist and writer. He is a professor in evolutionary biochemistry at the University College London. To learn more about Nick visit this site: https://nick-lane.net/

You can find this book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Sex-Suicide-Nick-Lane-audiobook/dp

The next book I would like to talk about is called the “The Three-Body Problem.” It is a science fiction book by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It is set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution in which alien contact is achieved in secret. But not in the usual way. A complex story with some interesting twist. Some readers will have a little difficulty with the book if you are not familiar with some of the history of China’s Cultural Revolution. I got lucky and had finished a “Great Courses Course” on China a few months before reading the book. I find it interesting to see how other cultures deal with the ideas and writing of Science Fiction and just the drama of everyday life. It is like comparing European TV to American TV. There is a huge difference in the approach of telling a story. If you keep this in mind I think most people would enjoy the book. I got it as an audiobook.

Liu Cixin is a prominent Chinses science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of China’s Galaxy Award and has also received a Hugo Award. If you would like to learn more about his writer please visit this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Cixin

You can find the book on Amazon: Amazon.com: The Three-Body Problem (Audible Audio Edition): Cixin Liu, Luke Daniels, Macmillan Audio: Audible Books & Originals
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Well last but not least one piece of art work before I go. It is a second drawing in pen and ink of what things would be like if we could see with the naked eye at the quantum scale. I have been listening to science lectures on particle and quantum physics and I have wondered what would all those Photons, Bosons, Gluons, Leptons, and Quarks look like if you could actually see them up close. Would you see all the connections that hold them together? The quantum glue so to speak. I tried to capture what this might look like if you could see it all on that level with the naked eye.

This drawing is done in pen and ink and is protected with a traditional picture frame and glass. It measures approximately 12 inches wide by 15 inches tall.

I call the piece below “Quantum Goulash 2.”

This piece and others are for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

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Well another blog post done! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. I have to be honest and say I feel that there is a little bit of “catharsis” for me in writing one. And there is a sense of accomplishment in the process too. It feels good. I get to explain my thoughts on certain subjects, show case some of my art work, and in general to practice a little bit of writing. Writing in my opinion is the most important part of the process. This is where I get to start the exercises of thinking things through, consolidating my thoughts, and maybe getting a better understanding of the world around me and my reaction to it.

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” Seth Godin

Before I go I need to give the usual shout out to minimalism. Have you ever taken a vacation thinking that you needed this to unwind from your usual lifestyle and when you get back to reality, it does not take long and you are already dreaming about your next vacation?! What gives?? Reread the above quote by Seth Godin. When I first saw it years ago, it kind of stopped me in my tracks. The very idea of it, that we could design a lifestyle that is our “vacation” so to speak? Well you can and minimalism is one way to do this. It is just a change in mindset. Nothing to buy, nothing to purchase, just a change in how you look at your life and the world. Curious?? A good place to start is here: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated then get it done. No excuses. If you are reading this blog then I want to definitely keep you around. Not that I would not care about you if you didn’t, but you know what I mean. The Delta Variant is not a laughing matter, not that any part of Covid is a laughing matter, but this variant is a whole new ballgame. Don’t think otherwise. And for those of us that have been vaccinated, we are going to need a booster, so plan on it. We all need to come to the realization that the plans we made in May and June or before for later this year, will need to be amended or changed or canceled due to the rise of this variant. Or this “Groundhog Day Covid Marry-Go-Round” will continue…

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Leadville Run 100, Minimalism, Pandemics, PurpleAir, Science, Space, Trail Running, Wildfire

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 30TH, JULY 2021

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“Everyone forgets Icarus also flew.” Jack Gilbert

In December 2016 the United Nations General Assembly created a resolution declaring June 30th as International Asteroid Day. This was done to bring attention to the potential hazards of a large asteroid impact on earth. The day is an “observance” of the Tunguska impact over Siberia that occurred on June 30th, 1908. The above image is an artist’s illustration of our solar system’s asteroid belt. Of course it is not to scale but it gives you a good idea of how many asteroids are in our solar system. Vesta is the largest at 329 miles in diameter. Ceres is next at 292 miles in diameter. Some are as small as 33 feet in diameter. When I look at the above illustration I don’t think of the danger to mother earth but the opportunity and potential for asteroid mining. If we look critically at the limited amount of resources left on earth, asteroid mining starts to look as a viable option. Imagine the technological advances that would be needed to create a robust mining venture. This would be one way to significantly advance humankind’s expansion into space. Image credit: NASA/McREL. If your interested in more check out these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/picturing-our-solar-systems-asteroid-belt and https://www.un.org/en/observances/asteroid-day and https://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2016/finalwebsite/solutions/asteroids.html

“Creative Entitlement” simply means believing that you are allowed to be here, and that merely by being here, you are allowed to have a voice and a vision of your own. Elizabeth Gilbert

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory is a space telescope that was launched from the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999. It was during the STS-93 mission. The telescope is sensitive to sources of x-rays that are 100 times fainter than any previous x-ray telescope. It has now been in service for over 20 years and is still working. The telescope is named after the late Nobel laureate /astrophysicist (American) Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar. The above image was produced from dozens of observations of a 130 light year region of space in the center of the Milky Way. The above colors represent different levels of x-ray energy: red is low, green is medium and blue is high. Using this telescope astronomers have been able to identify thousands of point like sources due to neutron stars, black holes, white dwarfs, foreground stars, and background galaxies. Image credit: NASA/CXC/UCLA/MIT/M.Muno et al. If you want to learn more about the above image or the telescope please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/chandra-turns-up-the-heat-in-the-milky-way-center and https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/background/facts/cxoquick.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_X-ray_Observatory

“To yell at your creativity, saying, “You must earn money for me!” Is sort of like yelling at a cat; it has no idea what you’re talking about, and all you’re doing is scaring it away, because you’re making really loud noises and your face looks weird when you do that.” Elizabeth Gilbert

This is an image of the star cluster NGC 330. It was discovered on August 1st, 1826 by James Dunlop. Of course in 1826 the image that Dunlop observed did not look anything like the above. The image above was created by using observations form Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. The crisscross light patterns on the individual stars were created when starlight interacted with four thin vanes supporting Hubble’s secondary mirror. The star cluster is about 180,000 light years from earth inside the Small Magellanic Cloud – in the constellation Tucana (the Toucan). Because the Open cluster is south of the celestial equator, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Kalirai, A. Milone. If you want to learn more about the above image please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-sees-a-cluster-of-red-white-and-blue and http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/hubble-open-cluster-ngc-330-09801.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_cluster

“We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.” Oscar Wilde

The above image is an artist rendition of a newly discovered exoplanet that is 90 light years from earth. It was discovered using data from TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) by an international team of astronomers led by Dr. Jennifer Burt (an exoplanet researcher at NASA’s JPL) and Professor Diana Dragomir ( an exoplanet researcher at the University of New Mexico). It is about 3.5 times as big around as Earth and warm at 134 degrees Fahrenheit. It orbits a red dwarf star and is about 8 times closer to it’s star than earth is to the sun. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. If you would like to learn more about the above exoplanet please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/in-orbit-around-a-red-dwarf-star and http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/sub-neptune-exoplanet-toi-1231b-09749.html

