A Very Special Christmas

After a spectacular annual ski trip at Taos Ski Valley, NM, we were on our way home in high spirit on Christmas Eve. We took US highway 287 south and expecting to reach home in the afternoon. A winter storm that had been affecting NM/OK/TX made the road condition treacherous, and eventually a major accident on US 287 at Wichita Falls in early afternoon - a flipped 18-wheeler, shutdown 287 south, and we were stuck, about 30 miles north of Wichita Falls.

After 4 hour hoping and waiting for traffic to resume, the sun started to set, we finally decided to get off the highway. We took FM 3984 to try to get around the accident, and the road condition there was even worse than it was on the 287. The road was covered by 6 - 12 inch deep snow, with only two or three deep tracks visible for a two way traffic. Driving on this road was really bumpy due to low clearance of our mini van. After about 30 minutes, we drove only 3 miles or so. This section of road had only two tracks, and I saw the headlight of a car up on a small hill moving toward us on the same two tracks!! I slowed and stopped our van, the other car slowed but would not stop. I held my breath and swayed our van to the deep snow covered road side to avoid a head-on crash. The other car finally stopped 10 yards away behind us. An old man came out, and said " I thought that the crash was inevitable because I could not stop my car. You surely avoided an accident!!". Justin, his friend Steve and Steve's dad, who rode with us, under my wife, Lily's leadership, cleared snow around the wheels and pushed the car onto the road. The old man was apparently relived and he told us that we should turn around and go west to find a place for the night because the road ahead was jammed due to a 40 car pile-up. He then drove on and quickly disappeared in the darkness. We turned around, and drove toward the nearest town, Electra. Lily was trying to find a hotel but all hotels nearby were full.

Worry finally gripped my heart. I have got two families and four kids in the car. What were we going to do tonight? Stay in the car in this snowy night?Driving along the main street of Electra, I spotted the Electra police station. Hoping for parking at the police station and using its restroom, we drove there and a policemen directed us to a nearby Church - Bible Baptist Church.

As we entered the front door, warmth and laughter wrapped around us. Church volunteers, Kathy and her mom Melendez, warmly welcomed us. They led us to the kitchen area, where other stranded families were gathered. They showed us where bathrooms were and gave us warm food and water. In the sanctuary of the church, Lily broke into tears on my shoulder still shaken by the earlier incident. Melendez came over and hugged her- "You are all right, we will take care of you". While we were helping ourselves with food and water, Melendez, Kathy and other volunteers were busy cooking more food, as more stranded travelers were coming in. A few more church goers brought snack and desserts from their home in the bone-chill cold night. Later, Kathy put on Christmas lights in the dinning area just to make us feel the atmosphere and cheer of Christmas eve. A traveller asked her if she planned a Christmas Eve like this. She said " Not really, but I enjoyed every moment of it". Their high spirit, generosity, their genuine kindness to people in need moved and warmed my heart deeply. I wanted to remember these people who helped us, I went out to take my camera to take a picture of the volunteers working in the kitchen.

About 50 stranded travelers slept in the pew of the church. When I woke up in the Christmas morning, I noticed that Melendez was sitting in a chair in platform at the front. She had been up all night looking after us! After breakfast prepared again by Kathy and Melendez, I went outside the building to take in fresh air. It was a beautiful day, the sky was blue, the Sun was shining, but the roads were covered with snow-turned ice. I wanted to remember this place. I went around the block to take a better look of this tiny town we passed so many times before without paying attention to it. The church itself is small, a water tower to its south, and highway 287 a mile or so to its north and modest one story homes surround the church.

When I got back to the church, Kathy and Melendez were resting on a bench after clearing ice at the entrance. I asked them if they are mother and daughter based on what I heard from conversations, just to confirm. I then asked their names even though they introduced themselves when we came in the first time because I wanted to remember them by names, not just nameless volunteers.

When it was time for Kathy and Melendez to go home for a rest, Melendez walked around to tell the few remaining families including us that we should come back if the road condition is still bad, and somebody is always here to help us. She hugged us goodbye. We expressed our gratefulness even though we knew that words were not enough to express our gratitude.

