by Donald B. MacGowan

Kilauea Lava Stream at Night: Photo courtesy of Big Island Air

Whether you visit the Big Island for a few days, a couple weeks or a few months, you want to make the most of your time in Paradise. With such a wide variety of natural and commercial attractions, it is natural for the visitor to get a little overwhelmed in the “Option Overload” and not be able to make a balanced and informed decision on what they want to do and how best to spend their time.

Amanda Maus at Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaiii Volcaoes National Park: Photo by Uncle Donnie MacGowan

Even choosing which beach you want to spend time on, or where you want to hike can be an exercise in confusion and conflicting advice.  Clearly, visitors to Hawaii could use help making quality decisions about how best to spend their time.

The Pacific Ocean and Waikupanaha Ocean Entry Explosion Plume at the End of Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

Tour Guide Hawaii is excited and proud to announce the release of their new GPS/WiFi enabled App for iPhone and iPod that helps you navigate your trip to Hawaii with hours of informative, location-aware video and information. Although our video guide will lead you to dozens of unusual, untamed and unspoiled spots, let’s look at a scenic drive through one of Hawaii’s most popular attractions, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and highlight just a bit of the information you might not be able to find from maps and guidebooks that could otherwise cause you to miss some very interesting places and amazing sights if you did not have Tour Guide Hawaii’s new App.

Dusk at the Waikupanaha Lava Ocean Entry, Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

A Scenic Drive Through Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Introduction

La'epuki Lava Ocean Entry, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is a magical, spiritual, wondrous, strange and beautiful place comprised of great contrasts and contradictions: dry as dust desert to teeming tropical jungle; frigid sub-arctic wasteland to steaming black sand beaches to rivers of flowing lava.

Kilauea Crater and Eruption of Halema'uma'u, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

The star attractions in the Park are a pair of active volcanoes; Mauna Loa is the largest mountain on earth and Kilauea is most active volcano on earth. However, there are numerous other wonders from lava tubes to crawl down, black sand beaches with sea turtles to watch, mysterious petroglyph fields to explore, tropical jungles to hike through, endangered bird species to find, happy-face spiders to amuse and an otherworldly volcanic landscape so fresh it’s still steaming.

Hikers warily approach a stagnant lava flow whose surface is still glowing gently, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. During daylight hours, an access fee is charged. The Visitor Center has a 24-hour information line at 808.985.6000 and there is a 24-hour eruption hotline at 808.987.8862. Within the Park tune to A.M. radio 530 for continuous information broadcast. There are tourist items available for sale, and one restaurant and in the park; however, generally, shopping, restaurants and gasoline are mainly only available in the nearby village of Volcano.

iPhone and iPod Touch Video Tour Guide for Hawaii-fully GPS and WiFi enabled, fully interactive. Hours of interesting and compelling content. Available from iTunes or at www.tourguidehawaii.com.

There are four main roads which access most of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: the Mauna Loa Scenic road, which lies above the visitor’s center and winds up the slopes of Mauna Loa; Crater Rim Drive which circumnavigates the summit crater of Kilauea Volcano; Chain of Craters Road which runs down the southeast rift zone along a series of volcanoes and pit craters to the ocean and Hinlina Pali Road, which cuts across Kilauea Volcano to the cliffs along the sea.

Mauna Loa Scenic Road

View of Mauna Loa from the Mauna Loa Scenic Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

This gateway to the southern flank of the world’s largest mountain, Mauna Loa, lies about 2 ½ miles west of the main entrance to the park. The road traverses lava desert, ohi’a scrub savanna, fern forest and ends at the start of the hiking trail to the icy heights of Mauna Loa’s summit.

Lava Tree Molds, Mauna Loa Scenic Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

A small fork road heading east just after the start of Mauna Loa Road leads to a series of tree molds that formed when lava poured through the deep tropical forest. The trees were too wet to burn and the lava simply cooled around the trunks. Later, as the trees rotted, these unusual, deep pit molds were left behind. Definitely worth a visit, there are even pit toilets available at the Tree Molds.

About 1 ½ miles further along Mauna Loa Road is Bird Park, or Kipuka Puaulu. A forested island in a giant lava flow, this micro-ecosystem preserves forest plants and animals and is a haven to many bird members of Hawai’i’s endangered species. Cool, quiet, restful and inviting, there is a one-mile nature trail around this tropical forest oasis.

Looking into a Lava Tree Mold, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Mauna Loa Road is closed at various elevations at various times due to fire hazard. If one has the time and an adventurous heart, it is well worth the trip to drive to the end of the road and perhaps even hike a ways up it. The start of the Mauna Loa summit trail is here, but for even hardy hikers, that goal is at least two days hard hiking distant. The world’s largest active volcano is a LOT bigger than it looks!

Crater Rim Drive

Sunrise Mauna Loa from Crater Rim Drive, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

A fine introduction to the wonders of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Crater Rim Drive circles the summit crater of Kilauea Volcano, including Halema’uma’u Crater, the home of Madame Pele. The drive runs 11 fabulous and amazing miles through arid, barren volcanic desert, ohi’a forest and grassland and lush fern jungle. The most interesting sites along the drive are the Visitor’s Center, Jagger Museum, Halema’uma’u Crater, Kilauea Iki Crater, Devastation Trail and Thurston Lava Tube. Although the circuit can be made in under 40 minutes, one should allow at least three hours even to begin to explore this fantastic place; if you have never been here before, you certainly have never seen anything like it. Many people who plan to rush through the Park find themselves utterly engrossed, wind up spending much more time than they planned here and extemporaneously changing their plans, cutting time from some other attraction. Best plan to spend sufficient time here in the first place.

Halema'uma'u Crater, The Home of Madame Pele: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Experience has shown that the impact of the landscape is much greater if the drive is done anti-clockwise

Below are some suggested highlights along Crater Rim Drive. The road currently is closed between Jagger Museum and the intersection with Chain of Craters Road due to the eruption in Halema’uma’u Crater. Also, bear in mind that there are no services available along Crater Rim Drive, except for restrooms, drinking water and the book shop at Jagger Museum..

Frank Burgess Browses the Kilauea Visitor's Center Book Shop at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Kilauea Visitor Center: Newly remodeled and updated, the Kilauea Visitor’s Center is an outstanding resource of information on Hawaii’s volcanoes and the National Park; the not-to-be-missed first stop in the park you must make. The Center is run by enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff that has the most up-to-date information on viewing the eruption, hiking and camping, bird watching, stargazing and just about any other topic of interest to Park visitors. Available for sale in the Center are maps, guidebooks, books and videos about the volcanoes, Hawai’iana, history, plants and every topic you can imagine pertinent to the Park, even souvenirs. There are free brochures and pamphlets on various trails, attractions, hiking safety and lava viewing hazards and precautions.

