One Reason Why Spring is Better

It's not that winter is cold, though that can be off-putting, or that there's snow on the ground, though that does make it more of a workout at times, but the short day-lengths... there's just no way for me to get out walking when it gets dark at 4:30 and I don't get off work till 5:30. So I get very few walks in these days (and take fewer photos).

Which is unfortunate, because as my mom and I have discussed, walking and just being in nature is beneficial on a variety of levels, for reasons science doesn't fully understand yet. That it is true, though, is beginning to show up in nearly every study that has looked at the question.

Here's one of the more recent ones, and offers familiar scenery to me, having done a lot of walking in both the natural and downtown areas of Ann Arbor:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081218122242.htm

In this one, the results seem to show that being in nature is actually more beneficial than the walking itself, that the scenery offers more than the activity.

Scenery I still have... I catch glimpses of it out the windows, and it is nice, and much appreciated after living in Sam's basement for a year. I still think I need an exercise bike or something, though.

Ramblings concerning Obama and Rick Warren

World of Warcraft is down for maintenance. That means I actually have to use my brain for thinking. I wrote this as a response to another blog post, but deciding I didn't much care for that blog anyway, I'll post it here as well, where people whose opinions I already know I trust (if not always agree with) with might read it, because that is more satisfactory, despite everything.

I disagree strongly with some of what Rick Warren stands for, not least of which is his stand on gay marriage. I believe there is something fundamentally wrong with making marriage between any two consenting, of-age adults illegal. The "definition of marriage" isn't 5,000 years old, as Mr. Warren believes... it changes nearly every generation, and most probably with every marriage. It ought to be a right for everyone of legal age to make their own definition of marriage, to make their own unions. That it is not, is a prime example of the failing of equality in this country.

That said, I have no disagreement at all with Obama choosing Warren to deliver his invocation. It's a wonderful example of what I like and respect about Obama. So many people, and especially politicians (because it's PC to do so) place people in categories of right and wrong, good and bad, either/or, black or white, based on one opinion, vote, or association. "You said, did, or associated with someone who said/did [insert undesirable opinion here], hence you must be Wrong." The McCain campaign did this to Obama in the worst way, suggesting Obama was Wrong because he had tenuous ties to a very tenuous "terrorist." If you cast too critical an eye, everyone is viewed to be on the wrong side of Right, and you're only able to hear opinions which already align with your own, until opinion becomes dogma and anything else is heresy.

I think it takes a wise person to say, I may disagree with some of what you think, but I can respect you anyway, hear you anyway, and try to learn from you. I voted for Obama because I believe he is a wise man. If he chooses to ask "Pastor Rick" to deliver his invocation, I will trust in his wisdom and in the possibility that people whom I disagree with in some respects might still have something worthwhile to say, and to listen to.

From the Archives

The dogs: Star and Pi.

A shot from a little preserve just the far side of the border into NY, back in August.

Button Bay State Park

Last Friday we drove up to Dead Creek WMA, where the migrating flocks of Snow Geese were hugely impressive but didn't photograph well (I desperately need that telephoto lens Jeffrey keeps telling me I should splurge on). I did get one shot I liked:


With the rest of our evening, we drove up to Button Bay State Park on Lake Champlain. Its gates are closed for the season, so we walked in and out to the point, where I snapped photos of the sunset, and one of the fall color still gripping a tree or three:

My Front Yard in Fall

Okay, maybe not "my front yard," but George lets me borrow it to walk the dogs. It's rather less of a yard and rather more of a farm... a large one, between George's house on Middle Rd. and all the way out to Otter Creek. I could walk for hours out there -- there's the room and beauty enough to do it. A few photos I've snapped in the last couple weeks:


And a few from the first heavy frost we got, just before the rising sun melted it off:

In Search of Trader Joe's - Oct. 17th

Trader Joe's sells certain items that are staples of my diet... whole grain tortillas and pizza dough, frozen bell peppers, refried black beans. There is no Trader Joe's in Rutland. In fact, there are no Trader Joe's in the whole of Vermont. Our search for the nearest Trader Joe's took us to Northampton, Mass, a good two and a half hours away. The drive itself was worth it all on its own, though... two and a half hours through the Green Mountains, then the Berkshires, in mid-October, is anything but a trial. Locals tell me the "leaf peepers" pay good money for those tours.

I didn't get any of the photos I wanted. Really, I was just too dazzled by the beauty of it to wrench my brain away from awe and into photo-taking mode. Nevertheless, I snapped a couple from a lookout on a summit in the Berkshires:



We also stopped in Shelburne Falls, Mass, and walked their claim to fame: the "World Famous Bridge of Flowers." Not the sort of thing I usually stop for, I'm glad Jeffrey made me do it.