“The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.” Neil deGrasse Tyson

This is an image of the final launch of the space shuttle program (STS-135) July 8th, 2011. The space shuttle Atlantis was carrying supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. The crew comprised Christopher Ferguson – Commander, Douglas Hurley – Pilot, Sandra Magnus – Mission Specialist 1, and Rex Walheim – Mission Specialist 2. I sometimes wonder if this had not been the final launch, if President Bush had not started the process of canceling the shuttle program in 2004, if Congress would have continued to increase NASA’s budget each year, if NASA would have used a different business model other than “cost plus contracting” and if and if and if. I guess the only good thing to come of this “short sightedness” in my opinion, is that Space X and Boeing were given a customer (ferrying ISS crews) if they wanted to get into space flight industry. Of course the only company to actually fill this mission so far is Space X. I wonder what would have happened if NASA could have pursued both paths? Helping to nurture private commercial space flight and working on the Constellation program and the X-33. Where would we be today? Image credit: NASA. If you want to learn more please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/images/this-week-in-nasa-history-final-launch-of-shuttle-program-july-8-2011.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-135 and https://www.planetary.org/articles/why-nasa-pays-spacex-and-boeing and https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/history/experimental_aircraft/X-33.html

“If people don’t like what you’re creating, just smile at them sweetly and tell them to “go make their own f&%king art.” Elizabeth Gilbert

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! That my friends is a very, very good thing for all of us. And I am crossing my fingers that I can continue to say this each and every month for the next year.

When I started to write this blog on July 8th, the death count in the USA stood at 622 thousand. That is a difference of 9,000 deaths in the last 30 days. And while this number is still high, it is a significant drop in Covid mortality from the previous 30 days when the number was 20,000. We are making progress. The question will be can we continue this downward trend with the rise of the Delta variant. It now accounts for more than half of all new infections in the US and in some states such as Iowa, Kanas, Missouri, and Nebraska it makes up about 80% of new cases.

It looks like Pfizer is asking the FDA to authorize a booster shot to extend protection and they are supposedly working on updating their vaccine so it will address the Delta Variant. The booster shot is already being tested. So all they need now is FDA approval.

It as now been 28 weeks since I got the Pfizer Vaccine for Covid and… so far there have been no side effects for me!! Yea!! And that is a very good thing. Not that I expected any in the first place. But this being a new technology you never know. I got the vaccine with this knowledge after seeing what the disease could do to people. It is not pretty. And if you do survive it you may not be back to your “normal” baseline for a very, very long time – if ever.

In the USA we are now up to 56.5 % of the population that has gotten at least one shot and 48.9% that have gotten both doses. In the last 30 days we have added over 10 million vaccinated people. But while 10 million is a large number, our vaccination rates are dropping. If we have to go back into a lock down with all the economic and social repercussions it will be due to the unvaccinated.

If you want to check out the numbers yourself check out this link from NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state and https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine-doses.html?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap

Back in June our infection rate was falling and it appeared that it would continue in a downward direction. Unfortunately this has not been the case. The much more infectious Delta Variant has become the predominate strain in this country and correspondingly we have seen a significant reversal in infections. On July 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th we saw new infections of over 30,000 each day. Fridays high on July 16th was 40 thousand plus and we topped 67,000 plus by Friday 23rd. That was a jump of over 60 percent from the previous few weeks. The top three states for new infections were Florida, California, and Texas. The death count was still down but that would be expected as there is a few weeks delay between new infections and death. My guess is that the numbers are actually much higher than this due to the fact that some states are only reporting weekly now. This in my opinion is not done out of a concern for public health but an economic one. If your state is having a surge in cases and the public knows – it is bad for business. Two examples of this are Florida and Nebraska. A good article on this is from Medical Express. You can check out the link here: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-states-scale-virus-cases-surge.html

By July 20th, CDC director Rochelle Walensky was warning that the pandemic is now a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Almost all of the people getting hospitalized and suffering the worst morbidity and mortality are those that did not get vaccinated.

At the end of the month, on Thursday, July 30th the US reported 92,000 new infections with Covid. Unreal. The total death count was 628 thousand or a difference of approximately 6000 deaths in 21 days but I am guessing that in the next 9 to 10 days we are going to add a few more thousand. The fourth wave of the infections is upon us….

Well enough about Covid. Time to move on to some pictures from the great outdoors for the month of June. I was hoping that the air quality and weather that we experienced in May would be the same for June, but I would have to say that it was a little complicated.

This picture was taken June 7th, 2021 at about 1:30pm in the afternoon. Here I am looking up through a stand of aspen and spruce. Janet and I were hiking in a section of the Rawah Wilderness that was not burned by the Cameron Peak fire last year. This was a view from the West Branch trail. We only went up about 3 miles before turning around due to multi deadfalls that had not been cleared from the trail. I am planning to do some running on this trail later in July and I am hoping that some of this has been cleaned up by then. But it might not happen this year due to all the fire damage being attended to on other trails in the same general area and the risk of afternoon storms causing flash flooding. Oh well it is what it is and I am just glad that it did not all burn.

The first part of June was pretty good. Cool temps, wind and more importantly moisture in the form of rain for the Front Range. This made for some excellent weather and air quality conditions at the start and toward the end of June.

This picture was also taken on June 7th, 2021 at about 2pm in the afternoon. I thought I should get one of Janet and Marvin together on the West Branch trail. It was good to get back in the Rawah’s. I had been using the south end of the Wilderness area all of last summer until the Cameron Peak fire started. The trail was pretty dry this day and I was wondering if this was going to be the norm for the summer? A good link to check out the Rawah Wilderness is at AllTrails: https://www.alltrails.com/parks/us/colorado/rawah-wilderness

Unfortunately the dry conditions returned to the mountains by the middle of the month and so did the fires. The air quality took a nose dive due to the added smoke. And the temperatures shot up into the 90s along the Front Range which led to an increase in Ozone levels. The smoke, the temperatures, the ozone all led to really bad outdoor air quality for most of Colorado’s front range during the middle part of June. Little did I know that these conditions were a forerunner of what was to take place in July. But I will save that debacle for the next blog post. Lol.

This picture was taken June 9th, 2021 at about 8:45pm in the evening. The temps were already starting to get warmer for the month and for Marvin it was best to let the sun set and the temperatures drop below 90 degrees before getting out. This picture is looking South West from an open space in Fort Collins called Prospect Ponds. In the background you can see some feathery clouds that give a nice look to the sunset but are actually from a forest fire in the mountains.

Just when I thought the month of June was going to be a total wash, the last week got a lot better. The high country got some much needed moisture and the temps cooled a bit on the Front Range and this led to a subsequent increase in air quality. So the last part of June was pretty good for being in the outdoors. Like I said, it was a little complicated. Lol.

