Scales of Landscapes

June 18, 2008

Somebody switched out the rulers when they made the landscapes of Ireland and California. In Ireland there is a lot of spectacular scenery, as in California, where I was born and raised. But in Ireland everything appears strikingly scaled down. The mountains smaller, waterfalls shorter, even the towns are generally much more modest in size. This has puzzled me ever since I took a bike ride here in Ireland many years ago and noticed how fast the scenery changed. It would take an hour here to cover changes that required a whole day of cycling in California. If elves had built the Earth, it would be as if someone swapped their rulers and changed the scales on everything. Only they should have put giants to live in California to match the land. My Irish cousins who have visited California agree. Just how this translates into geological terms, I'm not sure. There are probably some interesting social and psychological aspects of this as well. It is intriguing. 

From the Mouths of Babes: Vroom!

June 10, 2008

The hills are alive with the sound of internal combustion. The purr, drone or cougar scream of some engine follows us where ever we go in the Age of Oil. Stop almost anywhere and listen. It's a good reminder of why there is so much extra carbon rising in the atmosphere these days. Vroom! Vroom! It's one reason I especially treasure this little, out of the way cottage near Staigue Fort on the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. It's  quiet -- except for lowing cows and bleating sheep of course. Or at least that'swhat I thought before my 4-year-old son reminded me how he can blast out a nearly perfect imitation of a Harley. It's not like most cars or trucks these days really sound like that. But for some reason that's what all my boy's toy vehicles sound like, according to his imagination. As a result, his sound effects are now filling in for traffic noises while we're here. I wonder: If quiet electric vehicles someday reign, will toy cars be less fun? I'd have to guess they will be. The "vroom" will go the way of steamy "choo choo": lost, but not forgotten.