On The Road - Hays, KS

Hays, Kansas
Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Heading west on I-70 through western Kansas you can't miss them, the billboards and roadsigns for the Sternberg Museum. On previous journeys west I've driven past and not stopped. Today I will.

The Fort Hays State University Sternberg Museum of Natural History is named for George F. Sternberg. As near as I can tell, we are not related. George was a member of a fossil hunting family of Sternbergs who came to Kansas in 1868. His uncle Charles Hazelius Sternberg was probably the most famous Sternberg of his century.

The rush to dig up dinosaur fossils was in full gear. Newspapers fueled the public's imagination with startling announcements of new finds. Feuds between the ultra-wealthy collectors who funded fossil hunters were branded the 'Bone Wars.' Newly discovered skeletons were proudly displayed in major natural history museums to captivated crowds. But they were only the skeletons of these huge mysterious creatures - until Charles Sternberg discovered the Trachodon Mummy, not just bones but skin and muscle and sinew. It was an immediate sensation!

So here we are at the front lobby of the Sternberg museum. On entering the front door one is dominated by a hugh, menacing mastedon skeleton. Framing the exhibits entranceway in gold letters 14 inches high is STERNBERG MUSEUM of NATURAL HISTORY. I jokingly ask the admissions attendant if being a Sternberg gets me an additional discount. He tells me that he's met a lot of Sternbergs in the years he's been here, but no relatives.

The exhibits are well done, but not exceptional. They seem generally to be aimed at elementary to high school level. The most prized exhibit is the "Fish Within A Fish", a 13 ft Xiphactinus which had inside it a nicely preserved, 6 ft Gillicus Arcuatus. George found it. The Trachodon Mummy is not here, it is in the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Charles Sternberg was a deeply religious man. He wrote devotional poetry and published a collection of poems 'The Story of the Past: Or, the Romance of Science'. In his old age, he would visit the American Museum of Natural History to view his finds, and one visit to the Trachodon Mummy inspired the following quote:

"My own body will crumble in dust, my soul return to the God who gave it, but the works of His hands, those animals of other days, will give joy and pleasure to generations yet unborn."

Clearly, Charles was speaking also of the work of his own hands, the unearthing and painfully careful disrobing of these most ancient stones buried in stone. Upstairs from the exhibit area is the Discovery Room, a fully appointed paleontology research facility open to the public. Across the hall from the room's entrance door is a huge circular mirror magnifying glass. I gaze at myself in the examining lens of the glass. When my body crumbles to ash and is returned to the earth, what will I leave behind to give joy and pleasure to generations yet unborn? And although the question has no immediately apparent answer, the question itself sends a warm satisfaction radiating through my veins. I may not be the most famous Sternberg of my century, but, in my own estimation, I'm the must interesting!

Wishing you success and strength in your own self-examination,

Stan

On The Road - Independence, MO

7:00 PM, Monday, February 7, 2011
Super 8 Motel
Independence, MO

There's a snow storm blowing this way, and it's coming in along the path that we have to travel tomorrow. Best not to challenge it, just honker down here and let it blow over. Forecast says SUNNY for Wednesday. I hate driving in snow. Storm won't hit here 'till tomorrow afternoon. I wonder where I am?  I've got a day to explore. Search Independence MO on Wikipedia. Uuuuh!

Independence, Missouri

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History

In 1831, members of the Latter Day Saint movement began moving to the Jackson County, Missouri area. 

Shortly thereafter, founder Joseph Smith, Jr. declared a spot west of the Courthouse Square to be the place 

for his prophesied temple of the New Jerusalem, in expectation of the Second Coming of Christ. Tension grew 

with local Missourians until the Latter Day Saints were driven from the area in 1833. Independence saw great 

prosperity from the late 1830s through the mid-1840s, while the business of outfitting pioneers boomed. 

Independence was the main "jumping off point" for pioneers headed west.