This picture was taken June 10th, 2021 at about 3:30pm in the afternoon. Marvin and I got out for a trail run in the Colorado State Forest. Most of the wood smoke had moved south and further west as you can tell from the blue sky. This is a beautiful area that is located at Cameron Pass in the Never Summer Mountains. The peak is a rock formation called Nokhu Crags that is derived from the Native American Arapaho language meaning Eagles Nest. Marvin and I were trying to get up to an area called American Lakes but ran into deep snow and had to turn around. The road we are on is called Michigan Ditch Road. Here are a couple of links to check out more on this area: https://www.summitpost.org/nokhu-crags/151713 and https://publiclands.colostate.edu/digital_projects/dp/poudre-river/moving-storing/ditches-dams-diversions/michigan-ditch/
This picture was taken June 14th, 2021 at about 9pm in the evening. It is looking West at a beautiful sunset. It was another hot day and Marvin and I were running late in the evening due to lower temps and better air quality. The day had been in the 90s and the air quality index was close to 100, but later the temps had fallen into the lower 80s and the AQI was closer to 60. Also the ozone levels had come down a bit too. The beautiful yellow color of the sunset is actually due to particulates in the atmosphere. In this case, I believe most of the particulates were wood smoke from fires in Colorado and Arizona. The big fires out in Oregon, California, Washington and Idaho did not start until the first week of July. If you interested in seeing what your air quality is for “particulates”, check out the Purple Air Website: https://www2.purpleair.com/ It is free to use and it is in real time. If you live in area that does not have a monitor, think about buying one. Knowledge is power and being informed is the first step in claiming that power to protect your health.

Training for the Leadville 100 run is coming along better than I had expected. Or that is the way I feel about it right now. As it gets closer I get a little nervous and wonder if I am doing enough or too much. I swear I was much more fit just 5 years ago? I am not sure what that is about except maybe I am 59 now and 5 years older?! Lol. My mother used to say when she was in her 80s that “Old age is not for sissies.” And I am thinking that I am starting to understand what she meant by that. Oh well it is what it is and you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and be grateful for each day you wake up. Dang how morbid is that?! Lol.

This picture was taken June 15th, 2021 at about 10pm in the evening. Janet and I again had waited late to walk dog boy due to the heat and poor air quality for the day. But you do what you have to do. Marvin did not seem to care much.

Did I say earlier that the air quality got better toward the end of the month? Why yes I did and it really did get better. The mountains got a little rain and so did the Front Range, temperatures dropped a bit and life was good again so to speak.

This picture was taken June 25th, 2021 at 4pm in the afternoon. Marvin and I were doing some intown running along the Poudre River Bike trail. The temps were in the low 70s and look at those rain clouds. Nice!
This picture was taken June 29th, 2021 at about 3:30pm in the afternoon. Here I am at the top of Tower Road in Horsetooth Mountain Park looking North by Northwest. Look at that beautiful blue sky.
This picture was taken June 30th, 2021 at 2:45pm in the afternoon. This is looking North long Horsetooth Reservoir. Even though those clouds could mean danger due to lightning on an exposed ridge – they looked really good to me after the heat and poor air quality in the middle of the month. Another beautiful Colorado afternoon!

So the month ended on a good note! Yea! But what is the old saying that nothing last? Well that was the case and the first week of July did not disappoint! But I will save that tale for the next blog post.

A couple of book reviews and a piece of art work before wrapping things up. The first book I would like to talk about is a science fiction one called “Recursion” by Blake Crouch. You might be familiar with Mr. Crouch from another of his science fiction novels called “Dark Matter.” If you have read Dark Matter and liked it then you are going to be happy reading this one. I found the book entertaining due to the fact I did not have any idea what was going on “until further than usual” in the book. In my mind I was going thought all the possible scenarios of what the problem might be and then was surprised when I found out. There are several character arcs that are going on in the story at the same time, but with a twist. Some die out and never morph but others move wonderfully forward. It is a story about time and memory but not in a traditional sense. Mr. Blake creates a story, like in Dark Matter, out of what would be considered the frontiers of theoretical physics in my opinion. Bottom line – excellent read! I listed to the book as an audio book but I think it would work just as well in any format.

To learn more about the author please visit his web site: http://www.blakecrouch.com/

You can find this book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Recursion-Novel-Blake-Crouch/dp

The next book I would like to talk about is called “Big Magic written by Elizabeth Gilbert. Yes it is that author from “Eat Pray Love” and no I have not read that book. Yet. If you have read Julia Cameron’s book called “The Artist’s Way” and liked it then you are going to like this one. I loved this book by Elizabeth. I have been what I call a “struggling artist” since I was old enough to talk. My mother was a dominating woman and ran the household. She was the driving force in the family and if she said you were going to do or not do something then you did it or not. There were no exceptions. She had it in her mind that anything to do with “art” was a total waste of time. Or that is how I perceived her reaction anytime I wanted to do something creative that did not fit in with her idea of creativity. The only slight deviation she might allow was if you sang or played some kind of musical instrument. Both of which I hated.

So when I listened to this light hearted take on living the creative life (It is not a step by step guide) I was immediately drawn in. It felt like I was being given a drink of water after dying of thirst, stranded in the desert.

Some would say this is an excellent book for those who are looking for inspiration to live the “creative life.” But, I think it really goes much further because being creative is in our genes no matter who or what we do in life. If you go back far enough, some one in your family tree made things by hand – we all have the ability to be more creative.

I listened to this book as an audio book (I am on the forth listen) but I think it would work well in any format.

To learn more about the author please visit her website: https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/bio/

You can find this book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Magic-Elizabeth-Gilbert-audiobook/dp

Well last but not least one piece of art work before I go.

I have always been interested in the science of the very, very small. What do things look like at the nano and quantum scale? Recently I was listening to a few lectures on particle physics and the different particles that make up electrons, protons, and neutrons: The Quarks, Leptons, Gluons, Photons, Bosons, and the Higgs particles to name a few. Then add in the quantum field theory or the “quantum glue” that holds it all together. I tried to capture what this might look like if you could see it on that level with the naked eye.

This drawing is done in pen and ink and is protected with a traditional picture frame and glass. It measures approximately 12 inches wide by 15 inches tall.

I call the piece below “Quantum Goulash.”

This piece is for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Well that is going to be about it for me on this blog post. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Before I close I would again like to give a shout out to minimalism. The world that we live in is a very big place and it can seem overwhelming at times. Especially when trying to think about making a positive difference in the world. But minimalism is something that we can all do to fight back against our over rampant consumeristic culture. When I first heard about the idea of minimalism I thought of a monk living in a monastery, bare walls, owning nothing, eating the same gruel each and everyday, etc… But in reality this is not the case, though I guess if you wanted to do this you could. Lol. Minimalism is different for each individual. You choose how much “minimalism” you want in your life and how much you don’t want. It is about understanding what matters most in life and removing the things that do not support the “what matters most part.” Of course this usually translates to getting rid of all unnecessary material goods as a first step. But Minimalism is so much more than just this. And a good place to start is here: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

Becoming minimalist is just a change in mindset. Nothing to buy, nothing to purchase, just a change in how you look at your life and the world.

