Books and libraries! Need I say more?
Click to see some beautiful and amazing libraries around the world!
(Although I live south of Salt Lake City (#1 on the list), #2 is my personal favorite!)
Maddy
Showing posts with label maddy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maddy. Show all posts
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Amazing Libraries
Books and libraries! Need I say more?
Click to see some beautiful and amazing libraries around the world!
(Although I live south of Salt Lake City (#1 on the list), #2 is my personal favorite!)
Maddy
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Caves and Crystals!
Maddy here!
It's been a busy summer for me. I haven't even had time to blog about my favorite subject - caves. But now, National Geographic is airing a television special called "Into the Lost Crystal Caves." It will be on today (October 10th) at 8 PM. I - can't - wait!
Geologist Juan Manuel García-Ruiz said it's "the Sistine Chapel of crystals." He was talking about Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) that was found a thousand feet beneath Naica Mountain in Mexico. The Cave of Crystals contains some of the largest naturally occuring crystals known in the world. Some are as long as 36 feet!
It's been said entering Mexico's Cave of Crystals is like walking inside a giant geode. Really? Well, I did that when I was in Krybos. Of course, the crystal cavern I was in didn't have the oppressive heat that this one in Mexico has. It is said that 30 minutes in that heat can kill a human. I think I'll stick with the looking at pictures of it. I know my best friend, Onyx, would be first in line to go inside. She's just a bit more adventurous than me.
Here is a web site with awesome pictures of the massive crystals: http://www.thatcrystalsite.com/caves.php
Here's something I want to try: Nat Geo's "rock candy" recipe.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/into-the-lost-crystal-caves-4636/Overview39#tab-rock-candy
That's all for now!
Maddy
It's been a busy summer for me. I haven't even had time to blog about my favorite subject - caves. But now, National Geographic is airing a television special called "Into the Lost Crystal Caves." It will be on today (October 10th) at 8 PM. I - can't - wait!
Geologist Juan Manuel García-Ruiz said it's "the Sistine Chapel of crystals." He was talking about Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) that was found a thousand feet beneath Naica Mountain in Mexico. The Cave of Crystals contains some of the largest naturally occuring crystals known in the world. Some are as long as 36 feet!
It's been said entering Mexico's Cave of Crystals is like walking inside a giant geode. Really? Well, I did that when I was in Krybos. Of course, the crystal cavern I was in didn't have the oppressive heat that this one in Mexico has. It is said that 30 minutes in that heat can kill a human. I think I'll stick with the looking at pictures of it. I know my best friend, Onyx, would be first in line to go inside. She's just a bit more adventurous than me.
Here is a web site with awesome pictures of the massive crystals: http://www.thatcrystalsite.com/caves.php
Here's something I want to try: Nat Geo's "rock candy" recipe.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/into-the-lost-crystal-caves-4636/Overview39#tab-rock-candy
That's all for now!
Maddy
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Happy A F Day!
Every year I step out into the world on April 1st with my guard up and my senses on red alert, determined not to fall victim to another silly April Fool's joke. This year my confidence was high. Throughout the school day I moved cautiously from classroom to classroom, checking my seat for gum and the usual stupidness. I was ever vigilant as I opened my locker, and as I ventured into the hallways and the lunchroom. So far, so good, I kept telling myself.
This was going to be a banner year for me! Only a few more hours to go, and I'd be safely back home where I had planned to finish the day sorting and slicing specimens from my box of Moroccan geodes.
That's right. A banner year.
Well when I got home, I went straight up to Grandpa's Attic where I kept my box of geodes. These particular geodes were from Morocco and said to have very good crystalline structure inside, even better than the geodes from Mexico.
Needless to say, I was excited to get started.
I grabbed my safety goggles and gloves, then hefted my box of rocks onto the work bench that Grandpa had set up for the messier jobs like this one I was about to start. I pulled the box flaps back and stared in horror at what lay at the bottom.
My box of beautiful Moroccan geodes had been reduced to a lumpy pile of brown dust littered with disintegrated white crystal crumbles. They looked like they had been through a meat grinder. Anger began to build and I knew if I didn't get control of it, blood would shoot out of my eyes. I knew what I had to do, and I knew where to find him.
I pulled my gloves on, stretching and snapping each finger into place. Then, I seated the safety goggles over my eyes and walked purposefully across the expanse of Grandpa's Attic to the spiral stairs. I usually ride the elevator, but Mica knows this. It was time to change my usual MO.
I found Mica in the backyard cavern. He and Digby were sitting, legs dangling, on the wall of the elevated stone pool in the center of our cavern. Perfect, I thought. I can pay him back for trashing my geodes and teach him a valuable lesson at the same time.
