Don't Panic!!!

Okay, so I'm panicing!

Well only a bit! You see, last Friday a package arrived containing the first batch of study material for my Open University course, S104 - Exploring Science. I made the mistake of quickly flicking through 'Book 4' which covers chemistry! Blimey! There across the page I was confronted with pages of chemical formulae. You know the stuff: H2 SO4 - that kind of thing, except great, humungus, long ones. All of a sudden my 'O' level in chemistry seems light years ago. In fact it damn near IS light years ago - 32 to be accurate! It's quite shocking to realise, it was the spring of 1976 when I did my 'O' level in chemistry and managed a grade 'C'. In fact I remember my chemistry teacher trying to persuade me to go on to do an 'A' level in the subject, but I instead chose to do Maths which with the benefit of hindsight, was perhaps a mistake!

Anyway, now that I've composed myself a little, I reckon I'm suffering from the same syndrome that other newly enrolled OU students suffer from - 'First Study Package Panic'. That great idea you had ages ago about studying something that really interests you is suddenly happening! It's here and it's starting in just over three weeks! Gulp!

But hey, one only needs to follow the advice given on the Course Guide - read the guide first and prepare properly. Book 1 is obviously the better place to start and this covers a great topic to get things off and running - global warming! Now this is a subject that I love, not least bacause it always gets me arguing with my mum! She is convinced that there is no such thing as global warming, it's all happened before and is nothing to do with human activity. Well, that might be true in part. It has all happened before but I believe that it is the rate at which it is happening that is the problem and that surely has got a lot to do with human activity. So, once I've covered Book 1, I should be ready to take on my mother again in another heated debate on a Saturday evening over a bottle of Cabernet!

Yep, after flicking through the course materials, there is a lot of exciting stuff ahead including home experiments and studying rock samples and fossil plaster casts, so I can't wait to get cracking. So keen am I that I've bought a new pencil case - a lovely 3 compartment one in 'mock Croc'. Oh yes, new course = new pencil case! It's only right and proper in my book! Sure there will be challenges ahead, not least actually finding the time to do the studying amongst the detritus of the everyday working life. Oh to ditch the day job and devote ALL my time to it, but alas, that wouldn't pay the bills. So, I'll see how I go and review my progress regularly.

Meanwhile, if there are any other S104 enrollees looking in, do get in touch and we can share thoughts on the challenges ahead!

I'll keep y'all posted!

Cheers for now,

Grumpychops

Grand Canyon, Arizona - very hot! Due to global warming?

Well, possibly, a bit, but what's certain is that this is the most pathetic excuse for showing ANOTHER photo of the wonderful Grand Canyon!!

(Photo by Grumpychops, March 2008)

More of the delights of the American Southwest

Forgive me for indulging myself somewhat. After my family's wonderful holiday to Arizona and Grand Canyon I have I'm afraid, become slightly obsessed by everything Arizona and southwest USA. The wet, miserable, dull and drab 'summer' weather here in north-west England only serves to increase my yearnings for more of the magnificent Grand Canyon and southwest USA!

During our March trip I bought a few books as I tend to do. Wayne Ranney's 'Carving Grand Canyon' is superb and well worth reading if like me, you are intrigued by the mysterys surrounding the formation of Grand Canyon. Another excellent book that I picked up over there is 'Geology Underfoot in Northern Arizona' by Lon Abbott and Terri Cook, which takes a look at the geology of the Northern half of the state and encourages the reader to get out there in your car and see the various features for yourself. This book also emphasises to me just how many magnificent geological features there are in Arizona that I didn't have time to visit last March and only increases my desire to return. While we saw and were mesmerised by Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest and Salt River Canyon, we barely scratched the surface of what Arizona has to offer.

There is an excellent web site called 'The American Southwest' run by a guy called John Crossley, who surprisingly resides in Bristol, England. His site covers the National Parks of this region of USA and includes a huge library of photographs. As well as the beautiful photographs and brilliant text guides to each area, he includes maps, hotel guides and some superb panoramas!