So take care my friends and remember to wash your hands, stay informed on current Covid 19 developments, especially on the Delta variant, and wear your mask (N95 – if you have one) when appropriate. And get vaccinated – no excuses. As the Nike slogan says – “Just do it!” Adios!!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Environment, Exercise, Fort Collins, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Minimalism, Pandemics, Politics, PurpleAir, Science, Science Fiction, Space, Wildfire

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 25TH, JUNE 2021

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“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence.” Louis Pasteur

This is an image of Arp 299 and was created by using X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (pink), higher-energy X-ray data from NuSTAR (purple), and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (white and faint brown). It is an image of two colliding galaxies approximately 134 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa major. The two systems have been locked in gravitational combat for millions of years blending and merging stars from each galaxy into a cosmic goulash. Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Crete/K. Anastasopoulou et al, NASA/NuSTAR/GSFC/A. Ptak et al; Optical: NASA/STScI. If you want to learn more about the above image check out these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/galactic-goulash and https://phys.org/news/2017-06-arp-galactic-goulash.html and https://youtu.be/YfF83mXMC7U

“We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning.” Werner Heisenberg

This is an image of galaxy NGC 5037 in the constellation of Virgo. It is about 150 million light-years away from Earth. The image was created using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. The first documentation of its existence was by William Herschel in 1785. A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral with a central bar-shaped structure. The central structure is composed of stars. It is thought that about half of all spiral galaxies have bars. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, where we live, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Rosario; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz. To learn more about this image or the galaxy NGC 5037 please see these links: Hubble Captures a Captivating Spiral | NASA and https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/hubble-galaxy-ngc-5037/

“I am utterly convinced that science and peace will triumph over ignorance and war, that nations will eventually unite not to destroy but to edify, and that the future will belong to those who have done the most for the sake of suffering humanity.” Louis Pasteur

This image was created using a large mosaic of data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope in south Africa. The orange, green, blue and purple colors are from Chandra Observatory and the radio data from MeerKAT are shown in lilac and gray. This image made news because it is thought to be showing X-ray and radio emissions intertwined. The idea is that they are held together by thin strips of magnetic fields. This concept has been put forth in a study by Q. Daniel Wang of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “Such strips may have formed when magnetic fields aligned in different directions, collided, and became twisted around each other in a process called magnetic reconnection. This is similar to the phenomenon that drives energetic particles away from the Sun and is responsible for the space weather that sometimes affects Earth.” Image credit: Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT. To learn more about this image please visit there links: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/images/magnetized-threads-weave-spectacular-galactic-tapestry.html and https://phys.org/news/2021-05-magnetized-threads-spectacular-galactic-tapestry.html

“All one can really leave one’s children is what’s inside their heads. Education, in other words, and not earthly possessions, is the ultimate legacy, the only thing that cannot be taken away.” Dr. Wernher von Braun

This is an image of Uranus – the 7th planet from our sun. It is four times the diameter of Earth and rotates on its side and has two sets of rings. This side rotation makes it different from all other planets in our solar system. The above image is made from combining a Chandra X-ray image from 2002 (pink) superimposed on an optical image from the Keck-I Telescope made in 2004. The planet made news recently because astronomers have detected X-rays for the first time coming from Uranus, using NASA’s Chandra Observatory. Most of the X-rays are thought to becoming from the Sun due to scattering but there is a possibility the rings of Uranus could be creating the rays themselves. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXO/University College London/W. Dunn et al; Optical: W.M. Keck Observatory. If you want to learn more about this please visit these links: Detecting X-Rays From Uranus | NASA and https://phys.org/news/2021-03-x-rays-uranus.html

“Fortune favors the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur

Apollo 16 was the tenth crewed mission of the Apollo space program. It was the 5th landing on the moon by astronauts. This mission started on April 16th, 1972 and ended on April 27th. The mission was crewed by Commander John Young, the Lunar module pilot was Charles Duke and Command module pilot was Ken Mattingly. In the above image, John Young salutes the flag while jumping on the moon. The Lunar landing Module Orion and the Lunar Roving Vehicle are in the background. Image Credit: NASA/Charlie Duke. To learn more about the above image and the Apollo 16 mission please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/flag-day-2021-saluting-the-us-flag and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_16 and https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo16.html

“Our sun is one of a 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living thing in that enormous immensity.” Dr. Wernher von Braun

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! That my friends is a very, very good thing for all of us. And I am crossing my fingers that I can continue to say this each and every month for the next year.

When I started to write this blog on June 8th, the death count in the USA stood at 613 thousand. That is a difference of 20 thousands deaths from May 6th. While this is a large number it is an improvement from the previous 30 days by 6000 individuals! The big question becomes can we keep this downward trend?

By the middle of the month the downward trend was continuing with 200 to 500 deaths per day and new cases averaging about 10,000 per week. Again, even though these are large number we were still in that downward trend.

By the end of the month the total added death count was about 5000 or 618,000 total and while this number is large it is a significant improvement from the previous 30 days by more than half. And our infection rate has continue to fall so that was good news. If you want to see the numbers yourself check out these links: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ and https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

The only fly in the ointment was the Delta variant of the virus – first identified in India. By the end of June it was responsible for one in every five new infections in the United States. Part of this rapid rise is that it is much more transmissible than previous versions of the virus. The good news is that the two main vaccinations do seem to offer protection. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions about it, like how severe it might be compared to prevision versions. There is some evidence that you are twice as likely to be hospitalized with this version than the last. Due to the unevenness in vaccinations around the country and age groups we may see a rise with infections in the South and an increase in young people. I guess time will tell, but the best thing to do now is to get as many people fully vaccinated as possible.

It has now been 24 weeks since I got the Pfizer Vaccine for Covid and… so far there have been no side effects for me!! Yea!! While there has been a rise in heart inflammation reported in adolescents and young adults with the two main vaccines it does not appear that this is a long term condition and generally most individuals recover without further concern.

As of June 15th, in the US, there were 174 million individuals or 53% of the population that had gotten at least one shot of the two main vaccines. And there were about 145 million or 44% that have full vaccination!! This is a very good thing, not only in terms of health but also in terms of economic recovery.

If you want to look at the numbers yourself check out these links: https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/ and https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state and for a look at world vaccinations check out this link from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/health/global-covid-vaccinations/

Well enough about Covid. Time to move on to something different. May was another good month for running along the Front Range in Colorado. While there were some unsettled weather days and even a little snow along the Front Range, it was a good month for air quality and exercising outdoors.

This picture was taken May 11th, 2021 at 6:50am in the morning. Winter was not quit through with us. I believe on the Front Range this was the last snow fall for the season. Being at 5000 feet in elevation you just never know when the last snow might fall but it is usually somewhere around Mother’s day. Lol. I have gotten to where I do not plant out any new flowers or vegetables until the middle of May. The Quad Rock trail race was 3 days before this photo was taken! At that time the trails were dry and running was supreme. What a difference a few days can make!

I write a lot about the air quality here in Colorado because there are times it is really, really bad. It was not until 1963 that the “Clean Air Act” was passed in the United States and in 1970 congress gave the EPA the legal authority to regulate pollution from cars and other forms of transportation. This dramatically improved air quality a lot, but I have come to realize it does not go far enough.

