Jan
09
The Sunday after my trip to Big Bend – I was playing in church (as I do every Sunday) and I had to improvise something to cover the time for communion. This is a recording of that improvisation. I’m not saying the whole 6 minutes is riveting - it’s not, but there are parts of it I actually …
Jan
07
January 7 journal 12:10 -The Petroleum Museum, - Midland, tx Looked at 6 different oil and gas ‘traps’. The traps are classified according to the geological processes which form them. Anticline, fault, lens, pinch-out, reef, and truncation traps The first time geology was used to help locate oil sites was looking for lifting of the crust …
Jan
06
The diversity of personalities on this trip is ridiculously AMAZING. I won’t name names so I don’t violate confidences, but here is a sampling of the characters I’ve come to know over the past week. One guy who left a six-figure job and a family business to become a law enforcement professional. A mother of …
Jan
05
The next stop on our itenerary was the Barton Warnock nature center. However, we discovered it was closed. (As Gomer Pile would say, Surprise, surprise, surprise) We proceeded to try Ken Burns again – nope. – out sick! So we drove to what turned out to be one of my favorite hikes so far – …
Jan
05
Santa Elaina canyon. Steep climb and then no problem. Took lots of pictures. Remembered hiking this way on a previous trip and putting my hand on a cactus. The little microscopic splines stuck with me for a long time and clearly left a lasting impression on me. On the way back I picked up a …
Jan
05
As we neared the head of the Lost mine trail we found ourselves rising in elevation such that we noticed the emergence of bone fide trees in a field of ancient volcanoes referred to as the Green Gulch. Trees were once abundant here until the miners virtually striped the landscape of them. Then in the 1940′s, cattle overgrazed it down to …
Jan
04
7:32 – arrived at McDonald Observatory We hurried up to the amphitheater where we could see a brilliant green laser beam gesturing at different points in the sky. The speaker had a very clear voice and a well rehearsed, easy manner if explaining the cosmos above. Visible above us he showed us a “visible mist …
Jan
04
Stopped for lunch in the Rio Grande valley camp area 1:10 depart The Hot springs heat source is 1500 feet below the ground heated by the earths core. The one we visited was commercially developed as a resort destination in the 1920′s. On the way to the pool, Mrs. Valle explained that the 16 million year old …
Jan
04
January 4th, 2011 7:29am departed Prude Ranch 7:52am Saw a herd of Elk which were reintroduced in the 1980′s. Looks like their doing just fine. 9:20 Viewing beautiful Chisos mountains Occitillo plants are abundant On the drive we saw majestic columnar basalts. (My iPhone didn’t do them justice) 9:53 sparking reflections of Gypsum all over …
Jan
03
January 3rd, 2011 4:00am – I left my sleeping wife Mary and three children and flew out the door towards Weatherford. I packed everything I needed last night so I slipped on my clothes and took off. 5:30 – Arrived at a dark and cold Weatherford College parking lot and joined a cluster of cars …
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