Spent this holiday driving up out of Santa Fe to hike among the beautiful aspen trees in full fall color and to share a picnic with my family. It was a wonderful day.
Gentle Walks Renegade
7 years ago
Precious and Semi Precious Stones of Thought with Neat Commentary
Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology. According to Bill Nye, aka "The Science Guy," if grownups want to "deny evolution and live in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them."
Denial of evolution is unique to the United States. I mean, we're the world's most advanced technological—I mean, you could say Japan—but generally, the United States is where most of the innovations still happens. People still move to the United States. And that's largely because of the intellectual capital we have, the general understanding of science. When you have a portion of the population that doesn't believe in that, it holds everybody back, really.
Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology. It's like, it's very much analogous to trying to do geology without believing in tectonic plates. You're just not going to get the right answer. Your whole world is just going to be a mystery instead of an exciting place.
As my old professor, Carl Sagan, said, "When you're in love you want to tell the world." So, once in a while I get people that really—or that claim—they don't believe in evolution. And my response generally is "Well, why not? Really, why not?" Your world just becomes fantastically complicated when you don't believe in evolution. I mean, here are these ancient dinosaur bones or fossils, here is radioactivity, here are distant stars that are just like our star but they're at a different point in their lifecycle. The idea of deep time, of this billions of years, explains so much of the world around us. If you try to ignore that, your world view just becomes crazy, just untenable, itself inconsistent.
And I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need people that can—we need engineers that can build stuff, solve problems.
It's just really hard a thing, it's really a hard thing. You know, in another couple of centuries that world view, I'm sure, will be, it just won't exist. There's no evidence for it.
Being from the iPhone, this is a reverse photo. It is actually on my left shoulder. |
View from the north end |
"The Arch reflects St. Louis' role in the Westward Expansion of the United States during the 19th century. The park is a memorial to Thomas Jefferson's role in opening the west, to the pioneers who helped shape its history, and to Dred Scott who sued for his freedom in the old courthouse."Which leads me to another question....Who was Dred Scott? (Wikipedia to the rescue!) Two trials of his case, in 1847 and 1850 were held in the old courthouse in which Scott sued in court for the right to be a free man in the state of Missouri. It went to the Supreme Court because nobody could figure out if Scott even had the right to sue, having no rights as a white man does. In the Supreme Court ruling in his case, they determined that people of African descent brought into the U.S. and held as slaves (or their descendants) were not protected by the Constitution and were not U.S. citizens. Scott was considered a free man in other states but when he moved to Missouri he wasn't. His case retains historical significance as one of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court. In fact, some argue that it was this case that began a pathway toward the Civil War. In any case, it was credited with launching Abraham Lincoln's political career and ultimate election.
Looking straight up |
View from the top down to the Old Courthouse |
"Some have questioned whether St. Louis really was the Gateway to the West....I'm from Kansas City where people think of St. Louis not as the Gateway to the West but as the Exit from the East."
Me with the arch in the background |
A beautiful "room" at the end of the 1/2 mile trail |
"Jacob's Cave is famous for its depth illusion, reflective pools, ceiling sponge work, prehistoric bones (mastodon), bear, and peccary), and the world's largest geode. On the mile-long tour you will see every type of cave formation imaginable, from millions of "soda straws" and massive stalactites and columns, to delicate helictites. Evidence of six ice ages and three earthquakes can be seen in the cave. The temperature remains a constant 53 degrees inside the cave."
Cave "pearls" which actually do form around a tiny bit of sand |
A column that has been fractured by the New Madrid earthquake |
Many soda straws decorated the cave ceiling |
View from 250 feet up of Lake of the Ozarks |
The natural bridge/arch |
The front side of the mansion |
The spring, a constant 56 degrees |
Ozark Caverns entrance |
"a walk through Ozark Caverns is a journey into an environment where geologic process can proceed unhindered by many of the erratic, erosive forces that shape the surface landscape in the protected cave environment; dripping and seeping water can redeposit carbonate materials in the form of soda straws, helictites, stalagmites, and a host of other geologic wonders that can be seen in Ozark Caverns.
