Recent Visit Home

This August I traveled home to visit my mother and sister timed precisely for my mother's 92nd birthday. My mom's not the partying type, never was, but a little fuss is always appreciated. :-)

One of the first things we do after I get there is visit. You can always find mom reading the Chicago Tribune in the library after lunch. She asked after all the members of my family and Martha and I both showed her pictures of her great-grandchildren.

Back at Hotel Wiseman we had a nice supper on their deck : corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes from Martha's little garden, cow burgers for them, and...

... veggie burger for me and (much to Ken's displeasure) pork-free baked beans! The weather was so perfect we didn't go back inside for quite a while.

The next two pictures are of their back yard (first pic towards the back right, second pic toward the back left) which has grown in so nicely. When they first moved in all these trees were shorter than I. It looks really nice now.

Notice the flower and fresh herb planters on the railing.

This is my favorite time of day, when we've had a good time but now relax in front of the TV to watch a movie, check our emails, read, and talk. It feels like home to me.

Saturday morning we drove into Chicago for the Obama Bike Tour, one of many bike tours available. The meeting place was at the 63rd Street Beach on the south side of Chicago. Yes, the south side, but it was very nice and felt very safe. I'm always impressed with how Chicago keeps its areas nice, including its natural areas:

This is the oldest (built in 1919) and biggest beach house in Chicago and was fully restored in 2000. My sister took a great panorama shot of this building which spreads to the left and right for several hundred feet.

The view from the beach house. You can just barely see the...

... Chicago skyline in the distance. It was hazy and humid and we were hoping to get in our bike ride before the expected thunderstorms.

On the back side of the beach house was a very nice little resting area complete with...

... a fountain for the kids to cool off in. Reminds me of the fountains in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.

Finally our tour was about to begin. You will see that the bike tour was of much more than just things related to Obama, partly because his history here was limited, and partly because there is so much more to this (Hyde Park) area of Chicago. My sticker:

M & K ready to roll.

Our first stop was the basketball courts where Barack Obama used to play. Our tour guide, Vincent in blue, was a very cheerful, energetic, positive guy. He had a lot of knowledge of this part of Chicago (Hyde Park) and was very interesting. Vincent was a Black Panther back in the day, and sported dreadlocks that went all the way down to his rear end. I wonder of the tips of those dreads were around in his panther days...

This is the Statue of the Republic made in 1919. It is a replica of the statue that was in place for the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. The original was destroyed by fire. Read here to learn more about the 1893 World's Fair; many of the beautiful structures in this part of Chicago are a leftover from this time.

The Osaka Japanese Garden was also built originally for the World's Fair.

This school is called the University of Chicago Laboratory School. Started by Professor John Dewey this school has an excellent reputation. Melia and Sasha Obama went here before they moved to DC. It also boasts 32 alumni who became Nobel laureates and tons of other famous people. I was going to list a few but there are so many, who would I pick?

The is the U of C Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, a non-denominational center for spiritual and ceremonial endeavors and a venue for the arts. I think I remember Vincent saying that most of the U of C presidents are buried here too.

Beautiful exterior...

 

... and beautiful interior.

Wish I could hear this pipe organ play.

Inlaid stone, perhaps marble.

University of Chicago campus.

Where Obama taught law classes and met Michelle.

The building where he taught classes.

Enrico Fermi and his cronies actually performed the first nuclear reaction in a basement near campus. Yikes! Can't trust those physics students.

Artwork related to the mushroom cloud: "Nuclear Energy" in bronze by Henry Moore.

We approached the Obama mansion with care. That black SUV was the first line of protection against anyone getting too close. As we cycled by, a car stopped in front of the mansion; an ear-splitting horn from the SUV blared at the car to move along. And the Obamas weren't even in residence!

This was the best pic I could get of the house. If you want to see what it really looks like click here.

Obama's back yard basket ball net.

Next door is the KAM Isaiah Israel synagogue, the oldest (1847) in Chicago.

This is Muhammad Ali's Chicago mansion. He doesn't live here any more but it's still known as Muhammad Ali's house. On the corner half a block down the is Louis Farrakhan's current residence. Our bike tour didn't stop in front of it for pictures, maybe because he had a secret service man standing at attention in the front yard and Vincent knew from past experiences not to stop.

The next stop was Barack Obama's barber shop, Hyde Park Hair Salon. Vincent brought us inside where men were getting their hair cut so I didn't feel comfortable taking a picture of the shop itself. On the walls were several pictures of Obama...

... and the chair where he received his last hair cut there the day of his election night speech in Grant Park. He even signed the chair.

This is where Obama lived as a poor college student. His apartment was on the second floor, his window the one to the left of the center window. Rent was $400 a month. Could I possibly be remembering that right?

And this is where Obama the student ate three meals a day. It was cheap and it was filling.

