Spent what turned out to be a really exciting and invigorating two days at NIH mingling with other "innovative" scientists.
The NIH director gave a very interesting speech outlining what he thought the future of science would be and the best way to move forward, although he didn't mention that he was going to step down as the director until this morning in an e-mail.
Heard a lot of very interesting talks including one on limiting the cognitive problems associated with seizure disorders (had a good talk with the speaker Frances Jensen afterwards), one on the underlying causes in the surge of autism cases (not vaccines, partly looks to be the older age of parents at time of conception), using light to control mouse movements, and many others, plus had good talks with most of the others.
After the symposium, I met up with NG and we had a nice Thai dinner and he gave me a ride to the airport. That was great and next year I will be sure to set aside time to be able to go up to Pennsylvania.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
I scream for ice cream
This is JP blogging. On Saturday our stake had a deacons/beehives activity at our ward building. The theme was summer Olympics. Some the events were water balloon volleyball and the jelly-bean shot-put. But my personal favorite was the ice cream high jump. For all of you who don't know the rules, here's the deal. A team member will lay down on the ground next to a ladder, with a ice cream cone in their mouth. The rest of the team take turns dropping a scoop of chocolate ice cream from one of the ladder rungs. The team that gets the most scoops in wins. I was the team member on the ground with a cone in my mouth. Let's just say my teammates weren't the most accurate. I got ice cream all over my face and shirt. Boy was it sticky. One of the young men leaders took some pictures of me. It wasn't pretty. But it was all in good fun. And it was fun. I made new friends and met new people.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
TN State Fair
The pumpkin weighs 1,089 lbs. WOW!!!
JA and EM enjoy petting the bunnies.
EM, JA and AM went to the State Fair. Kids in school here get a free day pass to the State Fair. The girls fell in love with all the rabbits. They came in different sizes, color and shapes. Now the girls want to have a rabbit as a pet. AM would not mind having some chickens. We were amazed with all the sizes of the watermelons and pumpkins. EM and JA got the chance to ride one of the rides. AM is afraid of all the rides.
JA in the caterpillar ride and EM in the jeep ride. Looking at them made AM very dizzy.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Labor Day BBQ
For Labor Day, we hosted our usual BBQ at our house. We tried to make this a more intimate affair by inviting fewer families than normal, so that everyone could be included in the same conversation streams. (An experiment in the social sciences if you will.) Whether this actually happened or not is not so clear, but we certainly had a good time and hope everyone who came did as well.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
"Bend It Like Becham"
JA's teammates the "DYNAMITES"
Our league sure makes the little kids uniform huge......but EM sure looks so CUTE!!!!
EM's teammates and Coach.EM and JA had their first soccer game on September 6. EM team's name is "Bluebird" and JA team's name is "Dynamite". EM's team need more practice running towards the soccer ball. After one kick they all pretty much stand still and wait for their coach to tell them to follow the ball, plus some of EM's teammates kick the ball to their own goal. But all and all the Bluebirds had a wonderful day playing soccer. JA's team won their first game, but JA got hit really hard on her right head with the soccer ball, so she had to sit on the bench. Luckily there were only 5 minutes left before the game ended.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Virgin Falls
When JP and I had gone to Fall Creek Falls, we had decided we wanted to backpack into Virgin Falls, which is in the same area.
Here is the html for Virgin Falls.
http://www.state.tn.us/environment/na/natareas/virgin/
We did this a day hike a couple of years ago but had to do it really quickly in order to be back in time for other commitments. When we went last time, it was really crowded with lots of scout troops camped at various campsites and the trailhead parking lot overfilled. Since it was Labor Day weekend, we were expecting the worst.
At the trailhead. The first thing we noticed was how few cars there were.
Our plan was to camp at the first campsite, so that we would have a minimal hike out in the morning. When we arrived there was a young couple setting up their tent here, (there are three fire ring/tent sites here in this very cozy site), but as soon as we started setting up our tent they broke theirs down and left. I felt kind of bad, but since I figured that all the campsites would fill up any way, if they did so because they desired a campsite to themselves they were not likely to have their wish. After pitching our tent to claim our spot, we threw in our sleeping bags and pads to lighten our load a bit, but carried the packs the rest of the way so that we were getting the conditioning.