Visitors Inspect the 3-D Physographic Map of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at the Kilauea Visitor's Center: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

The Visitor Center is open daily from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.; there are public restrooms, water and pay phones available. Starting at 9 a.m. and showing every hour on the hour is a 20 minute informative movie about the Park; the film changes from time to time, but always contains spectacular footage of eruptions, information on volcanology and the natural and human history of the Park. For information, please call their Info Hot line at 808.985.6000.

The Halema'uma'u Eruption from the Jagger Museum, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Jagger Museum and Hawai’i Volcano Observatory: Famed for its fabulous views of Mauna Loa and Kilauea as much as for its interesting exhibits, The Jagger Museum (named for geologist Thomas A. Jagger) is open daily from 8:30a.m. to 5:00p.m. Exhibits include murals by Herb Kawainui Kane, seismograph charts of eruptions and earthquakes, geological displays and displays about the natural and human history of the Park.

Jagger Museum Parking lot is near a Nesting Ground for the Endangered Nene Goose, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

When entering the parking lot of the Museum/Observatory, be especially careful of the Federally-protected Hawaii Goose, the Nene, who seem to congregate here. The Nene is the State Bird of Hawai’i, and this parking lot and its surrounding area constitute one of the best places for viewing them.

Everet Maynard Explores the Entrance to Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Thurston Lava Tube: Nahuku, the Thurston Lava Tube, gives the visitor an opportunity for a close-at-hand inspection of the inner plumbing of a volcano. It also makes for an interesting and unique way to escape the noonday heat or afternoon shower, briefly. Lava tubes form when the outer crust of a flowing river of lava begins to cool and crust over, but the lava continues to flow beneath it; as the margins of the flow begin to cool and form walls growing towards the middle, the nascent tube is formed. When the flow has completely drained away, the lava tube is left behind.

Inside Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Thurston lava tube is a remarkably large, well-preserved and accessible example of a lava tube-type cave. An easy, 0.3 mile trail (about a 15 minute hike) winds through lush fern forest alive with singing birds and buzzing insects, down into a collapse crater entering the lava tube and slipping about 300 feet through the well-lighted, floored cave, popping up through a skylight in the tube and returning to the parking lot. A very easy walk and certainly a “must see” for any visitor to the park.

Eric Carr Enters Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

When Lorrin Thurston, founder of the Honolulu Advertiser, found the cave in 1913, the roof reportedly was covered with stalactites, now there are none—it is said that rapacious tourists removed every one in the intervening years.

Chain of Craters Road

Rainbow at Kealakomo Overlook, Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

Following along Kilauea’s East Rift Zone, Chain of Craters Road passes through an amazing array of rift volcanoes, pit craters, lava trenches and flow fields. This road traverses and opens-up some of the most wild and beautiful landscapes seen anywhere, terminating near the active lava flows from Kilauea Volcano. Perhaps nowhere else on earth are the elements high mountains, wild seascapes and active volcanoes and their lava flows more dramatically displayed. Altogether, Chain of Craters Road is a singular and essential addition to any visit to the Island of Hawai’i. Crazily switching-back repeatedly down the Holei Pali, Chain of Craters Road finally reaches the untamed and scenically wild coastline, where giant waves spray and spume over sea cliffs dozens of feet high. Towering steam plumes in the distance at the end of the road mark where unimaginably hot liquid rock pours into the wild, wild sea. A place of mystery, a place of power, a place of wonder

Pitifu; Remnant of a Once Enormous Rain Forest on the Holei Pali, Now Surrounded By Fresh Lava: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Once connecting Volcano Village through the Park to Puna and State Routes 130 and 137 at Kalapana, Chain of Craters Road has repeatedly been badly damaged by earthquake, buried in lava, re-routed and re-built and broken up and buried again. The current eruption, which began in 1983, has buried a significant portion of the currently-closed nine miles of road between its temporary end inside the Park and the eastern closure at the town of Kalapana, outside the eastern edge of the Park. The road is now closed at the 19-mile marker, right at Holei Sea Arch.

Visitors Walk Through the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Field, Hawaii Volcanoes National Parl: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Collapse features, such as the numerous “pit craters” found along the Chain of Craters Road, form when lava drains out of subterranean chambers, causing the surface to collapse. Notice how all the debris seems to point downward into the bottom of the crater; there is no material around the rim of the crater that is suggestive of eruptive or explosive events. On the walls of the crater, one can see numerous, inter-layered, pre-collapse lava flows and airfall beds that were truncated by the collapse and exposed.

Petroglyphs at Pu'u Loa, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

If a car ride back up the pali can be arranged, riding bicycles round Crater Rim Drive and down Chain of Craters road can be a momentous and fun excursion. Starting slightly above 4200 feet in elevation and ending at virtually sea level, this 22 mile drop from misty mountain cloud forest, running through tropical rain forest and into tropical desert is invigorating physically, stunning visually and makes a wonderfully memorable addition to any visit to the Island of Hawai’i. However, if you decide to pedal the 4200 feet elevation and 22 miles back up Chain of Craters Road to Kilauea Summit in the heat of day, this will also ensure a quite memorable, though far less pleasant, addition to your visit.

Sea Cliffs, Sea Arches, Wild Surf and Magnificent Bird Watching Near the End of Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

There are no services, water, food or gasoline available along the length of Chain of Craters Road. Do not underestimate the draw of this area on your imagination and your spirit; you WILL spend more time here than you think. Plan ahead, get food, water and gas before venturing down the road. Remember, after dark on the South side of Hawai’i Island, it is virtually impossible to find gasoline or food for sale along the highway between Volcano VIllage west to Kona or north to Kea’au.

Hilina Pali Road

Vast Ocean Vistas and Incredible Sunsets are Some of the Rewards for Exploring Hilina Pali Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

At 2.2 mile down Chain of Craters Road is the turn off to the Hilina Pali Road. This road is 9 miles of some of the most spectacular, lonely and striking scenery in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Spectatcular coastal views, strangely-colored rock and twisted trees under weird skies make this an fantastic side trip for exploration and photography. Be especially careful when driving this road, it is mostly only one lane and there are more people enjoying this trip through the backcountry than you might think.

Kulanaokuaiki Campground on Hilina Pali Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

About halfway to Hilina Pali Overlook is the Kulanaokuaiki Campground. Set amongst rifts, collapse features and flows, this desert campground is secluded and spectacular. Driving further across the broad lava flows, past panoramic vistas of Mauna Loa, along the spectacular drop-off of the Hilina Pali (literally “cliff of faith”), one comes to the Hilina Pali Overlook, a great place for a picnic or short hike.

Mauna Loa from Hilina Pali Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Connecting with several longer trails across the Ka’u Desert, Kilauea Crater, or down the Pali to such abandoned coastal villages as Halape and Keauhou, the Hilina Pali Overlook is the central cross-roads of back-packing trails which crisscross the park

Spectatcular coastal views, strangely-colored rock and twisted trees under weird skies make Hilina Pali Road a fantastic side trip, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

Hilina Pali Road, due to its remoteness and lack of bus traffic, is a great place for a mountain bike ride, birding, or just getting away from crowds and tours. There are magnificent views, heart-stopping sunsets and pit toilets at the Campground and Overlook,. There is no water or other services available. Hilina Pali is a nesting place for the endangered Nene, the Hawai’i State bird, which is related to the Canada Goose. Hilina Pali Road may be closed during Nene nesting season.

