Starting Today: Ice and snow

January 23, 2012

Ice and snow

The weather this year has been odd to say the least. Last winter we were all forced to endure a relentless deep freeze, but so far in 2012 our temperatures have swung wildly between the sub-zero madness that is typical of Chicago this time of year, and eerily spring-like days where temperatures soar into the upper 40s and turn all the snow into vast puddles of muddy slush.

The lake has only recently frozen close to shore...

And I've missed seeing the masses of pancake ice that I was so excited about last year, though a few strays have occasionally floated in...

...I've still been able to find a few interesting ice-scapes during my daily walks...

...but today's one of those slushy days, and most of the stark icy beauty I've developed such a fondness for has been replaced by miserable masses of wet.

On the upside, my playing has been going quite well these days and I'm looking forward to the quarter's first orchestra concerts this weekend. In case I haven't mentioned it yet, we'll be performing Mahler's 3rd symphony. I'm playing 2nd trumpet, which means that I get a lot of cool stuff to play, but can also sit back and listen to our brilliant principal trumpeter sing away on all the solos...it's great! The concert will be broadcast live online through the Pick Staiger web page. Check it out if you've got a spare couple of hours on Saturday evening.

1 comment:

Iffer MitchellJanuary 23, 2012 at 2:54 PM
So fun to hear you voice this morning! I AM really looking forward to your next concert. And I'm really glad that your playing is feeling better and that you feel you're making progress. As always, I SURE DO MISS YOU!!!!
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Great Books I've Recently Read

If you are looking for an "astronomical" read, Tyler Nordgren's "Stars Above, Earth Below" Is a great place to start. Nordgren explores a wide array of astronomical subjects by relating them to the processes, landscapes, history, culture, and dark skies that are so beautifully on display in our National Parks: solar system volcanism alongside Yellowstone National Park; Cosmology, Deep Time, and Deep Space alongside the Grand Canyon; Climate Change and the "Goldilocks Zone" alongside Glacier National Park; the life cycles of stars, and archeoastronomy alongside Chaco Canyon...and many more. The book is loaded with beautiful images and illustrations, and Nordgren's conversational storytelling makes complex ideas both accessible and memorable. The ideas in this book have enriched my own experience of observing, and I recommend it to others with two big thumbs up!

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A beautifully written book that illuminates one of the most quietly pressing issues of our time: the slow advancement of light pollution into our night sky. True darkness, and the natural light it permits, has been a source of inspiration for creative thinkers throughout history. It is crucial to our physical and mental health, personal safety, and continuing connection to the world around us. Its gradual disappearance behind a fog of orange skyglow is a tragedy that many around the world are working hard to prevent. Provocative, subtle, practical, and poetic, "The End of Night" reminds us that we need not fear the dark, but should instead embrace and protect its wonders so that future generations will still know first-hand the arc of the Milky Way sweeping across a deep sky.

I love and hate anthologies. The great thing about them is I come away having met a new bunch of inspiring writers. The unfortunate thing is that I know I'll never get to everything on my growing list of "must read" books. This collection is magnificent, with selections both poetic and practical, sobering and celebratory. And Lyon's introductory analysis of America's particular contribution to the oft overlooked and sometimes maligned genre of nature writing provides an illuminating perspective on the art, while also tying it to society's evolving perspective on nature and humanity's role within it. A few of my favorite features included selections by Barry Lopez, John Haines, Edward Hoagland, Rachel Carson, and Henry Beston.

A collection of essays and poetry by prominent western writers that illuminates the role of wilderness--and in this case, most specifically Utah wilderness--in sustaining an ethic of freedom, creativity, aspiration, and soulful bounty: "as the control plots against which we can measure the ravages of Progress." Its distribution in 1996 among members of congress and other top political figures, helped secure the creation of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The selections are varied and heartfelt. They approach the issues of wilderness from unexpected perspectives, and invite the reader into landscapes of mythic dimension. "Carry water and use your wits."

Really great science writing often makes me wish I could go back to school and study whatever field it illuminates. This book makes me want to be a geologist or paleontologist: one of those that dig the truths of history from the farthest corners of the Earth, rejoice over the discovery of a tiny fragment of tooth or bone, and then connect that shard through the eons of time to the realities of our lives in the present moment...an age where the effects of human ideas control the path of natural selection and may now trump basic fertility as the driving force of evolution on our planet.

Starting Today

January 23, 2012

Ice and snow

1 comment:

Black River Astronomical Society

Salt Lake Astronomical Society

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