This Blog's History: Indiana Dunes State Park

 In case you missed it the first time, for This Friday in This Blog's History, I point you back to the post I wrote detailing our trip to the Indiana Dunes State Park. A great park with some very cool hiking trails across the dunes, and of course, the beach! If you want a challenge, take the Three Dunes Challenge! Great views!

Indiana Dunes State Park

Register to Vote

The 2020 general elections are quickly approaching and voter registration deadlines in many states are quickly approaching in the next week or so. I do not focus much on politics on this blog, but readers will know that I definitely lean toward one political party in the United States. I'm always going to support the party that shows the greatest support for developing policies that follow the science. 

If you haven't registered to vote, please do so and go out and vote! For more information on how to register to vote, here is a great resource:

How to Register to Vote

Make your voice known by voting! You have a chance to make a difference, and yes, ever single vote matters!

Annual Flu Shot Reminder

This is my annual reminder to all readers to go and get your flu shot. My family is headed out this weekend to get ours. The flu is deadly, with several tens of thousands of Americans dying each year due to flu complications. The flu vaccine is not perfect and some years provide better protection than others. An imperfect flu vaccine is not an excuse to not get vaccinated, however. Even in a year in which the vaccine is not as effective, it still provides more protection than not getting the shot.

Getting your flu vaccine in 2020 is even more important with the COVID-19 pandemic. As of today, there are still 40,000+ new cases of COVID-19 each day with 700-800 new deaths each day. The flu vaccine will not protect you from COVID-19, but it will help you from getting the flu. If you were to contract COVID-19, having the flu at the same time could be a recipe for several illness or death. 

Please, please, please, take the flu seriously and get your vaccine!!! You can get your vaccine at you doctor's office, or pretty much any place that has a pharmacy. Most grocery stores that have a pharmacy have flu vaccines available. Don't wait...now is the time to get your flu vaccine.

Knight Errant - A Star War Book Review

My latest book read was Knight Errant by John Miller Jackson. This is a Star Wars book in which a young Jedi is trapped in a system trying to free slaves and help the people from the evils of the Sith. Your basic Star Wars book and nothing special, but it was a nice escape from the real world. That's the joy I find in books. They are a nice, temporary escape from the troubles of the real world. And books are powerful. :-) With technology today, I am never without a book in my hand. It may not be a physical book, but with e-readers and my phone, no matter where I am, I have a book available. And that is awesome!

Another Dog Picture :-)

Now that we have a dog, you can expect lots of dog pictures. Sorry. This dog is just too cute not to post pictures! :-) Today's picture is of her resting in my car while I'm waiting for my daughter to finish up softball practice. The way I see it, she's just recharging to be ready to terrorize the cat when we get home. :-) Don't sympathize too much with the cat, because he eggs on the dog and is 50% of the problem in their battles!

How can one not love this dog?!?!?! She's a puppy and her endless energy can be frustrating at times, but we love her!

This Blog's History: Indiana Dunes National Park

In case you missed it the first time, for This Friday in This Blog's History, I point you back to the post I wrote detailing our trip to the Indiana Dunes National Park. A great park with some very cool hiking trails across the dunes, and of course, the beach!

Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes State Park

A few days ago I shared a few details and pictures from our trip to the Indiana Dunes National Park. The national park has a cool beach and some very cool hiking trails. If you have more than one day in the area, be sure to check out the Indiana Dunes State Park. It also has a cool beach and some great hiking trails. In fact, the beach at the state park was easier to find a spot to sit and socially distance given there is more sandy area between the cliffs and the water.

When it comes to hiking, there are several trails in the park, but if you want a challenge, do the Three Dune Challenge, which is a circularly loop that takes you up and down three large sandy dunes. You'll definitely get a workout and feel it in your calves when you are done.

Above is an example of one of the dunes, looking down. The elevation change isn't high, but the angle is steep, around 35 degrees for each of the dunes. That and a sandy ground that shifts when you step on it adds to the challenge making the climb. But the climb (all three) are well worth it when you get to the top and see views such as this one below.

My 10 year old daughter and I did the Three Dune Challenge while my wife and 13 year old daughter hung out on the beach. We joined them later. It was a fun hike although there were a ton of biting flies, which was kind of annoying. It kept us moving because whenever we stopped, the flies would start to bite. Not sure why there were so many biting flies. But despite the flies, it was a great hike and a lot of fun. 

To conclude, please don't assume a national park is better than a state park. That is certainly not true with the Indiana Dunes. Both are fantastic parks and you do not want to miss either!

Life on Venus

Yesterday, an article by CNN was published sharing the details of study of possible life on Venus. The title of the article at the time read:

"A gas found on Earth that signifies life has been detected in the clouds on Venus"

Wow...life on Venus, right? Not so fast. This is a very misleading headline as it clearly states that life has been detected, but that is NOT what the researchers in the study said. The article states that phosphine was detected in the atmosphere of Venus. Phosphine can occur when bacteria or when organic material breaks down. This is a pretty cool discovery, but it doesn't tell us for sure that life was detected. There's a quote in the article from a coauthor of the study stating that something unexpected has happened. But that's different than jumping to the conclusion that life was detected.