Finally US 287 was open around noon, we left for home in a sunny, white Christmas day. The road was still jammed with cars and trucks, the traffic was crawling slow, and it took us eight hours for a typically 3 hour drive. I drove eight hour straight in mostly very stressful condition. When we got home at 8pm, despite being dehydrated and exhausted, I was in a very good mood.

What a Christmas it was. In this Christmas, what we got were not just food and shelter from total strangers, we got an uplift in spirituality, we got a cleansing of our souls. We were touched by Angeles.

See Who My Neighbors Are

If you have ever come to our neighborhood, you will notice tree lined streets, manicured lawns, beautifully landscaped front yards, red-bricked houses. However I am not talking about my neighbors inside the houses in this post, instead I am talking about my neighbors outside the houses - my wildlife neighbors!

My closest neighbor is this mocking bird and its family, who live in this tree at my front yard. Each morning and evening, they chirp and chase each other around the trees. On a sunny day, one of them might just rest atop of the tree watching people and cars come and go for a while. Another neighbor at the front yard is a rabbit family, they live in the bushes by the tree. They are a annoying neighbor, because they chew on my lawn, and brown my grasses. Cute squirrels, are another neighbor who visit my yard occasionally, but I don't know exactly where they live.


A host of other type of birds are my neighbors as well, they live in the bird nests in the big or small trees up and down the streets around my house. Tiny sparrows are most populous, they are everywhere, and their non-stop chirp is the base of bird songs I hear. Then there are crows. Orange-breasted finches, are my neighbors, much bigger than sparrows, they usually perch on tree tops or roof tops, chirp loudly, not sure they are calling each other or claiming territory.


Cardinals live nearby. They are mostly solitude and not typically being seen, so every time we see a cardinal or two, we are excited. We see a cardinal in the tree in front of Nicholas' bedroom window from time to time. In the morning of December 5, Nicholas and I went on for a bird exploration. We saw a few swallows and sparrows swooping around, then we followed a pair of cardinals, who were chasing each other in the trees along the street in front our house, for a couple of hundred yards, until they turned around flying in opposite direction.

Blue jays live a bit farther away, near the woods at Russel Creek. Unlike cardinal, they typically fly in flocks, and they are loud when they make noises. A stray blue jay might come to the residential area from time to time. The trees by the parking lot at the Russel Creek Playground are one of the blue jays' favorite places. The photo on the right show the full features of a blue jay (double click on the picture to see details). After a few explorations, I can tell the difference in chirping between blue jay, cardinal, sparrow and crow.



One neighbor, we almost always hear it first before see it - the wood peckers. On the December 5 exploration, we heard a wood pecker pecking on a tree near the Russel Creek playground. After walking slowly around the tree, I finally saw the bird, but did not get a chance to take a good picture of it. Fortunately, I saw this type of black stripped wood pecker on an earlier trip at the edge of the woods by Russell Creek. It has black stripped back, white breast and a red head. At that time the wood pecker was looking for food and I was lucky to see it from different angles. As a matter of fact I did not know it was a wood pecker until Justin told me so after seeing the pcitures.

The water fowl community, of course, live by the Russell Creek pond. The regulars in or by the water are the snow white grand egret, the elegant grey heron, the ducks and a turkey like bird. The grand egret usually likes to stand by the water edge, looking for fishes. On two occasions this fall, it was sitting at the top of a tree. I was moved by the fact that, over 30 minutes I was around, a lot of people enjoyed the sight of the egret on top of the tree, but no one, not even young boys, bothered the peaceful bird.




The woods by the Russell Creek is the primary bird community, there are a lot more cardinals, blue jays, sparrows, swallows, crows living there. In the early morning or evening, they come out flying, playing, chasing each other, chirping, and of course eating insects/bugs - when I stop by the edge of the woods, looking and listening quietly for a few minutes, I can feel the magic of the world of birds - freedom, worry free, and incredibly beautiful sound. There, I can occassionally discover new bird neighbors I have not seen before. One morning this fall, I thought I saw a duckling - it turned out to be another kind of finches - yellow breast finch! Last Sunday afternoon, while walking around Russel Creek pond, a flock of sea gulls was there, gliding, landing on the water, taking off ... for about 30 minutes and then disappeared. In the next lap, I saw a pair of really, really black birds at the west end of the pond, which turned out to be ravens. The story of discovery can go on and on.

