I was feeling a little down this morning. I had this nightmare just before waking up, which really screwed up my beginning of the day attitude. It was a strange dream. Full of people glaring at me. But the dream is only secondary to the purposes of this brief post.
The first purpose is to recall the fun my dad and I used to have hiking in the Adirondacks. We only did a couple high peaks, the old standards Cascade and Porter. My dad was almost 80 when we were hiking, so we stuck to some of the smaller peaks. I have especially fond memories of Pitchoff, with the bus-sized boulders at the top and of little Mt. VanHoevenberg, where it took nearly as long to walk in to the base as it did to make the summit. When my heart episode occurred, our mountain hiking ended, and even though, I have been cleared to hike by my cardiologist, I'm afraid I no longer have the stamina. Still, I cherish the recollections.
My second purpose is to explain what led me to write this post today. At Panera, I had little talks with Jess, a terrific young woman who works there, and Terry Perrone, one of my Panera friends and a student from time gone by. Jess had just come back from a trip to the Adirondacks with some friends during which they summited 2 mountains in 1 day. Ah, the benefit of youthful leg muscles. The 3 of us, first Jess and I then Terry and I, talked for a few minutes about good hiking memories. Just that short term recollection of wonderful times shared with my father, chased the dregs of my crappy dream away. The Adirondacks and memories of the Adirondacks have a way of spiritually refreshing me. So does the ocean. Maybe sometime, I will write a post comparing the two.--Greg Ellstrom
The beautiful photograph at the beginning of this entry came from Syracuse.com.
This is not a rant. Read it in a soft voice. It’s simply an observation. Yesterday we saw the film “The Martian.” The film is about the survival of a man left behind on Mars when a mission has to be aborted. The actors are all great, including Matt Damon, who is the Martian of the title, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, and many more, each of whom seem perfect in his or her role. But the star of the film is science. It is science that saves the day. This movie makes you want to be brilliant, to be as scientifically capable as these NASA geniuses, especially Matt the Martian. As I was enjoying this really fine film, a thought distracted my enjoyment for a moment. The thought was how can anyone deny the scientific proof of climate change, and why don’t we let science do battle with this enemy, utilizing the great minds like those portrayed in “The Martian.” Oh, we’re all at fault. We drive cars, after all. But I’m mostly talking about the politicians and the businessman who deny the truth of climate change because of its economic detriment. These deniers are the people who have the science at their beck and call. Alone on a planet, one man uses his genius to survive, and yet the deniers chose not to use our genius. Can the billions on this planet survive?--Greg Ellstrom
P.S. When I posted this on FB, I was told there was an error in scientific logic concerning e-mail. I'm sure that's true, but it doesn't diminish the power of the film.
