Posted by: John G. Whitacre
This sign marks the place where Hurricane Irene in August 2011 formed a new inlet in Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a bit south of Oregon Inlet, which was formed in 1846. Barrier islands have long fascinated me. Their inherent instability makes them living, shifting structures that change with the passing of storms and tides, wonderful places to visit but dangerous places to live. We visited the Outer Banks from Oct. 16 to Oct. 22, leaving a week before Hurricane Sandy’s arrival, and my photos of serene landscapes contrast vividly with the destruction wrought by Sandy as shown online at http://hamptonroads.com/2012/10/photos-storm-cleanup-begins-hatteras-island. Those Pilotonline.com photos include the parking lot of Shipwreck Grill, where we ate lunch on Oct. 17, and Mirlo Beach at the north end of Rodanthe, where the mild storm the week of Oct. 15 forced people to park near the road while they cleaned off their driveways. Now they have much more to clean up, and one house we passed is gone. So are the dunes north of Rodanthe where NCDOT workers were clearing sand from Highway 12 when we drove by. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
Kill the hurricanes. That was the subject of a story on CNN.com several years ago, and it disturbs me deeply, both for what it says about human ignorance of nature and about people’s expectations of government. People have suggested many ways to defuse hurricanes, the worst idea, as described on CNN.com, being attacking a hurricane with a nuclear warhead. That is scary.
I have a cousin who lives on a Florida island, one of those with Beach in its name, and I was concerned for his safety when Hurricane Frances hit near his home. I feel bad for people who have lost family members and property. But hurricanes have been moving across the Atlantic and striking Florida and the Caribbean for thousands of years. I doubt anyone who lives there now was unaware of hurricanes when he decided to move there. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
In the quest for a mythical continent, an ocean was charted. Terra Australis Incognita had occupied the attention of Europeans for centuries. Described by Marco Polo and first shown on maps in the 16th century, it allegedly occupied much of the southern Pacific, its landmass balancing those of the Northern Hemisphere. But one man wiped it off the map.
British Capt. James Cook, sailing on the H.M.S. Endeavour, set forth in 1768 to set at rest the question of the continent’s existence. The former Earl of Pembroke, the ship was a four-year-old collier refitted for scientific exploration, with cabins for astronomers, naturalists and draftsmen. She displaced 366 tons, was 106 feet long and 29 feet wide at the beam (the ship’s widest point), and drew 15 feet when fully loaded. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
One of my best ocean memories is hiding under a catamaran on Santa Rosa Island in the middle of the night. I was visiting my friend Dale while he was attending college and living in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. and spent two weeks in the northwest Florida panhandle, absorbing local history and inhaling salt air. Dale was a bachelor and had a pleasant apartment close to the ocean, and he had an extra vehicle, a Jeep, that I used while he was at school and work. For two weeks I reveled in my freedom and the closeness of the sea, and I enjoyed tours of historic sites and nature parks. Much of the time was spent on Santa Rosa Island, a 50-mile long barrier island that mitigated the gulf’s waves, offering safe anchorage in peaceful bays and sounds. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
I began following Jupiter last year when it began rising early enough to be seen in the east before I went to bed. Throughout 2011 Jupiter slowly moved west and dominated the night sky with its incredible brilliance, and this year it has been impressive if not quite so bright, until recently when it began fading after hanging low in the western sky near Venus, which had the gall to outshine the lord of planets.
In early March this year Jupiter and Venus have been treating us to a show on clear nights, but by last week Jupiter had begun to fade. At first Jupiter was higher in the sky and to the left of Venus, but now it is lower and much dimmer, although still to the left. This switch in positions above the western horizon set me to pondering the planets’ movements and led to a larger study of planetary motion and constellations, and this summer-like March has provided perfect weather for my study. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
I collected these fossil rocks during a geology class in 1982 at Kent State Stark campus, in an excavation behind the library. A geology professor estimated the age at about 400 millions. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
This basalt is 1.2 billion years old. My friend Tom collected it at the bottom of Salt River Canyon, Arizona, a few years ago. He said it is from an ancient volcanic dike. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
I photographed Jupiter, at left, and Venus on March 9, 2012. I’ve been following Jupiter since last year as it slowly moves west. It joined Venus recently as Venus emerged from behind the sun. At first they were nearly equally brilliant, and Jupiter stood above and to the left of Venus, but as Earth and Venus, in inferior, faster orbits, gain on Jupiter, Jupiter is quickly dimming as it falls behind. Soon it will disappear behind the sun, to emerge as a morning object in late June. “The Old Farmer’s Almanac” says Venus will reach its maximum elevation later this month and its greatest brilliance, minus 4.7 magnitude in April. This is the best I could do with my small camera. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
I photographed these clouds on Monday evening, March 19, in Washington Township, Stark County, Ohio, looking west. The forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms, but this is about all I saw. Those tendrils that depend from the main clouds are called scud clouds, and we were warned in the Skywarn Weather Spotter class to not confuse them with tornadoes. Sometimes they look like funnels. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: John G. Whitacre
“Tom Sawyer Abroad,” a little-know Mark Twain book, describes the adventures of Tom and Huck as they traveled in a swift dirigible. Following is an excerpt (H is Huck, and T is Tom):
H: Tom, didn’t we start east?
T: Yes.
H: How fast have we been going?
T: Well, you heard what the professor said when he was raging round. Sometimes, he said, we was making 50 miles an hour, sometimes 90, sometimes a hundred …
H: Well, then, it’s just as I reckoned. The professor lied … Because if we was going so fast, we ought to be past Illinois, oughtnt we?
T: Certainly.
H: Well, we ain’t … I know by the color. We’re right over Illinois yet. And you can see for yourself that Indiana ain’t in sight.
T: I wonder what’s the matter with you, Huck. You know by the color?
H: Yes, of course I do … Illinois is green, Indiana is pink. You show me any pink down here, if you can. No sir, it’s green …
T: Huck Finn, did you reckon the states was the same color out-of-doors as they are on the map?
H: Tom Sawyer, what’s a map for? Ain’t it to learn you facts? … Well, then, how’s it going to do that if it tells lies? …
T: Shucks, you muggins! It don’t tell lies …
H: All right, then, if it don’t, there ain’t no two states the same color. You git around that if you can, Tom Sawyer. Read the rest of this entry »