1. I started the mostly simple task today of preparing to evacuate our house if we receive such an order ever. I've made a master list of things to pack and Debbie and I, communicating across the vast USA, have been discussing items we always want in the trunk of the car, ranging from dried fruit and nuts and granola bars to blankets, pillows, and sweatshirts.
A fire update: as of 10:00 a.m. on June 18th: the evacuation notice for Big Creek and Elizabeth Park is still in effect and being evaluated.
The fire is about 20% contained. Wednesday was a cooler day. That helped. Thursday looks to be warmer and the fire crews will be looking for increased activity within the fire's perimeter.
Approximately 247 are assigned to the Gold Run Fire.
2. I'm reading our next book club selection, Our Moon. I'm being strhetched by this book, as I was by previous books, because I am not well-informed about the details of history as seen through the lens of different branches of science. The previous books we read expanded my knowledge and understanding of evolution (I didn't understand everything I read) and Our Moon is expanding my knowledge and understanding of different explanations regarding how the Earth and moon came into being and how their gravitational forces affect each other and how planet Earth is also affected by the gravitational pull of the sun and other planets.
I know I'm not understanding everything I read in this book, but I sure enjoy going outside the areas of study that shaped my professional and continue to inform my personal life. Not being well read in the world of science and having a lot to learn about the world of nature made joining this book club a great idea.
3. Although I don't have a studied understanding of science, I'm enjoying the overlap I see between scientific study and my experience with literature and world religion. Right now, I'm thinking particularly of Shakespeare (and when I think of Shakespeare my mind also goes to Buddha and to the Tao de Ching).
Science, Shakespeare, Buddha, and the Tao are all primarily concerned with mutability, that is, the everchanging nature of reality.
Scientific study examines the objective evidence of how the moon's orbit fluctuates, how its gravitational force effects tidal changes and has an impact on Earth's climate, among other things. For Shakespeare, the moon was a central metaphor for mutability because night after night, the moon appeared different than it had the night before. Moonlight also served as a metaphor for how dimly we actually understand things, as if when it comes to perception and understanding, we live in a world more dimly lit by the moon than the more brilliant light of the sun.
Buddhism is grounded in the precept that all is impermanent, subject to constant change.
Likewise, the Tao teaches that everything is in a state of flux.
Just one example of the centrality of mutability in the world of science: the theory of evolution is an explanation of species adapting to change, surviving, not by remaining static or original, but by changing in order to continue living in the everchanging world.
The book Our Moon has the associative region of my mind cooking with gas.
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