This picture was taken May 13th, 2021 at 7:30pm in the evening. It is looking West along one of my favorite in town sections of the Poudre River. Here you can see that the river is filling in with spring runoff. The City and County had filled most of the reservoirs by this time and the river was allowed to run free. Most of the water is spoken for, but the consumers are “downstream users”, so the the river is running full through the city. As I write this, I am wondering where the next “water” source will come from for Colorado? We are a headwater state (meaning all of our rivers begin in the Rocky Mountains and flow out of the state) and most of Colorado is very dry – think high plains desert. The eastern half of the state makes up 40% of this type of topography. And on the West side it is not much better. Precipitation averages 8 to 14 inches per year. As growth continues, at some point, there will not be any more “water” to obtain. The questions become: When do you say enough is enough? Do you damn every river in the state just so you can have growth and when every river is damned, then what? Hard questions for the State, City and County governments here in Colorado. If you want to learn more about Colorado’s climate please visit this link: https://climate.colostate.edu/climate_long.html

To understand this, it is important to see one of the reasons the Clean Air Act came into being. After World War 2 with the returning soldiers several things occurred. Economic growth skyrocketed and there was a soon to be baby boom. With the impending increase in population the suburbs become the “hip” place to live. The only problem was that the mass transit infrastructure did not exist like it did in the cities. This forced an increase in the reliance on private motor vehicles with a corresponding significant increase in air pollution. Hence the need for the Clean Air Act. Of course this was not the only reason for the CAA but it was a substantial one.

This picture was taken May 16th, 2021 at 6:15pm in the evening. Here Janet and Marvin are on the banks of the Poudre River and it is still flowing full. This picture reminds me of how “big” Marvin actually is! Lol. His breed is called a King Shephard. For Marvin, it is a mixture of German Shephard, Alaska Malamute and Great Pyrenees. He’s got a little more Pyrenees due to the fact that his father was full Pyrenees. Hence the floppy ears. I find it interesting that he did not get the thicker Pyrenees coat.

The part of the CAA that regulates vehicle pollution is considered a success story by many measures. Lead has been eliminated and sulfur levels are 90% lower than they were prior to regulation. If you compare cars from the 1960s to now, you are looking at a decrease of about 98% in tailpipe pollutants. So why is air quality terrible at times here on the Front Range of Colorado? I will try to explain.

This picture was taken May 20th, 2021 at 12:15pm in the afternoon. It is looking out East towards Weld County. It was a great day for running in Horsetooth Mountain Park. There was just enough wind from the West to increase the air quality around Fort Collins. If you look very closely at this photo you can just see the thin layer of brown. That my friends is the infamous “brown cloud.” And it is created when temperature inversions trap the cooler air near the ground, preventing pollutants from rising into the atmosphere. The topography slopes downward as you move away from the foothills, so the colder air had moved out toward Weld County, taking the bulk of the pollution with it. Of course, Weld County has over 33 thousand oil and gas wells, which does not help with the brown cloud. The interesting part is the entire state only has about 53 thousand wells. Therefore, 62% of the wells are in Weld County alone. I wonder how many people realize this?

When you are looking at pollution here along the Front Range, I am not talking about Greenhouse gas pollution per se. But more about the sources of hazardous chemicals that help to create ozone and wildland fire sources that contribute to particulates. Colorado unfortunately has become one of the worst violators of the federal air quality health standards due to VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and nitrogen oxides. Colorado emits around 200,000 tons of these each year. There are several sources but one of the biggest is oil and gas development and processing, something around 45%. The next greatest portion comes from people driving vehicles that burn fossil fuels. But you would think with tailpipe emission getting better, the air quality should improve? At least from the automotive end? Right? Well unfortunately this has not been the case. Colorado has seen another population boom in the last 20 years and it has double the number of citizens. We are now in the range of about 6 million as of 2020. This and the increase in oil and gas development has erased many of the air quality improvements seen since the 1980s.

This picture was taken May 20th, 2021 at about 12:45pm in the afternoon. The same day as the above picture but looking West and not East. Here you see Mount Meeker and Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. This is the view, looking West, from the top of Tower’s Road in Horsetooth Mountain Park. Some of the darker areas in the lower half of the image are from last years historic fires. I love this view from the top!

Another significant cause of Front Range Air Pollution in recent years is the overall increase in Forest Fires. This increase has resulted in a significant up swing in particulates. The stuff that you see from a fire or driving down a dusty road, are called PM-10. These include smoke, soot, dust and dirt. These particles irritate the eyes, nose and throat. This stuff can be annoying but usually it does not have a long term health consequence. But and there is always a but, the smaller particles, called PM 2.5 or particles smaller than 2.5 microns can and do cause problems. They are composed of everything from sulfates, nitrates and heavy metals to combustion byproducts including hydrocarbons. These fine particles are often bound to toxins in the air. Because of their small size they can easily get into your lungs and then into the blood stream. Once in the blood stream they can travel to any part of the body. They have even been found in the unborn fetuses of pregnant mothers. These particles have been causally linked to increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, pneumonia, exacerbation of COPD, Asthma, Lung Cancer, preterm birth, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and other forms of cancer. They stay in the air for a long time and can travel long distances with the wind. This is why you can still be exposed when a forest fire is hundreds and hundreds of miles away.

This picture was taken May 28th, 2021 at 1:30pm in the afternoon. It is looking south from the top sections of Tower Road and is an image of the iconic Horsetooth Rock. You can just make out a few individuals standing on top of the rock. It was another beautiful day for running along the Front Range.

Now you might ask why is this such a problem for Colorado? Doesn’t all these same issues affect other parts of the country as well? The answer, yes they do, but… Let me explain. Due to the Front Range’s topography, we get a consistent “temperature inversion type of condition” in which the cooler air is trapped closer to the ground with very little wind movement for long periods of time. This really allows for the combination of VOCs/nitrogen oxides with resultant ozone and particulates from forest fires to accumulate in one place with resultant terrible air quality. It gets so bad at times that I wish for it to be a super windy day just to clean the old, dirty stagnant air out.

This picture was taken June 6th, 2021 at about 8:30pm in the evening. The days in June were getting progressively hotter and we found ourselves walking later with the dog so that he would not get overheated.

I have written about this issue before but thought it was good idea to revisit it. Fort Collins just moved up in rank this month, on the list of cities with the worst air pollution. By Ozone, Fort Collins is number 17 in the nation out of 226 metropolitan areas and 50th for short term particulates out of 216 metropolitan areas. While not exactly at the top, close enough in my opinion and not something that should be allowed to go any higher. To see some of the numbers check out this link at the American Lung Association: https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities

“Environmental pollution is not only humanity’s treason to humanity but also a treason to all other living creatures on earth!” Mehmet Murat ildan

Will it be an easy problem to solve? No way. But some things we can do. Get rid of your gas mower – move to electric. And encourage the landscaping companies to do the same. When you start thinking about buying that new car, think hybrid or full electric. When the next election cycle starts, ask the candidates how they are going to fix this. Will they be plugging the regulatory holes to target major polluters inside and outside Colorado? Will they be encouraging the trucking companies to go electric? Will they be pushing for the upgrades needed in the electric grid? Information is powerful and I encourage you to visit the websites of Purple Air and Air Quality Colorado if you live here. Check them every time before you plan an outdoor activity and if they are not optimal send a screen shot to your elected representative. Ask what they are doing about it.