Devil'sThroat, Just Across Chain of Crater's Road from the hilina Pali Road Intersection: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Less than 1/10 of a mile from Hilina Pali road is the unmarked Devil’s Throat collapse crater…an excitingly vertically-sided pit that is worth the visit just for the “okole squeezing” peering down the throat will give you.

End of Chain of Craters Road

Holei Sea Arch, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

The end of Chain of Craters Road is currently at the 19 mile marker near the Holei Sea Arch. This is where the road was cut off by flowing lava which also destroyed the 2 million dollar Visitor Center. When the lava is flowing near the road, one can walk right up to it. There are displays about the volcano and natural history of the area, as well as a wealth of information on hiking to, and viewing, the lava, available here.

Hiking to the La'epuki Lava Ocean Entry from the End of Chain of Craters Road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

Hiking all the way out to the active flows is one of the most spiritually rewarding, awe-inspiring, curiosity quenching and amazing things one can do anywhere in the world—but it is neither for the physically unfit nor the meek of spirit. It is a long, hot hike (currently seven miles) over broken ground and glass-sharp rocks; the heat from the volcano is savage; the weather, if clear, is sweltering…frequent squalls blow in off the ocean and the rain and wind can get pretty wild out on the lava plain where there is absolutely no cover or shelter to protect you. No water or shade is available anywhere along the hike. Plan assiduously before you go, make sure you have TWO working flashlights per person for the long hike back in the dark.

Lava Viewing Near Kalapana

Yet another lava viewing photo from Waikupanaha, Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

At this time, there is nowhere else can you see lava flowing from a volcano into the sea; no Big Island visit is complete without seeing this awe-inspiring show. Currently lava is only flowing into the sea outside the Park. From the belt Highway, turn south at Kea’au on Highway 130, continuing through Pahoa to the 20 mile marker; take the exit clearly marked “Lava Viewing”, a right branch about, for two miles to the parking area. Port-a-potties are available here. The road is open from 2 p.m. until 10; no cars allowed in after 8. Lava viewing information is available from Hawaii County at 808.961.8093; check conditions before you go. The easy trail, a 20 minute stroll to the viewing area, is well-marked.

Littoral Explosion Plume at Waikupanaha Lava Ocean Entry, Hawaii: Photo by Donald B. MacGowan

The quality of viewing varies as lava flows nearer or farther from the trail. Viewing is best at dusk so bring flashlights for the hike out. Take close-toed walking shoes and a hat, long pants and long-sleeved shirt, at least 2 liters of water, sun block and a rain jacket and camera. It’s a good idea to bring a tripod for your camera, or your shots will be blurred. Remember food and gas are not available anywhere nearby after dark, so fill up BEFORE you park, bring snacks and drinks. There are port-a-potties available at the parking lot.

Kilauea Lava River, Hawaii: Photo Courtesy of Big Island Air

To see the new iPhone/iPod Touch App, please visit http://www.tourguidehawaii.com/iphone.html. The best of Tour Guide Hawaii’s free content about traveling to, and exploring, the Big island, can be found here. For more information on traveling to Hawaii in general and on touring the Big Island in particular, please also visit www.tourguidehawaii.com and www.tourguidehawaii.blogspot.com.

The Best Lava Viewing at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is from the Air: Photo by Shannon Walker

Copyright 2009 by Donald B. MacGowan. All rights reserved.

Photographed by ramesh.rasaiyan

I like this one very much, Hope I can deliver better than this next time.

– License

I. LCROSS has reported: “There is water in Cabeus.”  This is a long way from reading these word on a statue of Anthony Colaprete on the campus of Cabeus High School on the Moon but it is important. The picture below is of me on one of my family’s farms when I was a child but modified to seem the interior of one of my imagined lunar or Martian crater colonies. The wetlands, ponds and gardens at the bottom of the crater are analagous to the Pacific Ocean on Earth it is to be remembered. They are the great concentrations of the water. 

The way this environment could be effected is diagrammed below. However, since wet craters exist on the Moon’ polar regions the plans would need to be modified in the first colony. Thus the major solar arrays would either be orbital or (preferably) miles away and connected to the colony by buried cables. Later colonies in the regions of more light  would use a design closer to this one.

 II. Having seen what could be does not mean that it will be. We will probably never do these things — but our only hope for a good future involves doing these things.

III. I hope ye few, ye brave, ye readers will consider getting involved in this process.

Frank’s Big Island Travel Hints #13: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Chain of Craters Road
by Frank Burgess, brought to you by Tour Guide Hawaii

Frank Learns About Ancient Hawaiian Culture With Tour Guide Hawaii at Pu'u Honua O Honaunau: Kona Coast, Hawaii: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

Tour Guide Hawaii is proud to announce the release of their new iPhone and iPod Touch App available at iTunes…this App will help you plan your trip to Hawaii, help you decide what you want to see, how you want to see it and help you get there with GPS, interactive maps and on-board driving instructions.  The Tour Guide App presents hours of interesting videos and information about places of historical, cultural and recreational interest, giving you a sense of the people, the natural history and the unique specialness of each destination.  The information is so comprehensive and complete they even tell you where all the public restrooms are!  What else will Tour Guide help you find?  Let’s look at a trip down Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park…Tour Guide will not only help you find many amazing sights along the way, it will tell you all about them, what to take and what to expect.

Today’s hints cover the area down Chain of Craters Road from the very top of cliff, down to the lava plain along the sea and on to the end of the road. in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Driving through The Park  there several fantastic places to stop and explore, but there is also a lot of lovely, open countryside for several miles, so enjoy the panoramic views. Your Tour Guide download from iTunes will give you more detailed information about this area.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is one of the great natural wonders, as well the most studied volcanoes, on earth. Few places can the visitor get as many diverse climates, flora, fauna and geologic dreamlands as inside the park’s boundaries.

Continuing down the Chain of Craters Road, there are numerous turnouts with panoramas that stretch the imagination. Tour Guide adds to the excitement with all the information about what is being seen. Take a quick stop at Alanui Kahiko. The words in Hawaiian mean old road. Here you will see portions of the old Chain of Craters Road, some 12 miles worth above and below this lookout, buried under 300 feet of lava by the 1972 eruptions. This spectacle alone is testament to the awesome destructive powers of Madam Pele, the volcano’s Fire Goddess.

A few miles further down the mountain is the Pu’u Loa Petroglyph field. It can be found along the side of the Ka’u-Puna Trail, a trail used by ancient Hawaiians. This is believed to be the largest petroglyph field in Polynesia, containing more that 15,000 carvings. The path to the petroglyphs is marked from the parking lot by cairns. Tour Guide will show you where to park and explain some of the carving’s meanings at this phenomenal spot.