Normally, the creek that this site sits at the edge up is a beautiful flowing river. There is in fact a cable to help cross during high water. But it has been so dry this year that there was barely any water at all, just barely enough for us to filter for drinking.
Laurel Falls. The first big falls on the trail, these falls are normally pretty spectacular, but its just a trickle now. There is a massive cave below the falls, but some bright group of campers had decided to build this massive smoky fire inside the cave and while this didn't seem to affect them (perhaps their brain cells were already dead anyway) it made it very unpleasant for every one else. So the "mist" in the picture is actually smoke.
Sheep Cave. Last time we came here we didn't have flashlights and so never ventured inside the cave. Needing to filter water to replenish our stocks, we needed to go in to get to deep enough water. It was a real treat. I'm not sure how far the cave actually goes back, we probably went 50 yards and it clearly went much farther. We saw a cave salamander, lots of cave crickets, and some bats. And bonked our heads a bunch of times.
Virgin Falls. Fortunately these falls were still running strongly. You can see some other hikers in the pictures which give you a sense of how high the falls are. The falls actually run from out of cave and then flows for probably 10 yards on flat rock and then plummets to the bottom which is another set of caves/pit platforms.
The force of the water has carved the stone into beautiful shapes. One of the other hikers who had descended into the pits previously on ropes said that they all drop down about another 100 feet and then the separate tubes join into a single tunnel that runs another 150 yards or so underground where it comes out into the Caney River.
Cave above Virgin Falls and runout. It was a short hike to the cave above the falls. Again we weren't able to do this the first time, but with flashlights and time this was pretty fun. There actually are a set of caverns within the cave
We were pretty beat by the time we returned to camp. We definitely need the conditioning, I'm not sure we could have gone more than another mile or so under load. My entire shirt (my bike jersey) and hat (my beloved Bosox cap) were completely soaking wet from sweat, as was almost all of my shorts. Although I had brought a change of shirts, somehow I forgot my backup shorts, so I had to stay in them. When we got back, another family had pitched their tents at the site as well. Although we initially stayed at our end of the small campsite, at the end of their dinner one of the campers walked over and offered us some of their leftovers that they were going to have to throw away. So we talked a bit, and then when we were moving a big log to have a place to sit by our fire pit, they invited us to sit by their fire as it was already blazing away. We accepted their invitation and had a nice long campfire conversation. They were grandparents with their daughter and her son. (The daughter looked to about 17 to me, but given that AM has been mistaken for a teenager even though she is 40, I suppose looks can be quite deceiving.) The grandfather is a principal at one of the middle schools in the area, as well as scoutmaster for his troop. So we had extended conversation both about scouting and about schools. When I asked him what one thing would make his school better, he responded that it would be the ability to discipline effectively. He felt that his hands were so tied that kids who acted out could not be stopped and this disrupted the classroom and forced teachers to spent much effort to trying to control these unruly kids that there wasn't time and energy to teach effectively. We talked about what alternatives were currently possible and what he would like to be able to do. It was a very pleasant evening spend in the company of strangers.
When the fire died out finally, we prepared for bed. The night was still warm enough at first that I was really too uncomfortable to get in my sleeping bag, but by the middle of the night was chilly enough that I did. Both JP and I slept more in cat naps. Whether from how sore I was or being in a new environment, or our neighbor snoring, somehow I just couldn't really stay comfortable. (Oh, and my inflatable pillow deflated twice in the middle of the night didn't help.)
But the morning made the night worthwhile as we got up to a beautiful Tennessee morning in the woods, ate breakfast and walked out feeling joyful.
Here is the html for Virgin Falls.
http://www.state.tn.us/environment/na/natareas/virgin/
We did this a day hike a couple of years ago but had to do it really quickly in order to be back in time for other commitments. When we went last time, it was really crowded with lots of scout troops camped at various campsites and the trailhead parking lot overfilled. Since it was Labor Day weekend, we were expecting the worst.
At the trailhead. The first thing we noticed was how few cars there were.