My mind races back to Devils Gate in Wyoming. [On The Road to Casper, WY].  I can taste the feelings that had so overwhelmed me in that place. Grey misty fog creeps through the walls of the motel room. A cold, slick wetness seasons the mood. Mormon pioneers are dying by the thousands, trapped behind a sinister mountain while a raging snow storm flails them. The mountain mocks their resolve, for there, directly in front of them, the mountain is cleaved in half, like the Red Sea parted by Moses for the Jews to pass through to their promised land. But the apparent passage is too narrow for them to pull their hand drawn carts through. The mountain is the Devil. His Gate is entry to his domain of desire. It is but a false gateway to the beyond. A temptation to be avoided while we suffer and are cleansed.



Amazing! Right here is where the stranded Mormons very likely started from. Mormons had prospered here, supplying and ferrying other pioneers headed west. Heck, they even rented handcarts! They grew so numerous and wealthy that their presence politically threatened their neighbors. There was a bloody war, and ten thousand Mormons were cast out of Missouri.

Headed west from here, their path was blocked by an impenetrable snow storm, just like mine. I am fascinated and intrigued. I dance through wiki links and feel myself being sucked into the ultimate fantasy, the apocylpse, the end of days. And it was here in Independence that Mormon prophet Joseph Smith was instructed by God to build Zion, their shining city on a hill, where the righteous would gather for the second coming. That must have really pissed off the plain Missouri folk.

I locate the very spot on Google Maps where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temple was to be built and upload its coordinates to my GPS. Mormons call the spot Adam-ondi-Ahman. It is the site where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. After the Mormons themselves were expelled, Adam-ondi-Ahman became their most cherished hymn.

Hosanna to such days to come—
The Savior's second comin[g]—
When all the earth in glorious bloom,
Affords the saints a holy home
Like Adam-ondi-Ahman.

I'm having difficulty falling asleep. Something is disturbing me. I turn on the TV. It's a PBS documentary on Ronald Reagan. He's giving his "Shining City on the Hill" speech. I watch in fascination. Searching the term on Google I discover that the phrase is code for Christian ultraconservatives meaning an American government ruled by Christian law, a favorite catch phrase of Sarah Palin. I recognize that my discomfort stems from my being drawn into someone else's paranoia. I vow not to venture any further into Independence Missouri lore. Tomorrow, at daybreak, I'll drive west as far from here as I can before the snow begins. I shut off the TV and computer and sleep the sleep of babes.

Wishing you much peaceful slumber,
Stan

On The Road - Maineville Ohio

Sunday, February 6, 2011


The first stop on our journey is to visit relatives in Maineville, near Cincinnati. Orion's sister Savvy lives here with humans Mary Kay and Paul. So does his mom Caper and aunt Holly and nephew Pirate and Destiny, a dear friend. Mary Kay's and Susan's roots penetrate deep into the sediments of the World of Show Dogs. Mary Kay is Orion's breeder. She showed Kyra, who was Zeus's true love, and Zeus, of course was Susan's cherished fur child and prized show Champion. And so it is with the anticipation of enjoying each other's company, if however briefly, that we enter their abode.

With humans scurrying carrying bags and making lunch, the dogs schmooze and relax and sniff old times. The airs are charged with the scent of Caper's season, and mother and son will have to be physically separated lest they conceive an OOPS litter, which I think stands for Orion Oedipus Progeny Slip. And no sooner does Orion start to get caught up on all the news than his sisters Leilani and Cally appear with their human's Theresa and Mike. And all the dogs and humans are laying around sniffing and reclining and eating and just plain enjoying each other's company. Ah, it's nice to be back on the road. 

Later on we all lounge on couches and cheer the Packers on to victory in the Super Bowl. There's a wonderful equity of species here, with great love and respect, dogs occupying most of the prime seating. During the halftime spectacular Mary Kay relaxes for the first time, covered in dog. The scene makes my mind drift off to a snapshot of a visiting Mary Kay cuddling two other pups that one day unexpectadly entered our lives, Thelma and Louise, the Beagle girls. 

