THE GREAT SAND DUNES

Beautiful sand dunes in Colorado.
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”
— WILLIAM BLAKE

Input this simple equation into Wolfram Alpha:

 

number of stars in the observable Universe
----------------------------------------------
number of grains of sand on Earth

 

number of stars in the observable universe = 3 x 10 to the power of 23

number of grains of sand on Earth = approx. 1 x 10 to the power of 20

 

Results:

(0.2 to 4000)

Therefore, there are probably more stars in the Universe than there are grains of sand on this Earth.

NOW, INPUT THIS Query INTO WOLFRAM ALPHA:

 

number of atoms in a grain of sand

 

Results:

6.495 x 10 to the power of 20 atoms*
 

Therefore, there are probably almost as many atoms in a single grain of sand as there are grains of sand on this Earth.

Medano Creek only shows up in spring at the Great Sand Dunes park.
A traveler in the sand dunes of a small desert.
Surveying the sand dunes, Colorado.
Grains of sand at Sand Dunes national park.
Patterns made by the wind at Great Sand Dunes national park.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:

Pieter G. van Dokkum and Charlie Conroy (2010).

www.wolframalpha.com

www.universetoday.com

 

*Note that sand particles can vary in size, and their composition - of silica and oxygen particles - will vary depending on location.

RAIN MAN

Endless wheat fields, America.


The first thing Christian will ask you is your birth date. He will then store that information away for later, along with all the other birthdays of his friends, family and acquaintances, until such a time as it is useful. When your birthday does come around, and being that he sees you that day - maybe in the parking lot of the supermarket, or at the movie theatre - he will wish you a very loud 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY.' 

He also remembers what he did pretty much every day of his life.

Christian is my brother-in-law, and sometimes he is a pain in the butt. Taking a road trip with Christian is like road-tripping with Rain Man. He has to stop at the exact same places time and again - that one coffee shop in Alamosa, or that bridge over the Canyon outside of Taos. When we cross any state border, he welcomes us to that state as if he had been there the whole time. "Welcome to New Mexico!" Some nutter gave him a cellphone too, so now he calls every person he knows to tell them where he is at all times. He likes to take pictures with his cellphone. Not of the Grand Canyon, nor of the Great Sand Dunes, but of the car parks, the men's locker rooms, and the passing buildings from a car window.

Now, if Christian is Rain Man, then the part of his brother is certainly played by Oliver. Oliver makes the perfect Tom Cruise to Christian's Dustin Hoffman. He gets annoyed at all the above antics, but ultimately he loves his brother dearly, as do the rest of the family. I find that quite special: that Christian is loved and accepted exactly as he is.

OTHER CLASSIC CHRISTIAN MOMENTS

Burping loudly then saying sorry to no-one in general.
Watches the same movie twice a day every day for a week straight. (I never thought I would watch Dolphin Tale 2, let alone hear it playing as the sound track to my life).
Wanting to stop at the exact same gas station on the way to New Mexico, and wanting to pay exactly 30 dollars for gas, every single time.
Getting nervous about crossing a river only one inch deep.
Using the same phrases:
- "Very good deal, isn't it?"
- "Sure the hell it is!"
- "Are you sure about that, are you positive?!"
- "Are you annoying me right now?"
- "So I just need to relax!"
- "So I just wanted to ask you that you saw my train set the other day!"
- "Did you love it a lot or a little bit?"
Hating the Power Rangers and Barney the Dinosaur with a passion that burns with the fire of a thousand suns.
Waiting till the very last second, right before we are about to leave the house, to say "I have to go to the bathroom!"
Always ordering three pancakes on the side when we eat out for breakfast. Never being able to finish the three pancakes. 

 

Heat making the road look like water - American road trips.
Christian smiling.
A road trip gif of power lines.
Oliver being like Tom Cruise from Rain Man.
Oliver's hands on the steering wheel.

SPRING SNOW

Snow on a pink house in Leadville, Colorado.

While spring buds its bright flowers along the coast of California, the lands of Colorado are still being dusted with a generous helping of snow. Further south, in my home country, the leaves are only just being tinged with yellow, and the baby birds are exchanging their soft downy feathers for more sturdy ones.

Not all the world follows a standardised seasonal pattern. Some parts of the Earth have only two seasons: sun and rain; or light and dark. Other places, such as the rainforests of Australia, have a complex variation of seasonal patterns with many more seasons that our own. 

I love that the Colorado mountains are covered in snow for most of the year. It puts me in touch with this odd altitude, allows me to make snowmen more often, and to glimpse wild foxes on the roadways; forces me to stay inside and read twelve chapters of my book.

Besides, a long winter just makes spring all the sweeter, when it finally comes. 

Snow on the mountains and pine trees in Colorado.
A snowy pine landscape, Colorado.
A frozen waterfall on the roadside, Colorado.
A glassy river winding through the snow in Colorado.