You can find those links here: https://www.purpleair.com/map?opt=1/mAQI/a10/cC0#11/40.5524/-105.0534 and https://www.colorado.gov/airquality/air_quality.aspx

A couple of book reviews and a piece of art work before wrapping things up. The first book I would like to talk about is “The Physics of Climate Change” by Lawrence M. Krauss. The first thing before reading this book you need to understand is that Krauss is a world renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist. In the book he admits that this is not his area of expertise, but after looking at all the data and the arguments about climate change, he felt it was important to write a book that would help to explain the “science” in a way that makes sense to the rest of us. Now with that said, if you are someone that needs all the equations and math in minutiae for the science of CC to make sense, then you will be disappointed. This is not that book.

I found the book an enlightening look at the complexity of the research that has gone into the science. And it helped me to understand how the lay person and even other scientist could get confused when looking at all the data. A truly daunting task for climate researchers. The take away: Is global warming real – absolutely and are humans responsible for a large contribution to this phenomena – most assuredly. I believe this book would work well in any format. I got it as an audio book and found it thoroughly enjoyable while out for long runs.

Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is an American / Canadian theoretical physicist and cosmologist who previously taught at Arizona State University, Yale and Case Western Reserve University. To learn more about him please visit this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Krauss

You can find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/The-Physics-of-Climate-Change/dp

The next book I would like to talk about is called “Neuromancer” by William Gibson. It is a book that is consider a Science Fiction staple and that you cannot truly call yourself a SiFi fan unless you have read it. So I felt the need to read it at 59 years old. Lol. This book deals with AI, computer programs, cyber space, and transhuman technology among other things. The crazy part is the book was written in 1984 – about 37 years ago! And the concepts put worth are more relevant today than there were back then. It is consider one of the best known examples of Cyberpunk and after reading it, I believe it still holds true.

Now in all honesty I did have a little trouble following the plot at times and had to go back and re-listen to several sections. And I am not sure if that was accidental or if Gibson had intended this to be the case. Neuromancer was his first novel, so I will cut him a little slack in this regard. I used Wikipedia as a guide to help me keep on track with the characters and the plot – this helped immensely. I listened to the book as an audio book while on long runs but it would work in any format.

Willian Ford Gibson is an American / Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. If you want to learn more about his author check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson

You can find this book on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-William-Gibson-audiobook/dp

Well last but no least a piece of art work before I go. This one is a piece of sculpture that is a sunface. It is constructed of scrap wood that is nailed, screwed and glued together – painted with acrylic and latex paint. After any summer project I hate to see anything go to waste and the year this face was made I had plenty of plywood and 2×4 pieces left over for a sunface. My inspiration was from the cartoon Sponge Bob Square Pants. In one of the episodes I watched with the kids, Squidward is seen relaxing and trying to get a tan before he is harassed by the usual characters.

This is a good size sunface: 42 inches by 42 inches and 10 inches deep. The sculpture is all wood and is about 14 to 15 pounds. This sculpture is meant to be indoors only.

I call this sculpture “SQUIDWARD SUNFACE”

The inspiration behind the sculpture. Lol

This piece is for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Well that is going to be about it for me on this blog post. My intent was that it would be informative, especially for those that live here in Colorado. We reside in a great place for being outdoors and I hope that it stays that way. Unfortunately “hope” like thoughts and prayers will only go so far without action. There are some big environmental challenges we need to fix in order to keep the air quality from getting any worse.

So what can we do? One of things, without a lot of effort initially is to become “Minimalist.” Our consumeristic culture is unsustainable at it’s current levels and you could even say that the air quality issues we are encountering around the country are the indirect result of this consumption mindset. I will repeat what my biology professor told me years ago about the destructions of our environment: “Growth for growth’s sake is the definition of cancer.” It does not matter if it is in the human body or the destruction of natural resources or a form of unfettered economic growth for profit and profit alone. It all leads to the same conclusion if it is not checked – death of the system.

Becoming minimalist is just a change in mindset. Nothing to by, nothing to purchase, just a change in how you look at your life and the world. If this appeals to you and even if it doesn’t at the moment but you are curious, a good place to start is here: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

So take care my friends and remember to wash your hands, stay informed of current Covid 19 developments – especially of the Delta variant, and wear you mask (N95 now) when appropriate. And when a vaccine becomes available, please get it. No excuses – just do it. Adios!!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Pandemics, Quad Rock 50, Science, Science Fiction, Space, Trail Running

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 28TH, MAY 2021

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“Its very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.” George Sheehan

When the first Star Wars movie was released in 1977, it featured the now-iconic two-sun, “circumbinary” planet Tatooine. At that time astronomers didn’t really know if such solar systems existed. Indeed, the first extra-solar planet wasn’t detected until the early 1990s. And, the first actual circumbinary planet was detected in 2005 – it was a Jupiter-size planet orbiting a system composed of a sun-like star and a brown dwarf.  Fast forward a few years and researchers working with data from TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) discovered another circumbinary planet in 2020. The planet is called TOI 1338b and is about 7 times bigger than the earth and is about 1300 light-years away. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. If you want to learn more about his planet and other possible habitable binary star systems please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/discovering-circumbinary-star-systems and Researchers identify five double star systems potentially suitable for life (phys.org)

“There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down / until, until, until. It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living.” George Sheehan

This image is a picture of what is know as the “Necklace Nebula.” It is about 15,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Sagitta (The Arrow.) It is created by the interaction of two stars that were orbiting close together. One of the stars expanded and engulfed the smaller companion. This created what astronomers call a “common envelope.” It increased the larger star’s rotation rate until parts of it spun outward into space and formed the “Necklace.” The above image, using newer processing techniques, is an updated one from the original Hubble image. Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll. If you want to learn more about the above Nebula please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-views-a-dazzling-cosmic-necklace and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necklace_Nebula

“For every runner who tours the world running marathons, there are thousands who run to hear the leaves and listen to the rain, and look to the day when it is suddenly as easy as a bird in flight.” George Sheehan

This image, taken by the Hubble telescope, shows a galaxy cluster called Abell 3827 and was made during a study tasked in trying to figure out what “dark matter” might be. I find it amazing that 100 years ago, astronomers believed that the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the Universe. It was finally put to rest when Edwin Hubble confirmed that the Andromeda Nebula was in fact too far distant to be part of the Milky Way. This was in 1924 and it forever changed how we view the Universe. Until then the Milky Way was thought to be the entire universe. The implications, like the more recent discovery of exoplanets, has forever changed how we view ourselves in the cosmos. NASA honored his achievements by naming the Hubble Space Telescope after him. Image Credit: European Space Agency (ESA). If you want to learn more about his image or Edwin Hubble please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-gazes-at-a-cluster-full-of-cosmic-clues and Our Giant Universe: Hubble Spots Massive Galaxy Cluster With a Wealth of Exciting Possibilities (scitechdaily.com) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble

“The distance runner who accepts the past in the person he is, and sees the future as a promise rather than a threat, is completely and utterly in the present. He is absorbed in his encounter with the everyday world. He is mysteriously reconciling the separations of body and mind, of pain and pleasure, of the conscious and the unconscious. He is repairing the rent, and healing the wound in the divided self. He has found a way to make the ordinary extraordinary; the commonplace, unique; the everyday, eternal.” George Sheehan

