Alright! Who forgot to curb their dog?!!! What is this thing?!!!

Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. At least that's what my wife thinks.

Alice in Wonderland

So, I don't know what you think when you look at this photo. Do I need more Lipitor? Should I pour Draino down my sink? Is this the chicken heart that ate up New York City? Is this safe for my children to look at? Sweet dreams, Alice.

The magic of electrons

The last few weeks have been swamped with work on various sandstone core samples. Part of the fun is looking at really tiny things under a scanning electron microscope. These images are mostly of quartz cement in really old aeolian sandstones. I confess, one of the pictures shows a potassium feldspar overgrowth - can you guess which one? These pictures make neat screen savers, if you are into quartz crystals and hairy illite (or is that "fred" illite? -since Bucky is now Steve, why shouldn't hairy change his name, too?).

Spring in the Uintas

The day before my dad's memorial service, Tommy, Buzz, and I felt the need to get away and clear our heads. It had snowed in the high elevations the night before and we were greeted with about 6 inches of new powder and a beautiful sunny morning with pristine snow. Tommy had some great aerials, Buzz performed an "el rollo" when he didn't make a hill climb and sent the sled tumbling down a steep hillside. We had a moment of silence in the spot where a few years ago, my dad, snowmobiling "blind" rolled in a deep snow drift and lay under the sled until Tommy came back to the rescue. Dad's spirit was definitely with us, egging us on to try something new and enjoy the fresh Utah morning. Thanks, Tommy. I love you, Dad.

The Passing of a Giant

My dad was always a giant among men to me. Between the ages of 13 to 45, I never beat him in a game of tennis - talk about a blow to my self esteem. I'd get ahead and he would hunker down and grit his teeth, then charge the net and kill me once again. I might have beat him after he went blind, but you never know....

On March 19th, my 33rd wedding anniversary, my dad passed away from complications following a major stroke on Wednesday, March 17th. The prior photo with the guns was taken just 2 weeks prior to this life-ending stroke, showing that he was smiling and enjoying life up until the final moment.

Do I believer in life after death? Dang right! There is no way this guy won't be my dad in the life to come. I am so thankful for the faith I cherish that gives me a view of what awaits in the future. Maybe we can have a rematch, playing tennis on a net strung up by the pearly gates. He'll still beat me, but that will be half the fun.

I think it was President Obama that said, "when times get tough, some people turn to guns and religion". Well, in Utah you can have them both, although this cheerful guy would probably take guns over religion any day. 85 years old, blind, but still a dead eye with a gun! Way to go, dad!

If you haven't paid your Brewer Camp annual fees, watch out!

So, what have I been doing the last month? Looking down a microscope at cool rocks, what else? I finally upgraded my computer with a 1gig video card, then got a high def 24 inch monitor and plugged my digital microscope camera in to this setup and, wa-lah!!! I can see clearly now, the rain has gone.....

Seems like every day brings something new, something interesting. We have been at work from 7am to midnite 6 day a week for the last month or more. I'm dreaming of rocks in my sleep - not good! Peggy doesn't like my new shower schedule - which is don't take one until I'm socially offensive. I don't have time for showers! Now with the rain falling again, I get wet just walking out to the lab, Throw me a bar of soap and call it good.

Oh well, the centrifuge just stopped - gotta go talk to my clays!

New Year's Sunrise at the Farm

Last Thursday we awakened to the first morning with sunshine in the last 3 weeks. We have been stuck in fog or drizzle since before Christmas. It was nice to see the Cascades hadn't washed away and the early morning light hitting the clouds over Mary's Peak made for some beautiful colors. Quite a beautiful, peaceful sunrise. Happy New Year!