grayb

One of the big disappointments this summer was that I never made it to the beach. On the last day of September I finally did.



Unfortunately, I was a couple hundred million years too late. Those patterns in the shale in the top center region of the above photo are fossil ripple marks - they were formed in the shallow waters along an ancient shoreline, preserved, turned to stone and then tilted upwards at a 90 degree angle by uplifting and faulting of the Earth's crust in this area.

My second (and least favorite) wife would tell you otherwise. She would say that the Earth is only a few thousand years old. Any patterns in the rock were created then. Or, perhaps they were placed in the stone by Satan to mislead heathens, Pagans and other non believers - some fossils (according to her and her associates) apparently are.

She was a devout Pentecostal. It was in remission when I first met her. I did my best to coexist but my patience was sorely tested one evening when I came home to find the pastor and several members of her church in our living room. They were there for an intervention - of sorts. They had decided that my belief in evolution (among other things) and my hostility towards some of the teachings of their religion were proof positive that I was possessed by a demon, or perhaps even Satan himself. After I'd bodily tossed them all out they agreed that it was probably the latter. Wife Number Two rejoined her family and friends in Florida a few weeks later. I never saw her again. It was fun while it lasted.

It's been a very strange fall so far.



Most of the leaves on the trees are still green, some have nice color and are looking good but many trees are already bare. I've attached some pics taken this week at the Thompson Pond Nature Preserve near Stissing Mountain and one of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge (now officially Walkway Over the Hudson - more on that next time) so that you can see what I mean. The whole tree color thing this year is rather weird, but still very beautiful.



I've been really busy and away from home quite a bit lately but here are the DVDs I've managed to watch since my last blog:

Wicker Park
Besieged
The Girlfriend Experience
Portrait of Jennie
Box of Moonlight
Flirting
The Dark Crystal
Stalker
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sex and Lucia
The Trial
Assassination of a High School President
I'm Not Scared
The Life of Emile Zola

Thanks especially to c4ff31n3, ferkixllL and stampedeofworms for some excellent recommendations!



The latest books I've read are:

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
Roadside Picnic / Tale of the Troika - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky translated by Antonia W. Bouis

Roadside Picnic is the book that the film Stalker was based on.



I have much more that I wanted to mention but... I need to get to sleep. I have a big weekend coming up and it all starts in just a few hours. Another couple of weeks and I'll be online quite a bit more. Until then,

please excuse the paucity of my comments,
be well and happy
and take good care...

All the best!