Our plan was to camp at the first campsite, so that we would have a minimal hike out in the morning. When we arrived there was a young couple setting up their tent here, (there are three fire ring/tent sites here in this very cozy site), but as soon as we started setting up our tent they broke theirs down and left. I felt kind of bad, but since I figured that all the campsites would fill up any way, if they did so because they desired a campsite to themselves they were not likely to have their wish. After pitching our tent to claim our spot, we threw in our sleeping bags and pads to lighten our load a bit, but carried the packs the rest of the way so that we were getting the conditioning.
Normally, the creek that this site sits at the edge up is a beautiful flowing river. There is in fact a cable to help cross during high water. But it has been so dry this year that there was barely any water at all, just barely enough for us to filter for drinking.
Laurel Falls. The first big falls on the trail, these falls are normally pretty spectacular, but its just a trickle now. There is a massive cave below the falls, but some bright group of campers had decided to build this massive smoky fire inside the cave and while this didn't seem to affect them (perhaps their brain cells were already dead anyway) it made it very unpleasant for every one else. So the "mist" in the picture is actually smoke.
Sheep Cave. Last time we came here we didn't have flashlights and so never ventured inside the cave. Needing to filter water to replenish our stocks, we needed to go in to get to deep enough water. It was a real treat. I'm not sure how far the cave actually goes back, we probably went 50 yards and it clearly went much farther. We saw a cave salamander, lots of cave crickets, and some bats. And bonked our heads a bunch of times.
Virgin Falls. Fortunately these falls were still running strongly. You can see some other hikers in the pictures which give you a sense of how high the falls are. The falls actually run from out of cave and then flows for probably 10 yards on flat rock and then plummets to the bottom which is another set of caves/pit platforms.
The force of the water has carved the stone into beautiful shapes. One of the other hikers who had descended into the pits previously on ropes said that they all drop down about another 100 feet and then the separate tubes join into a single tunnel that runs another 150 yards or so underground where it comes out into the Caney River.
Cave above Virgin Falls and runout. It was a short hike to the cave above the falls. Again we weren't able to do this the first time, but with flashlights and time this was pretty fun. There actually are a set of caverns within the cave
We were pretty beat by the time we returned to camp. We definitely need the conditioning, I'm not sure we could have gone more than another mile or so under load. My entire shirt (my bike jersey) and hat (my beloved Bosox cap) were completely soaking wet from sweat, as was almost all of my shorts. Although I had brought a change of shirts, somehow I forgot my backup shorts, so I had to stay in them. When we got back, another family had pitched their tents at the site as well. Although we initially stayed at our end of the small campsite, at the end of their dinner one of the campers walked over and offered us some of their leftovers that they were going to have to throw away. So we talked a bit, and then when we were moving a big log to have a place to sit by our fire pit, they invited us to sit by their fire as it was already blazing away. We accepted their invitation and had a nice long campfire conversation. They were grandparents with their daughter and her son. (The daughter looked to about 17 to me, but given that AM has been mistaken for a teenager even though she is 40, I suppose looks can be quite deceiving.) The grandfather is a principal at one of the middle schools in the area, as well as scoutmaster for his troop. So we had extended conversation both about scouting and about schools. When I asked him what one thing would make his school better, he responded that it would be the ability to discipline effectively. He felt that his hands were so tied that kids who acted out could not be stopped and this disrupted the classroom and forced teachers to spent much effort to trying to control these unruly kids that there wasn't time and energy to teach effectively. We talked about what alternatives were currently possible and what he would like to be able to do. It was a very pleasant evening spend in the company of strangers.
When the fire died out finally, we prepared for bed. The night was still warm enough at first that I was really too uncomfortable to get in my sleeping bag, but by the middle of the night was chilly enough that I did. Both JP and I slept more in cat naps. Whether from how sore I was or being in a new environment, or our neighbor snoring, somehow I just couldn't really stay comfortable. (Oh, and my inflatable pillow deflated twice in the middle of the night didn't help.)
But the morning made the night worthwhile as we got up to a beautiful Tennessee morning in the woods, ate breakfast and walked out feeling joyful.