It's been much colder these mornings since my last post. Wet and gray and cold. Let's hope things brighten up soon. Too gloomy!

I added the second part of the first Chapter - Laura. I hope it gives you some insight into her character. This was a major purpose of the chapter.

Chapter One  - Laura    continued

Dr. Gornstein relayed his doubts to Laura about getting enough time at the observatory on the way down the steps.  "It just doesn't seem to be working out. I don't like the feel of it. We'll try elsewhere". He made the decision quickly, something Laura liked about him. She trusted his judgment and decided to let it be. As usual, as soon as she had comitted to a course, she could preview most of what would be. Thousands and thousands of  brilliant colors and forms flashed through her mind. She scanned an array of many different kinds of emotions and perceptions, fears and elations, losses and challenges, changes and growing, mystery and discovery; beautiful and meaningful discovery. She let it flow through her being. "These things would happen", she smiled at the certainty. 

The lecture hall was a small amphitheater. At the front  was a semicircular stage about a foot off the ground and, against the wall, half a dozen green sliding chalk boards arranged side by side.  In front of this stood Doctor Gornstein  with a pointer just behind a classic laboratory demonstration table with the usual sink and and gas connections. The words "Where in Heaven Are We?"  were written  very large with an oversize piece of yellow chalk across two of the boards. Laura sat at the back of the auditorium by a projector with a remote and her notebook. It was the third  time she would assist for this lecture. It was probably the hundredth time for Dr. Gornstein and it was as highly refined a piece of work as you would expect.

"So where in heaven are we?" Dr. Gornstein began. "33rd and Walnut!", a student answered as many of the students as well as Dr. Gornstein and Laura chuckled. "Yes, indeed, Stuart, that's exactly where we are; right here."

Laura began dimming the lights on cue and clicked the first slide up onto a very large and wide screen as a beautiful panoramic photo of the Milky Way Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds filled the darkening auditorium. Taken at the observation site of the VLT (Very Large Telescope) over the desert in northern Chile, it presented the exact "stepping off point" to the larger orientation the students would experience this semester. It would also be quite an extraordinary  step for Dr. Gornstein and Laura, and although he was not quite expecting  it at this time, Laura was.  

It's been a very cold and gray day. Ugh! A perfect time to read the first installment of

Alien Uploads

                                                                           Alien Uploads

                                                                    Chapter One:  Laura

Laura watched Dr. Gornstein leave  the lab. It was obvious that something was bothering him.  He'd go out, light up a cigarette,  stare up at the sky and come back in with "answers" .  It was still cool in early April and a few clouds obscured the moon and Sirius. Dr. Gornstein  liked to gauge the clarity of the night sky by the brightness and definition of some of the stars in the southern constellations. "We're not going to see so well tonight, but we won't miss that much either" he said as he came back into the lab. He knew Laura didn't like him to smoke and he felt a bit guilty. He was also frustrated and disappointed at their research progress. He hoped Laura wouldn't notice. She shrugged and answered "we'll do what we can." and added, "you've been smoking again Michael. You know it's not good for you". Laura was his graduate research assistant. She had turned in her chair and looked at him from her desk. He was edgy. They hadn't received replies from either of the two major observatories they'd applied to for telescope time and he knew she expected positive news. Her familiarity irked him. He jumped on what she said. "How's it your business if I smoke or not?" "The smoke comes in here with you. It's on your breath and your clothes and it can hurt me" she countered. His anger mounted. All he could think of was the leftover sandwiches in her desk, the paper and pens she took out of the lab, and calling him by his first name without ever asking him if it was OK. "Look, if it's that much of a problem for you, you can go home right now where it's safer." In a few seconds her face screwed up as she tried unsuccessfully to suppress the reaction and started to cry and squeak words. All that came out was something like "I'm only trying to help you" between sobs. He knew he'd blown it.

He remembered the last staff meeting and how vehemently he'd insisted on the principle of student understanding being the major product of their department. "it's really why we're here..." he'd summarized. "...This is a school it's not any other kind of business...we're here for them."  They couldn't help but agree of course. That's what carried them forward in their research. It's what paid their salaries. His lab was not his playroom and he knew that. If anything was primary about his considerations of his work it was that. Yet, here he was putting his own comfort and interest ahead of his best student. "Laura I'm sorry!" I should not have spoken to you like that..." he launched into his teacher to student humor that always worked in class "...even if you call me by my first name without even asking me if it's OK...and even if you leave half eaten sandwiches in your desk for a week...and take paper and pens from our lab..." She was smiling now. "This is your home. You know that. As much as it is my home, it's your home too."  "We'll call it even then Dr. Gornstein and pursed her lips into a wry sarcastic smile."  "I'm sorry I was disrespectful" she added.  He smiled. "Everyone calls me Michael, come on".

It was late when they quit taking pictures.  He was driving home on the expressway and had begun thinking again about their role in all this. The story of astronomy was the story of man staring up into the heavens and wondering about his place and purpose. Ages and ages of development and conjecture, exploration and new tools.  New theories and technologies ran parallel with the developments of new materials and instruments. Now, it was the almost dizzying developments in ICT to deal with. "They weren't kidding about that "giant step for mankind" on the moon either," he thought. Hubble was supposed to be the astronomy giant step. It had already been more than that. Now the Keck telescopes, the Gran Telescopio Canarias, and the Giant Magellan Telescope stood in a chronological line like some kind of grand cosmic plan, ever so carefully coordinated, to reach and see further and answer key questions.  His own fascination with the stars had somehow become lost in the details of his work.  "This dance with light and its invisible partners",  he had called it once,  had slowed to a walk.

