The Most Exciting Time to be Alive, and the Least Likely!

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Photo #508: Volcanic GasLocation Taken: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Time Taken: October 2012

I’ve been reading about the Permian Extinction today. Such a lovely time in Earth’s history!

Just imagine, a massive flood of lava covering an area the size of the continental United States! It’s the majority of modern-day Siberia, a vast area of layers after layers of basalt! And it erupted for a full million years!

It released so much carbon dioxide that the levels got to three times today’s level, raising the global temperature some 10 degrees. And then it melted all the permafrost at the poles, releasing enough methane to raise the temperature another 10 degrees! The world started outright baking!

Oh, and there was a thick layer of coal under where the volcano erupted. It caught fire! Just imagine, a massive coal fire going on right underneath a massive lava flood! Isn’t it exciting?! And it just added even more pollutants and carbon dioxide to the air, poisoning it further!

The planet got so hot that the oceans evened out in temperature from pole to equator. This meant that the ocean currents, which are powered by cool water moving to the equator and hot water moving to the poles, just kinda up and stopped. Which meant the water stopped circulating and the inhabitants quickly used up all the oxygen in the lower levels!

Now, this didn’t eradicate all life down there. There are some bacteria that prefer to not have all this pesky oxygen around, so they flourished quite happily! Now if only they didn’t produce hordes of hydrogen sulfide that poisoned the rest of the ocean.

Some 96% of all marine species couldn’t deal with the poisoned, oxygen-starved water and up and died on us. As did the majority of land species as well, unable to deal with the large deserts and air filled with poison. Such wimps, really. Our ancestors managed to get through it! And they had a grand time of it once the volcano finally petered out, with all this uninhabited land to expand into!

Oh, and there’s a few people that the whole thing might have been caused by a meteor strike shocking the earth into sending up the volcanic plume! Isn’t that a fun idea!?

  

In Newfie lands, Barachois is pronounced Barasway, don’t cha know?

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Photo #507: Beautiful BarachoisLocation Taken: Barachois Pond Provincial Park, Newfoundland
Time Taken: July 2012

Barachois Pond is probably the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen. Shrouded under the delicate clouds of Newfoundland, surrounded by magnificent forests, and watched over by the gentle Erin Mountain, it all comes together to perfection.

This photo doesn’t even come close to matching how beautiful it was in person. The sweep of the lake in both directions, the scale of the mountain in front of you, the marvelous breeze crossing the lake, all that cannot be captured in one photo.

It’s no wonder they made a provincial park centered on this lake, and nestled a campground on its shores.

It’s also no wonder that many of the campers I saw were long-term campers, with “This is the Happy Family plot!” signs out and furniture all over their site, with a satellite dish on the side of the RV. It’s enough to make me want to join them, travel around, living a month or two at a time in the most beautiful scenery around. It’s a modern nomadic life, and one that has a lot of appeal.

  

Naught between you and the sky but a thin slip of fabric

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Photo #506: Tent CampingLocation Taken: Cypress Hills Provincial Park, Saskatchewan
Time Taken: June 2010

I’m quite fond of camping.  I blame it on my Mom, of course.  She’s the one who dragged me to all sorts of campgrounds when I was younger.  And by younger, I of course mean “younger than I am this very second”, since the last time I camped with my Mother was last November.

Most of my recent camping has been one-night stops on long road trips, where we pulled into a campground when others would pull into a hotel.  Which usually means arriving with just enough light to set up the tent, then driving in the dark to find a nearby place to eat.  Or, in one case, seeing that we wouldn’t get to the campground in time and reversing that order.  It’s fun setting up a tent with nothing but headlights to see by!

I’ve had longer camping trips in the past, and my family even lived in a campground for a month or two after we moved to Maryland, as Dad started his job before we found a house to rent.  But that was when I was quite young, and has largely faded from my memory.

Camping has a lot going for it, especially if you go for tent camping in obscure State Parks and the like.  You’re in a lovely place, surrounded by only a handful of other people, and you can explore as much or as little as you like.  If you want to run down to the local river and go wading, you can.  If you just want to curl up in your tent with a good book, that’s just fine.  You’ve stepped away from your busy life and into a different world, one run at a slower pace.  It’s quite pleasant.

Now if only more campgrounds had internet…

  

One Blog, Two Blog, Three Blog, Four!

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Photo #505: MultideerLocation Taken: Arcadia, Michigan
Time Taken: December 2009

One deer, two deer, three deer, four! Five deer, six deer, seven deer, more!

Ok, there’s only five deer here. At least visible. But it still reminded me of a childhood counting game I had a lot of fun with.

I’d find something nearby that came in large numbers (usually ants) and then do some sort of rhythmic motion (usually swinging back and forth on the porch railing) while chanting.

One ant, two ant, three ant, four! Five ant, six ant, seven ant, more!

It works best when you’re counting a one syllable object. And really emphasize the “four!” and “more!” And slur together the syllables of “seven” to “se’en”. And are eight years old.

  

I think these otters are just having a group stretch, not actually posing for the camera

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Photo #504: Posing OttersLocation Taken: National Zoo, Washington DC
Time Taken: March 2010

I’m done being an anemone. Today I’m an otter. Not as social as these otters, maybe, but sleek and swimming sound good to me.

I barely recall the times I’ve seen otters in zoos and aquariums, but I clearly remember the one time I saw a wild one. Amusingly, it was right next to the Seattle Aquarium, which is on a pier sticking out into Puget Sound. I even had a brief thought that maybe this patch of the sound was blocked off so people could see a “wild” animal when they walked by, but that was obviously not the case. It was just a lovely coincidence with a friendly otter checking out what we odd humans were doing.

While zoos are a great way to see and study animals, you still, well, expect to see those animals where they are. There’s no sense of discovery, of connection to a deeper world beyond just the layer we humans live in. Seeing a wild animal always starts with a small thrill of discovery and identification. After all, you have to know if it’s safe to stay where you are. Even if the answer is “run as fast as you can away from the alligator!” there’s still that initial, wonderful, thrill. You have stepped into a world where you’re not in charge, where things can be unpredictable, and your deep instincts start waking up.

If you can be addicted to discovery, I think I am an addict.