Mica is forbidden to be near the pool without either an adult with him, or me. But, there he was all the same. I sneaked in and came around behind the pool, staying low and out of sight. I could see that Mica was showing Digby something, a rock. No, it was a geode. A Moroccan geode!
This was going to be a banner year for me! Only a few more hours to go, and I'd be safely back home where I had planned to finish the day sorting and slicing specimens from my box of Moroccan geodes.
That's right. A banner year.
Well when I got home, I went straight up to Grandpa's Attic where I kept my box of geodes. These particular geodes were from Morocco and said to have very good crystalline structure inside, even better than the geodes from Mexico.
Needless to say, I was excited to get started.
I grabbed my safety goggles and gloves, then hefted my box of rocks onto the work bench that Grandpa had set up for the messier jobs like this one I was about to start. I pulled the box flaps back and stared in horror at what lay at the bottom.
My box of beautiful Moroccan geodes had been reduced to a lumpy pile of brown dust littered with disintegrated white crystal crumbles. They looked like they had been through a meat grinder. Anger began to build and I knew if I didn't get control of it, blood would shoot out of my eyes. I knew what I had to do, and I knew where to find him.
I pulled my gloves on, stretching and snapping each finger into place. Then, I seated the safety goggles over my eyes and walked purposefully across the expanse of Grandpa's Attic to the spiral stairs. I usually ride the elevator, but Mica knows this. It was time to change my usual MO.
I found Mica in the backyard cavern. He and Digby were sitting, legs dangling, on the wall of the elevated stone pool in the center of our cavern. Perfect, I thought. I can pay him back for trashing my geodes and teach him a valuable lesson at the same time.
Mica is forbidden to be near the pool without either an adult with him, or me. But, there he was all the same. I sneaked in and came around behind the pool, staying low and out of sight. I could see that Mica was showing Digby something, a rock. No, it was a geode. A Moroccan geode!
I dropped down and leaned back against the pool wall. It was over three feet high, so I remained hidden while my anger intensified.
Finally, I rose up and reached across the pool to drag Mica in. Just as I grabbed the neck of his shirt, Grandpa shouted my name. I turned toward his voice and drew my hand back, crashing face first into the pool, generating a soaking Free Willy-style splash. The cave averages 54ºF year-round, but the water always seems warmer. Not geothermal warm, but still warmer than the air. Thank goodness.
I bobbed to the surface, pushing strands of hair from my face and was greeted by Grandpa and Mica laughing hysterically at me, and Digby polishing his dripping fur. That's when I noticed in Grandpa's arms, a cardboard box. Digby hopped on top of the box and disappeared beneath the loose flaps. When he emerged, he held beautiful Moroccan geodes in each paw! My geodes.
"April Fool's!" and "You're all wet," echoed throughout the cavern as Mica jumped in the pool with me for a swim.
That's all for now,
Maddy
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Fluorite in the Treasure Room
Hello from Grandpa's Attic!
Our school is already out for Thanksgiving break, so I got up extra early today and rode the elevator down to the kitchen to grab a frozen waffle, then I hopped back in and rode up to the fourth floor where Grandpa has his fabulous collection. My little brother, Mica, is still asleep and the last thing I want to do is wake him up so he can ruin my absolutely perfect morning. He annoys me to death all the time. OMG, he's soooo immature!
I love it up here in Grandpa's Attic, aka the Treasure Room! It's a room on top of our underground house that is carved up into the mountain. A few years ago Grandpa had to paint the natural stone ceiling to keep the moisture out of here. So, I asked for a night sky mural. And Mica, with the only good idea he's ever had, thought we should paint the stars with glow-in-the-dark paint. It's pretty cool, although I won't be in here in the dark, alone. If Grandpa, or Mom and Dad aren't up here, I'm not turning off a perfectly good light! There are just a few too many creepy stones and artifacts in here mixed in with the rocks, minerals, and fossils.
Some of them I have yet to figure out. I teach geology classes at the local university so I know a thing or two about rocks and minerals. But Grandpa has some freaky stuff up here, I mean, things that probably shouldn't even exist. Whenever I ask him about them, he just says they were acquired during his youth. Okay, fine, but do you think maybe he could tell me where he acquired them?? For some reason, he never has much to say when I try to find out about the odd pieces of the collection. It's like he knows — but he's not talking. But then, grown-ups are weird.
