Blog #7 On Eagles

Driving down the John Day River valley during the winter can be rather depressing. The cold saps the life out of the cottonwoods, looking like bones along the freezing river. The summer hay grass has been mowed down by the horses and Red Angus cows and bulls in an effort to survive the cold snap. Even though the sun is shining, its glare from the snowy mountains is a constant reminder of the coldest months still to come. But sitting among the bones of the cottonwoods, the sun's rays catch another snow cap. Not on a mountain, but on a majestic bald eagle.
Once a member of the endangered species list due to the overwhelming use of DDT in the mid-to-late 20th century, this powerful bird is roughly the size of your average six-person Thanksgiving Day turkey. Who knows, maybe we would have eaten eagle if Ben Franklin had his way and picked the turkey to be the national bird of America. With a wingspan that would be able to dunk a basketball, she is easily seen as it hunts fish, waterfowl, sometimes even small mammals as large as a small fawn. Unlike mammals, the female exhibits size advantages over the males, but she is willing to mate with him for a lifetime, returning year after year to the same nesting area to breed and raise their young. She was taught as an eaglet to tear into the flesh of her meal and to practice flying while she fought off attacks from her brother and sister to be the only survivor of her brood. She found shelter from her parent's wing only in bad weather. At only 72 days old at the heat of summer she was forced by her parents to finally leave the nest and set out on her own adventure, meeting her hawk and eagle cousins on her journeys from Florida to Alaska and California to Newfoundland and Labrador. She will never leave North America, just like her ancient ancestors never did. She has no family on other continents of the world. Beginning a family will not happen until she is four and she will teach her eaglets how to survive, just as she learned.

Blog # 6 On Dinosaurs

Growing up you couldn't catch me anywhere without my Styracosaurus. He would accompany me anywhere, in the car, in the yard, in the pool. I once threw my Styracosaurus into the water of a blowup pool during a particularly hot summer, but instead of striking the water its horny frill of spikes smashed into my brother's face. I couldn't wait to get my hands on more dinosaur toys so that the meat eaters could duel it out with the plant eaters. We would go out and play in the sand box and the Stegosaur would strategically defend itself from the ferocious attack of an Allosaur with its spiky tail and flappable armored triangles which protruded from its spine. When I wasn't outside playing I was watching dinosaur movies and envying the paleontologists like Bob Bakker, Jack Horner and Paul Sereno as they dug up new species. What lucky people, to play with dinosaurs every day of their lives. I wanted to know every species, every discovery. I wanted to find my own dinosaur and name it after me. Dinosaurs kicked butt.

Since their discovery in the 19th Century, Dinosaurs (meaning "terrible lizards") have greatly interested the child as well as the adult world. They were the monsters of the Earth from which only bones and footprints remain. We will never be able to observe them, watch them run, know what color their skin was, or if they would have been afraid of us. The images we see in Jurassic Park film try to portray what we think they may have looked like. Still, the head of the Tyrannosaurus Rex is way too big. Through creativity and science, paleontologists have been able to study these long extinct animals and have realized how bizarre they were, especially in the evolutionary chain. Some of the beasts grew feathers and fossils of Archaeopteryx revealed a winged lizard. These large beasts were considered to be lethargic, sluggish and barely movable. Further research has been done to reveal highly vascular bone structures along with other adaptations to show that these "lizards" were not poikilotherms (or cold-blooded) but were actually homeotherms (warm-blooded).

I frequently stroll through the toy section in Wal-Mart or Target to see what kids are playing with now. Transformers and WWE action figures litter the isles of the boys section. Even those dumb Power Rangers toys still make the shelf, probably on their thirteenth edition. Next to them are the Angry Birds stuffed animals. Where are the T-Rex, or Triceratops, or Brontosaurus? My main question though is whether kids even play with toys anymore or if the only entertainment they find enjoyment in is video games and movies. The LCD screens light up their eyes as they drive with their dorky parents past the Grand Tetons en route to Yellowstone and Bozeman, MT. Their minds will continue to chew on how to beat the next level while being dragged against their will across the Bad Lands, not thinking that a terrible lizard could be buried just below his or her feet. The discoveries that could be made, will they continue to be found by our younger generation, or are digital images the only future for them?

Blog #5 On Kale

Walking down the produce isle I come across the leafy greens. Lettuce in both green and red, spinach bagged or unbagged, green cabbage and red cabbage. What sounds good today? As I peruse a curly evergreen colored leaf stands out and don't recognize this plant. I look at the price tag. Kale. So this is what it normally looks like.
Brassica oleracea is a close relative to cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, rapeseed  and collard greens, which all share a common ancestor, the mustard seed. It is coarse to the taste and some people find it non-palatable. Kale is well known for the large amounts of nutrients that it contains. Not only does it contain large amounts of Vitamin C and beta-carotene, it is rich in Vitamin K and calcium. It can be eaten raw, steamed, stir-fried, microwaved and even frozen. Freezing is actually said to make this somewhat bitter leaf into a sweeter plant. For this reason it is normally harvested after a frost. In Germany it is called gruenkohl, green cabbage, and in the Netherlands it is called the farmer's cabbage, boerenkool. 
The first time Kale turned up on my plate was in Heide, Germany and came from a big pot. It had the appearance of canned spinach, shriveled and green olive in color. Its smell hung around the house. The family that I was eating with excitedly passed the white dish around that contained this slimy vegetable. I thought no one would notice if I didn't dish myself. But that was rude, being invited to someone's home and not eating what they had prepared for us. I felt a shiver creeping up my back as I plopped the gruenkohl onto my plate and passed it on. I dished two sausages out with it. Maybe these would help me enjoy it better, I thought to myself. Slowly scraping some onto my fork with my knife, I breathed slowly before I took the bite. Almost instantly, my umami taste buds flew off the scale of taste. It was not course nor slimy, but braised to perfection in what I later learned to be pig fat and stewed for at least a day with the pork cut of your choice. The longer it is stewed, the better it tasted. This quickly became my favorite dish in Germany, not the classic bratwurst or schnitzel. I never saw the plant in its original fresh cut form and didn't learn its name in English until shortly after my return to the States. When I go back to Northern Germany, this will be on my menu.