At about the 19 mile marker is the current End of the Road, the location where the lava cut off the road in 1983. A year ago, you could park here and trek across the barren fields to where the lava was entering the ocean. Now, however, the lava has changed course and is sometimes entering from the Puna side of the park. There is still a ranger’s station here and many placards telling about the flows and safety precautions for hiking in the desolate area. Restrooms are available.

Walking down to the ocean at the End of the Road are some beautiful formations, most notably, the Holei Sea Arch. Tour Guide will tell you how arches and stacks are formed when the waves pound against the sea cliffs and chisel into the various lava densities. The cliff around this arch is some ninety feet, so use caution as you photograph this amazing sight.

Looking back up the mountain gives one the perspective of the destruction, yet the immaculate life giving beauty, of the fire goddess Pele who is in constant battle her sister, the ocean. Each takes life, and gives it. We as humans can stand in awe at the majesty and wonder of these two great forces, respecting each on its own terms.

As you travel back up the Chain of Craters Road, don’t forget to stop at some of the vista points and take photos and videos of the landscape, the memories and the people that are like nowhere else on earth, the Island of Hawaii.

To see the new iPhone/iPod Touch App, please visit http://www.tourguidehawaii.com/iphone.html.  The best of Tour Guide Hawaii’s free content about traveling to, and exploring, the Big island, can be found here.  For more information on traveling to Hawaii in general and on touring the Big Island in particular, please also visit www.tourguidehawaii.com and www.tourguidehawaii.blogspot.com.

Copyright 2009 by Frank Burgess; photography copyright 2009 by Donald B. MacGowan. All rights reserved.

]]> http://offthericterscalewebdesign.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/nasas-uncensored-moon-images-life-on-the-moon/ Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:51:31 +0000 Off The Ricter Scale http://offthericterscalewebdesign.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/nasas-uncensored-moon-images-life-on-the-moon/

Here are the uncensored Moon Images taken by the Lunar Orbiter!
According to Arizona State University, the Lunar Orbiter images were all digitally scanned at 400 dpi at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. Whole images were too large to be scanned at once and were broken up into four sections.

From the data and resources about each lunar orbiter image found in Anderson and Miller (1971), they obtained information about the side length, altitude and emission angle of the images they scanned. To calculate the resolution of each image they followed several steps. They first calculated the resolution of images with an emission angle of less than 10° by dividing the side length of each image by the number of pixels, and then calculated the distance to the surface by dividing the altitude by the cosine of the emission angle. The resolution of low-emission angle images was plotted against their distance to the surface. From this was obtained the best-fit equation:
Corrected Resolution = -0.0023272 + 0.014376 * Distance to Surface
and applied it to the remaining images to get the corrected resolution.

NASA has taken the lead in designing the new space exploration vehicle, ORION, with which man will go back to the moon, to Mars and beyond. To compress the development process, experts combined old and proven technology with the most current insights to make ORION the spaceship for the 21st century. Information from the Apollo program, space shuttle missions, personal experience and scientific data were combined to create ORION, the heart of “Project Constellation,” NASA’s new space program.

For fifty years, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence has been scanning the galaxy for a message from an alien civilisation. So far to no avail, but a recent breakthrough suggests they may one day succeed.
Horizon joins the planet hunters who’ve discovered a new world called Gliese 581 c. It is the most Earth-like planet yet found around another star and may have habitats capable of supporting life. NASA too hopes to find fifty more Earth-like planets by the end of the decade, all of which dramatically increases the chance that alien life has begun elsewhere in the galaxy.

Part One

 Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

 Part Five

www.website-design-store.co.uk

Tomorrow, on my clock here in Louisiana NASA will slam a school bus sized part of a space craft into the Cabeus crater on the Moon’s South Pole. A second shepherding spacecraft equipped with many sensors and transmitters will navigate through the particles, gasses and vapors and whatever may have been thrown up by the impactor. The principal purpose of this exercise is to prospect for water.

If the impact reveals an ample near ice cap in the shadows and just below the surface then many other factors will suggest to many people and companies that the Moon can become a hub for a space industry. If there is water rich subsoil that does not amount to the large quantities in an icy pole but is nontheless significant it means outposts and colonies on the Moon can be started with great care and skill and hoping for the best according to optimistic space boosters. If there is very little water then developing the Moon in any way will be a very costly and daunting task by most definitions and analyses of the situation. Of course the spot could be an anomaly and not represent much that is typical of anything but almost everyone will presume that this is not true.

The LCROSS will be a vital step in coming to know what the resources on the Moon are and how they are distributed. We know there is abundant water ice on the Martian poles. We know there is water in many other places in the solar system. However if it does not exist on the Moon it will be much harder for us to develop a real space policy than if it does not have water in greater than the small amounts we have already detected across most of the surface of the Moon.

The more water we find the more chance there is also for me to see the Crater Cap Colony Concept I have pushed for come to some kind of fruition in my lifetime. It will not cause anything to happen but will certainly help if LCROSS kicks up lots of water.  For some basic data on the LCROSS as it has been intended from the start go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/jun/HQ_09-143_LCROSS_Launch_Success.html

This will interact with my own colonial ideas in complicated ways. But a water train shuttle or pipeline from the poles to feed the colonies would certainly be a vastly superior goal than hauling the water in from the Earth.

We may hit dry spots that are not typical or there may be malfunctions we do not detect. However, it would be great to find a great deal of ice and water. That is what I will be hoping until the report comes in to us all.

Tomorrow night my PBS station with Louisiana Public Broadcasting will be airing the Ken Burns film The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. I have spent a significant amount of time in America’s National Parks. My times in Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Smoky Mountains,  Mammoth Caves and some of the other large natural areas are among my most precious memories and times in my life. Additionaly Jean Lafite and numerous other sites protected by the  National Park Service have enriched and been part of my life.  We have all got some capacity to appreciate the beauty of nature, all of us have a potential to be moved at the majesty of it all. I have been to Kunyu National Park in China, to numerous state and city parks in the USA and I truly do have some great memories of all these places. However, the National Parks of the United States hold a very special place in my heart and memory.  I remember my ex wife and I getting into a tent just before dark at a Mammoth Caves tentsite and then getting up to spend a good part of the day making two cave tours and then diving to Louisville where I spent two days a researching the Roy Striker deposit of files on and copies of  documentary film and photography at the Ekstrom Photographic Archives at the University of Louisville. We did other things that trip when the archives were closed but the National Park was the highlight of them all.

I will never forget the sense of awe which I experienced in going to see and walk through the giant sequoias. I will always remember the many conversations I had with rangers and the many lectures that I listened to given by rangers.   There have been analogous experiences and overlapping ones like visiting the twenty-one (actually not an exact number) California Missions that started the Great State of California on its path into Western Civilization. But in a life that has brought me also London and Truk Lagoon I have a very high esteem for the US National Park system. 

