ML King Coming Alive

While in Atlanta at the beginning of this month for the 94th Annual AMSmeeting, I made it my business to see visit the Martin Luther King, Jr.,National Historic Site and Preservation District.  This area, about two miles east of downtown Atlanta, centered along Auburn Avenue, contains sites related to the life of the Rev. King, including the home where he was born and raised, his grave, and Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he served as co-pastor during the 1960’s.

I had foremost in mind to visit the home where he grew up.  The King family still owns the home through the King Foundation, and the National Park Service administers the home, especially for the free tours offered at scattered times on the hour on a daily basis.  I found it apt to go there just weeks after the celebration of his birthday, and at the start of Black History Month.

The places where a person lives speaks greatly to the human side of a person, and that’s certainly what I got to experience on this tour.  The home straddles a block where there were single-story homes for blue-collar families, and then Queen Anne-style homes for the more well-to-do families.  The picture below shows some of those blue-collar family homes on the right side, the north side of Auburn Avenue.

The Queen Anne houses were first built in the 19^th Century for Caucasian families, but then were acquired by well-to-do African-American families by the early 20^th Century.  The King family home itself was splendid indeed.  Doug, the ranger leading the tour, said Dr. King’s grandparents purchased the home in 1909 for a mortgage of $3500 down and $35 a month.  (The Queen Anne house next door has also been restored, and houses a gift shop, and is where all tours start.)

This is the home on Auburn Avenue where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was born.  Below is a close-up of the plaque that appears near the sidewalk-end of the walkway leading up to the house.

Inside the home, we saw the main entrance parlor, the dining room, the kitchen, and the bedrooms, and other areas, too.  Dr. King was born in a bedroom upstairs, where his mother gave birth to her other two children.  As happens with any family, they give away items and bring new ones in.  So many of the furnishings in the house are not original, but are typical of the time period when Martin Luther King, Jr., grew up.  There are, however, a few originals, like the piano, and the dishes in the dining room table.  (By the way, I have no pictures of the interior of the home.  The King family allows public tours under the condition that no photographs are permitted inside.)

Doug told lots of stories about Dr. King as a child, when he was addressed as “ML”.  ML was like any boy, prone to being naughty and getting into trouble for his antics, like how he tried to damage the piano so as to avoid having to learn to play it, since his friends thought it was something “sissy”.  Something ML thought was sissy was washing dishes.  So when it was his turn to do the dishes, right as dinner was coming to an end, ML darted away and shut himself in a washroom, sat down, and read his comic books until the dishes were done.  Eventually, his father decided to teach him a lesson, and made him do the laborious chore of shoveling coal.  As it turns out, ML liked shoveling coal because it was more manly, and allowed him to build up muscle.  So his father got him to work, while ML did something he liked and got out of doing dishes--hard to say if his father's plan backfired, or just worked out in a way that wasn't expected.

Up on the second floor of the house, Doug pointed out one of the bedrooms where an extended relative of the King family stayed, who taught ML how to read, which was something he carried with him all his life.  Because African-Americans couldn't find lodging when they came to town back when ML was growing up, his parents would rent out rooms to the lodgers, as would other African-American households.

And Doug also told us the heartbreaking story of what happened to ML when he was 6 years old.  When ML was 3, he became very good friends with a Caucasian boy his age whose parents owned a store that once stood across the street from the King home.  (Now, only a slab is on the site, which I presume is the store’s foundation.)  They went to separate schools because they were of different skin colors, but every day after school, ML would go across the street and play with his friend. 

Then, when ML was 6, he started noticing his friend wasn’t as glad to see him as he used to be.  Then came the day when his friend said his parents forbid him from playing with ML anymore.  ML was devastated, and it showed that evening when he was at the dinner table.  His father asked him what was wrong, and ML told him.  ML thought he had done something wrong to displease his friend’s parents.  His father then realized the time had come that he would have to tell his son of the history of oppression that African-Americans had suffered throughout the course of US history.  That was quite a day for a 6-year-old.  Hearing Doug tell that story gave me a new perspective on racial discrimination, and how wrong it is to discriminate against someone just on the basis of skin color.

The tour was over in about 30 minutes, and afterwards, I walked the short distance west on Auburn Avenue to the King Center building.   There’s a large promenade there with a long pool (see first picture below), in the center of which is the final resting place of Martin Luther King, Jr., and his wife, Coretta Scott King (see second picture below).

I had seen some pictures of the grave site before, but being there in person at that hallowed site caused chills to go through me.

Walking along to the other end of the promenade, I came to the Historic Sanctuary of the Ebenezer Baptist Church.  This is where Dr. King preached and served as pastor.  It has been preserved to look as it did back then.  (The picture below is of the inside of the sanctuary.)

The congregation out-grew that sanctuary space and now uses a larger facility across Auburn Avenue for its Sunday worship services.  After looking around, I took leave of the neighborhood to carry on with my day.

The outside of the Historic Sanctuary of Ebenezer Baptist Church 

What an experience this visit was, especially to tour the home, and get a feel for who ML King,  Jr., was as a person.  But what was equally amazing was the diversity in the tour group I was in.  We started out the tour with a brief introduction in the house next door.  Before walking to the home, Doug held a “contest” to see who was from the farthest away.  Though I started by saying, “The Chicago suburb of Oak Park, IL”, I was quickly trounced by the many international visitors, who came from France, Japan, Taiwan, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.  It was amazing to see that the story of ML King, Jr., resonates with people not just in the United States, but with people all over the world.  When I asked the couple from France about what it meant for them to be here, they said the story of freedom is very important in France.  When I spoke with the couple from Argentina, they said that they remembered well hearing about Dr. King at the time he was a leader in the Civil Rights movement.

And I was also very inspired by Doug, the ranger who served as tour guide, who was blind.  His disability did not hold him back one bit from making meaning in his life by leading the tours of the home and telling us the stories of ML growing up.  And he was also a fun guy to be around, inserting plenty of humor into his narration.

The story of Dr. ML King, Jr., is one I’ve heard since elementary school, usually in January as we geared up for the annual observance of his birthday.  I even remember seeing his home in the children's animated program Our Friend, Martin.  And now, on this day, February 3, 2014, I saw him come alive at the home on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta.  I saw the human come alive, and his story come alive:  The story of how he was stamped down by the oppression of racial discrimination, but soon garnered determination and refused to stay down.  He stood back up to courageously fight the oppression and create a better society for all people.  It is truly a human story, of freedom, and triumph over oppression.

It inspires me in my own struggles to look at what Dr. King faced and how he overcame, doing good for the world.  I even think about how Doug has overcome a disability to do the good work he's doing now.  It gives me reassurance that I can face any struggle in life and overcome.

It makes me think of the lyrics of the song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.  It is considered the Black National Anthem, and it is a GREAT song, one of my favorites.  As I was walking around the neighborhood, I wanted to belt out the lyrics.  They speak to the triumph achieved after enduring great, wearying struggle, all the while praising God as we walk before Him, with His hand guiding us.

And that is the story of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Being a person of faith, striving to walk faithfully before God drove him in his work to create a better society that would provide a better life for all people, challenging the system that denied that reality, dreaming big.  His work inspires us today, and makes us free, for we all become free when we do the same work as Dr. King, seeking betterment of our fellow people.

So truly, truly, Dr. King up in Heaven cries out, “Free at last! Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, I am free at last”, just as his gravestone declares.  Next to him, his wife’s gravestone adds another meaningful anecdote to what he strove for during his life.  It has the verse 1 Corithians 13:13: “And now abide faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”  We have faith, and we have hope because of love, namely that God first loved us so we could love each other.  And in living love toward each other is how we love God, and what truly makes us free, and that is the triumph.

Taking in Atlanta

So the primary purpose of my recent stay in Atlanta was to attend the AMS ECP Conference.  But there was a whole lot more I got out of the experience.

It all started when, shortly before 7 PM on the evening of Friday, January 31, I boarded a Greyhound bus, which would take me all the way from Chicago to Atlanta.  I decided that riding Greyhound would be a very direct way to get to Atlanta, while also allowing me to take my time and soak in the journey.

This was my first trip on Greyhound, and it worked out okay.  The schedule managed to work out very well so that the only inclement weather we traveled through was in northwest Indiana on my way south, and none whatsoever on the way back.

On the way there, we made a few stops, briefly at Gary, and then Indianapolis and Louisville, for longer stops so that the bus could be serviced.  In Tennessee, we had another service stop in Nashville, and then two brief stops in Murfreesboro and Manchester, before reaching Chattanooga.  Our final stop was on the outskirts of the Atlanta Metro Area in Marietta.  (The major city stops were generally the same on the way back to Chicago, but the smaller stops were different, as the only one was at Lafayette, IN.)

In many ways, this journey by bus allowed me to have the road trip experience, seeing the sights along the interstate routes, although much of the travel took place at night.  It was I-65 from Gary to Nashville, then I-24 to Chattanooga, and then I-75 down to Atlanta.

One of the exciting parts about road trips is the thrill of seeing the signs on the side of the roads that welcome travelers to a new state.  It was especially thrilling to see the sign welcoming travelers to Georgia, for it was at that moment, approximately 11:05 AM EST, that I entered the State of Georgia for the first time.  When I stepped off the bus at the Marietta station, at approximately 12:25 PM EST, I took my first step onto Georgia ground.

And it was a thrill to drive along I-75 into the heart of Atlanta.  It kind of reminded me of the many times I’ve ridden on the Kennedy Expressway I-90/94 from Chicago’s Northwest Side into the downtown Chicago area, as we passed by all the skyscrapers and such.  (Two buildings I took note of riding into downtown Atlanta were the headquarters of The Weather Channel and the Turner Broadcasting System.)