A few morning explorations around the community and Russel Creek lead to my discovery of a few bird neighbors I did not notice before. I can tell that there are more than 20 different birds and water fowls. I have to rely on Nicholas or Justin to identify who they are. I believe there are more types of birds than I observed - one day an old lady walking her dog saw me taking pictures of birds, she told me that she fed a hawk in her backyard a few days earlier. Around Spring Ridge, I see more kinds of birds than I saw at Big Bend National Park - I guess it is because that their habitats are limited. It is the development of the very community we live in encroached on their habitats. However, the very vibrant, lively and abundant bird community is a proof that the human community has been a good neighbor to the birds.

Yellow breast finch - don't you think it is duckling?

A Grey Heron


Ducks and Turkey Vulture

A duck couple

Pelicans at white rock lake

A rabbit in the fallen leaves

Geese at white rock lake enjoying the winter SUN

A squirrel on a fence

A different type of ducks


A flock of sea gulls


Raven - How black can it be?

Grand Egret at Sunset
Note: You can see the full pictures by double click on each photo

Bright Colors around Us

The autumn of 2009 brought us another season of beautiful colors, which has been as good, if not better, as last year. This year, Andrew, Benjamin and Nicholas from our soccer team Cheetahs joined me to record the foliage around us.

Here are what we saw in our neighbourhood this fall. The brilliant colors were everywhere - most striking of them were yellow, red, orange, blue (sky) and white(cloud). It was from big trees or from fallen leaves. It was around houses or at a pond.

A clear sunny day would give us the best contrast, brightest color, and the lively Ecosystem we have around us. Nicholas and I went out twice in November to take foliage pictures, once on November 1 and then two weeks later. We clearly observed the progression of the season. The second time around, many bright leaves we saw before were gone, and a lot more leaves were on the ground. In addition to take pictures of trees and landscapes, Nicholas was also interested in taking pictures of individual leave on the ground or on a tree. You can see more of his pictures in this online photo album

Looking around, we indeed observed the most beautiful moments, and most pleasant moments (cool, crisp air) of our community, the vibrant ecosystem. We are fortunate to live in this community. Please do stop to enjoy the beauty around you and help to keep it beautiful.

Heaven on the Earth - Grand Teton

When our airplane was landing at Jackson Hole Airport in July 2008 - we were pleasantly surprised to see the glacier covered, vertical raised rocky peaks - the famous Teton Ranges and the snake river ruining in a valley dotted by glacier lakes.

The very next day we went to Jenny lake at the foot of the Teton Range. The lake's water looked so green due to reflection of dense pine trees on the shore. It is not too big and is a perfect place for canoeing and kayaking, we would kayak/canoeing in the lake later. We rode a boat crossing Jenny lake to have a short hike in the mountain with two other families. Walking on the trail by a rushing stream, seeing white water flying down, listening to the sound of nature, then passing a rocky cliff section, we reached our destination - inspiration point. Jenny lake was at our feet, the broad valley and the snake river was in front of us. All were under the bright morning Sun. Back down, we took a detour to check out the hidden water fall. In between mountains, water gushing over a ridge, flying down between tall pine trees, spread mist all around it. At parking lot, we looked at the snow covered mountains again, saw two mountaineers in the glacier covered peak.

At lunch time, our friends went to a restaurant, we went to the shore of Jackson Lake for a picnic. Jackson lake is much larger than Jenny lake. The water is crystal clear at the shoreline, a few kids were playing in the freezing cold water; it is dark blueish farther away reflecting the blue sky. Teton range was on the other side of the lake from us, lush green trees all the way to tree line, then grey spiky rocks, white snow, blue sky - a story book fairy land.

