Sorry for the long interval of not posting and not updating on my trip. Needless to say, I finally made it home to Gig Harbor WA, back from Syracuse NY. I was graced with a winter wonderland experience for most of the trip, from western Kansas through central Oregon and a tad in Washington state. Ironically, the only section of Interstate freeway to be closed was a portion of I-84 running next to the Columbia river where freezing temperatures produced slick ice on the roadway (less than 300 miles from home!). I had to detour to a two-lane road on the Washington side of the river and, except for dealing with slow trucks on twisty roads, it was uneventful. I finally hit temperatures above 25 when I got over the slight crest in the Cascades range through the Columbia gorge.
Low temperatures (below 20 and often sub-zero) were actually a boon for driving through mountainous passes and long flat plains. The low temps kept the snow dry and packed powder still provides some traction as long as you are careful. I counted maybe 12 to 15 wrecks on the whole trip. Most of them were cars in a ditch after sliding off the road. I managed to keep my concentration up. But it was exhausting.
In all the trip back took eight days (out took five days!). But I was fortunate to visit with a few folks on the way. A real highlight, besides seeing a brother who I hadn't seen in maybe 15 years, was visiting a geophysicist friend in Zion National Park. He gave me a personal guided tour. That place is awesome (as are other parks in Utah).
As for my intellectual experience while on sabbatical leave, I hardly know where to begin. I have covered it generally in my prior blog when I was about to leave Syracuse (http://questioneverything.typepad.com/question_everything/2009/12/packing-up-hitting-the-road.html ). I will have considerably more to blog about that experience in the days to come.
For now it is time to re-adapt to the home front and get ready for next quarter when I return to the classroom. Oh yes, there is that little matter of a holiday or two coming up soon. So I will need to face those as well. Blogs may be a bit sparse for the next several weeks. You guys need a break anyway. Because next year should prove extremely interesting as events unfold. At New Years I'll be wishing a "Hopeful new year" because I have no idea if the possibility of a "Happy new year" makes any sense.
I am in process of writing talk for Sustainable Thornbury, on subject of Collapse Dynamics. Your blog has been invaluable inspiration for several themes. Along with videos of Noah Raford's talk at LSE. And White's Law, Fred Hoyle re one shot only at industrialisation, etc.
Many thanks.
Posted by: gavinthornbury | December 17, 2009 at 02:59 AM
Forgot to clarify, Thornbury in England.
Posted by: gavinthornbury | December 17, 2009 at 03:00 AM
Gavin,
Thank you for the comment. And I hope you continue to find interesting stuff here.
George
Posted by: George Mobus | December 19, 2009 at 07:39 AM