This is an image of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416 (The Massive Cluster Survey). This is one of the 6 galaxy clusters by the Hubble Frontier Fields program. It has produced some the deepest images of gravitational lensing ever made. Astronomers believe the light they see is within 500 million years of the Big Bang. The thought is that most of these stars likely formed from hydrogen, helium and lithium, as those were the only elements that existed before the development of heavier elements like oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and iron. The blue light you see is called intracluster and was used by scientists to study the distribution of dark matter within the cluster. Intracluster light is a byproduct of the interactions between galaxies. In the course of these interactions, individual stars are stripped from their galaxies and float freely within the cluster. Once free from their galaxies, they end up where the majority of the mass of the cluster, mostly dark matter, resides. Image Credit: NASA, ESA and M. Montes (University of New South Wales). If you want to learn more about this image please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/looking-at-stars-in-the-early-universe and https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/galaxy-cluster-macs-j0416-early-universe/

“Sport is where an entire life can be compressed into a few hours, where the emotions of a lifetime can be felt on an acre or two of ground, where a person can suffer and die and rise again on six miles of trails through a New York City park. Sport is a theater where sinner can turn saint and a common man become an uncommon hero, where the past and the future can fuse with the present. Sport is singularly able to give us peak experiences where we feel completely one with the world and transcend all conflicts as we finally become our own potential.” George Sheehan

This is a picture (captured by Hubble Space Telescope) of what is called an emission nebula. It is formed by clouds of ionized gas that emit light at optical wavelengths. The nebula above is known as NGC 2313 and is located about 3,750 light-years away in the constellation of Monoceros. The clouds of gas are illuminated due to the stars located inside them. The stars give off radiation, which ionizes the gas and makes it glow. The bright star V565, which can be seen in the center of the image, is illuminating the nebula and giving it its distinctive appearance. Image credit: ESA/Hubble, R. Sahai. If you want to learn more about this nebula please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-spots-a-cosmic-cloud-s-silver-lining and http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/hubble-emission-nebula-ngc-2313-09636.html

“Some think guts is sprinting at the end of a race. But guts is what got you there to begin with. Guts start back in the hills with 6 miles to go and you’re thinking of how you can get out of this race without anyone noticing. Guts begin when you still have forty minutes of torture left and you’re already hurting more than you ever remember.” George Sheehan

This is an image that was posted on Twitter, August 9th, 2015 by astronaut Scott Kelly. It was during his year in space. It showcases all the places humans live – the Earth, the ISS and the Milky Way. Image Credit: NASA/Scott Kelly. To learn more about his image and other images taken by Scott while on the ISS please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-places-we-call-home and https://twistedsifter.com/2016/03/nasa-shares-best-pics-from-scott-kelly-year-in-space/ and https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/sets/72157658205964848

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” George Sheehan

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19, so far, and so have I!! That my friends is a very good thing for both of us. And I will keep crossing my fingers that I can continue to say this in the coming months.

When I started to write this blog on May 6th, the death count stood at approximately 593,000 deaths. That was an increase of 26, 000 deaths in 34 days. While this is a lot, it does reflect a downward trend and that is a good thing. Hopefully, we will continue this downward shift.

By the middle of the month, we unfortunately broke the 600,000 death barrier. But, while this is a huge number, we were still in the downward trend of new infections and subsequent deaths.

Two days before the publication of this blog on May 26th, we were sitting at approximately 606, 000 deaths total. So in 20 days we added 13,000 Covid deaths. While this is a large number it is no where near the 80 to 90 thousand deaths in a 24 day streak back in January of this year.

If your interested in looking at the numbers yourself, check out these links: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ and https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

On a much more somber and unsettling note, a study out of the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that the number of people in the US alone, who have died of Covid is more than 900,000, a number much higher than official figures, almost 50% more. And, the worldwide death count is more than double, 7 million as opposed to 3.24 million officially reported. The UW team came to these staggering numbers by calculating excess mortality. While there are other researchers that do not agree with the University of Washington’s conclusions, they do agree that there has been an excess of deaths far exceeding the official Covid death toll. What they disagreed on was that it could all be blamed entirely on the virus.

To read the article for yourself please visit this link: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/05/06/994287048/new-study-estimates-more-than-900-000-people-have-died-of-covid-19-in-u-s

Well it has now been approximately 20 weeks since I got the second shot of the Pfizer Vaccine for Covid and… so far there have been no side effects for me. Yea!!

As I started to write this months blog I was looking at some of the misleading and false claims about problems after getting the vaccine. Things like, increased deaths due to the vaccine, shedding the virus after getting the vaccine, getting Covid from the vaccine, the vaccine will alter my DNA, it is a government conspiracy, etc… I especially loved the one about “shedding the virus” in that if your female and unvaccinated but are around someone who is, you can have your menstrual cycle impacted because the vaccinated person will “shed” the virus. Maybe some of this fear comes from very early vaccine development with “live” virus vaccines like the polio vaccine (1950s). The thought, when this occurred, was that it actually helped people because it might create a “contact immunity” which played a role in helping to eradicating polio. Unfortunately, a few individuals at that time, actually came down with a case of polio. This was very rare but it generated a lot of fear. Rest assured NONE of the Covid vaccines authorized in the U.S. are live-virus vaccines.

A great website to start with, to help dispel these myths is the good old CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html and another one from the Mayo Clinic: https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid-19-vaccine-myths-debunked/ and a good one from Psychology Today on why people believe these myths: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-speed-life/202104/unbreakable-myths-covid-19-vaccines and a good one on live virus vaccine types can be found here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-a-live-virus-vaccine-200925

Another big thing that occurred in May with Covid was a relaxing of the mask rules by the CDC. And of course it has been controversial. One of the large nursing unions has come out against it but there are other experts that have felt it is OK. I feel the quote by Colleen Kelley, MD, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine said it best:

“We don’t have as much data yet with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but it also does look to significantly reduce transmission. So, I would say you can confidently go back to most activities. We still want to be mindful in crowded spaces, in spaces with poor ventilation indoors. We still want to be mindful of the very small possibility of transmissibility. But, in general, if you’re vaccinated, if your friends and family are vaccinated, life should look pretty much normal outside of crowded settings.”

If you want to listen or read an interview about this check out the link: https://www.medpagetoday.com/podcasts/trackthevax/92526?

Ok that is enough about Covid. Time to write about something else. April was another good month for running in general. The temperatures continued to warm and the air quality was much better.

This picture was taken April 5th, 2021 at about 3:45pm in the afternoon. It is at the top of Towers Road in Horsetooth Mountain Park. What a beautiful day for a trail run.

Of course like March, April had it’s share of weather “hiccups” that created some issues. Historically here on Colorado’s front range, March and April are when we get the most snow and / or rain in general. And April lived up to it’s reputation. While there were some beautiful days for being outdoors, there were a number of days that it either snowed, rained or did both. Lol.

This picture was taken April 7th, 2021 at about 4:45pm in the afternoon. It is looking South along Horsetooth Reservoir. The lake sits just West of Fort Collins. Another beautiful day along the Front Range of Colorado.

Either brilliant sunshine or overcast with rain and snow. At least that is how it seemed. I noticed when I was deciding what pictures to post for this blog, there were just a few sunset photos. For me that was a little strange, until I really thought about it. And I think, part of it had to do with the on again and off again weather.

This picture was taken April 15th, 2021 at about 4:45pm in the afternoon. Another day of snow for the month of April.