We agreed that although Martha had packed us a picnic lunch we had to eat here just to say we did. Both Martha and Ken ordered off the Obama's favorites and I ordered a veggie omelet; it was scrumptious.

The Obama tourists eating at Valois.

Now that our bike ride was over the predicted storm rolled in.

 

The skyscrapers downtown were shrouded in rain (you can hardly see them) that soon made its way to where Martha and I were standing. We ran screaming to the car as it began to pour, like two little school girls. Like sisters. :-) 

 

The next day was my flight home but Martha and I stopped my mom's one more time because it was her actual birthday. Here she's opening Martha's card.

Posing with my 92 year old mother.

Mom's caregiver, Ann, took this. Mom is holding the flowers Martha gave her for her birthday. I love this picture.

As We Experience A Very Windy Day...

... I feel quite safe from Hurricane Irene. It made me wonder which areas of our country have the most disasters.  Below is a list of the top 10 states at risk of disasters and there aren't many surprises. I never would have guessed Ohio could be on this list or that California would be as low as number 8. I guess when the San Francisco earthquake hits it'll move up the list (Anahita get OUT of there!)

1. Louisiana
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
7 hurricanes, 2 tropical storms, severe weather
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $31.9 billion
 • Louisianna has the unfortunate distinction of being the most disaster-prone state in the nation, largely because of Hurricane Katrina, which was the costliest disaster in U.S. history.

2. Florida
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
8 hurricanes, 5 tropical storms, severe weather
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $31.5 billion
• Florida gets battered by hurricanes and tropical storms in late summer and early fall. • The state suffered through four major hurricanes (a record) in 2004 alone.
• Has the highest number of tornadoes per square mile of any state (Texas has more tornadoes annually, but it is much larger in land area).
• Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the U.S.

3. Texas
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
Severe weather, 4 hurricanes, 2 tropical storms
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $23.9 billion
• Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are as common.
• Cities close to the southern coast, such as Galveston and Houston, are often in the bulls-eye of destructive hurricanes that gain strength over the Gulf of Mexico, such as Hurricane Ike in 2008.

4. New York
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
Terrorist attack, winter storms, severe weather, 4 hurricanes
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $21.5 billion
• The death toll and destruction of property in the 9/11 terrorist attack puts the Empire State in the top ten of states with the highest casualty losses of the last decade.
• New York also has suffered its share of havoc wreaked from heavy snowfalls over the past two winters.

5. Mississippi
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
Severe weather, 6 hurricanes, 2 tropical storms
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $14.9 billion
• Hurricane Katrina, with the storm surge and heavy rains causing extensive flooding, nudged Mississippi into the top ten.

6. Oklahoma
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
Severe weather, winter storms
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $5.3 billion
• Severe storms and twisters are so much a part of the state’s weather that the National Severe Storms Laboratory and Storm Prediction Center are located here.

7. Alabama
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
6 hurricanes, severe weather, winter storms
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $4.9 billion
• When Gulf Coast hurricanes strike the state, even inland areas take a hit from the wind and rain.
• Severe storms can be accompanied by hail and tornadoes, not just in spring but also in late fall and early winter.

8. California
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
3 wildfires, Santa Ana wind, severe weather, earthquakes
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $4.7 billion
• Home to more natural disaster threats than most states: floods, earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis and strong Santa Ana winds that fuel wildfires.

9. Missouri
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
Severe weather, winter storms
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $4.5 billion
• Missouri sees numerous tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
• Flooding is a risk with two major rivers in the state — the Missouri and Mississippi.
• Winters here can be bitterly cold, accompanied by hazardous snow and ice storms.

10. Ohio
Types of Disasters (2001-2010):
Severe weather, 2 hurricanes
Estimated Insured Property Loss: $4.1 billion
• Great Lakes-effect snowstorms blanket northern Ohio regularly in winter.
• Spring tornadoes plague the central and southern parts of the Buckeye State.
• Hurricane Ike blasted the Ohio Valley in 2008.
• The state also had more than 30 earthquakes between 2002 and 2007.

I hope I don't tempt fate to say that we feel very safe here in SC. The earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes just sort of swirl around us. Granted, Hurricane Hugo hit us a bit harder than expected but I think that was a fairly unusual event resulting from an unusually strong storm that didn't follow the usual path and had about 3,000 tornadoes embedded in it. Am I jinxing us? Should I delete this last paragraph?

Martha and Ken are heading east to Maine for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully they won't get more than some rain from Irene. Martha's philosophy is, "When your number's up, your number's up." Can't argue with that.

In Only 14 Years...

Sciencey Friday  MOIF

In only 14 years the Bavarian town of Wilpoldsried has gone a deeper shade of green. From natural and renewable resources Wildpoldsried produces 321% more energy than it uses and sells the excess energy for about $5.7 million each year! Community buildings and private homes use solar panels. They also have five bio-gas digesters, nine windmills, three hydroelectric projects,  ecological flood control and a natural waste water treatment system. The town has also reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 65 % and if they continue making more efficiency improvements hope that number will be 125% by next year. They are planning to add a Siemens Smart Grid (see video below) and 37 electric cars with a solar charging facility.

