a Geographer's Place

The other day I wrote about the high temperatures we have had (the Valley of the Sun IS the desert, after all). Some would say it’s due to global warming. But then, yesterday (Wednesday) the temperature dropped dramatically—to the mid 80s. Today (Thursday) it’s below 80. And it has RAINED most the day. In fact, it’s raining as I write this! Hard. Global warming? Well, most scientists are careful to use the term “climate change” rather than “global warming” nowadays, since evidence of the earth “warming” is ONLY similar to what has happened in our past (I’m talking geological time-scale). What scientists DO know is that climate is changing—more so in some places than others, it seems. So, warming? Well, only in some places. Other places are actually getting cooler ! Go figure. While fires rage in California, a single State away, it’s pouring rain…it’s even snowing—right now!—on parts of the Colorado Plateau! But that’s science: uncertain, yet attempting to make sense of trends and pat...

Yesterday the Valley of the Sun SMASHED its previous May record for Temperature. We hit 110 degrees. To get a sense of 110 degrees in a “dry heat”, try this: Set your oven to 110. When it reaches the appropriate temperature, sit in front of the oven and open the door. The term “dry heat” is silly, when you think about it. That implies there must be a “wet heat”? I mean, anything over 98 degrees is hot—even if you’re naked. Anything over 110 degrees is BLOODY hot (even if you are naked)! And studies show that after 117 degrees, the body stops functioning normally. Having lived in both “dry” and “wet” heats (the US Southwest, the Amazon, Grenada), I would have to say each “form” of “heat” is equally (in)tolerable. I’m convinced this is the reason natives in “hot” regions are naked or nearly-naked. When I was in the Amazon Jungle for example, as soon as I shed my “modern” clothes for a yanchama (bark skirt of the Bora Tribe), I immediately felt cooler. LOTS cooler. So, “dry heat”...

Today I got “hooded”. The entire ceremony was about two hours—though it felt like longer. This is one of the rituals accompanying advanced degree awarding in Academia. The entire graduation ceremony is based on medieval practices, so it has robes, gowns, hats (mitres?), and other vestments, like hoods (see image). For a PhD degree, the hood is traditionally dark blue (#1 in the image). The robe is usually black with different colored “piping” (the stripes down the middle) and chevrons (hash marks on the sleeves). Although many schools are going with other-than-black colors for robes (mine was maroon). In Academia, the regalia can get quite outlandish! Each robe has different piping and chevrons…every (undergraduate) discipline also has its associated color (for example, education = light blue, natural sciences = gold). And each school can be as creative as they want. Oxford (UK) has some particularly interesting garb…their “tam” (hat) alone is a sight to behold! (just google “oxford ac...

I've moved, on average, once per year since I was 23 years old. That’s a lot. I have a cousin who LOVES to move. “It’s like Christmas,” she told me once. “I get to open boxes and boxes of stuff! And if I forget to label them, it’s like a huge surprise!” She’s an optimist. Moving every year or so certainly keeps down the clutter: how many folks who’ve collected stuff for 12 years can fit everything they own in a 6 x 12 U-Haul trailer? But then, I'm also rather minimal when it comes to material things. Whether that’s been by choice or circumstance, who knows…I like to think it’s by choice. I am looking forward to being “stable” for a while. You know, put down some roots. Live in one place for more than a couple years. Get involved in the community without knowing I'll be leaving shortly. Although that will have to wait, since I'll just be moving to another, temporary apartment until I have time to find the home and location I want. Until then I’ll just pretend...

This is St. Francis Basilica in Santa Fe, New Mexico (at night). On the way back from finding a place to live in Denver , I spent a day here. While the surrounding suburbs are becoming more modern, the old downtown area remains charming. Surrounding the plaza and kiosko , are old Spanish churches and cute shops. The shops have everything from clothes and indigenous handicrafts to bronze sculptures and a plethora of different chile peppers. A few blocks off the plaza is San Miguel church (sign below), and interesting piece of Southwestern history... After wandering around the old town for a while, I ate a wonderful dinner at Los Mayas —a three-generation-old restaurant complete with live music (an old Spanish guitarist who was a really great entertainer). Santa Fe makes a nice getaway. Not as loud and citified as say, San Antonio or Tucson. Just a nice place to relax and wander. There are also lots of nice, easy day trips available. And several Clint Eastwood westerns were filmed in th...

For those who don’t know it, one of my interests is the US-Mexico border. Last weekend, a professor and myself took some students to investigate the towns of Sasabe, Arizona and Sasabe, Mexico in the Altar Valley. (Go find it on a map…pic below). In Sasabe, AZ, there are maybe a few dozen residents with a single store (that has EVERYthing—literally…mattresses, shoes, pork & beans, curling irons, Fruit Loops, you name it!) and post office; ranching is the main form of livelihood. In Sasabe, Mexico we estimated the population to be 3,000 to 4,000 people. The main form of livelihood in Sasabe, MX is anyone’s guess...the town is not much to speak of, as this photo shows. One thing that IS present? The ever-watchful eye of “Big Brother”. The US Border patrol has a real, on-the-ground fence (see pic), mobile watchtowers (see pic), and a virtual fence that looks like a radio tower but is actually a sophisticated surveillance system, complete with 24/7 Pinkerton security! The US-Mexico...

I have a friend who says, “Laughing: it’s like jogging for your insides.” Indeed! Few things are better than a good guffaw. While there are many different types of laughs, any laugh is a good sign of happiness. Take the song I Love to Laugh from the Disney version of Mary Poppins . It outlines many of the various ways people laugh: through their noses, hissing, blasting, fast, “twitter like birds”, and a myriad of other ways. I've seen people laugh with their entire body! Have you ever laughed until you’re crying? How about laughing so much your stomach hurts? See…laughing like that is a workout! I’ve laughed so much that I’ve been sore the following morning. What a great feeling! And a couple years ago health scientists at Vanderbilt University found that 10 to 15 minutes of hearty laughing per day can burn up to 50 calories! That’s about 1.5 calories per minute (in comparison, jogging burns 10 calories per minute). That means, if you laugh 15 minutes a day, you lose the calori...