Fragments From Floyd

Detroit to Roanoke, late afternoon, in a prop plane flying maybe 15,000 feet. And I got a window seat this time! Seeing the world from this vantage point is still one of the best educational experiences in my sheltered life. My personal favorite observation yesterday was the odd dimpled pastures that appeared briefly somewhere after we entered the "great valley" landforms. No doubt about it: this was what the geologists call "karst topography" and those dimples were early sinkholes forming over the underlying limestone deposited in the shallow sea that covered the incipient continent in ocean sediment.

It occurred to me what a great field trip a plane ride would be--to bring all sixty-some-odd biology students up on a chartered plane, each with a window seat, and watch the history of Appalachian geology unfold as we flew over all the physiographic provinces, from coastal plane to Allegheny Highlands. We'll wait for this until we've talked about the major biomes, of course, and plate tectonics and mountain building. And certainly, I'll have to give the department a few weeks to get on Orbitz and get a good price on sixty tickets. Yup.

My daughter's house sits on a small corner lot on a broad (cottonwood) tree-lined street of nice older homes, with sidewalks on both sides and a green median for joggers and pet owners. I never did get used to the fact that when you tossed the cat out the back door at night, it landed in the neighbor's yard. That'd be some heck of a cat-toss where we live.

But there was a time that city living was right for us, or at least convenient, and we were the ones walking the pet on a rope. I had to laugh, comparing our dog's free-roaming wherever-the-urge-strikes habits to the pampered pooches in the median followed by their masters carrying pooper-scoopers and lumpy plastic trash bags.

Daughter says "That's nothing. Get this: Last week we were driving along Boulevard. This man's dog squatted and the guy cut out the middle step, catching the offending substance directly into his plastic bag as it emerged. We had to wonder: if aliens are watching, which one do they think is the dominant species on this planet?"

Well, it's good to be home, but I don't have much wiggle room for blogging. This is the beginning of the new phase that includes teaching responsibilities as well as several other things begging my time and attention between now and Christmas. I can imagine some fall-related pictures posted here soon; and once class starts, I'm sure that will spawn some observations and anecdotes from a whole 'nother place than has been the norm (using the term loosely) here at Fragments. We'll just follow our noses and see what comes to mind in these (perhaps more sporadic) morning rambles.