I brought a tray of fluorite crystals over here to the desk so I could look for one to have made into a necklace. I really need a new necklace. Fluorite is the crystalline form of calcium fluoride. Interestingly, it is also the Illinois state mineral. Its name comes from the Latin fluere which means "to flow." Now, I know what you're thinking - crystals don't flow. But fluorite melts easily, hence the name. The mineral comes in many colors depending on which other elements are formed with it. My favorite fluorite color is purple, I guess, because it looks so much like another one of my favorites, amethyst (which is actually a variety of quartz).
Here is a link to more info on fluorite: http://geology.com/minerals/fluorite.shtml
Oh, snap! I hear the wooden staircase creaking ever so slightly. I already know it's Mica for three reasons:
1) the creaking is slight, so the person is light
2) the person on the staircase is trying to be sneaky like a brat, and is tip-toeing
3) Mica prefers the spiral stairs to the elevator
Anyway, it was fun while it lasted. I'm logging off of here and heading down into the cavern - on the elevator!
Maddy
Our school is already out for Thanksgiving break, so I got up extra early today and rode the elevator down to the kitchen to grab a frozen waffle, then I hopped back in and rode up to the fourth floor where Grandpa has his fabulous collection. My little brother, Mica, is still asleep and the last thing I want to do is wake him up so he can ruin my absolutely perfect morning. He annoys me to death all the time. OMG, he's soooo immature!
I love it up here in Grandpa's Attic, aka the Treasure Room! It's a room on top of our underground house that is carved up into the mountain. A few years ago Grandpa had to paint the natural stone ceiling to keep the moisture out of here. So, I asked for a night sky mural. And Mica, with the only good idea he's ever had, thought we should paint the stars with glow-in-the-dark paint. It's pretty cool, although I won't be in here in the dark, alone. If Grandpa, or Mom and Dad aren't up here, I'm not turning off a perfectly good light! There are just a few too many creepy stones and artifacts in here mixed in with the rocks, minerals, and fossils.
Some of them I have yet to figure out. I teach geology classes at the local university so I know a thing or two about rocks and minerals. But Grandpa has some freaky stuff up here, I mean, things that probably shouldn't even exist. Whenever I ask him about them, he just says they were acquired during his youth. Okay, fine, but do you think maybe he could tell me where he acquired them?? For some reason, he never has much to say when I try to find out about the odd pieces of the collection. It's like he knows — but he's not talking. But then, grown-ups are weird.
I brought a tray of fluorite crystals over here to the desk so I could look for one to have made into a necklace. I really need a new necklace. Fluorite is the crystalline form of calcium fluoride. Interestingly, it is also the Illinois state mineral. Its name comes from the Latin fluere which means "to flow." Now, I know what you're thinking - crystals don't flow. But fluorite melts easily, hence the name. The mineral comes in many colors depending on which other elements are formed with it. My favorite fluorite color is purple, I guess, because it looks so much like another one of my favorites, amethyst (which is actually a variety of quartz).
Here is a link to more info on fluorite: http://geology.com/minerals/fluorite.shtml
Oh, snap! I hear the wooden staircase creaking ever so slightly. I already know it's Mica for three reasons:
1) the creaking is slight, so the person is light
2) the person on the staircase is trying to be sneaky like a brat, and is tip-toeing
3) Mica prefers the spiral stairs to the elevator
Anyway, it was fun while it lasted. I'm logging off of here and heading down into the cavern - on the elevator!
Maddy
Friday, November 20, 2009
Maddy's Conducting a Cavern Tour
I'm giving a tour of our backyard cavern this coming weekend, and I was just making some notes on the talk I'll be giving during the tour. Here is a link to one of the resources I've found for great cave information: http://www.nps.gov/archive/wica/Speleothems.htm
I have several major topics on my cave tour. The most important one is cave safety, but the most fun one is speleothems. Speleothems are the different types of formations found in caves. I try to include information on the science behind how speleothems are formed. Also, I remind everyone on the tour not to touch the formations because the oils in our skin create a barrier on the formations and prevent them from growing.
We have lots of awesome speleothems down in our family's backyard cavern. My very favorite one of all is called "cave popcorn." Check out the link below for a great picture of cave popcorn. http://www.nps.gov/wica/naturescience/speleothems-cave-popcorn.htm
Maddy
I have several major topics on my cave tour. The most important one is cave safety, but the most fun one is speleothems. Speleothems are the different types of formations found in caves. I try to include information on the science behind how speleothems are formed. Also, I remind everyone on the tour not to touch the formations because the oils in our skin create a barrier on the formations and prevent them from growing.
We have lots of awesome speleothems down in our family's backyard cavern. My very favorite one of all is called "cave popcorn." Check out the link below for a great picture of cave popcorn. http://www.nps.gov/wica/naturescience/speleothems-cave-popcorn.htm
Maddy
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