Since our last posting we have gone from Texas to Clifton, Arizona and on to Roosevelt Lake. The trip through Texas was very hot and uncomfortable. One day we were told the temperature got to106. We finally arrived at a higher altitude at Van Horne, Texas where the climate and the scenery were more pleasant. Whew! It does seem nice to get west again.
We paid a quick visit to Clifton, Arizona. We have a member of the family there who is extremely ill. We visited him and his daughter, was also visiting. It was sad to see a person so devastated with illness, and we hope he gets feeling better.
After Clifton, we worked our way west to Roosevelt Lake, which is about 70 miles northeast of Phoenix. We stopped a few days to relax a bit and catch up on stuff. It is spring in the desert now. Although they are in the middle of a multi-year drought here, there are still some spring flowers. The cacti are beginning to bloom, and of course the some off the trees and desert flowers are in bloom. A few pictures of the desert are attached.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006
Thoughts on Cosmology while Travelling Thru Texas
We have an abrupt change in plans. Rather than go to Red Bay, Alabama to work on the rig, we have decided to go to Arizona to visit a relative who is ill. So this morning we are in an RV park in Tyler, Texas. The temperature was 91 degrees yesterday, but it cooled off nicely last evening. I had forgotten just how big Texas is. It takes a lot longer than a day to cross, if one wishes to make a reasonable RV driving day (5 to 7 hours).
While driving on this trip, I have a chance to contemplate the contretemps between the believers in evolution and creationism. (I feel this is a dispute by those who feel they must make a choice between science and religion.) However I do not want to walk through that worn dispute. What I do want to think about is the wonder and mystery of the way the actual universe is put together.
One of the delights of story of the creation in Genesis, is the imaging and differences in the world as we know it today and during the time of creation. However, what we know now about the way the universe is put together and the way it was formed seems to me to have mystery far surpassing anything ever conceived even a century ago. We know that in the universe there is a huge amount of “dark matter” and energy, whose properties we do not understand. Atoms are far from the basic building blocks of matter. Rather matter is made up of quarks, which change to charms and on to top quarks if stimulated with sufficient energy. And perhaps even the quarks are not the basic form of matter. The fundamental unit may be tiny forms of energy/matter called strings. As if that were not enough, physicists are postulating additional dimensions, some large and some tiny, rolled in tubes. And the “ Big Bang” seems to be an event that occurred with certainty. To think everything was at one time concentrated to the size of a pinhead. As far as I can tell, no one knows what happened before the “Big Bang”, if anything. Did time exist? Could time exist if there is no space? The wonder of the universe (one of many universes? Perhaps!) and it’s creation seems so marvelous, that it does not seem to me, we need a supernatural explanation of the nature of things. I do not believe we have to have a supernatural explanation of the universe to have religious and ethical concepts of our life.
While driving on this trip, I have a chance to contemplate the contretemps between the believers in evolution and creationism. (I feel this is a dispute by those who feel they must make a choice between science and religion.) However I do not want to walk through that worn dispute. What I do want to think about is the wonder and mystery of the way the actual universe is put together.
One of the delights of story of the creation in Genesis, is the imaging and differences in the world as we know it today and during the time of creation. However, what we know now about the way the universe is put together and the way it was formed seems to me to have mystery far surpassing anything ever conceived even a century ago. We know that in the universe there is a huge amount of “dark matter” and energy, whose properties we do not understand. Atoms are far from the basic building blocks of matter. Rather matter is made up of quarks, which change to charms and on to top quarks if stimulated with sufficient energy. And perhaps even the quarks are not the basic form of matter. The fundamental unit may be tiny forms of energy/matter called strings. As if that were not enough, physicists are postulating additional dimensions, some large and some tiny, rolled in tubes. And the “ Big Bang” seems to be an event that occurred with certainty. To think everything was at one time concentrated to the size of a pinhead. As far as I can tell, no one knows what happened before the “Big Bang”, if anything. Did time exist? Could time exist if there is no space? The wonder of the universe (one of many universes? Perhaps!) and it’s creation seems so marvelous, that it does not seem to me, we need a supernatural explanation of the nature of things. I do not believe we have to have a supernatural explanation of the universe to have religious and ethical concepts of our life.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Spring Training and What's Next
It is spring, and I took the opportunity to go to three of the Cardinal spring training games in Jupiter, FL. I saw them play the Dodgers, Marlins and yesterday I saw them play them their last spring training game against the Mets. The Cardinals look pretty good this year, but perhaps not as good as last year. There seems to be some weakness at second base, and in the paper today I saw that Miles won that position. He does not look nearly as good as Grudzielanek looked last year (although his name is easier to spell). I don’t see any super hitters in the outfield. Edmonds seems to be dragging a little; I am not sure why. According to the newspaper, Cardinal pitching is said to be in good shape, and I suppose that, more than anything will be the key to a winning season.
Anyway, it is lots of fun to go to spring training games. The stadium is small. So all seats are pretty near the field. There are lots of Cardinal fans here at the games, so that makes for a friendly filed. Lou Brock and Bob Gibson are here as advisers. I didn’t see Gibson, but Brock is about on the field, and seems friendly --- signing autographs, and doing the honors with visiting kids on the field. Red Schoendiest was managing the first game I saw (I think La Russa was out of town), so he brought out the lineup for the umpires. He looks good, and it made me nostalgic for the old days in Saint Louis when he was manager.
Tomorrow, we start on our migration west. We will go to northern Florida, where I will visit my sister and Niece for a few days, and then it will be on to Alabama to get a little work on the rig.
We have changed some of our plans. We cancelled our trip down Grand Canyon. I was getting apprehensive, because of some health concerns. The problem is that once you start the trip down the Canyon, there is no turning back unless you have a helicopter come and get you. That is a very big deal, and a rather expensive emergency. Amore likely outcome is spending a series of miserable days on a raft, until the trip is over. I hate to give in to what I guess is aging, but probably it is a wise decision.
Anyway, it is lots of fun to go to spring training games. The stadium is small. So all seats are pretty near the field. There are lots of Cardinal fans here at the games, so that makes for a friendly filed. Lou Brock and Bob Gibson are here as advisers. I didn’t see Gibson, but Brock is about on the field, and seems friendly --- signing autographs, and doing the honors with visiting kids on the field. Red Schoendiest was managing the first game I saw (I think La Russa was out of town), so he brought out the lineup for the umpires. He looks good, and it made me nostalgic for the old days in Saint Louis when he was manager.
Tomorrow, we start on our migration west. We will go to northern Florida, where I will visit my sister and Niece for a few days, and then it will be on to Alabama to get a little work on the rig.
We have changed some of our plans. We cancelled our trip down Grand Canyon. I was getting apprehensive, because of some health concerns. The problem is that once you start the trip down the Canyon, there is no turning back unless you have a helicopter come and get you. That is a very big deal, and a rather expensive emergency. Amore likely outcome is spending a series of miserable days on a raft, until the trip is over. I hate to give in to what I guess is aging, but probably it is a wise decision.
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