I'm delighted to say John has given me permission to use a few photographs from his site on this humble blog of mine. Such as this one....

East and West mitten Buttes, Monument Valley, Utah.

© copyright 1994 - 2008 John Crossley.

This area was I believe used as the backdrop to many classic Western films in the 1960's and 70's.

Merrick Butte, Monument Valley, Utah

© copyright 1994-2008 John Crossley

And then there is this extraordinary place, The Arches National park, also in Utah:-

The far side of Double 'O' Arch, Arches National Park, Utah.

© copyright 1994 - 2008 John Crossley.

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

© copyright 1994-2008 John Crossley

There are over 1000 arches of Entrada sandstone in this national park, ranging in size from the 89 metre span of Landscape Arch to small cavities of a mere 3 feet, which is the smallest size for an opening to be actually classified as an arch! John's web site will tell you all you need to know about where to find this place, so I won't repeat it here, but when I make that return trip back over the herring pond, I will definitely check out these breathtaking national parks.

I could attempt to explain how these awesome features formed, but on reflection perhaps I should wait until I do that geology degree and have a more thorough understanding of it all before I do that. Other blogs do all that way better than I could at the moment, such as 'MJC Rocks at 'Geotripper'. He's been running a brilliant series of blogs on the whole Colorado Plateau which has been superb. But then, he is a lecturer at Modesto Junior College! I only hope my future geology lecturers are as good as this guy!

Many thanks again to John Crossley at 'The American Southwest' for permission to use these photographs!

Cheers for now!

Grumpychops.

Return to education

The last few weeks have been a little crazy, racing around the country in search of Carillons, but that's another story. Suffice to say, it's been an education and that is something that is going to play a big part in my life in the coming months and years all being well.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Geology has been an interest for most of my life and really ought to have been my life's vocation. However, due to the unfortunate combination of a lousy maths teacher and my school's refusal to allow me to drop my 'A' level maths and concentrate on my geography and physics, I failed both maths and physics. That scuppered any hopes of getting into Oxford Poly to do the Geology degree course that I had set my heart on, but at least my excellent grade 'B' in Geography meant I could activate 'Plan B'. Being the cautious type, I did at least plan for the nightmare scenario of not getting the required two C's and only managing the one Geography 'A' level. As a result I embarked on a Higher Diploma in Geographical Techniques at Luton College and my life took a different course as a result.

A working life that started as a Cartographic Draughtsman has evolved into that of a CAD Technician. Yes, still drawing but now with the computer rather than Rotring drawing pens; on a computer monitor, rather than drafting film. They call it progress and I suppose it is of a sort. But like so much of modern life, it doesn't make it any better or more pleasurable. Quite the opposite in fact. Where I used to have the satisfaction of some degree of artistic creativity, that is now all but gone. So not surprisingly my heart yearns for something more, something to feel passionate about, that will stimulate my mind for the next 20 years plus. What frightened me was the thought of plodding through the next 17 years bored senseless, waiting until I retire to a life of gardening and incontinence! No thanks! Not for me, ta!

High time then for a change of direction. To make a start, I have enrolled with the Open University to start their Science Foundation course "Discovering Science - S104 which is due to commence on 29th September. Exciting! This will hopefully kick start the 'grey matter' and re-familiarise myself with the concept of study. As around 30 years have passed since my last period of formal study the next 9 months could prove challenging, particularly as I will be attempting to do it all around usual family/work life! So, if there is anyone out there from UK who has done S104 or S103, it's predecessor, do post a comment and let me how you found it!

For now I will leave you with another reminder of just why I want to study Geology and if I ever work out how to set up this Picaso Slideshow thingy I'll show you a whole lot more!

Cheers, Grumpychops.

The 'Tee-pees' at Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, Arizona. A stunning place!