The next day we came back to watch the sunrise and then drove on to Yellowstone National Park. A turn in the road, I was absolutely amazed by what I saw while driving: mirror-surface water reflecting lush green trees on a island and Teton Range from afar. We arrived at Ox Bend of the snake river.

At this early morning, we had all this beauty and tranquility to ourselves. Just then a duck flew into the water, and then swam toward the island, breaking the seemingly absolute stationary water, producing ripples in its wake. If Teton Range is the fairy land, then Ox Bend is the Heaven on earth.

Note: In addition to its amazing beauty, Grand Teton has everything else, mountains, water falls, lakes, river. We hiked into the mountain, ran river rafting in the snake river, kayaked at Jenny lake, picnicked by Jackson lake, or just like the morning at Ox Bend, sitting or standing there to take everything in.

Sunrise at Grand Teton

Last year during our trip to Yellowstone National Park, we first visited Jackson and Grand Teton national park for the first two days. On our way to Yellowstone, we watched sunrise at Grand Teton.

On that morning, we got up at 4:30am, drove in dark from Jackson in order to watch sunrise at 6am at Grand Teton. It took us about an hour to get to Grand Teton from Jackson.

Unfortunately we could not find the location rangers suggested for the best view of sunrise at Grand Teton. After a few tries, we simply stopped at a parking lot by the highway and waited for sunrise. It was still dark, and it was freezing cold, I could see frost on bushes.

Looking east, the faint early morning light revealed the mountains in the horizon, looking west, the Glacier covered mountains peaked into the clear sky, snake river was running at their feet. Just then the mountain peaks were lit up in orange light, and shortly after a flock of birds were flying by. (Click on the picture at right to see the birds)

Looking east again, it was still dark, the sun had not risen yet. In ten minutes or so, the east sky turned orange red, the sun was rising, climbing above a mountain - crescent shaped orange ball popped in front of the mountain, as if cut through it. The aura of the sun was mesmerizing.

As the sun was rising, we drove to a vista by the snake river, and sun was still climbing over a small patch of trees. We stayed there for a while to breath in the crisp cold air, and to enjoy the scenery - sun lit glacier covered mountains, silver water in snake river.

During travel, we rarely watch sunrise, however it is always a visual feast when we did watch it.

Having Fun on Cruise Ryndam

During the 7 day Alaska inside passage cruise, we had plenty of time on board - everyday evenings and nights and a couple of days full day, so the first thing we did on board Ryndam was to check the ship out - the walking promenade, swimming pools, library, kids zone, music lounge, art gallery ......

Gourmet food

Food on the Cruise was really good, hearty breakfast, lunch buffet (If we were on board) and formal dinner. Kids actually loved the formal dinner!! First dinner on board was Nicholas' first formal dinner, he was very excited and he ordered the 4-course dinner from adult menu himself! There were 3 formal dinners on board - when we had to follow dress code and had dinners with various people on a large table for 8. The dinners lasted 2 hours or so each time, bu we got time to meet other people. We basically tried all choices on the menu, and liked all of them.

The last dinner on board was a dinner party, chefs, waiters and on board entertainers performed for us - singing and dancing between tables. It was fun.

Big chess

During our walk around of the ship, we noticed a huge on ground chess, Justin and Nicholas started playing the huge chess. Later on they found out that there was daily chess tournament at Cruise library. They played the tournament once or twice, Justin actually beat two adults. Nicholas was not as successful

Swimming

There are two swimming pools on board, one is the sky pool, which is on the top deck in open air, another is indoor swimming pool with pool side food supply. At Kechikan, we returned ship early from our excursion due to mishap in planning, we went to swim - more play than exercise - it surely increased our appetites.

Trivia contests and ping pong tournament

Justin went for a trivia contest by himself, he was in a group with a few old ladies - he really got time to show off his WizQuiz training while endearing those old ladies. When Lily and I went to his group at the end of the contest, one old lady kept telling us how great Justin was. The second time Justin and I went for a second contest, our team mates include three dinning mates - two middle school teachers from California and a Federal government attorney from New York. Due to the presences of middle aged adults, Justin and another supposedly smart kid were kind of intimidated - they did not answer many questions.

