A Reward for Your Patience

Sorry, my darlings. It’s apparently a holiday week: I’m disorganized as hell and keep getting distracted by shiny things when I should be writing. I’ve nearly got everything together for our next Prelude to a Catastrophe installment. Unless a squirrel happens, I should be writing it tomorrow night.

We will not discuss the post WordPress decided to eat earlier tonight.

In the meantime, the SciAm blog network turned one yesterday, and we celebrated with a bit o’ cake and curiosity. For those who didn’t see or didn’t feel like fighting with its comments system, you can answer nosy questions here, if you like. I know a little about some of you, and a lot about a few of you, but I know there are folks here who haven’t got the chance to say something about themselves. And you’re important to me. If you want to delurk, I’d love to hear from you!

And I’m going to give you, my patient darlings, a little bit o’ beauty from Mount St. Helens. These are from September last year, and I haven’t yet published them. Exciting, amirite?

Mount St. Helens from Johnston Ridge, September 2011

Yeah, that’s me trying to get all artsy-fartsy with one of the blow-down stumps and the volcano in the background.

Mount Adams from Johnston Ridge.

One thing I appreciate about Mount St. Helens, among many, is the blast zone. It’s amazing how much geology you can see with all the trees gone. Not that I don’t like trees, mind, and I hate clear cuts, but if a volcano wants to do a little deforestation, who am I to argue?

I’m off to Oregon soon. I might swing by and see the old girl, just the two of us. I’ve never spent quality time with her alone. We’ll be spending a lot of time together this summer: I’ve got to run Suzanne over for a nice jaunt later in the year, and Amanda and I are going to explore Ape Cave sometime before fall. We’ll see if temptation gets the better of me as I pass by her exit on my way down to collect Lockwood for some adventuring.

If I do go, what do you most want me to grab you photos of?

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A Reward for Your Patience
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9 thoughts on “A Reward for Your Patience

  1. rq
    2

    I’ll do a bit of the questions while I have my fresh-whipped cream from a bowl with strawberries in honour.
    1) I have a background in science (biology) and now work experience in forensic DNA analysis, but I am a huge fan of any other kind of science as a lay-person. Any kind of science, including science fiction. :)
    2) I ‘found’ Rosetta Stones after being directed there by you, Dear Author, and I stick to your posts because otherwise it would be too much science – in the sense that I already have too few hours in the day, and that would eat up anything productive I have left.
    3) My favourite thing about geology is that I know too little about it, and all of it is fascinating. Now I get some information from my brother (geophysicist) and some information from here, and overall I get answers to questions I would never think to ask and information about events that would otherwise never come to mind. Something new every day!
    4) If you asked the Significant Other, I would be Staburags, mostly for the story behind it. Personally, I’m going to go for a random erratic. Mostly because they like to sit around being unobtrusive until they warm up to the company, and then you can’t avoid them because they stick out like a nose in someone else’s business. :)

    Happy birthday, and here’s to many more!!!

    PS Artsy-fartsy works well for you. Like.

  2. tms
    3

    Hey Dana,

    I like your artsy photo, but what always gobsmacks me about any photo of the mountain from Johnston Ridge is the distance from the ridge to the volcano, and the fact that the blast reached it too fast for Dave Johnston to escape.

  3. 4

    can’t wait to see you and take that jaunt with ya up to see her dana. i’ve never knowingly visited a volcano before yanno and it is on my bucket list :)

  4. 5

    I’ll just reply here, it’s easier. Although I may as well register with Sci-Am eventually anyhow.

    First, as to what you should photograph: Since you’re going to Ape Cave, get an ape. Which is to a Sasquatch, after which the cave is named. You might find them trickier to capture than UFD’s so I’ll settle for those. And rocks, of course.

    As to the questions on Rosetta Stones:
    1) I’ve been interested in science as long as I can remember. Was going to major in Bio or Chem in college but my practical side took hold and I decided to become an engineer so I could actually make a living with a B.S. If pressed, I’d probably admit to being more interested in the history of science and technology than keeping up to date with the modern stuff. Particularly if it involves hurling stones at castles.

    2)I found my to RS from here, of course. I’ve been meaning to browse around the network, perhaps I’ll spend an hour or so this evening.

    3)My favorite thing about geology? It rocks! Ok, sorry. Perhaps, it’s actually that it can make me feel so small, and my problems so trivial. The earth simply doesn’t care if I’m whiny tonight.

    4)What kind of rock would I be? Tough one. Metamorphic, I suppose, so I can change over time.

    BTW, I spent part of the morning searching for UFD photos. It’s amazing just how many bad bird pictures I’ve found. I’ll send a couple of the more interesting along after a bit of downsizing and cleaning up.

  5. F
    6

    Well, shit. If there are shiny things (teh shiny!) happening around you, do enjoy them. We won’t complain, we’ll be happy for you. (Yes, I just presumed to speak for everyone (I’m looking at you, everyone) as I’ve been told recently I not only have the power to cause deep rifts, but I am also endowed with impoliteness, so I’m testing my speaking-for-others powers.) Do it. Enjoy the shiny things. (Ooh! And now I’m ordering you around. Better to reign in myself in, here.)

    You are right. Exciting! Some of teh shiny for me, via internet. Artsy-fartsy FTW.

    You know, I really don’t know why I never registered w/ SciAm before. I’ve been an on-again off-again subscriber for years. I should probably do that thing.

    Hard to believe we’re so young, innit?

    Yeah, I had entirely forgotten how surprised I was when SciAm first announced it was going to have blogs. I wuz all like, “Wut, u haz no blogz?” And found it strange that I hadn’t noticed the lack of a blog previously.

  6. 7

    1. I’m currently doing research in evolutionary biology, though I’m a mathematician, not a biologist. I’m interested in all areas of science. Geology is one of my favourites, though I’ve never studied it properly.

    2. Followed PZ from SB, and looked for more science blogs. You were writing more about science than almost any other blogger at FtB. And hence to SA, which I haven’t explored much.

    3. The way it makes landscapes. My biggest interest outside science is painting landscapes. I live in an area where the power of geology is obvious even to a novice.

    4. It would have to be a baffling boulder on a beach, which you’re going to blog about soon. (I’m testing my speaking-for-others powers.)

  7. 8

    Yes, I just presumed to speak for everyone (I’m looking at you, everyone) as I’ve been told recently I not only have the power to cause deep rifts, but I am also endowed with impoliteness, so I’m testing my speaking-for-others powers.

    They seem to be working for me. The ability to cause deep rifts is always handy when arguing with volcanoes.

  8. F
    9

    Rifting in the right places can sure bring a halt to some volcanic activity. You run the risk of just making more volcanoes of a different sort.

    This is a feature of other forms of deep rifting as well. Sometimes you get both for a while.

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