I have finally finished teaching the Geology 2700 Intro Field Course and am taking a little time to catch my breathe. From a personal experience, being out on the "outcrop" was invigorating as well as challenging from a standpoint of teaching predominantly non-majors how to interpret the "rocks". Several of the students were very impressive; including a political science major. I've provided some spectacular imagery from the numerous field exercises. The image on the top is from a location 1 mile south of campus in Boulder Open Space, basically public hiking trails (for the geologists, the students eventually measured the rock thicknesses here using various techniques). The image on the bottom is Settler's Park (Boulder Open Space) with the Lyons Sandstone forming the "fin" on the left. If you look closely in the background, portions of Boulder and the campus can be seen. An interesting story that I found humorous: Apparently, Settler's Park was the location of the first settlement of "white-folk" in the area, which had been designated as tribal land. As we all know, this didn't matter much!
Shana and I are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby girl!! Patiently, we're in the day-to-day routine where anything could happen. Motivation to accomplish anything significant is at an all-time low as we anticipate the day "things" kick into high gear! However, we did achieve a significant accomplishment within the last couple of days! We have decided on a name for our girl, with a 99% certainty!! We're stoked...but you'll have to wait awhile!! We're waiting to tell the world her name; an accomplishment and culmination of our lives!!!
On a sadder note, one of my cousins passed away yesterday from unknown causes; he was 35 years old. He was someone I "played" with as a child, and later, worked with on the farm during the hot Oklahoma summers. In recent days, I have been reading the last few chapters of a biography written about Carl Sagan (one of my childhood "heros"). Of course, the last chapter describes the last few months of his life before he died from pneumonia caused by cancer. For me, life has been put in perspective (once again) knowing that I will have helped a little girl inhale her first deep breathes of fresh air. An amazing feeling! Here's to the next generation!
I hope this message finds you all in great health and good spirits!
--Chris
Shana and I are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby girl!! Patiently, we're in the day-to-day routine where anything could happen. Motivation to accomplish anything significant is at an all-time low as we anticipate the day "things" kick into high gear! However, we did achieve a significant accomplishment within the last couple of days! We have decided on a name for our girl, with a 99% certainty!! We're stoked...but you'll have to wait awhile!! We're waiting to tell the world her name; an accomplishment and culmination of our lives!!!
On a sadder note, one of my cousins passed away yesterday from unknown causes; he was 35 years old. He was someone I "played" with as a child, and later, worked with on the farm during the hot Oklahoma summers. In recent days, I have been reading the last few chapters of a biography written about Carl Sagan (one of my childhood "heros"). Of course, the last chapter describes the last few months of his life before he died from pneumonia caused by cancer. For me, life has been put in perspective (once again) knowing that I will have helped a little girl inhale her first deep breathes of fresh air. An amazing feeling! Here's to the next generation!
I hope this message finds you all in great health and good spirits!
--Chris
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