Susan and I were returning to Michigan from the Florida Keys and we decided to stop at Big Bone Lick State Park in northern Kentucky [that's its name, honestly] to give our dogs Gaia and Zeus a well deserved walk. The day was cold and overcast, and we donned our Michigan winter gear to hike an ascending trail in this deserted forested wilderness. And as we turned a bend, with Gaia and Zeus leading the way, we were stopped in our tracks by a pitiful sight. There, ten feet ahead, shivers an old, filthy, skinny beagle, obviously abandoned. She shys away as we approach, but looks back over her shoulder to see if we are following. We trail along until she makes a sudden turn into the weeds along side the trail. There, crouched in the tall grass, is an older, skinnier beagle. It is too weak to stand so I carry it back down the trail with everyone else trailing. Susan waits with dogs and car while I run down to the park headquarters. In a bit I'm back with a ranger who tells us the park is a favorite dumping place for dogs that will no longer hunt. If they're still here in three days he'll call the county to come get them. We wait until he's gone and load all the dogs into the car. Hell, they'll certainly be dead in three days. 


Susan cuddles the helpless Louise on her lap while Thelma wraps herself around her feet. I come up with their names while we wait for a big sack of White Castle burgers to feed the starving pups. By the time we reach home Louise is looking better. The next day our vet says they will both recover fully, and that they are about three years old. What a surprise. For the next three months they joyfully join our family. For a while, we consider adopting them, our granddaughter Rachel adores them, and we're growing fonder by the day. Soon we'll be hooked. But there's a problem. When we're out hiking on a trail we let our dogs run off lead. But you can't do that with beagles, because they're scent hounds they'll run off into the bush led by their noses. So Susan reluctantly posts internet notices and soon there is a lovely young couple knocking at our door, having driven all the way from Maryland. Would you believe that it's been their dream since they were married to to adopt a pair of beagles and name them Thelma and Louise? 

The next day we depart on the next leg of our journey to the Super 8 Motel in Independence, Missouri. As we say our goodbyes I am blissfully unaware of the significance that a motel location picked at random off a Google map will have on the tone of the next few days of our journey.

Sincerely yours in destiny and adventure,

Stan

On The Road Again - Dexter, MI

Jan 31, 2011

3:45 PM

University of Michigan Cardiovascular Medicine

Domino's Farms

Ann Arbor, MI

My cardiologist is anxious to see me. I'm already running a half hour ahead of schedule and he's just walked into the echocardiogram lab to see if I was done yet. The appointment for results isn't for another 45 minutes. I'm feeling anxious. My blood pressure is up 20 points. It's been less than three months since my heart attack. I'm feeling great, better than I have in 20 years. But just sitting in that tiny examining room waiting for the white-coat's pronouncement ... I am meditating on the rug design as Peter M. Farrehi MD enters the room. I am seated. He is standing immediately in front of me, his white coat ablaze in its starchy authority, his head tilted downward, peering along the length of his nose. His expression is serious, but relaxed. "You just made my day," he states, matter-of-factly. "Your echo is normal. The previous abnormalities have fully corrected themselves. You are now off all restrictions. Congratulations. I'll see you in a year."  

Great news. No unwelcome surprises. Just what I was feeling. Just what I was expecting. I tell a seated Peter Farrehi I'm setting off on another cross country journey. He smiles broadly. He tells me that Susan will be going along with me just like the last trip. It strikes me that during those four hospital days in November, I made a friend. And as I drive out of Domino's Farms, past the buffalo herd frolicking in the fresh white snow, past the stoney whiteness of the Thomas Monaghan Cathedral, I am bathed in a divine white light, and I am filled with the awareness of just how blessed I am.

So here I am, bathed in the cold phosphorescent white light of my mac screen, visualizing and mapping and scheduling and collecting and buying the days and elements of my future, at least the next three months of it. And if my current state of grace should continue, then I shall be privileged to travel another 6000 miles in the company of Orion and Rosie visiting family and friends and camping and painting my way through the beauty that is this country. What a thrill. 

And, of course, I intend to blog all the way so I can share the magic, majesty, mystery tour with everyone. I'm going to try to stay more current this trip. I've even posted a map and calendar so you can visualize my itinerary. Of course everything is very preliminary, the whole idea of a journey like this is to go with the flow. So I'll attempt to keep the itinerary updated as I go along. You can find this info in the sidebar to the right along with my contact info. Also check out the reader comments gadget below.

Wishing you and yours satisfaction and peace this gorgeous snowy winter day. I look forward to writing again from sunshine and warmth.

Stan