7 January 2010 A strange liquid appears

I wasn’t watching the gauges to document the moment of occurrence but it did happen. At some point in time between 1230 and1310 the ambient air temperature crept slightly above the 32°F mark and frozen precipitation began to thaw. Strange trickles of a tasteless, odorless, clear liquid began to form on solid surfaces previously occupied only by layers of snow and ice. For the first time since New Years’ Day, the temperature is above the freezing point of water. For most organisms on this planet, life is once again possible.


From the content and structure of the previous paragraph, one might surmise that I’ve spent too much of the last week watching the Science Channel. Define “too much.” Rather than watch endless hours of professional and semi-pro athletic events that hold no interest for me, rather than watch equally endless hours of rerun programs that I chose to ignore when they were first programmed and broadcast, I admit to watching programs on the geological origin of the planet. I’ve also watched programs about glaciations, the effect of the Antarctic ice cap and the Antarctic ice shelves on global thermal equilibrium. I’ve watched programs on the Ring of Fire and the proof of the nuclear winter theory by a single volcano in the Philippine Islands. I’ve spent some hours watching graphics explaining and exploring continental drift and its geologic impact on our physical world.

Did I actually learn anything by watching something at least marginally intellectual in nature?

Perhaps. I’ve encountered some of the information presented by these programs in one form or another over the years simply by checking books out of the local library to satisfy a thirst for information about one or more particular items.

In Florida, I read quite a lot about hurricanes and about the underlying science needed to understand them enough to take them seriously.

In Colorado I read a lot about snow packs and about the formation of the various ranges that make up the Colorado Rockies and the other parts of the North American cordillera.

I’m gradually learning about the formation and evolution of the Appalachian range by reading about it and by watching some excellent documentaries on the range that have appeared on public television recently.

Since I moved east in 1993, I’ve come to appreciate the impediment to settling the continent that the Appalachians were. Even today roads through the range provide tremendous vistas and amazing beauty while still serving as impediments to travel. Currently, a rock slide has closed a segment of Interstate 40 along the Tennessee/North Carolina border, rerouting all traffic quite a distance out of the way along roads not really designed to carry the increased load.

One of the items that has become evident as we travel about the region is the extreme difficulty that must have hampered the movement of military units during the American Revolution and the Civil War. Not only was the terrain a source of difficulty, it was also a source of choke and ambush points if opposing leaders had adequate maps and good intelligence. Troop movements were hard enough to plan and execute in the American West with its vast prairies and deserts. Factoring in the brush and tree choked vertical aspects of the Eastern range causes me to add new layers of respect and admiration for those generals who waged those wars.

The flock has returned after being absent two days. Gloria has just put our more food about half an hour ago. They are always combative about feeding turf when they arrive. There is a lot of pecking and chasing of other birds by older/bigger turkeys. Just now, Gloria was watching as one even chased a cardinal that was feeding nearby.

The latest radar picture shows snow back on the map. It is falling to our north west and will move in over the afternoon. Friday and Saturday have snow forecast. The next chance for above freezing temperatures will arrive Monday. That would be a good day if the warm temps last into the evening.

Time to bring in more wood and figure out what we’ll have for dinner while waiting for the heating/air-conditioning service company to put a technician on site.