The last day Lily and I participated in a ping pong tournament - I won one game!

Piano concerts and other shows

Of all the shows, Justin and Nicholas liked a culinary show and piano concerts/magic show. The culinary show was about making cakes - the ship captain and cruise director making cakes with a hostess explaining the step - it filled with jokes, teasing and humor.

The two piano concerts were what all of us liked the most. The pianist was originally from Poland. He liked to play Chopin's music, and he talked about his understanding of the music he was going to play every time, and from time to time his personal stories - full of emotion. He really captured Justin's full attention. Justin talked to the pianist/magician after his first concert.

There were a lot of shows, activities on board and quiet times if we liked- there was no downtime on the ship until sleep time.

Glaciers, Ice Ages and Climate Change

One weekend, we went to local library. While kids looked for novels, I was looking for some nonfiction books for them to read. I picked up several books, including "Frozen Earth: Explaining the Ice Age". Before they even touched the book, I started to read the book and was quickly absorbed into it!!

The book was very well written for readers of all levels. It explained first what glacier is, and then how scientists discovered that there were ice ages long time ago, most recent one 20,000 years ago. The focus of the book though was about how scientists in many generations tried to understand why ice ages come and go.

The history of the process of understanding ice ages was told in a fascinating way - like a detective story - evidence, theory, some evidence to support a theory, other evidence to disapprove it, new theories proposed and new evidence, and finally after 100 years, in 1976, finally two astronomical theories were confirmed as the main reasons behind the ice age, and thus the cycles of global climate change. The story showed the vigor of scientific discovery, and the difficult long journey to fully understand ice age. To me, an engineer, the process of understanding the ice age is a perfect example of root cause analysis - before we know the root cause, we only know partial truth.

So what are the main causes of ice age or global climate change?

Before giving the answer, we need some explanations of astronimical terms. Earth orbit around Sun changes gradually from circle to ellipse due to gravitational interactions between planets in solar system and it repeats itself in 100,000years. Earth axis of rotation is an imaginary line from south pole to north pole, it has an angle to the normal of orbit plane. This angle is called a tilt. The axial tilt angle is ~ 23.5 degrees. The axial tilt is not a constant, it changes from 22degrees to 25 degrees in 41,000 years. The axis is not fixed with respect to the normal either, it moves around it in a circle, or wobbles, this is called axial precession, the axial precession completes a circle in 22,000 years.

Simply said, the main causes to climate change are: 1) earth orbit eccentricity; 2) earth axial tilt, and 3) earth axial precession. of the three factors, eccentricity has the largest impact on climate. The cycle of eccentricity is 100,000 years, for axial tilt it is 41,000 years, and axial precession, 22,000 years. These are first order factors that influence climate on earth; volcano dust, carbon dioxide, Sun spots influence climate change, but in a small way, in math language, these are second order effect.

The facts that amazed me inlcude:

1. In 1860s, Scotsman James Croll used earth orbit and axial precession to explain ice ages - an astronomical theory. In 1890s, Yogoslavia mathematician Miluin Milkankovitch, added axial tilt change into the astronomical theory, but he neglected the orbit change. In 1976, the combined astronomical theory of Croll and Milkankovitch about ice age and global climate cycles were confirmed through oceanographic studies.

2. Earth has been warming up for the past several thousand years. Due to human activities, primarily green house effect from carbon dioxide production, earth will reach a super warm state in 100 years. The super warm state is predicted to last 1000 years or so.

3. The earth, however, will get into another ice age in 20,000 to 25,000 years.

So despite carbon dioxide being a second order factor in climate change, it will perturb the natural path of climate change significantly in 100 to 1000 years, negligible in astronomical time, but tremendous for human time. We need to reduce CO2 emission to minimize the global warming and thus prevent catastrophic climate to human.

References

R.V. Fodor, Frozen Earth: Explaining the Ice Ages, Enslow Publishers, 1981.

J. Imbrie, K. Imbrie, Ice Ages: Solving the Mystery, Enslow Publishers, 1979.