I also remember a bear coming into our camping area when I was a child at a national park and fishing for trout with my father in the clearest natural water I had ever seen.  I will never forget the awe I felt when I first saw the Grand Canyon. Those experiences have given me hope about humanity interacting with nature over the long haul. I have been away too long to be sure if some of the other sites that I have visited were National Parks or some other clasification. Petrified Forest and Painted Desert are among those.

I look forward to watching the PBS specials and enjoying Burns view of all this. We must face a future with the courage to build islands and undersea habitats and to colonize space. That must happen for us to be who we are and when we are doing that well then we will also be able to bring the Parks and new parks into their highest glory. I am not joking whne I say that Ilook forward to the day when our national parks are used to seed apecies into  artificial environments where no life exists today. I look forward today to see the  day when we use waste to build islands and colonize crater and free up more land to act as clean natural corridors connecting parks.

For now I hope that I will get to watch the Burns movie and let it move and educate me a little bit. Maybe it will be a bit of a tie to the future and the past. That would be both my personal past and future and larger collective and communal pasts and futures.

Today NASA held a press conference revealing that by combining calibration sightings of a comet watcher called Deep Impact and the data aquired by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper riding a hundred kilometer orbit over the moon on the Chandrayan India based lunar mission. I watched the press conference on TV and am basing this note on what I remember from that conference without using any more sources. Somewhere on the site www.nasa.gov one can doubltless get the most up to date data. Probably some of it will correct errors in my summary below.

A Frank Summary of Moon Water Issue

1. The general surface of the Moon remains drier than any Earthly desert.

2. There is water difuse and spread over the whole surface of the moon in rough terms. There is is a chaotic and broad pattern of water distribution.

3. There is a broad distribution of hydroxyl as well which is a different combination of hydrogen and water.

4. There is evidence in ejecta that hydroxyl and possibly subsurface deposits of water have been thrown up by impacts.

5. There is an average of between one liter and one gallon of water in every ton of typical surface regolith.

6. There may still be water in permanent shade, water in subterranean deposits of ice and remnants of meteoric or comet borne material that was not part of this surface distribution.

7. We now have a baseline above zero for water on the moon. It is much less than Martian conditions and very austere but it can be combined with other elements of water located.  Together with other sources it increases the chances of successful futute lunar crater colonies above the worst case scenario.

By PAT HARTMAN
News Editor

A lot of people have called Kashmir the most beautiful place in the world, and nowadays it has other names, too. Here’s a sobering tale. Film director/producer Rahul Dholakia arrives in the capital, Srinagar, with a sizeable production team and a lot of equipment, expecting to spend a month and a half on location shooting his newest work, Lamhaa. Three different varieties of government agencies tell him the country is in turmoil, and martial law could snap its jaws at any moment, with the population at the mercy of a strict curfew and a fire-at-will policy. For crowd control, he’s given some government protection, and hires some security, too.

So, he’s got 60 actors and crew at the vegetable market outside the city, and at first, some of the locals are hospitable. The film company goes to work. Word spreads, and about a thousand local men come out to watch. (In these parts, women don’t gawk at public spectacles, especially if foreigners are involved.) The crowd multiplies tenfold, and the director is taken hostage and brought before the local council, which tells the police, who are supposedly protecting the visitors, to get lost. Here’s part of Dholakia’s later account:

We had survived this almost six-hour ordeal, brushing death and mentally screwed. If this was day one, I dread to imagine how the rest of the shoot was going to be. A line in my film best summarizes our first day – “Welcome to Kashmir, the most dangerous place in the world”.

And that’s all we’re gonna say, except that it has something to do with local political squabbles, and also with international problems such as hating India, where Rahul Dholakia was born. He gained extensive production experience in his home country, then moved to the U.S. to earn a Masters degree from the New York Institute of Technology, and now lives in California, India, and wherever he happens to be making a movie. In India’s 2006 National Film Awards, his Parzania won in two categories.

This “most beautiful place” thing is, of course, strictly a matter of taste. But that doesn’t stop anybody from nominating their favorites. There are people who swear Patagonia is the most beautiful, and they make a good case. Bruce Chatwin and Paul Theroux both liked it so much they wrote books about it separately and together. Francis Ford Coppola recent filmed part of Tetro there. It’s a region, not a country, being part of two countries, Argentina and Chile. It’s the home of the Andean condor, the biggest bird there is, and has two very noteworthy mountains, Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, and a glacier called Upsala.

In the Argentine portion of Patagonia, we learn from Physorg.com, there’s an area called Bajada del Diablo or Devil’s Slope, which at some time in the past was pockmarked by a rain of meteorites that left at least 100 craters. Some of those little hummers are 50 meters deep and 500 meters across. Bajada del Diablo is in fact the second biggest crater field in the world. The biggest is in Siberia, and it kind of makes you wonder why meteor showers would go out of their way to fall on two such bare, unpopulated places.

Ever notice how many of the very most interesting travel writers are the folks who are primarily in a place for some other reason? Example: Paul Theroux started writing about Africa because he was there with the Peace Corps. Kevin Dolgin travels for business, and writes because he has something to say. One kind of travel narrative is what comes out when you’re somewhere for another reason, and writing en passant, as it were. Another kind results from going somewhere just for the purpose of writing about it. Possibly, writers of science fiction (or speculative fiction, which many of its practitioners prefer to say) should be considered travel writers. If the ability to convey a sense of place is the criterion, maybe it shouldn’t matter if the place is imaginary. What do you think?

photo courtesy of madpai, used under this Creative Commons license

Explore fifty of earth’s most obvious asteroid impact sites with satellite images and maps. Use the buttons in the upper left to navigate and change your zoom level. To navigate just grab the image and drag it around. Switch between maps and satellite images using the buttons in the upper right. To recenter, double click on the map/image. >>

via Meteor Craters – Explore 50 Asteroid Impact Sites! – GEOLOGY.COM.

This post originaly appeared on Facebook in January but two new drawings have been added and a few typos corrected in this version.

Outer space is that portion of the universe that is farther from the center of the Earth than the highest reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere. It makes up more than 99.99999999999999% of the universe which we can physicaly perceive. If we were to divide up all of the physical space we can see or detect equally among all the inhabitants of the Earth the amount of space occupied by all humans alive today would make a minute and entirely insignificant portion of the share belonging to each person. However, most of that space is dark empty and has hardly any atomic particles in it and it is so far away that physicaly using those particles in any way in the next 100 generations can’t be reasonably imagined. But even our solar system alone would allow us to use a fraction nearly as big as that we started this argument with or maybe bigger. In the solar sytem most of the oxygen is in outer space, most of the carbon is in outer space, most of the hydrogen is in outer space, most of the helium is in outer space, most of the metals we call precious are almost cerianly there and the metals we need for highly specialized uses abound in outer space. It is almost certain that there is more liquid water under the ice of Jupiter’s moon Europa than there is on Earth. Nothing between the Sun and the orbit of Pluto is intrinsically beyond the reach of our own basic technology to reach, tag and return from roboticaly. Cost, law, design glitches and time are clearly identifiable obstacles. I said these things were not intrinsically impossbible by rearranging and refining existing technology. Given thse basic facts, I believe that an aggressive space policy is in the interest of all humans and of the Earth and all its species so long as it is mostly a wise policy or even largely a wise policy.