While it was great to get the moisture, it did create some issues with running in the foothills in the form of Mud. Some of you may have heard of “Mud Season”, but it usually is in reference to the high country. Think Ski Resorts. It is a period in spring when dirt becomes muddy from the melting of snow and ice. Another words, any path with dirt becomes a temporary muddy mess. This year along the Front Range, we had an April Mud Season.

This picture was taken April 18th, 2021 at about 6:30pm in the afternoon. It is from one of the bridges along the Poudre River Trail . Here, Marvin and I were enjoying another beautiful spring day along the bike path because the dirt trails were closed due to mud.

This picture was taken April 19th, 2021 at about 7:15pm in the evening. This picture was literally the very next day from the one above and a total change in the weather. I think by this time, the off and on again pattern we were experiencing even had Marvin unhappy. Here he reminds me of the frozen Jack Nicholson from the Shining. Lol.

Another reason that there were fewer sunset pictures for the month of April, especially towards the end, was the length of daylight – it was getting much longer as we moved toward the start of Summer. By the end of the month sunsets here in Fort Collins were much closer to the 8pm mark. And by this time, we were eating dinner and not out running or walking.

Yea a sunset picture! This picture was taken April 24th, 2021 at 7:15pm in the evening. It is looking West along the Poudre River. In this photo you can see that the river is down quit a lot. The city was still diverting water to fill up the reservoirs. It was not until about the second week of May that the river was allowed to run free.

This picture was taken April 25th, 2021 at about 4pm in the afternoon. Another beautiful day for a trail run. There was a string of snow and rain free days at the end of April but it did not last. The first week of May was a different story.

This picture was taken April 29th, 2021 at about 6:30pm in the evening. It was my youngest daughters birthday. So we did something a little different and took a selfie of all of us, minus the two older daughters.

Well the 10th running of the Quad Rock did not quit go as planned for me. I ended up doing the 25 mile version again but that was OK. The weather and trail conditions turned out to be perfect. The organizers of the race, https://gnarrunners.com/ in my opinion, did an excellent job in the management of the event.

My only excuse was the snow and mud season conditions in March/April leading up to the race. I did get in a lot of running, just not the kind that I was hoping to do. With the Quad Rock, I needed to get in as much elevation training (running up and down the mountains) as I could. But due to work conflicts and / or weather this did not happen.

This picture was taken in Lory State Park, May 8th, at about 5:20am – just before the start of the 10th running of the Quad Rock.

But… don’t misunderstand me. Even though I had planned to run the 50 miler, I was not disappointed that I was a little too slow at the 25 mile mark and timed out – again. Not having run an ultra in that type of terrain in about 2 years due to Covid, I was not quite prepared for the elevation changes. I know, I know, I am making excuses for myself but it really did kick my ass – so to speak. Lol. So I have now done the 25 miler about 6 times? I think. And each time I learn or relearn something new. Oh well, it is what it is and I plan to enter the 50 miler again for next year.

This picture was taken during a quick stop while running the Quad Rock, May 8th, 2021, at about 7am in the morning. It turned out to be a beautiful day. Here I am looking East across Horsetooth Reservoir and Fort Collins.

Besides having great weather and race management, another fantastic aspect of this event was the volunteers. They create the “gestalt” that makes a race like this special. So I would like to give a Big Thank You to all the volunteers who made the Quad Rock possible. They are the bedrock of what makes races like this memorable and in a good way. Your efforts in this year’s race were greatly appreciated.

So, even though I did not do the 50 miler, it felt great to just be out and running again with a group of other like minded people. If you ever want to try your “running legs” so to speak at a trail event. Check out Gnar Runners. It would be a great place to start. You can find them at this link: https://gnarrunners.com/

A couple of book reviews and some art work before wrapping things up. The first book I would like to talk about is The Fall and Rise of China by Professor Richard Baum. It is from the Great Courses and can be watched in video format or as audio only. I got it with my Audible membership from Amazon. It worked great in this format and I would suggest it to cut down the cost. The course is divided up into 48-thirty minute lectures. Each lecture is part of a time line so that you get a good picture of how China developed over it’s history. Professor Baum gives us a good over view of what has drove dramatic events in the story of China. I got this course to help me understand what might be happening in China now and in the future. If you have never had any exposure to the history or culture of China this would be a great place to start.

Professor Baum was an American China watcher, professor emeritus of political science at UCLA, and former director emeritus of the UCLA Center for Chinese Studies. He passed away in 2012. If you want to learn more about Professor Baum please visit this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Baum

This course can be found on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/The-Fall-and-Rise-of-China-audiobook/dp

The next book I would like to talk about is part of a Science Fiction series called the The Murderbot Diaries written by Martha Wells. I reviewed this series back in February of this year but at that time I was only on book two. I have now finished book 5 of 6 and my original review still stands. This is a fantastic series. There are many books that have been written in SiFi on A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and the search for “meaning” by said A.I. This ongoing story is done in a similar vein. In an nutshell: “A robot searching for the meaning of life and in the process casting light on what makes us human.” I got this book as an audio book but it would work well in any format. Now be warned, the fist couple of these books are short novellas, not full novels. But this book is the first full length novel in the series and is well worth the read. Looking at the prices on Amazon, downloading them on to your Kindle would be the cheapest way to go.

Martha Wells is an American writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy. If you want to learn more about this accomplished author please visit this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Wells

Book 5 and can be found on Amazon at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Network-Effect/dp

Well last but not least one piece of art work before I go. I have a love with the TV series the Simpsons and one of my favorite characters is Mo Szyslak. The proprietor and bartender of Moe’s Tavern. I love the disagreeable personality of Moe. His rough character is what you see or remember the most but the writers of the show have given him a sentimental and caring side to his personality. A perfect combination for your bar tender. I have set Moe’s portrait on a background of LGBT colors because I feel he would welcome everyone in his bar. If you want to learn more about Moe’s personality check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moe_Szyslak

This painting is large. The diameter is 38 inches. When hanging it is about 46″ from top to bottom (includes hanging hardware). This painting is done on Oriented Strand Board with Acrylic paint by Liquitex and sealed with Liquitex professional gloss varnish.

Moe would be a great addition to any basement or garage bar! Lol.

This piece is for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Well that is going to be about it for me on this blog post. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Before I close, I want to put another shout out to becoming minimalist. It really can make a positive change in the world. Imagine being able to make a difference with just a change in mindset. Our consumeristic culture is unsustainable at it’s current levels. And you could even say that part of the severe morbidity and mortality of the pandemic in the USA is due to this consumeristic culture we have created. I remember a biology professor I had way back in college that would give a quote about the destruction of our natural ecosystems due to economic profiteering: “Growth for growth’s sake is the definition of cancer.” It does not mater if it is in the human body or the destruction of natural resources or a form of unfettered economic growth for profit and profit alone. It all leads to the same conclusion if it is not checked -death of the system.

Becoming minimalist is just a change in mindset. Nothing to by, nothing to purchase, just a change in how you look at your life and the world. If this appeals to you and even if it doesn’t at the moment but you are curious, a good place to start is here: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

So take care my friends and remember to wash your hands, wear your mask when in “crowded” indoor situations and practice physical distancing when appropriate. And when a vaccine becomes available, please consider getting it. Adios!!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey