Questions and Observations

Nearly every work day I walk past a replica cast of a giant sloth skeleton. It's pretty impressive, and it is one of the more popular exhibits at the museum.
The other day I came across a large mammal scapula in the museum collections. The animal it was from wasn't identified so I thought I would give it a shot. I googled some mammoth and mastodon scapulas and then realized I had no idea what a giant sloth scapula looks like, despite walking past a beautiful example almost every day! So the next time I walked by, I actually took a closer look.
This experience made me realize two things about questions. First, one reason why questions are so important is because it causes us to actually slow down and make important observations. Second, it is easy to see things (skeletons/objects/problems/infrastructure) as single entities and only when a question comes along do the individual parts become visible.

Perfect for What?

A couple of weeks ago I went with Jeremy to his ecology class. It was fascinating. They talked about various types of photosynthesis (who knew there were multiple types?) and how they were each good for different situations. They also talked about other evolutionary trade offs. I was struck how different animals and plants were perfectly adapted... for their environment. They were all different and all perfect for their situations even though they still have pros and cons. The desert version of photosynthesis keeps plants from loosing water but it makes it so the plants have to grow really slowly, while other types of photosynthesis make it so the plants can grow fast but if they also loose more water.
Sometimes I think it is easy to get caught up in trying to be perfect or wanting the perfect.... something. But the thing is there is no one situation and therefore there is no one perfect solution. Therein lies the beauty. You can be perfect! for your situation.

Mesa Verde Two

​So like I said we went to mesa Verde and it was amazing but.....

It was frustrating too. A lot of what I learned about mesa Verde in school was about you're there was a lot of violence in the region at the time, but every ranger we talked to denied this, telling us that that was old information and that there is no evidence for violence.

So when we came home I did several google scholar searches and even contacted my college professors, (professional archaeologists) who have studied the archaeology of the area. Everything I looked at said or alluded to the violence of the area. My professors said the same thing, even suggesting that the very presence of the cave dwellings was a proof of violence. They they ended their emails with tactful sentences about political correctness and politics causing the Park service to blatantly lie about the state of things.

I know revisionist histories are a thing but it is still disturbing to find it for yourself. and why? Why is extensive scientific evidence so feared? Who cares if someone's possible ancestors were fighting? Every one has ancestors who fought, who were violent. I like to tell people about how one of my ancestors was the first white man hung in the America's for murder. And when people claim offense for truth being spoken (or at least the most likely scientific evidence) I think the warning bell has gone off. Instead of teaching falsehoods to the unsuspecting to assuage their feelings we should be helping people be resilient enough not to take offense at all.

Mesa Verde

​About a week ago we went to mesa Verde. I had never been there but I had learned about it in my anthropology classes.
It is a national park that has multiple archaeological sites. Some are houses and other buildings on the mesa tops where they farmed. But the impressive sites, the ones people really go to see are the cliff dwellings. Giant multi level pueblos nestled in natural caves and alcoves high above the canyon floor and nearly inaccessible from the mesa tops.
I don't think I have ever gone to a place that has sparked my imagination like this place. It was awe inspiring and just filled me with curiosity. How would life be like to live on the side of a cliff but be part of an otherwise normal agricultural society. What was the violence like that would force you into living like that. If the best source of water was 9 miles away at a bottom of a canyon what was water gathering like?
I already wrote a book about a hunter gatherer society, in large part because I was fascinated by what life would be like as a hunter gatherer. I kind of want to write one about a complex cave palace dwelling society to explore the possibilities....

Satisfaction

​I've never really budgeted before. I've kept track of where my money goes and I've avoided spending money but that isn't really the same as planning on spending a certain amount and then doing things to make that happen.

Lately Jeremy and I have been budgeting, especially in terms of groceries and I have never found grocery shopping so satisfying. Usually when I have completed my grocery shopping it is like, "great, I'm done with that necessary item." But since we've been budgeting successfully it has not only been a chore to check off, but it has also been an accomplishment. Is it any wonder addictive computer games tend to have lists of simple requirements that you can accomplish each day and gain a bit of that sense of satisfaction.

Necessary Art

I had a conversation with a friend this week that surprised me. She basically said art wasn't necessary and for the most part shouldn't even be a major is schools.
I don't know why she feels so strongly this way, although I know it is not because she hates art, in fact she is a gifted amateur artist, but I disagree.
Me the person who only does art if I can find some sort of practical reason for it.
I think that art is all around us, whether it is architecture, or stickers, or gourmet food. We all appreciate different forms more then others but if it wasn't necessary would we, as a race, be driven to create so frequently.
Art makes me happy. It provides peace. I think nice art can contribute to the emotion and the feel of a location. It provides emotional connections. It is evocative and freeing. I think the act of creating brings us closer to God, after all who is more creative?
Art may not be entirely necessary for the human body but surely it is necessary for the spirit.

Search Parameters: Part 2

Quite a while ago I posted about search parameters, but I was thinking about it again recently.
Growing up, I went on hikes and walks with my mom. She notices birds and flowers and names them so I started noting them too. Then, I studied archaeology and I started noticing chert fragments used for projectile points and broken glass. Then, I became curious about firehydrants. Then, I started learning about bones and became fascinated by them. As my nephew once said after I found a bone on a hike, "of course you'd be the one to find a bone." Then, I studied geology,
and rocks and geologic features started popping out at me. And now, I've been going on hikes with Jeremy more and I keep noticing bugs. I kind of love how my search parameters keep getting added to, because really it is just more things to appreciate and learn about.
One thing I try to do in my writing, an character building is to make different characters have different search parameters. I think it is a simple way to add a bit of a different feel to the point of views of various characters. For instance one of my characters likes birds, while another likes horses. When I write from the point of view of the one that likes birds I try to mention more birdsong and seeing specific birds while ignoring horses except to notice their presence.
As I concluded in my last post about search parameters though, what makes even more of a difference over specific likes and dislikes or educational biases is attitude. Am I looking for the positive or the negative or perhaps how to be a hero or a victim. Things like that are bit more tricky to add to a written character and probably even trickier to notice in your life but perhaps all the more important because of that.