What inspires me to write this note today is the small concept group which I mentioned in my last Facebook note. I believe that the development of outer space is as important as anything else that confronts human beings in our age. The concept group is called Crater Cap Concept Colony Group. It is not the only group of people exploring the possibilities of space as a group and it is not the biggest such group either. However, it is certainly the only one that I have founded on Facebook. So that rates it an important mention in these notes.

Space colonization follows a chain going from observation, to exploration, to travel and exploration and then to stationing. After these things comes colonization. Space colonization has the chance to be the biggest change in human economy since the development of agriculture. The coming of agriculture was not an unmixed blessing but it was one of the most justifiable of all social changes in human history. Had humanity not become agricultural sooner or later things would have become much worse than they have gotten so far. Life today awaits at a crossroads as great as that of agriculture.The great works of irrigation for large scale agriculture created the mighty powers that ruled ancient China and Egypt and created societies that could pour weatlh into purchases that enabledother peoples to change from nomadic hunting or nomadic herding to a combination of nomadic herding and carrying trade goods. It enabled fisherfolk to increase their population by adding waterborne trade to their fishing economy. It enabled warrior bands to enter int0 long-term contracts with landholding kings and to earn a living partly from keeping the peace.  Agriculture really made a different human world and remade much of the world as well. The best hunter-gatherers were actually richer, healthier and freer than the new farmers but in the end the choice of the species as a whole to emphasize agriculture was a choice vital to both survivial and any real chance of prosperity. I think that space colonization requires a simlar leap and offers similar sets of consequences. I don’t really expect to live to see a working colony on the Moon or Mars. However, as long as I do live I will apply some of my energy to that transition humanity must make towards becoming a space colonizing species. The Crater Cap Concept Colony is the model I think we should be pushing towards making a reality.

While astronomy has always been a discipline that was a significant teacher and leader into fields of knowledge for much of the human race’s journey into development — it must yield to the leadership of those who will build permanent and sustainable colonies. On the day when Humans have a few colonies on the moon with tens of thousands of residents each it will be very easy to make huge progress i astronomy. However, aiming only for a golden age of astronomy will not necessarily bring about lunar colonization. The larger possibility must find the rank and leadership in these areas.

Craters are distinct features which can be studied and which have common characteristics. They exist on the Earth, the Moon, Mars, asteroids, several moons of our solar systems planet and can be theorized to exist in or near many other objects around our sun or other stars. Capping a crater has an intrinsic economic and resource wisdom to it because one is using the enormous energy already expended in creating the bowl and only creating one side. Frequently one could achieve enormous benefeits in blicking our cosmic rays and radiation. All of these benefits are true even for asteroids. However, in larger round objects like the Moon and Mars it is very likely that one could use the gravity to create a highly functioning biospheric hemisphere. In terms familiar to some, one could make a terrarium including one or more aquaria. Whether or not there is air or liquid water on the heavenly body would have little to do with the success of the crater cap colony. People could live in these and that is the basis of our little concept group.

just a crude drawing of a robot for for the Mars early phase

Second drawing of MATCHES (Mars Access to Crater Habitat Exploration Ship)

Last of MATCHES drawings.

Once we have a couple of crater colonies on the moon we would need geosynchronous sattelite and another base perhaps at an L point between lunar and Terran gravity. These would be the places where all aging nuclear waepons were diposed of by either being loaded on spacecraft for second or third explosions or used in initial explosions to launch really massive spacecraft to move very fast on the way to other colonies and smaller robotes on their way to the stars.

None of this is pure fantasy. I think we should divide up most of the surface of the Moon and Mars among all of earth’s nations unequally, sell some as new national sites and keep a good portion as a permanent UN mandate. Failing to act wisely now either means we willl lose humanity’s greatest economic opportunity or else nd up with a really horrible policy made under more pressing conditions. I am not optimistic that we will make good choices. But I think our behavior in this century will determine the human future’s outlook for all of foreseeable human society.

I am committed to specific goals but I support all who are sincerely striving for a human future in space that is wise and sustainable. Good luck and God Bless to all of you out there. I am not a likely expert or member of the space community but I cherish this hope for an expanding future. Perhaps the amateurish perspective will cost me a few Facebbok friends. I lost two inj the first year and have lost four lately. However, I am grateful for the professionals on my list at the time of this writing.

M. Kemal AYÇİÇEK – 19 Temmuz 2009

www.karadenizolay.com (Özel)-Bizim sitede de var, özellikle gurbetteki hemşehrilerimiz için bir kolaylık olsun diye koymuştum şenlikler takvimlerini. Nerdeyse her aklına gelen bir “şenlik” oluşturmuş, güya o adına “şenlik” dendiğinde değerlenecek yöresini kalkındırmayı belki de şenlik bahanesiyle yöresini tanıtacağını düşünerek yapmışlar bunu ama hayatlarında da hiç şenlik görmeden yapmışlar bunu belli ki. “Şenlik” adı konulunca bir yerdeki şenlik, gerçektende o şenliğin içini dolduruyor anlamına gelmiyor elbette. Mesela, son yıllarda “şenlik” adı verilen bir çok yerde, birkaç yöresel sanatçı getirilince bunun şenlik olduğu sanılıyor. Oysa o tarz şeyler, olsa olsa “yaylada konser”den ileriye gidemez. Hem öyle de olunca bu kez gerçekten emek, ter, gelenek, görenek yaşatma adına yapılan şenliklere gölge düşürülüyor.

Orağın yedisi, yani Trabzon’un Akçaabat ilçesi’nin Hıdırnebi yaylasında yapılan yayla şenliği, adıyla insanıyla, insanının samimiliği, sevincin, şen olmanın, gösterişsiz ve sade insan olmanın, kavuşmanın, hasret gidermenin, dedelerin yadigarı olmuş gelenek ve görenekleri yaşatma yarışının ifadesi olarak yapılıyor. Şenlikler için bölgede görev yapan tüm bürokratlara aslında  slayt veya video ile birifingler verilmeli, şenlikler konusunda birkaç örnek gösterildikten sonra da tüm şenliklerde bazı ölçülerin dikkate alınması sağlanmalı ve her aklına gelene de “şenlik” hakkı verilmemeli. Bunu yasak olarak algılamayın lütfen, sadece gerçekten yoğun emek ve insan unsurunu ön plana alan  gerçek şenliklere haksızlık etmemeli diye belli bir disiplini içermeli diye düşünüyorum.