(Photo by Grumpychops, March 2008)

Lovely Rocks!

It's becoming a bit of a family joke now, particularly after our epic, life changing trip to Grand Canyon. As my step daughter 'Splodge' commented after my last blog (see below), my love of rocks is a well established fact. Only last weekend, my mother commented to Rufus, "oh, he likes his rocks, doesn't he"? This was after I was telling her the age of my favourite rock sample, a piece - well, actually more of a slab, of mica schist from the Scottish highlands. Now, there's a story to this piece of rock.

Let me explain.....

Let me take you way back to the summer of 1976, in that long forgotten era when summers were long, warm and sunny! Yeah, you remember, that big bright shiney thing that we used to see in the sky every now and again? No? Oh well, don't despair! Anyway, this particular summer my mother and father decided on a family summer holiday to Scotland, which invariably isn't the wisest choice if one is hoping to experience a prolonged period of sunshine. If I rightly recall, my younger sister, being a bit of a 'sun-worshipper', wasn't best pleased with the choice of destination, but for me, even at the tender age of 16, I was more than happy to make do with countryside, forests, hills and ...... ROCKS! Add to that plenty of walking and I reckon you've got the perfect holiday, even when it's with your parents!

This year though turned out to be exceptional. It wasn't just warm, it was hot - damned hot! It was one of those 'hottest since records began' sort of summers and for Scotland was quite unprecedented. On one particular day my father took us on one of his now legendary walks. I must emphasise, they were legendary for all the wrong reasons! You see, my father had the map and chose the route but somehow 'scale' didn't seem to register. More often than not, after what seemed like hours of aimless trudging, one of us would dare to ask "so how far is the car park then?" to which the reply would be "it's just round the next bend, not far."

Bless him! In fairness, they were invariably cracking walks.

Anyway, on this particular walk in the highlands I was to stumble upon a nice shiney rock, glistening at me in the summer sunshine. I can't even remember exactly where we were other than to say it was somewhere in the vicinity of Ben Nevis, but there on the ground, was this....

On closer inspection the rock contained numerous small flakey minerals on the surface and was made up of crystals in striped bands. Being the curious type, I just couldn't leave this rock behind until I found out what it was. The only way to do that would be to take it with me, back to the car and then home. That seemed like a reasonable idea, but what I failed to consider was the effect that such a great slab of rock would have on my puny teenage wrists!

But, get it home I did and I then set about the task of identifying the great lump! This however, was not an easy thing to do. When attempting to identify birds for example, it seems that so many of them fall into that miscellaneous category 'little browny-grey bird'. Rocks are similarly difficult to identify, especially if you know nowt about them and have no idea what to look for. Enter my 'big brother' who had I think by this stage embarked on an 'A' level in Geology, so knew a bit about the subject."Oh that's mica schist", he proclaimed confidently." You see all the shiney bits? They flake off in thin layers."

They did too and he was right as it turned out. The more one looks at this piece of rock, the more fascinating it becomes. As well as the mica, the crystals beneath are laid out in stripes and the whole slab curves in a gentle 'S' shape. Add to that some rust coloured areas on the rear, (which I presume is exactly that, iron oxide?) and it makes for the most exciting lump of rock I've ever seen. After being in the care of my mother for the last 19 years, my chunk of Scottish schist has been reclaimed and is currently sitting on the television stand where our huge widescreen telly used to be before it conked out last week!

Now this is the point when my eldest step daughter gives me that 'look' that says "you are so SAD"! Well, maybe it is a little, but when I look at that piece of rock I see about 500 million years of history before my eyes. I wonder what the world was like back then, when the sediments were originally laid down and what happened 100 million years later when the original rock was metamorphosed to become the schist that it is now!

