If only these things were to grow a bit bigger, they'd make great edible Christmas trees:
Archive for 2009
Returning to the scene of the crime
Had a great day out on Wednesday.
In the afternoon I introduced Ella to the Guild of Students and to the campus of The University of Birmingham, including a good look around the Great Hall in the Aston Webb Building:
In the evening we attended The Shell University Lecture in the Earth Sciences Department. The speaker was Dr Tina van de Flierdt (lecturer in Isotope Geochemistry at the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London) and the topic was "Reconstructing the History of the Antarctic Ice Sheet: Clues from the past for the future". If you have an interest in such things, the lecture can be experienced online here.
I met a few staff that were there during my undergrad days, and Ella studied the specimens* on display in The Lapworth Museum of Geology. My thanks go to the Curator, Jon Clatworthy, for the guided tour of the recently refurbished and modernised Petrology Lab, and for the pre- and post-lecture refreshments.
Afterwards, we went for another walk around the campus:
* undergrad lads as well as old fossils 😆
We need a go, no-go for launch
There's snow on them there Cumbrian Fells and the winter gear's prepped and ready for the off when the opportunity arises.
But there's a dilemma. Something twisting in my mind that I've got to get straightened out before I can commit to another visit...
During the current post-flooding clean-up and repair operation, would my going be a drain on the resources of the area or would it help to contribute to the local economy?
Just getting there could be a strain on the transport infrastructure, what with the trashed roads and unsafe bridges that are the focus of repair gangs and the Army. I'd planned to stay at one of the YHA hostels and maybe eat and drink out, but I can't see that much of the spend would benefit those who are in most need. Besides, I'm sure that the LDSAMRA would have better things to do than to chug up a hill to stretcher me down if the need arose. They're all volunteers from the local community, they've been involved as rescuers during the recent disaster and no doubt they all know somebody who's suffered because of the deluge. I don't want to be a potential distraction while they deal with the aftermath of the floods.
Maybe the best thing for me to do is to stay away for a while and let them concentrate on getting the basics sorted out. In the meantime, a contribution to the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund via The Cumbria Community Foundation website or to the Cumbria Flood Appeal 2009 via The Wainwright Society's website would seem to be the best way to ensure that help gets to the folk that need it. John Hee recommends supporting MREW's Basecamp, more details here.
The people and places of Cumbria have given me much joy over the many years that I've been going there.
It's time to give something back.
Going back to Mars
I had a spare half-hour which I used to process that Mars composite a bit more. There's a bit more detail in there and the colour and contrast seem a bit better to me, but the terminator's suffered a bit. Swings and roundabouts, eh? To see the originals, just run your mouse over the pic:
Gotta get me some of this stuff
I suspect that they'll have sold out already up in the Lake District...
