The Pandora Sphinx

At work the other day I found this moth (or one just like it) on the upper level of our stadium. It was dead, but it couldn't have been for long. When I first glanced down, I thought it was a G.I. Joe hang glider. After doing a Google search, I discovered it is called a Pandora Sphinx. I think the name is pretty cool, too. This individual moth was about 3-1/2 " across.

Eastern, KY Sandstone

This is a piece of sandstone I picked up in Eastern Kentucky near Red River Gorge (but not in the park). I loved the layering and it makes me wonder what event took place to produce the contrasting layer. I just wish I could tell which side was the top. I assume, because of the prominent red sandstone in the area, the black deposition is out of the ordinary. I just don't know if this piece represents a normal red sandstone layer with the disturbance on top or if I am witnessing a past disturbance with the return of the regular deposition. Could it have been an earthquake, a forest fire, land or rock slide or a flood? Either way, it tells some story of Eastern, KY and it's pretty cool.

Gneiss Lil' Widdle Chert

I am up burning the candle at both ends about ready to go to bed. However, I wanted to post a picture of a piece of chert I found up around Mayfield, KY when I was working for the USGS. It looks as if someone had started making an arrowhead (however, chert does fracture concoidally, so it may just appear to have been widdled-on). I don't know if it was recently widdled or if it was an attempt by a Native American who never got to finish it. I like the latter better. Anyway, here it is.

Scoria: Brian 1 - Peeved Island God 0

At the expense of my sister-in-law's leg, Brother Kevin brought back from Hawaii a nice piece of scoria. Besides my bottle of ash from Mt. St Helens, this is the only volcanic sample I have. (I have granite, too...but that is plutonic so it doesn't apply). I plan on posting pictures of many samples from my growing, yet limited collection. I really, really, really would like to go meteor hunting sometime, too. I am fairly confident about the identity of most of the rocks I will post, but I am always open and hopeful for eyes and minds better than mine to prove me wrong. Anyway, I appreciate my brother picking this up for me as well as Lena taking the brunt of a pissed off Hawaiian diety.

I Told You I Didn't Do It!

A very happy, cold and windy day to you all. First, I just want to thank all of those who believed in me, stood by me and did their best to defend me. I wouldn't forgive myself if I did not mention Dr. MacLeod and the entire Geoscience Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and of course (most) of my family and friends. It has been a rough era, especially the last few thousand years of the Quaternary period. I knew one day science would vindicate me so that I may live the rest of my life in peace. Sure, I've done my share for animal population control; burning ants with a magnifying glass, swatting flies, eating delicious animals, recommending my friends get their pets spayed or neutered, and now dooming mice. But I have never never ever wiped out an entire species!

For all of you mammals, and your ancestors, who have avoided making eye contact with me for the last several millenia, I hope we can move forward. Today I stand before you, not a bitter revenge-minded man (although some of you do look tasty), but a free man. A man free of the misplaced guilt of wiping out an entire species over 65-million years ago. A man free to live his life in the way men were meant to live their life in this post-dinosaur era.

Now, I must go. I am running late for my job at the paper mill where I supervise "legal" waste disposal operations. Plus, I need to stop and gas up my Hummer (hell, it takes a good half-hour to fill'er up).

Just a Gastrolith in a Coprolite

My car tires continued their one by one revolt today. I was going back to Slugger Field after looking for a sofa at Ashley Furniture. We are redecorating the home clubhouse. While sitting at the stop light on Bluegrass Pkwy at Blankenbaker, a good Samaritan in a pick-up truck next to me pointed out that my right front tire looked a little low. I thanked him and decided I would stop at a service station on the way back to the office. Just before Cannons Lane on I-64, my tire blew and shredded like it passed through a cheese grater. I managed to pull over into the big V shaped area next to the Cannons Lane ramp. I jacked up the car and got out the doughnut spare (mmmmm...doughnut). To my profanity filled surprise, the spare was too small. It turned out is was made for a smaller Ford, not my Camry. Anyway, I managed to call a tow truck and had it taken to Oxmoor Toyota where I told them I was willing to pay for two new front tires, but not the towing expense. They also changed the rim for me at no charge. So, even though I was out the money for the tires, they did take care of the new rim and towing. Peachy.

Also, driving around town, we all see near accidents and people being cut-off. However, it is amazing the number of near accidents I witnessed in the half-hour period on that stretch of I-64. People are nuts...but I'm sure you already knew that.

"Damn you....Damn you all to hell!"

Sitting at the receptionist desk answering phones during the lunch hour, I stumbled across an article about a new cave system found at Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park in California. This reminds me of the debate that seems to come up every few years when a shuttle is launched about the governments spending on space exploration. The same argument is always used by those who oppose "wasting" our tax dollars on this "frivolous persuit." They argue we should be spending the money on education, feeding our poor, or reforming our prison system, not looking foe little green men or space rocks. Bull!

We spend more money on education, the poor, and on our justice system than any other country in the world. More money is not the answer, we just need to spend more efficiently where it is allocated. I get the feeling people who oppose such research and exploration either: A) can't comprehend the significance and fascination of such discoveries, or: B) are afraid someday a certain discovery will upset their apple cart. Either way, I don't get it.

It's amazing to think what we have yet to learn and to discover. Just last week a new species of bird was discovered in Colombia. If we are still finding big cave systems and new animal species in our own country and hemisphere, think of how much is still left to find all over the world, our solar system, galaxy, and the rest of our expanding universe. I say spend, spend, spend.

I realize I have a flair for the mundane. I can watch golf on TV for hours (not to mention play everyday) and spend an entire afternoon in a geology exhibit looking at rocks and minerals. I take it as a great compliment, however, when someone comments on or asks me how I can find this stuff interesting. I assume it takes a ferocious curiosity, not to mention an appreciation for solitude.
(The above photo was taken at the South Dakota State Museum of Geology. I plan on posting more about our trip soon.)