Memorial Day

I just re-read my memorial day tribute to Charlie Wilcox last year. I don't need to repeat it except to say that today reminded me once again of Charlie.
A group called "Veterans for Peace" placed 3,400+ white plastic tombstones (each one about 12" wide and 18" high) and crosses on the U.S side of the Peace Arch today. I don't suppose it was newsworthy enough to make the national news, but it sure was impressive. In addition, they set up poster-boards on about a dozen easels with all 3,400+ names on them.
This was a busy day at the border crossings so traffic was backed up through the park the whole time I was there. I don't know what the drivers thought about sitting amidst 3,400 white tombstones and crosses while they waited for traffic to move but at least there wasn't any of the usual impatient honking and engine racing.
I met a kid, about 11 or 12 years old, walking his bike through the park as I was walking between flower beds today. I casually mentioned that his bike looked nice. He said, "thanks, it's a road bike but I had to modify the shifters because they weren't right. My dad bought me this bike but I'm mad at him right now because he went out on my mom." I said, "Well, that's not good." He went on to tell me more about the shifters and how comfortable the handle grips are. Finally I said, "Thanks for walking your bike in the park and please don't start riding again until you get to the parking lot, okay?" He said goodbye, walked the bike about half-way to the parking lot , climbed on and peddled off through the pedestrians. Oh well.

A Good Book

I have to return a book to the library today that I haven't finished. Darn it! It's a new book by Neil DeGrasse Tyson called Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393062244/bookstorenow79-20

It's easy to read, very interesting, and it's current! It was published this year! I believe that I am the first person to have checked this copy out as it looks pristine. Its newness probably explains why someone else is waiting for it and I can't renew my check out. Oh well. I'm about half-way through so I'll request it again and finish whenever my name climbs to the top of the queue.
We all know that it takes a photon of light 8 minutes to travel from the surface of the sun to the surface of Earth. I never knew (or even thought about) how long it took for that proton to travel from the center of the sun to the surface of the sun. The answer: One million years. Wow. In the book, Tyson compares the photon's escape from the center of the sun, to a drunk trying to cross the street. For each step froward, it takes one or more steps backward or sideways due to collisions with other particles but eventually it makes it. "Eventually" is an understatement.