I was flying from Newark, NJ to Chicago yesterday on my way home and had a chance to ponder some really profound ideas. Usually I work or read, or eat, but today seemed like a good day to look out the window and think about some ideas that had never occurred to me before.
We flew over Lake Erie on our way to Chicago. I was stunned to realize that the lake is FROZEN. Think about that for a minute, a body of water large enough to be a small ocean frozen from shore to shore. I did notice large cracks (which means they were huge, since I was viewing from 30,000 ft.) Then my thoughts turned morbid and I wondered how long we would last in that cold water, not long I'm sure. Of course if you hit that ice with any sharp angle..well, it would leave a mark.
Then we flew over the southern end of Lake Michigan, not frozen. How can that be? I will never understand the physics of that large a body freezing or not freezing.
Of course that led me to wonder how we can dupe ourselves into believing that we fly in a straight line. We don't. We fly in a huge curving arc, following the curvature of the earth. So why is the earth round? Why isn't it oblong, or rectangular. Why doesn't it spin the other way? What if it was shaped like a kidney bean, those of us on the inner curve could make fun of the ones living on the outer curve. I bet they would talk funny, probably have weird ideas, date their cousins like in Arkansas.
So what could be a straight line really isn't. The earth is curved, so regardless of the shortness of the distance the curvature impacts how we do what we do. Which makes me wonder if a "level" is really level, is it curved? Don't even get me started on "straight line responsibility."
Will this entire train of thought drive my "straight line" D-i- law crazy?
What I need are straight answers. hmmm.
Good quote from Martin Luther King, "the arc of morality is long, but bends toward justice." Which now that I look at it doesn't fit this blog at all, unless you realize that the logic is not linear.
Maybe on the next flight I will nap, while being hurtled in a long curve towards my destination.
Whew. Glad we cleared that up.
Godspeed
Don
3 comments:
Ha! Ha! Ha! I loved this one!!! It cracked me up, and I once again am convinced we would have a great time conversing over coffee. Lake Erie seems to be frozen most of the year. I lived in Pennsylvania for three years, and I always remember hearing about the ice in Lake Erie or the lake effect snow. I have never pondered the question about the level. I'm going to be thinking about that one for a while now. I have a question for you. If the shortest distance from point A to point B is a straight line, and getting there is half the fun, shouldn't the journey take up half the time? Too much fun. I think you should look out the window and ponder more often. It sure makes for a great read! Have a blessed weekend!
This did not drive me crazy... in fact, this DIL was the one trying in vain to convince one of your daughters that Texas was physically closer to the sun than Minnesota because of the way the Earth is curved and tilted. She wasn't buying it. I will let you guess which one of your daughters it was who argued for a good 10 minutes without any reason NOT to believe me, just for the fun of arguing.
Love you,
DIL
It wasn't this daughter....you know I would have dropped that arguement in about 10 SECONDS!
Love you-
Your youngest, the "who cares" daughter!
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