ellenspictures

Category: Seismic

  • It’s a lot. Ch Ch Ch Changes. Wish we could talk to the dinosaurs, but that’s not going to happen.

    It’s a lot. Ch Ch Ch Changes. Wish we could talk to the dinosaurs, but that’s not going to happen.

    Life is change. How it differs from the rocks.

    Jefferson Airplane

    Although it appears that rocks don’t change, they actually do. That’s where they got it wrong. Rocks are constantly in a state of change, and depending on the type of rock, some are just being born – chemically, physically, seismically, but one fact remains – everything on this planet from it’s birth is still here and there will not be anything added (significant mass) until the planet vanishes. OK, so the occasional meteor or meteorite crashing into the planet might add a smidge of matter to Earth, it is just a smidge and kind of like when another vehicle rubs on your car and leaves some paint – except maybe a meteor crashing into the earth might have significant planet changing effects, which is a bit different than going for the buffing compound to remove the paint smudge from the red car that bumped your white car and left a smear of red.

    So, I digress.

    Change is constant. Some change is disturbing. Some change is happy. But nonetheless, change of any type shifts our attention, may seem to shift our personal axis, and may also make us change direction entirely. For every change there is some adjustment, no matter how tiny. This breaks, you fix it. You get a minor illness, you either wait and take temporary symptom relief medicine, or you go to the doctor and ask for something else based on the doctor’s exam. You get through whatever it is. If it is something major, then you have to make more major adjustments. Life goes on. Somehow.

    This week, in the space of a week, I have been reminded of lots of changes and the ongoing changes that are taking place continuously. A guy fishing in the park apparently, silently fell over and passed away within a few minutes and some kids found him and called 911 and for hours afterward, we witnessed that police investigate thoroughly even though it appears no foul play was involved. Not just one officer, but several were on the case. Nobody knew what happened until the next day. The rumor mill was going nuts. Always amazing that people without information will engage in conjecture to fill a void.

    One neighbor who prides herself for knowing everything walked by on her way to investigate. I told her she might not want to go that route, and she got all weird about that. “Why?”, she said. I told her that some kids found a guy who was unresponsive and the paramedics came and turns out he died. She said she already knew…wait for it…because her son is a doctor (she tells me this every time she sees me – for years)… even though he lives out of state, somehow her having a doctor son makes her an expert about everything. Sorry, I’m sounding catty, but truthfully, its unhelpful. She said she had to hurry to finish her walk before dark. I told her to have a nice walk. What else could I say?

    I couldn’t help thinking about the guy who didn’t come home for supper. People fish in that area all the time. Some bring families with them. Some fish alone. Most are not from the neighborhood, and possibly not from nearby. It’s a good fishing spot as we have heard. But, when things like this happen it’s sort of a leveling that when it’s your time, it’s your time. One would hope that the guy was loving his fishing and passed away doing what he loved. What could be better except remaining alive to continue doing what you love. It makes everyone else take a pause, however.

    I watch and family members are going through life changes. We go through life changes. Even though, day to day, sometimes it feels like it is the same as it ever was – but it isn’t. We definitely are reminded of changes when we witness major events that affect others, that is for sure.

    The ongoing war in Europe, the massive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and the surrounding region, the horrid weather in the South Pacific region, many many lives affected in major ways – suddenly, or perhaps not so suddenly – but this points up that something is happening, and we should pay closer attention to the details…

    …Something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. There’s a man with a gun over there, telling me I’ve got to beware. …Stop children, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down…

    Buffalo Springfield
  • Rangitoto

    Rangitoto

    We visited Rangitoto.  Rangitoto is a volcanic island that has been used in war-times and in peace for various purposes.  It has been set as a nature reserve, being reset back to a more original state and enabled to collect and grow species native to New Zealand unconstrained. 

    We walked to the summit and had these fantastic vistas of the surrounding area – gorgeous New Zealand as always.

    As stated, Rangitoto is a national preserve.  It is an extinct volcanic island where the lava field has been left to evolve naturally over sixty years, to re-foliate and attract birds and host the only reptile in New Zealand, the Tuatara.

    Unfortunately, we did not see one.  There are reasons for that.  I will explain.

    According to the New Zealand Department of Conservation,

    “Tuatara are rare, medium-sized reptiles found only in New Zealand. Adult tuatara range from about 300g to 1kg. They are the only surviving members of the order Sphenodontia, which was well represented by many species during the age of the dinosaurs, some 200 million years ago. All species exept for the tuatara declined and eventually became extinct about 60 million years ago. Tuatara are therefore of huge international interest to biologists. They are recognised internationally and within New Zealand as species in need of active conservation management. Tuatara once lived throughout the mainland of New Zealand but have survived in the wild only on 32 offshore islands.”

    I have my theories about noticeable increases in tourist populations.  I think that commercializing sites such as these actually contributes to harming the very populations of species that these preserves/reserves are trying to protect.

    We have the environmental damage that exists today due to the human footprints that have moved into areas not occupied originally by humans.  Damage comes from sound, light, weather, erosion, fire, air-pollution, and any other land-use that is out of balance such as over-foraging, hunting, commercial fishing and agriculture, the taking of animals – birds, reptiles, amphibians included, for their body parts for either edible or non-edible use and other invasive actions on the part of civilization.

    I don’t consider myself a “tree hugger” – but, I do have enormous respect for nature – and that saying “we know not what we do or have done until it is too late.”

    When it is a question of balance, we intuitively understand, like it or not, that if we are arguing that “we have the right” or should be able to exploit… just the argument is a bad sign.  As our television character, Maude, said, “God will get you” – whatever she meant was essentially, the KARMIC forces will make it right. 

    We harvest too much we starve later.  Or somebody does.  Or great storms or waves  will come (ask the people in Indonesia or victims of Katrina).  Yes some of that happens anyway, regardless of humankind’s boots.

    What we do not understand is whether “we” are part of the natural process – and our emotions lead us off the path in our pathos.