A gas found on Earth that signifies life has been detected in the clouds on Venus

This just goes to show you that you have to click on an article and read it to get the full story. In this case, if you didn't click on the article, you'd walk away thinking life was detected. Something cool is happening on Venus, but is it life? Possible, but nowhere close to definite. Remember, ask questions and think critically.

Astrid Says Hello

Just in case you didn't know, we love our poochie, Astrid, who joined our household on July 3, 2020. To start the week, here's a picture of her. 

This was an early morning pic and no, she doesn't care that I haven't had my morning coffee! It's been a fun-filled 2 month journey with her in our house. Some frustrations, yes, but also plenty of love. It's hard to stay mad at a dog when they love you unconditionally and are always happy to see you, even if you've only been gone for 5 minutes.

This Blog's History: Astrid and the Soccer Ball

In case you missed it, we got a dog and her name is Astrid. She's a Blue Heeler who is full of energy and loves to run and chase things. My kiddo left her soccer ball outside, despite our warnings not to. Astrid got a hold of it, and well, that was the end of that soccer ball. The link to the original post, with a picture, is below.

Astrid vs. The Soccer Ball

Indiana Dunes National Park

In August we took a weekend mini-vacation to the Indiana Dunes. We had never been there before and we were looking for an opportunity to visit a beach, do some hiking, but also relax outdoors where it is easier to socially distance. The Indiana Dunes were the perfect place. As I already stated, it was a mini, two-night vacation with one day spent at the national park and the other day spent at the state park. This post details our trip to the national park on our first full day there.

The Indiana Dunes National Park is split into multiple parts with several different beaches. A few of the beaches are closed and others are very tight for parking. The park website suggests visiting West Beach given it has large parking lots. So we went to West Beach. There was plenty of parking, even on a weekend. The water level of Lake Michigan was high, so the beach is narrow, meaning that to socially distance be prepared to walk along the shore for several minutes before finding a large enough place to sit down and be distanced from others. As long as you are willing to walk, you will find a place to sit on the beach and be safe from COVID-19. On the day we went, the water was very choppy and swimming was closed.

 

 

Yep, very choppy, but our kids had fun at the shore line and we enjoyed relaxing on the beach. We even had a visitor join us!

 

We also took a hike, before spending time on the beach, around the dunes. There's a very nice trail, the Dune Succession trail, that takes you up one of the dunes and back down to the beach. You get some great views such as this:

Beautiful! So if you need some time outside during COVID-19, the Indiana Dunes National Park is a great place to go! There will be a lot of people, but it is still easy to socially distance. Do not confuse the national park with the state park. I actually enjoyed the state park more than the national park, but more on that in an upcoming post.

Be sure to stop at the national park visitor's center and get your national park book stamped. Don't have a book? You're in luck, they sell them for about $10 in the visitor's center.

The Broken Kingdoms - A Book Review

My latest book read was The Broken Kingdoms. This is the second book in the Inheritance trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. If you haven't heard of N.K. Jemisin, you are missing out and you definitely need to check out the books she has authored.

N.K. Jemisin Books

The Broken Kingdoms is a bit different than the first book in the series, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. The major characters in the first book do make appearances in the second book, but the focus is on a new character, Oree. This is a book of gods, godlings, mortals, and demons. Oree discovers who she is and finds herself in the middle of a battle between demons, godlings, mortals, and the three gods. 

It's a very exciting book and one that is much different than your typical fantasy novel. N.K. Jemisin does a great job creating a unique fantasy world that is unlike any other I've read! Who will survive and who will die? You'll have to read it to find out.

Black Lives in Astronomy - Resource Guide

Yes, it is true that I no longer teach in the classroom now that I am a full-time administrator at my school. I have fully embraced the dark side. LOL! But I still love finding resources to help in the classroom and over the summer I came across a resource guide to Black Lives in Astronomy, by astronomer Andrew Fraknoi.

Black Lives in Astronomy - Resource Guide

This is a great pdf that links to many sources on black astronomers. I spent time the last few years highlighting non-white astronomers and astronauts. I wish had had this resource guide then! Astronomy is a field that is very, very white and has a huge diversity problem. Yes, an astronomy class should focus on stars, planets, galaxies, etc., but it is also important to take time talking about diversity, or lack thereof, in an astronomy classroom. This resource guide is a great source for any teacher looking for teaching ideas on diversity to implement in their classroom. 

Astronomy is not just about the content, but about the people adding new information to the field everyday.

What Happened?

What happened to this blog? Well, things got busy and I haven't posted since August 14th. I hope to change that starting today by getting back on track with daily posts during the week. In the last month I've read a few good books and we took a family trip to the Indiana Dunes National Park and the Indiana Dunes State Park. Thus I have some cool things to post about!

Over the summer I took a new position at the school I work and things have been incredibly busy and working at school during COVID-19 takes an already busy start to the year and makes it even busier! I've been so busy, I didn't even realize over 3 weeks have passed since I last posted to this blog. Yikes!!! Time to change that! :-)