Landlocked Pirate

If you are a Creationist and believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old, give or take, this is not meant for you. Your beliefs are founded in faith and I won’t argue with you. If you fall into this category and continue to read, keep your comments to yourself.  To everyone else, read on, if you wish. The Earth was formed 4.6 Billion years ago, plus or minus a few million years. 4.6 Billion years is pretty freaking old.  Until around 2,050,000,000 years (2.05 Billion Years, I just wrote it out like that to impress you with the number of zeros) ago, the Earth had an Oxygen deficient atmosphere. That means for much of the planet’s history, Oxygen dependent organisms couldn’t have existed. Over time, as life evolved and turned Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen, the atmosphere became oxygenic. Are you still with me? I think this stuff is interesting, it’s probably why I became a geologist. Another 1.5 Billion years goes by (give or take a few million) and voi...

Last year on October 2nd, I left Las Vegas in a daze. Our hotel was just around the corner from the concert venue and the Mandalay. I made a conscious effort to not look in that direction, I did not want to see that building and the broken windows of the shooter’s room. I was tired, there had been no sleeping that night. Every time I started to drift off, I heard gunshots, loud, like they were in the room and they jerked me awake. I took my time on the drive home. I love th e drive between Kingman and Vegas, I think it is beautiful and the geology is cool. I stopped at the dam and walked up the road, so I could take a photo of Black Canyon and the bridge (something I often thought of doing, but never actually took the time to do.) It is the first photo. This visit to Vegas changed everything. I stood outside the concert venue at 10:00pm with thousands of other survivors. We hugged, we drank, and we had a good time. I made new friends. I remembered that Vegas is fun. ...