You see, that's where the fascination lies. It's not just the lump of rock, it's the history story, the complex puzzle and the inevitable questions that mount up as you try to make sense of what lies in front of you. That's what happens when I look at my lump of schist and that's what happened when I visited Grand Canyon. And that my friends, is why I HAVE to study geology. Educational inadequacies (both my own AND my school) were responsible back in 1978 for my working life following a completely different path to the one I ideally wanted, but there comes a time in ones life when those dreams need to be fulfilled. Studying geology has been a dream of mine for longer than I care to remember. It simply has to be eventually and with the support of my wonderful wife, it will be in the not too distant future.

Cheers for now!

Grumpychops.

Holiday in Paradise!

In my 'debut' blog last week, I did promise not to make every blog of mine a collection of moans and grumbles at life's injustices. As therapeutic as that may be for me, it will almost certainly make for a very dull read for anyone else. That is assuming of course, that anyone else does indeed read this stuff! Doubtless I will need to get things off my chest - I'm long overdue a rant about the abominable treatment of 'Nellie' (my 1964 Morris Minor!) and I by other road users! Arrrrrrgghh!

Don't get me started! I'll save that for another time.


So, to try and enlighten you all as to what sort of things, other than my dear wife, make me squeal with joy, or at least say "Wow!", take a look at this......

The magnificent Grand Canyon - awesome or what?
(Photo by Splodge during tour by Papillon Helicopters)

Firstly, here's a few facts about Grand Canyon, taken from one of the best books covering the geology of the region: 'Carving Grand Canyon' by Wayne Ranney:- Grand Canyon is...

• 277 miles long


• on average 10 miles wide and 18 miles wide at its widest


• on average 5,280 feet deep and 6,000 feet deep at its deepest


• 7, 000 feet above sea level at the South Rim & 8,200 feet at the North Rim


• and finally about 4.5 million people visit Grand Canyon each year!

Nothing, but nothing could ever prepare you for the emotional impact when you first set eyes on Grand Canyon. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, its awesome beauty is well documented, but it is the sheer scale that staggers the mind. 277 long miles long is about the same as the distance between Kendal and London roughly. So look at the above photo and try to envisage 277 miles of similar geological features!

If you are visiting Grand Canyon and want to get a handle on the sheer scale of this phenomenal natural wonder, a helicopter tour is I think essential. My family and I went with Papillon Helicopters who were quite excellent. There are many such tour operators offering tours of varying lengths and costs, but whatever your budget, just do it. You will not regret it!


It is said by many that to appreciate Grand Canyon at it's finest one needs to get up good and early and wait for sunrise. We did this twice and it was well worth the effort. Dawn temperatures in March are a little chilly, but a small price to pay given the spendour that unfolds before your eyes. As the sun slowly creeps over the rim, small patches of canyon wall begin to catch the light and the whole canyon magically comes alive.....

Grand Canyon South Rim at dawn, from outside Bright Angel Lodge.

(Photo by Grumpychops)

Now here's a staggering thought - 1.8 billion years of earth history is represented by the rocks exposed in Grand Canyon, the oldest being the vishnu schist at the bottom of the Canyon while the youngest rocks present are the Kaibab limestone at the top at a mere 255 million years old. The layers inbetween tell one of the most complete geological history stories on earth.

Even so, if you were to ask the simple question, 'How was Grand Canyon formed?' the only response to which all geologists will agree upon is that the Colorado River carved the canyon. Exactly how, when and under what circumstances has been the subject of fierce debate for decades and is likely to be so for the foreseeable future. Sadly, much of the evidence that could answer the questions has been long since eroded and washed away leaving huge gaps in the story. Research that is attempting to solve the puzzle continues apace. However, I suspect a complete answer will forever be tantalisingly beyond our reach!

I will delve deeper into the differing theories surrounding the formation of Grand Canyon in a future blog. Stay tuned and in the meantime, I'll leave you with another breathtaking photograph.

Cheers,

Grumpychops.

Grand Canyon South Rim from the South Rim Trail

(Photo by Grumpychops)