saturday at the refuge

The Empty Nest Hiking Club decided to check out the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge today. In spite of it being relatively close by, we'd never been there before. According to their brochure, the refuge is home to a variety of animals, including opossums, rabbits, chipmunks, coyotes, mink, deer, and elk. On our hike along the "Oaks to Wetlands Trail" we saw...

drum roll please...

garter snakes.

Yep, that was it. Several garter snakes. Although to be fair, we did see lots of cool birds -- including a pair of eagles. Plus the weather was beautiful (warm and sunny) and the trails were pleasant, winding around a couple of lakes.

Pictured above: The Hub by Really Big Tree. (I'm glad to know I didn't take botany for nuthin' -- see how I remembered the proper botanical name of the tree?)

dry labbing the red tent

Back in undergraduate days I was introduced to the concept (and some might say art) of dry labbing. The urban dictionary defines "dry lab" in this way:

To dry lab is to make up data in a scientific experiment, as opposed to observe or experiment in order to obtain it. Usually this is done in response to pressures to finish the experiment by unethical researchers.
e.g. It was getting past 4:30, so Kagame decided to dry lab her experiment in organic chemistry by plugging in plausible figures.

I'll admit to my rare (and I do mean rare) participation in dry labbing in inorganic chemistry. And I would agree that the word "unethical" can "usually" be used in regards to dry labbing, but one can argue that there are certain scenarios where the ethics are not cut and dried. In any event, scientists can tell you that a bad dry labber is oh-so-easy to spot whereas the work of a really skilled dry labber looks authentic.

Some months ago I ran across a book that I thought just might be the literary equivalent of dry labbing. The title was intriguing: How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read, written by Pierre Bayard. In actuality, the book is less a "how to bluff" tutorial and more a satirical consideration of the implications of non-reading vs. reading in our culture.

Bayard's book (and the ol' college dry lab concept) came to mind last night when I attended a book club meeting. The book club, associated with the local Methodist church, is a new one (this was just the second meeting), and it was organized by a couple of friends of mine (who invited me). The book being discussed was Diamant's The Red Tent. Here's the deal. I didn't finish the book. Didn't especially like the book. I only got about half way through because I kept procrastinating with reading it. I know, I know. It has been a HUGE book -- loved by many. But it just didn't grab me; what can I say?

However, true to Bayard's book, that didn't stop me from joining in on the discussion and making witty, even profound observations on the novel. (You'll have to trust me on that "witty" and "profound" business ... And not ask anyone who was actually there.)

So next they are reading Three Cups of Tea. I have higher hopes for finishing that one.

me... age 9

I seem to recall standing on my head a lot as a child. Which begs the existential question: Why?

the ghost at the table...

OK, the ghost at said table isn't actually Casper. But every time I hear "Ghost", I think "Casper". But I digress.

I just finished one of the books I got for Christmas -- Suzanne Berne's The Ghost at the Table. It's a novel about two sisters and their dysfunctional-family-Thanksgiving. Frances is the older, married-with-children sister who is hosting the holiday at her home in Concord and Cynthia is the younger, single sister from San Francisco who is overdue for a vist. While in the area, Cynthia, who writes about the sisters and/or daughters of famous people in a "Sisters of History" series for young girls, plans to do a little research on one of her books. Thrown into the mix is the aged, invalid father with whom both Frances and Cynthia have conflicted feelings.

One of the interesting (and true) points the author makes in the novel is that we each have our own version of family history. We all base our interpretation of the past on our own unique frame of reference.

Towards the end of the novel, Cynthia (the narrator) is thinking about her past with her parents and has this to say:

They, like most people, had done their best. You love whom you love, you fail whom you fail, and almost always we fail the ones we meant to love. Not intentionally, that's just how it happens. We get sick or distracted or frightened and don't listen, or listen to the wrong things. Time passes, we lose track of our mistakes, neglect to make amends. And then, no matter how much we might like to try again, we're done.

Berne does have a point there, and I'm sure everyone can relate to it (at least to some degree).

I'd say The Ghost at the Table is a pretty good book -- not brilliant, but worth reading (especially around Thanksgiving)!

Revelation Friday Five

It's time for the Friday Five! Sally over at RevGalBlogPals writes: With this Sunday's gospel reading in mind, that wonderful revelation of Christ to the companions on the Emmaus road, I wonder where you might have been surprised by God's revelation recently. So with no further waffle I offer you this weeks Friday 5:

How has God revealed him/herself to you in a:

First let me say that "revealed" might be a big word. For me it would be more like hints or glimmers... Having said that, here goes:

1. Book
I recently read the autobiography Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality by Ronald Mallett. Mallet's life goal was to build a time machine so that he could see his beloved father again (who died when the author was, I think, eleven). He shares his struggles with racism and depression as he became a physicist, and he describes his research into black holes and circulating lasers -- which he believe drag time into a closed loop suitable for time travel. I think God is in Mallett's journey and definitely in the science.

2.Film
I'll have to go with the last two films I've seen (which were recommended by Offspring #2): Cinema Paradiso and Kite Runner. I think you can catch glimmers of God in the complex relationships between the characters.

3. Song
I love songs about roads, rivers, and traveling -- obviously a theological undertone there. Just last night I added a "blog tunes" box. It's only got one song so far, "Travelin Thru". It's a great tune, written by Dolly Parton and performed by a contestant on American Idol. (OK, I'm sort of embarrassed to like Dolly Parton and American Idol, but there you have it.) Click to listen!

4. Another person
Perhaps a recent example would be an elderly patient of mine. I think I've seen him for the past 15 years or so, and he's in his 90's now. At our last visit he said, "I'm not afraid to die. I look at it like being in a theater watching a movie that is nearing the end. I'm satisfied because it's been a good movie."

5. Creation
Ah, this is why I love the Empty Nest Hiking Club -- "connecting" with the ocean, mountains, forests, etc.

Bonus answer: your choice- share something encouraging/ amazing/ humbling that has happened to you recently!
Hmm... our recent trip to NYC was amazing (see earlier blog post)!

yikes!

What do you get when you cross Presbyterian Gal and me?

Hint: It ain't pretty.




If you want to play too, go here
It's a promo site for the new Tina Fey movie ("Baby Mama") and it allows you to upload photos of two faces and merge them as a composite baby. Freaky!

april fool's!

Oooh, what wacky April Fool's pratical joke can I come up with for the clinic? Perhaps something along this line...