I find this so exciting. There is nothing special about this town which relied in the past primarily on farming to bring in money. They actually formed several local companies to construct, install and manage their wind turbines, with local residents as investors. A national policy encouraged homeowners to install solar panels by making them cost-effective.

If a little town in Germany can do it why can't we do it here? C'mon California get us started!

Machen!

My First Earthquake

My first earthquake was very cute and little. I was brushing my teeth and suddenly heard a strange noise. At first I couldn't figure out where it was coming from and then realized our bathroom mirror was clanking against the wall. This mirror is firmly attached and has never made any noises before and I began to wonder, could we be having an earthquake? The quake was so minor that I couldn't feel or see any shaking so I felt calm and wondrous about it like I do a beautiful thunderstorm. I thought, "Huh, this must be an earthquake" with a silly little grin on my face. Cool experience.

Would This Be Cannabalism?

Sciencey Friday MOIF

Gelatin didn't always gross me out until I knew what it was ==> an ingredient derived from slaughterhouse leftovers such as skin (yuk) bones (eww) connective tissue (ugh.) Anything other than plant-based gelatin has no place in my desserts, thank you. Aside from the emotional reaction many of us may have to animal-based gelatin there is also a risk of infectious diseases and gelatin can provoke immune system responses in some people.

Apparently animal-based gelatin has other draw-backs from a manufacturing point of view since there is great variability from batch to batch. So scientists are developing a new method to create large quantities of human-derived gelatin. SAY WHAT? Yes. Human gelatin could become a substitute for some of the animal-based gelatin we eat in gelatin-type desserts, marshmallows, some yogurts and candies and many other products. Their study appears in ACS’s Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

I'm pleased to say that the human gelatin won't be coming from your sweet old Aunt Myrtle. Scientists have developed and demonstrated a method in which human gelatin genes are inserted into a strain of yeast, which can produce gelatin with controllable features. The researchers are still testing the human-yeast gelatin to see how well it compares to other gelatins in terms of its viscosity and other attributes. The researchers suggest that their method could be scaled up to produce large amounts of gelatin for commercial use.

Do I need to say how disgusting this still is? Next time you go to your family reunion potluck you may want to avoid Aunt Myrtle's green grape jello dessert. She may have put a bit too much of herself into her creation.

P.S. Plant-based gelatins do exist. Look for the two most common: carrageenan (from seaweed) and agar agar, from another wild sea vegetable.

Happy Birthday Young Lady!

My mom turned 92 today and it made me really happy to be there for it. Here Martha and I pose with our 92 year mother. WOW!

Altruism In Non-Human Animals

Sciencey Friday  MOIF-- move over Ira Flatow

Considering my love of animals and the study of nutrition probably most of my Sciency Friday posts will not be about a new particle collider or a new development in AI. Today's topic adds more support to the idea that some animals do in fact continue to show altuistic behavior.

Two new chimp studies this year found more evidence that chimps experience empathy. Some people don’t like to consider the possibility empathy or emotion could be part of animals' lives, because they adhere to the belief only humans have them and are evidence of human superiority. Happily science is gradually overturning that outdated belief.

Let me provide an example. Emory University researchers trained a group of chimps to recognize tokens that were of two colors. One color could be traded for food just for one chimp, and the other was for one chimp and another. The researchers observed almost 70 percent of the time a female chimp would choose the token which provided food for herself and one other chimp. This contradicts previous studies which supposedly showed chimps were selfish creatures by default. The old view was that chimps were altruistic only when pressured, and wouldn’t share or look out for others unless pressure was applied. Field observations noted chimps in the wild did make altruistic actions, but research studies largely did not include this view.

Frequently elephants have been observed cooperating to achieve a goal and it isn’t just chimps and elephants that are capable of empathy; there is no reason why the sort of altruism described here should be unique to primates and elephants. In time I believe it will be shown in other species.

Great Flick

Instead of doing the pictures from the weekend (sorry, I needed to veg) we watched a movie we've had at the house for over three weeks. Mao's Last Dancer, based on the autobiography of Li Cunxin, was fantastic. The actor who plays Cunxin is Chi Cao, principal dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, so of course he's doing all the dancing but his acting is also excellent. For those of you who know Joan Chen, she plays his mother. If you go to the Tube you can find some footage of the real Li Cunxin dancing back in the '80's.
Here's the trailer:

No Sciencey Friday

I planned to post something interesting (to me) every Friday related to science. Too sad this Friday.

Haiku

With Open Eyes I Suffer

My heart is too soft.

Other people seem OK

Maybe they don’t care

I've seen what happens

Other people look away

Open eyes suffer

Nothing I can do

Other people eat and laugh 

Heartache and hot tears