Crystal City

One morning, and I was walking to work, I noticed that the City of Corning was doing some construction in Pyrex Rd. They had dug up the earth between the sidewalk and the curb in big piles of dirt. As I looked, I noticed that some rocks glittered! And slowly I realized that they weren't rocks at all, but huge chuncks of blue, gold and irridescent glass! Hunks of the stuff! All under the grass! It was wicked. Corning is truly the Crystal City.

Birthday!

As my Tribe profile so diligently noted, my age has changed to the all powerful 4-0. I have always enjoyed having a summertime birthday so close to the solstice. Sometimes, I feel at this time of year that the world is full of unlimited possibilities. And that yes, something very "special" is about to happen.

There was a young man who came into the library and he felt the need to tell me that he is going to write a book, and I could see that in that moment he was in earnest. His eyes sparkled, and he spent his allotted time on the public computer doing so. That's an interesting way to write...everyday at the library in the time allowed.

I would like to write a book too. That is on my list.

Summer Waterfall

Summer

The Prime Directive

As a fan of science fiction, I am very accustomed to the idea that either Earthlings or other species on other planets may be less technologically developed than others. In the Star Trek realm, there is the Prime Directive, where more advanced peoples monitor those who are less so, (but on the verge of technological consciousness) and it is imperative that the more primitive people are left to discover things and evolve on their own.

Yet, just the other day, when I read this story about a tribe in the Amazon or Peru (news.nationalgeographic.com/news...tml),
who have never been in contact with.....the rest of the world, I found myself strangely horrified. And that is weird.

I imagine all the people who go to Burning Man, all decked out in their fabulous, tribal-esque finery, dancing around a burning...whatever is burning at the moment, and then when the vacation is over, I imagine that they will all return to their modern lives. Hop a plane to get back east. Drive to the coast. Perhaps they work in front of a computer, surfing the internet to read about a tribe of people who don't know that the rest of us exist.

And it freaked me out to read that a team of scientists are "monitoring" these people. Like the Prime Directive. But the fact is that this picture was splattered all over the internet. Is that keeping these people "safe"? Do they have any privacy at all? Because they are completely unaware of what an airplane, a camera, or the internet is, does that mean that we can gawk at them as being intellectual curiosities?

Is it right to keep them unaware of the magnificent things we have discovered? I guess that I so value the fact that I have seen pictures of distant stars exploding, or nebula; that I understand that our galaxy is but one of many, many galaxies.....I wouldn't wish ignorance of these realities on anyone.

Last Saturday

Last weekend I went to the Finger Lakes National forest, which is located between the southern ends of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. It was still very early spring, and there wasn't much greenery yet, but I brought my new camera and took 300 pictures! There weren't many people around at all, and the park is rather large and rambling. Just lots of trees going on and on (as well it should be). Actually, I noticed that there weren't many bird sounds, and that felt odd. So, what you did hear was the wind through the trees, and the trees themselves!

Aching, groaning, laughing sounds! And then there was one unearthly sound I heard from afar that really set my arm hairs rising! It sounded like a mythical beast or monster in the woods! As the sound got louder, I realized that it was one tree rubbing against another, and finally, I found the sound's source.

This picture is of one tree that has rubbed up against another for YEARS! Just look at that gaping wound, that won't heal because of the pine tree's spiky branch. Wow.

Okay!

So says Yahoo News:

"Allen's Marion could not have appeared in that one, since "Temple of Doom" took place earlier than "Raiders," which marked the first time she had seen Indy in a decade."

Ah.

I finally have a digital camera!

This camera is the equivalent of my film camera with perks, like video and the ability to take really, really close up shots without an expensive macro lens! This picture is of my eye, and it also looks like some sea creature.

More fun!

"I always knew you'd come walk'n through my door..."

You know, the sequels to Raiders of the Lost Ark didn't hold much interest for me, and one large reason was because Marion wasn't in any of them.

When the second movie came out, I was actually dismayed to see some ditzy blonde as THE woman ('cause there is only ever one female character in these Hollywood blockbusters. 'Cause, you know, there are so few women in the world, and we have no impact , apparently.

So, when news came out about this one more Indiana Jones movie, I was not impressed. UNTIL I saw that YES! Karen Allen is IN IT!

I just might go see this one. Yea!

Frozen Waterfall

For your enjoyment.