I'm going to tell another story about biking, and I'm sorry I seem to include one in every blog post, but I go on a lot of bike rides. So, Kaitlin and I biked to the Falmouth public library again to do some homework and get a couple more movies. Normal, right? Well, it was misting and there was potential for rain, and we thought, "nah, rain's not going to stop us". On the outside we acted all tough, but the real reason we decided to go was so we could wear our foul weather gear. As soon as we got out of class I rushed upstairs and pulled out the black sailing overalls I borrowed and I velcroed those straps on, then zipped up my black raincoat. Kaitlin's foulies are all black too...we looked like ninjas. Actually, we probably looked ridiculous, but I'm getting used to the weird looks we get at that library. I also sounded ridiculous, as I was reminded several times on our ride, because the pants make a swooshing noise.
I don't think I mentioned that my knife came in the mail the other day, but as I haven't had a chance to use it until today, it wasn't really worth mentioning. What exciting thing did I use it for, you may ask? To sharpen my colored pencils so I could color a picture. Apparently pencil sharpeners are archaic tools because I was unable to find one, but hey, I discovered a much cooler way to sharpen things. Perhaps I'll take up woodcarving. Also, somewhat in line with nerdy things, I'm doing research on subtropical gyres and oh my goodness, atmospheric and ocean circulation are so cool. I was talking to Jan, the chief scientist, and he told me some of the water upwelling in the subtropical gyres in the Pacific is 1,000 years old. Whoa.
Ah, another cool thing that happened today! Sean, our captain, set up an inflatable planetarium in the lobby of our building. What? Actually it sounds a little lame, but it was REALLY NEAT. It's this gray igloo shaped space with a tunnel you have to crawl through to get to the open area where it's pitch black. I literally (yes, literally) could not see my hand in front of my face, and the star projector on the ground appeared to be showing just a handful of stars. But, as my eyes adjusted, the stars seemed to multiply until there were hundreds, rising in the east and setting in the west in an accelerated 24 hour period. Eventually my eyes adjusted so well I was able to make out the facial features of the people next to me. Sean took us to the North Pole, with Polaris directly overhead, then to 41.5° N, and finally to the equator. At the equator, the rotation of the stars felt like a waterfall, rising and setting in a fairly linear fashion. He showed us the positions of various constellations and which ones are useful in navigation. Yesterday, the cousin of a Polynesian navigator gave a lecture on how it's possible to sail without anything but a knowledge of the stars, an openness to watch the clues nature gives you, and an awareness of an area. His cousin and a crew were able to navigate from Hawai'i to Tahiti in a traditional Polynesian canoe (Hokule'a) without any navigational aid. Amazing.
Some more pictures of the Atlantic...
Taking a break to do some hard labor
The ice looks like the overwater resort bungalows found in tropical areas
A stormy Martha's Vineyard
So, can I tell people I speak Tahitian now?
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