Vardır belli başlı örnekleri şenliklerin mesela. Trabzon’da Akçaabat’ın Hıdırnebi yaylasındaki şenlik, işte sıradan bir şenlik değil ki. Şenlik alanına “dernek çimeni” diyorlar. Bir şenliğin olduğu, Akçaabat-Düzköy karayolundan Hıdırnebi yaylasına saptığınızda belli ediyor kendini. Bir yoğun trafik var, bir yoğun sis var ki, “gitsek mi gitmesek mi” diyorsunuz içinizden. Ama yola çıkılmışken geriye de dönülmez ki. Hani bir laf vardır ya , “kuymaktan dönenin kaşığı kırılır” diye. Bizde yayla şenlikleri kuymak tadında birer yemek meğer. Bunu da şenlik alanına vardığınızda gözlemliyorsunuz. Şenliğe ilk kez katılmış aynı bölgenin bir çocuğu hani diyor, “bizum orda çocuklar oyun oynarken onların arasına bir büyük girerde oynarsa, o büyüğü dışardan görenler, ‘hav adama bak, çocukların arasına girmiş, oyun oynuyor, boyindan da utanmayi’ deriz ya, bir bakmışız ki Hıdırnebi’de yediden yetmişe herkes el ele vermiş, kol kola girmiş, horon tepiyor, şenliğe geliyor. Hayat orda, insanlık orda, yaşam orda, şaşdım kaldım. Adamlar, kahveyi yaylaya taşımış, çocuklarıyla el ele verip, katılmış şenliğe. İnsanlık o işte, orda yani” diyor.

Yine aynı genç  ilk kez görmüş ya böylesi bir şenliği, “adamlar, şehir yaşamını soyutlamışlar. Sıyrılmış bir ruh haliyle kenetlenmiş, birleşmiş ve sanki bir aile gibi coşkuya kapılmışlar, insan heves etmez mi öyle bir topluluğa, hayran olmaz mı? ‘ben adam’ım havası yok, ben yurt dışından geldim cakası yok, kibir yok, dalıyor oyuna, herkes küçük, herkes büyük, herkes insan, herkes coşkulu, herkes neşeli, herkesin yüzünde bir mutluluk okuyorsunuz” diyor haklı olarak. Aynı duyguları bende düşündüm, baktım, kim kimle tanışık diye ama herkes birbiriyle tanışıkmış gibi. Sadece bir köy değil tam 10 tane köyün çadırı var o Dernek çimeninde. Horona girmek isteyenler giriyor, girmeyenler çepeçevre olmuş horon oynayanları seyrediyor. Belki o an, geçmişte oynadıkları oyunları, belki katıldıkları bu kaçıncı şenliklerle onları kendilerince kıyaslıyor, belki eksikleri belki fazlalığını hesaplıyorlardır kim bilir.

Köy muhtarlıkları adına kurulmuş çadırlarda ikramlar, hem kendi köylülerine ve hem de şenliklerin ev sahipliği onuru için demledikleri çayın kalitesiyle övünüyor köyün gençleri ve hizmet verenleri. Şenlik alanına gidenler, gelenler arasında giysileriyle dikkat çeken kadınlar ve çocuklar, yörenin kültürünü yansıtıyorlar üzerlerinde. Tabi tutup birini, ne giymişsin öyle üzerine diyip, tek tek giysilerinin adını sormak olmazdı, belki de olurdu ama yanlış anlayabilirlerdi diye sormadım. Hem giysinin adını versem ne çıkar ki, siz o giysileri o genç kızların üzerinde görmedikten sonra adını bilmiş olmanız size ne kazandırır ki?  O  yörede bizim “şenlik” olarak bildiğimiz şeyin genel adına onlar zaten “dernek” diyor. Oysa biz, dernek’ten hani “kanarya sevenler derneği” gibi bir şey anlıyoruz, orada öyle değil işte. Dernek, bir Pazar da aslında. Toplanma yeri ama taze mısırcısından tutun, meşhur Vakfıkebir ekmeğine, Giresun’dan bile Yayla’ya satmak için peynir getirmiş tüccara varıncaya kadar aklınıza ne gelirse her bir şeyin satıldığı bir büyük Pazar.

Öyle iki kemençe bir davul değil sadece bir köyün çadırında var onlar zaten düşünsenize her köyden iki davul geldiğini saysanız zaten 20 davul yapıyor, onca köyde sesi güzelden tutun atma türkü bilenine bir çok sanatçı ama öyle sizin anladığınız gibi vitrin sanatçısı değil onlar, yine o vatandaşlarla aynı hazzı duyan, çaldığı kemençeyi verilen paraya göre çalan tipler değil, samimi ve içten insanlar. Zaten o şenliklerin esrarı da orada gizli sanırım. Kimsenin yapmacık olmadığı, herkesin doğallığı ile dikkat çektiği bir nezih ortam. Gurbetçiler bile bu şenliği planına alıp, memleket hasretini bu şenlikte gidermek için yurtdışından gelmiş , hasretini çektiği toprağının insanıyla buluşmak adına tatilini sırf  bu orağın yedisi şenliklerine ayarlıyor ve katılıyor.

Üç gün sürüyor orağın yedisi Şenlikleri. Yani Hıdırnebi Yayla şenliği. Dernek Çimeni girişinde kocaman bir bayrak ve Atatürk posteri ile  “Geleneksel orak yedisi, Hıdırnebi yayla şenliklerine hoş geldiniz. Sertkaya köyü kalkındırma güzelleştirme ve yardımlaşma derneği” yazılı pankart karşılıyor sizi. Köyler, Dernek alanına sırayla geliyor. Her gelen köy, önce gelmiş köylülerce karşılanıyor. Ama ne karşılama. Bir insanlık buluşması gibi, bir güzel yarış bu. İnsan seyre doyamıyor. Yine anlatsam anlayamayacaksınız veya inanmayacaksınız. Şenlik alanına en son gelen köy mesela tam orağın yedisi, yani 20 Temmuz’da geliyor. Koryana (Golyana) veya yeni adıyla Acısu köylüleri. Onların gelişi, artık şenliğin finali sayılıyor. Şenlik alanında söylediler, “hele golyanalıların gelişini görmelisiniz” diye ama üç günlük şenliği baştan sona izlemeye zamanımız olmuyor ki. Yoksa oradaki insanların arasında olmak, onlardan biri gibi olmak ve o üç günü yaşamak ömre bir ömür daha  katardı sanırım.

Çoluk çocuk kadın erkek ne kadar köylü varsa sanki bir olup, yola koyulmuşlar. Davul zurnalar eşliğindeki yürüyüşten sonra şenlik alanına ulaştıklarında bir yandan kemençe bir yandan davul ve zurnaların sesleri birbirine karışıyor. “ula, ula” sesleri, inliyor koskoca Hıdırnebi obasında. Oba, büyük merkez anlamında kullanılıyor. Çocuklar, dernek çimeninden oba’ya, yani Hıdırnebi’de dükkanların, kahvelerin, fırınların, lokanta veya et yeme yerleri ve caminin olduğu merkeze diyorlardı. Yoğun sis ve çiseye de alışmışlardı.