The shame of it is, the only photos I've taken of dahlias were in Mass. George grows dahlias (though these days he leaves the work up to his son and hired help) -- dahlias are, in fact, George's claim to fame, at least locally, and we were here to witness them in all their glory... but I took not a single photo. These were on the Flower Bridge:


But George's, of course, were much nicer.

Moo

A few shots from last month, near Tinmouth.

The calf in the second shot was comfortably lying in the road when we drove by the first time; by the time we'd turned around to have a closer look, other cars had scared him back to mom.

Chaffee Falls Trail, Pittsford, VT

Directions: From US-7 in Pittsford, take Furnace Rd. right. Where Furnace Rd. intersects with Plains Rd., continue straight onto Hitchcock Rd. (Furnace Rd. continues right.) About .7 miles onto Hitchcock, there's a small, steep, and very difficult to see gravel road leading right, into the woods and to the trailhead.

The trail loops to Chaffee Falls and back to the parking lot, 1.8 miles total.

A Foggy Day at Ferry Beach

Ferry Beach State Park in Maine, earlier this month.

Photo: Champlain Marsh Bird Conservation Area

A small section of a large conservation area in New York State, just past the Vermont border.

A "new" cause of asthma?

Asthma is one of those 1st world diseases that seems to become more, not less, prevalent with modernization, bucking the trend of most diseases. There's been several theories as to why this is so. Smoking and air pollution contribute to asthma rates, but perhaps less obviously, some studies hint that so do C-sections, antibiotic use, even chlorine in pools. The originally oddball theory, which has gained some real respect following a number of studies, is that we're too clean -- asthma may develop when our childrens' immature immune systems are never exposed to normal levels of bacteria, causing them to overreact to normal airborne pollutants.

This article from ScienceDaily summarizes a study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, which suggests another possible cause. To summarize the summary, pregnant mice who ate diets rich in methyl-donors had offspring with higher rates of asthma and asthma-related symptoms. (The thought of an asthmatic mouse probably shouldn't strike me as so funny, but it does.) Among other methyl-donors is folic acid, now commonly recommended as a supplement for pregnant women, as well as added to most flour (and found in most breads) by law in the US and several other (mostly developed) countries. This is because too little folic acid during pregnancy can cause a specific type of birth defect. Can too much cause asthma? One study in mice only hints that it does, but also provides yet another hint that we may be better off leaving our nutrients in the foods they come in, and getting them from the source. (Folic acid occurs naturally in leafy greens, beans and peas, and some other fruits and vegetables, all of which are rich in other important nutrients, as well.)

Why I Like Vermont

Because you get views like this from the shopping mall parking lot...


Even the K-mart looks good. Hell, even the Wal-Mart looks good, though I haven't stooped to taking photos of that, yet.

I'd vote for the parrot.

I knew there was a reason I liked Ralph Nader, despite the last 8 years...

The worst presidential campaign ad ever?

I'm not sure I'd dare to answer the question asked, but I do like the parrot.

New York Times Article: Approximating Math

I've always been bad at (or uninterested in) straight math, rote numbers, but reasonably adept at throwing out estimations, approximations or guesses and being surprisingly close to the mark.

This New York Times article suggests the two manners of math are more closely related than I thought. So why do struggle with middle-school math? Could be disinterest, after all. (But I'm totally interested in what contribution fish make to the ocean's temperature.)

And for the record, I scored 92% on their little test, after 25 trials. There's not a whole lot to do in this nursing home, when George isn't feeling talkative.

Hi, Hello and Hola

Charlie also says "duck, duck, duck, duck, GOOSE," but that doesn't sound so welcoming. He enjoyed the ride to Vermont (though most of was in the car, not on my "other" baby, the Rockhopper), and he seems to like it here in George's old farmhouse. My boyfriend Jeffrey and I, and the dogs, birds and mice, have been here a bit over a month now, and had our ups and downs, mostly George's. For 99 years old he could get around reasonably well, until antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus brought him to the hospital. He's now in a local nursing home for recovery, learning again to use a knee which infection made immobile.

The nursing home, it turns out, offers wifi. We haven't got internet access yet in the farmhouse, so here I sit, with George, typing away. It's funny to think... he was an old man before computers ever made their first appearance.

Besides George's "downs," Jeffrey and I have made a few of our own "ups," mostly driving around the Rutland area, and beyond. One trip took us to the Maine coast (the first time I've seen the Atlantic since Cape Cod, when I was a little kid). I have photos coming out my ears (thanks to my new "other, other" baby, the Nikon D60), but need to work them through Photoshop. One spot near the New York border had these, though, and I can't help but post them first (juvenile Northern Leopard Frogs, Rana pipiens):