Shedding the Braided Chains

As soon as I woke up today, I checked my email. I was disappointed to find out that I still haven't received my invitation to join the Mars colonization mission. Have you? Sigh! So I ordered 20 solar-powered, self-replicating carbon dioxide scrubbers from a local tree nursery. I expect to install them in the spring, in a field cleared by a forest fire 25 years ago. I loaded the hybrid with my recycling to drop off later. I then planned my morning project, to shovel the snow on the front walk. Over my bowl of granola, I estimated that there was 1 inch of snow on the sidewalk, measuring 3 feet by 30 feet (36 inches by 360 inches). Please check my math on this, since none of the engineers who are planning the Mars mission will return my calls! I calculated 12,960 cubic inches of snow that needed to be removed. Since 1 inch of snow is approximately 0.1 inch of rain, I estimated that I needed to remove 1,296 cubic inches of water. One gallon of water weighs 8 lbs. One gallon is 231 cu...

Retiring may not suit me . . . My calendar is clear. My cell phone is dead (a hot tub drowning victim). I am not lonely, but I am longing . . . Not sure for what. With relief, I watch the story of my profession unfold without my efforts, The war against depression or anxiety or other states of madness, wages on. A gene here, a protein there or Some irresistible event or an immutable psychosocial state Explaining why people suffer. Nothing one could prevent or reverse. Nothing to do here based upon the evidence . . . This is the state of our scientific pursuits. I am relieved of its burden, But I wonder why something so hollow could have been so heavy. Helpless . . . Is this the lesson of our science? Is this the focal point of our understanding of human complexity? We still may be defeated on an astronomical stage by some magnificent, glorious act of physics. But on the biological, ecological and evolutionary stage, it is more likely that Gluttony, greed and lust...