Angel Showers, an unusual cave phenomenon, is a featured part of the Ozark Caverns tour. The never-ending shower of water seems to come out of the solid ceiling of rock."
Photo of Angel's Shower from the museum wall. There are only 4 showers like this in the U.S. |
A large tasting menu with pretty wine glasses at Seven Springs |
The paddlewheel at the back of the Tom Sawyer |
The Bridal "Veil" in the Chapel |
Now, I give you this story here because I learned it from the Bridal Cave website. If I hadn't visited the website, none of us would know the story behind the name. When listening to the tour guide, she said nothing about the Native American legend. She also said nothing about the geology of the cave nor the names of the cave features we saw. She never described what we saw: draperies, soda straws, stalactites, stalagmites....she did, however, mention that the water dripping down in the cave takes seven years to reach the formations from the surface and that the cave is 250 feet below Thunder Mountain. Another thing I could not believe was that there were no pamphlets of any kind describing the geology, history, formations, or anything. I asked. I guess they don't read pamphlets in Missouri.
Centuries before the paleface found his way into the Ozark Mountains, this vicinity was inhabited by the Osage Indians. Within the Osage tribe many smaller tribes were formed. The following incident is a legend which brought romance and tragedy to this section of the Ozarks and gave the names to many places as they are known today.
Conwee, son of Chief Neongo of the Big Hills (a tribe of the Osage group, which lived on the north shore of what is now known as Ha Ha Tonka State Park), fell in love with Wasena, daughter of Elkhorn, Chief of the Little Hills, who lived on the north side of the Osage River near the junction of the Niangua, and greatly desired that she become his wife. Neither Wasena nor her father looked with favor on his intentions, Conwee however was not to be discouraged. He left his camp at Ha Ha Tonka one dark night with a number of his braves, crossed the Osage River near the junction of the Niangua and kidnapped Wasena and her companion, Irona. Hastily, recrossing the Osage River, Conwee started back to Ha Ha Tonka. As dawn approached and threatened to reveal them to their pursuers, they decided to stop at the cave, now known as Bridal Cave, and conceal their captives. After a short time in the cave, Wasena eluded her captors and ran swiftly toward a high cliff that towers two hundred feet above the Niangua River. When Conwee had her almost within his grasp. she reached the edge of the cliff and without even a backward glance sprang over the the brink into the valley below, choosing death rather than life with one she did not love. From that day forward this cliff has been known as "Lover's Leap".
The fate of Wasena's companion, Irona, was very different. She had long loved Prince Buffalo, another son of Chief Neongo of the Big Hills Tribe, and brother of Conwee. After a period of mourning over the death of Wasena was ended, Irona and her Prince Buffalo chose to be married in the cave where she and Wasena had been held captive in the beautiful stalactite - studded room now known as the Bridal Chapel, and gave the name "Bridal Cave" to the scene of the nuptials. from "Indian Romances" by Col. R.G. Scott
The RockWall |
The Lake of the Ozarks is divided up into 4 regions |
Fajada Butte rising out of the valley floor (taken from the Visitor Center) |
Cliff House Sandstone on top of the Menefee Formation (horizontal layering) |
Fajada Butte rising out of the valley floor as seen from Una Vida ruin |
Chetro Ketl, one of the Great Houses (AD 950-1250) |
The Plaza of Pueblo Bonito |
Casa Rinconada Great Kiva, one of the largest in the Southwest (AD 1100) |
Paleogeography of North America about 75 Million Years Ago; box outline is approximate location of Chaco. |
Great Kiva at Chetro Ketl |
Masonry at Chetro Ketl |
Apartment rooms in the Great House of Pueblo Bonito |
Petroglyphs above Una Vida |