At home he checked out his emails from the GTC again.  Nothing had posted. They were either not interested or nothing was happening . There was always Keck, but last year left him feeling less than enthusiastic about the work they'd done.  The cool reception and  general lack of interest in their project had been disappointing. "What'd you expect, leis and grass skirts" his wife had teased when he mentioned their lukewarm welcome. He had expected quite a bit more. "More like, Captain Gornstein and his crew of cadets;  space - time travelers off to the edge of the universe on a mission to save mankind from the unknown,  have arrived,"  he answered with a smile.

It had rained all night and was still raining as Michael pushed quarters into the parking meter and rushed into the Physical Science Building. He preferred to park on the street whenever he was early and lucky enough to get a space even though it meant several trips down to the meter. He had a faculty parking permit, but it was a long way from the lot to the building entrance and very inconvenient at times, particularly when the weather was bad.
He looked up and down  Walnut and 33rd streets from the window of his corner office.  A flood of memories came back;  his first year at Penn and four of his high school  friends packed into his '55 stick six Chevy, rushing to make their first class. He smiled at the thought of running up the steps across the street to the Towne Building or even here for Physics classes.
Somehow it seemed that a large part of who he really was remained in his fifth grade classroom looking out from the window at the cool rain falling onto the cement of the schoolyard while they were all warm and secure within the strength and knowing care of the School District of Philadelphia.

The staff meeting focused on the values of cultural interaction aiding science. Sometimes it seemed just politically oriented, but it was true nevertheless. It did help. New fresh viewpoints. Different perspectives.  Different cosmologies. It did fit together. It wasn't actually the university kowtowing to political pressure. "The expanding universe" he thought and smiled. The sun had come out suddenly and   Spring entered the lab  in the person of Laura wearing a light green sweater and a  bright early morning smile. "What's the Gran TeCan say?" she asked as concerned as he had been.  

 

A Brighter Day

Well, here's the view I wrote about yesterday. Today the sun's out and it's not so gray at all.

I hope the "Potamus" made you giggle. We've had over thirty wild turkeys at once prance across that lawn as well as one large brown doe with white spots. A flock of robins landed here about a week ago, but still no Potamus. Actually, who knows? They are very difficult to spot! Wait! Click on the picture to enlarge it and see if you can spot the Potamus. A rather young Potamus is right there climbing on the swing!!

View From the Kitchen Window

It's actually kind of gray this morning. The thermometer tacked onto the window outside reads about 37 degrees Fahrenheit. A few snowflakes settle down quietly up here in Northern Vermont. We're only 6 miles from the Canadian border. A dead or nearly dead paper birch still stands about ten feet directly in front of the window. It has a green painted bird feeder tied to a branch about as high as I can reach to refill it with nuts and seeds each morning. Little chickadees and an occasional woodpecker or bluejay jump down from the branches and take a nut and fly away.

Depending on your mood, it's a very sad morning or a so-so morning or a beautiful exciting morning.

Here's a piece I did about five years ago. I thought it was cute. Let me know what you think.

                                          The  Vermont  Potamus

The Vermont Potamus (Mustela-Pinnepedia potamus) is the only known member of a family of land-transitioned, semi-aquatic marine mammals. A truly remarkable creature in adaptability and general behavior, he still survives around some lake regions in northern Vermont. The potamus is often mistaken as a small bear or large opossum, or sometimes as a wild turkey, moose or minivan. These misidentifications are probably more due to the innate ability of the potamus to assume the coloration and character of his surroundings rather than the unfamiliarity of the observer.  Displaying a truly remarkable facility for cryptic coloration, the potamus can disguise itself in a few moments to blend in completely with whatever background he might find himself. In this way, he avoids predators or anyone else whose company he might not prefer at the moment.

     It is not known exactly why or how the potamus transitioned from the lakes, where he apparently thrived for thousands of years, eating small fish and breeding along the shores, to his current habitat where he is normally found further inland, usually near fast-food restaurants. Scientists theorize that there might be a correlation between his drift inland toward settled communities and another uncanny ability demonstrated by the potamus; namely, mimicry.

     Possessing vocal chords, the potamus normally emits cries, barks and shrieks not totally unlike that of a seal. Together with this, the potamus can and does mimic sounds he hears. He can, and will mimic the human voice with remarkable fidelity. Perhaps he was first attracted to fast-food restaurants by discarded bits of food left by some patrons. However he arrived there, he has come to frequent these places, usually hiding in the bushes, disguised as a bush or paper bag or pigeon eating a french fry. It is very difficult to see through his cryptic coloration. . Only those familiar with the potamus notice a pair of large brown eyes, which, for some unknown reason, he simply doesn’t camouflage.

     The really intriguing part of his behavior indicates a high intelligence. Some have tagged his demonstrated intelligence as clever and some as wily, shrewd, or just someone to avoid. The potamus, having acquired a taste for fast-food products, perhaps through discards, watches motorists as they pull up to the drive-in order speaker, and he listens to what they say. Perhaps the person will say “cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate frosty”. The potamus will then wait till there are no people near the speaker, often at night, stand in front of it and mimic exactly what he heard. He has watched the customer get cheeseburgers from the window. He knows what he has to do and so he goes to the drive–in window and waits for the person to open it, usually with the bag of food nearby. He then reaches in and grabs it and runs.  Certainly, they have become a nuisance and, as you might expect, many of the chains have taken steps to prevent losing food this way. The upper management for a major chain, for example, had developed a coding system to screen against the potamus. They instructed their personnel to ask the question: “Are you a potamus?”, which they had to abandon after complaints from customers and revise to “Are you a human?” which has proven effective, if awkward, at times.