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Snow Day


Good morning everyone. Please be patient while we dig out from yet another snowstorm that has us buried. Even the birds need to shovel their way to breakfast. The blue jays with their very large beaks shovel a path for the waiting nuthatches. This is the second storm in the last week although this 12” of snow is much lighter than the last 7" of what can only be described as cement.
I will keep this quick as the lights have been blinking. The weight of the snow on the branches causes tree limbs to lean heavily on the wires. We have listened to the rumble of snow sliding off the tin roof all night long. It is all beautiful in a wintry sort of way but does cause us to shift priorities on a morning like this. Thoughts of summer sailing adventures are in our hearts but the present is calling in the door yard. This is a good morning for blueberry pancakes from the wood cookstove. Then again... what morning isn't?

Have a great day. Be well Do good.

Comments

Unknown said…
Cap - I'm writing to you tonight from Orlando. Home to Mickey, Donald, Pluto and for me, anyway, a couple of days of work. A friend and I went to the Kennedy Space Center this afternoon. High tech and brute force are the watchwords for NASA. They use high tech to control the explosive brute force created by burning liguid hydrogen (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) through a set of nozzles. This brute force was used to propel man into space beyond earth's gravitation and on to the moon. Today the same elementary forces are used to move the massive space shuttle into earth orbit.

There was a time, not so long ago in the history of man, when wind was the natural force that men harnessed to travel long distances. Sailing ships carried men and women to places that could not be reached by land. The travellers in those days depended upon the vagaries of nature to supply the wind. The sailors used all available technology to control their ships to sail where they wanted to go. They used the sun, moon and stars to guide them. Today we use artificial moons to guide us to our destinations. Navies in the 17th and 18th centuries harnessed the power of combustion through the use of gunpowder where the charcoal and sulfur served as fuel and the potassium nitrate as the oxydizer. The cannons used the gunpowder to propel iron balls against the enemies. It wasn't until the 20th century that controlled explosions were used to propel ships instead of weapons.

What's my point? It seems to me that for all of our modern technology we still depend on mother nature and the "natural resources" of our home planet to provide all of our energy needs. Whether it's coal, oil or gas to fuel our power plants, or gasoline for our cars, no matter if it's liquid hydrogen to boost men into space or the wind in our sails aboard a schooner we depend upon Mother Earth for eveything. Let's all wisely use the gifts she provides and keep our planet healthy.

PS - needless to say but no snow here in Orlando!

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