Aug 24 2022 - Developmental Milestones

Parents are checking their babies to make sure they develop normally - according to developmental milestones.  These are all positive - babies start laughing and engaging, gaining strength in their movements.   These are cognitive and physical developments.  When we look at development in late adulthood, the greatest attention by experts seems to be cognitive.   The famous psychologist Erik Erikson says the milestones is to resolve the conflict of integrity vs despair.  That means satisfaction in life rather than bitterness and disillusionment.   Gene Cohen was a student of Erikson's and developed these stages - there are four of them and include  these:  Liberation late 50s to 70s - experimentation and innovation, liberation not compliance, innovation and willingness to take risks. Summing Up late 60s through 80s - Review of one's life and resolution and desire to give back.   Final ages 70s until end of life - reflection and celebration with reexamination, liberation and summing up.  At a general level, that is interesting.  But some days, I am more interested in what I should be attending to in terms of the physical.  On the physical side, the Mayo Clinic goes through a list of what to expect as you get older. The first thing they cover  is the cardiovascular system in which the blood vessels and arteries stiffen causing our hearts to work harder. The risk is high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems.  Then the bones, joints and muscles - everything shrinks and we lose strength, endurance and flexibility.  Digestive system?  Structural changes in the large intestine can result in constipation. And the bladder and urinary tract becomes less elastic, and it becomes difficult to empty the bladder completely. And the one everyone comments on - memory and thinking skills.  Forgetting is the familiar result.  There's more - eyes, ears, teeth, weight and so on.  There are a lot of parts of the human body to start declining.   That seems to be the conclusion today.

When we moved to Grimsby, this was one of the garden focal points along Main Street.  It is gone now.  I guess the house was sold and this wasn't the new owners idea of an attractive feature.  How did it get assembled up there?  How long did it take to put it up?   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

 

Oct 8 2020 - How Deep?

 

How deep is the deepest hole drilled into the Earth? It is 7.5 miles or 12,262 kilometres.  Where is it?  It is in Murmansk, Russia.  The Kola Superdeep Borehole, as it is known, did not get through the Earth's crust - it is 25 miles thick below the land. They wanted to drill 9 miles but discovered such intense heat, they stopped.  This was in 1992.  It took 20 years to accomplish this - to get about a third of the way through the continental crust.   The American effort started in 1958 off the coast of Mexico and was discontinued in 1966.  They had reached only 183 metres.  German scientists reached about 6 miles below the surface of Bavaria in the 1990s. They discontinued when they hit seismic plates and found temperatures of 600 degrees Fahrenheit.  The Japanese drilled almost 2 miles into the ocean floor.   Below the crust is the mantle, and it holds the imprint of the geological record of the Earth's history.  There were two-billion-year-old fossils from single-celled marine organisms at 4.4 miles down.  The Cold War competition between the US and Soviet Russia ran its course.  No single country could take on the activity as costs spiralled with the need to invent technology to accomplish the task.   The effort now underway to reach the mantle is being led by the Center for Deep Earth Exploration, owners of the drilling vessel Chikyu. They expect the project to take dozens of years and one-billion dollars. The effort and funding is collaborative with Japan, US, European, China, Australia, India, New Zealand and Brazil participating.  What is the scientific prize they are seeking? “The ultimate goal of the [new] project is to get actual living samples of the mantle as it exists right now,” says Sean Toczko, programme manager for the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science. “It’s the difference between having a live dinosaur and a fossilised dinosaur bone.” The bbc article is HERE. Our picture today is an abstract taken of the bottom of a boat in Florida.

Read past POTDs at my Blog: https://marilyncornwell.blogspot.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Sink into Spring

What might sink in the spring? "I don't know what happened:  the boat was sitting there on the bottom." As we drove back from Ottawa, the highway revealed travelling boats heading to their summer destinations.  These boats didn't sit in water over winter. What would happen to make a boat sink over the winter? It looks like there are lots of parts to a boat, so quite a few things can be the cause - Boatus.com has the answer HERE 1. Heavy spring rains get through poorly caulked ports, hatches, chainplates, and deck fittings 2. If the owner is unaware of leaks because the automatic bilge pump dutifully kept the bilge dry during the warmer months, the battery and bilge pump may go dead over the winter.  Water accumulates. 3. A poorly attached hose (secured with only one hose clamp) can be "lifted" off the seacock as the water freezes and expands. 4. If water is left in the intake sea strainer, it can freeze and break the bowl. 5. If a stuffing box isn't tightened before the boat is laid up, even small amounts of water - steady drip - can eventually swamp a boat. My own experience with boats is at the parking lot in Port Dalhousie where they are being stored.  Some are for sale. Of course, I am looking for the scrapes and  scratches on the bottom that make good photo opportunities.   Ottawa has its namesake sign, complete with muskoka chairs.  This will be a busy scene in the summer when tourists arrive.  The market is a tourist attraction with the beavertail pastries and maple syrup for sale.

Boat for Sale

I drove to the Port Dalhousie Marina to look at the waves on the pier.  They were a great sight - washing right over the pier.  Port Dalhousie is situated quite at the end of a long bay so goes far into Lake Ontario.  Hence the great waves.  I was with my mother, so didn't take the time to go to the pier for pictures.  I did stop at the boats 'parked' in the parking lot.  They look like they've been 'for sale' for a long time - this wasp's nest told the story.

I did find some excellent wear and tear and will bring those abstract images to you later.