 Kimilerimiz, “aman, bu siste ne işimiz var orda” diyebileceği bir ortamdı, çamuru diz boyu denecek kadardı belki ama yine de o şenlik alanına gidenler üzerinde hiç de olumsuz bir heves kırgınlığı bile yapmamıştı.Şenlikçilerden biri, “sisin olmadığı şenliklerimiz sayılır. Ama şenlik bitsin güneş açar ama biz bu sisten rahatsız değiliz, bu havanın güzelliği de başkadır, bunu yaşayan anlar” diyor.O coşkunun yazıyla anlatılması gerçekten zor, yaşanılması gereken bir şenlikti. O şenliği gördükten sonra hani gurbetçilerin yıllık izinlerini bu şenliklere ayarlıyor olmalarını o zaman daha rahat anlayabiliyorsunuz. Şişmanca bir çocuk gördüm, “sen nerden geldin, Almanya’dan mı” diye sordum, “yok, ben değil, dedem Almanya’dan geldi” dedi.

Tamam şenlikler, bir coşku yeri ama eski kültürün yozlaştırılmadan günümüze değin yaşatılarak geliyor olmasını alkışlarken, yarınlarda bu kültürün erozyona uğramasının da tedbirinin alınması zamanı bence. Çünkü, bizim görüp de hayran kaldığımız bu insanlık buluşması, meğer önceleri daha da yoğunlukla yaşanırmış ki, bizim yaşlarımızdaki bazıları, “şimdi yeni nesil sanki kopuyor, hepsi katılmıyor. Biraz  biraz  bireyselleşme ağır basmaya başladı, burada köylerin buluşması ve kaynaşması yaşanırken kimileri ailesel buluşmaları ön plana çıkarmaya yöneliyor. Eski köyler arası dayanışma ve etkinlik yarışı şimdiler de sanki biraz daha azaldı, kültürümüz eriyor” yakınmasında bulundu. Tabi biz bu şenliklerin öncesini bilemediğimizden belki kayba uğrayan kültürü de gözlemleyemiyoruz. Orağın yedisi, eski kocakarı ayları veya halk dilinde Temmuz diye biliniyor. Temmuz’un 18- 19 ve 20. günleri İşte Bu Hıdırnebi, yani Orağun yedisi şenliklerinin günü. Muhtarlıklar adına kurulan çadırlardan Kuruçam, Kemaliye, Sertkaya, Arpacılı, Bozdoğan, Acısu, Gümüşlü, Ortaköy, Tütüncüler, Balıklı adlarına rastlıyoruz. Tabi, tüm köyler gelirde berber gelmez mi, Kemaliye köyünün çadırının hemen yanında da berberin çadırı var yayla traşı için. Çadırı sadece köy muhtarları değil tabi, şenliklere katılanların çoğunda da çadırlar var. Hıdırnebi Oba’sında evi olmayanlar, burada kurdukları çadırlarda şenliğe ayrı bir renk ve hava getiriyorlar tabi.

Kurulan horon halkalarını anlatmama gerek kaldı mı , Akçaabat olur horon olmaz mı hele de böylesine devasa bir Dernek’te. Yani “Orağın yedisi” şenliğine. Köylüler yazmış “orağun” yazmış, yöre lisanıyla, aslında onu yadırgamamak lazım. Güya biz, bir harf da olsa güya aklımız sıra “şehirleştiriyoruz” kelimeyi. Onu benim kusurum sayın siz. Ama horonlara heves ettim, her yer çamur, üstümüz başımızda çamurlandı. Öyle güzel oldu ki, o çamurlanmak bile ayrı bir güzellikti. Ayakkabılarımız sonra yayla çimenleriyle temizledik. Büyük oba’ya dönüp, söylemesi ayıp iki kilo et yedik. Ama etlerin koyun eti olduğu dendi ama sanki bize gelen böbrekler dışındaki et dana eti gibiydi. Hem böbreklerde tam pişmemiş getirilince o böbrek kokusu ile midemiz de kaçtı. Tekrar pişirsek de başkaca yerlerde yediğimiz etlere benzemedi. Yani, şenlik güzeldi ama belki de kalabalıktan olacak etleri hiç de güzel değildi Hıdırnebi’nin. Bize et veren orta yaşlı bayan, “kusurumuza bakmayacaksunuz, kalabaluk idi, hizmette kusurumuz olmiş olabilur ama başka zaman da bunu telafi ederuk” dedi ama ne fayda..Fakat, o yemeğin üzerine hemen yan taraftaki kahvede içtiğimiz üçer bardak demli çayın tadı hala damağımızda duruyor.  Böylece bitiriyoruz Orağun yedisi şenlikleri gezimizi, büyük bir hayranlıkla ve de takdir duygularımızla tabi.

Wow!  Have I had a great week-end (and a bit).

For a while now I have been toying with the idea of making some fine silver rings using pmc (precious metal clay) and building them on fine silver sheet metal ring liners.  Now anyone who knows me will tell you that I won’t pay over the odds for something I can do myself – so I bought some fine silver sheet with the determination to make my own ring liners rather than buy them at twice the cost (plus postage of course!!) from some other supplier.

Over the weekend I had a go at making a couple of rings with the fine silver sheet – cutting, shaping and fusing the join – and made a pretty decent job of it – if I say so myself!!  I then went on to produce two designs in pmc on these ring liners – and that really did make my day because they worked out so well!!

Since it all went so well I had another go yesterday and did a couple more rings…building up the pmc and fine silver designs.  I fired them in the kiln this morning and was even more pleased …because I was able to produce another couple of really good rings…but I felt something was missing…

…you see that one second from the left… inspired by the 40th anniversary of the moon landings -  I felt my ‘moon craters’ needed a little something in them.  I knew that I had some enamel powder somewhere – so I went digging around and found some transparent blue.  Now it has been a while since I last did some – not too successful – enamelling, but since these rings were only experiments for me to wear I took the plunge and filled my little craters with the enamel powder and popped the ring  into the kiln.

I’m really glad I went for it because I am just so pleased with the way it has turned out!!  I can only get better with these techniques…I just need some practice…but boy! am I happy with my week -end’s work!!

I’d love to hear your comments!!

All in a row

A little family portrait from the house of Saturn. Enceladus, Tethys and Dione.

Okay, they weren’t really all lined up like that….I combined three raw shots from Cassini, taken over the weekend, and lined them up nicely. Approximate sizes in relation to each other. Just for fun.

Great images though! Tethys’ huge 250-mile-wide Odysseus crater dominates its face, and Dione’s ice-wall “wisps” are clearly visible, as are its fields of craters.

For size, Enceladus is about 315 miles wide while Dione is about 700 miles wide. The largest of the three shown here is yet small enough to fit end-to-end within the state of Texas.

Raw images: NASA/JPL/SSI

Craters – Like You Used To Know

Canyons – Big City Lights

Daedelus – Soulfulof Child

Untold – Dante

Breakage – Clarendon