About 1 PM, we reached the Atlanta Greyhound station (see above).  After retrieving my checked bag, I walked the short half-block distance to board the MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) train at the Garnett Station to reach my hotel.  From the first time I stepped onto MARTA, I was impressed with the fast, sleek, modern light-rail train system to whisk me around Atlanta.  Many aspects of MARTA reminded me of the Washington, DC, area Metro train system: the network of colored lines, with two lines sharing track for a good distance of their routes, and the design of the train cars themselves.  Even the Five Points station reminded me of the bi-level hubs underground that serve as transfer points between different lines.  (When the train first pulled into the Five Points station, I was impressed that the car doors on both sides of the train opened to let passengers board from two different platforms.  And the one thing I really got a kick out of was that the automated announcements were in both English and Spanish.  It was really interested to hear a person with a Hispanic accent speak in Spanish and then say the name of the station, which was essentially switching from Spanish to English while carrying the Hispanic accent.)

I disembarked at the Peachtree Center station, and then walked the short distance to the Quality Hotel Downtown where I would be staying (see below).

After checking in, and settling everything into my room, I went sightseeing, with the specific destination of the Jimmy Carter President Library and Museum in mind.  I got back on MARTA, and rode it east to the Inman Park-Reynoldstown station.  I got off and then headed north toward the museum.  That’s when I stumbled upon a delightful find: Inman Park (see the two pictures directly below).  It’s embedded right within a quiet residential neighborhood filled with lovely old-fashioned homes, and a winding path through it leads north from the station, right into the landscaped grounds around the Carter Center (see third picture below).  Some signs along the way narrate the story of the Sectional War Battle of Atlanta back in 1864.

As I walked around, the scene before my eyes reminded me so much of what it’s like when winter finally breaks and spring makes its arrival.  The ground was free of snow, the temperatures were in the 50s, and people were out walking, jogging, and walking their dogs.  And I’m sure they appreciated this weather in Atlanta after a disastrous wintry mix of 2 inches of snow and some ice accumulation earlier that week.  (As I rode along I-75, I noticed a few patches of snow on the grassy areas beyond the shoulders, the remaining remnants of a winter wallop--see picture below.  But, you know, it’s all in proportion:  While they were dealing with this mess in the South, in Chicagoland, we were dealing with temperatures below zero and wind chills as low as -30 degrees.  In both cases, normal circumstances were suspended due to weather, even if to us Northerners, it seems absurd that two inches should shut everything down.)

I apologize for the quality of this photo, as the bus windows were quite soiled from traveling through wintry conditions.  If you look closely around the center of the picture, you can see some patches of snow on the embankment leading from the level of I-75 up to the road that goes on the overpass over the interstate.

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum is the second NARA presidential facility I’ve visited, the first one being the Lyndon B. Johnson Museum in Austin, TX, when I went to last year’s AMS meeting.  After starting with a brief video on Mr. Carter’s life, I walked through the exhibits, which takes visitors chronologically through his life, from his childhood in Plains, GA, to his days in the Navy, and then as a politician rising through the ranks from a local school board member to Georgia Governor and US President.

The thing that draws me to these types of museums is the opportunity to view objects from the President’s life.  On display were a high chair Jimmy and his siblings used when they were very young, one of Jimmy’s report cards, and the coat he wore as he walked on Pennsylvania Avenue during the Inauguration Parade.  There was also a model of the Oval Office as it looked during the Carter administration (see below).

A large section was devoted to the peace treaty Mr. Carter helped negotiate between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin at Camp David.  The exhibits concluded with the work the Carter Center has done to promote peace in various areas of the world since the end of the Carter presidency.  One thing the Carters have done is travel to other countries to monitor elections.

What was neat about visiting this museum was getting a look at a time in American history that’s well-embedded in the recent memories of my parents’ and grandparents’ generations.  And it always so fascinating to look at actual items from the life of a president.

Here I am posing in front of a picture of the Carter Oval Office in the main entry lobby of the museum

When it was coming time for the museum to close, I left, and headed back to the MARTA.  I then headed to Midtown, to see the house where in her rented space, Margaret Mitchell wrote the draft for Gone with the Wind.  This was something I stumbled upon when I picked up a map of Atlanta.  It was in a small group of historic buildings surrounded by several tall, modern buildings.

Then I headed back to Five Points.  I was looking for an outlet of my favorite store, Alamo Flags, which was supposed to be somewhere around that station.  And that led me to stumble upon another amazing find: Underground Atlanta, see picture below.

It’s a retail-entertainment complex that is located on a couple different levels below the city streets of downtown.  In many ways, the layout of the shops and its food court reminded me very much of Navy Pier.  Sure enough, I found the Alamo Flags store, as well as an Atlanta snow globe, and some dinner at the food court, which I took back to the hotel, and enjoyed while watching a talk show of mine on cable.

The next day, Sunday, during breakfast, I watched the live coverage of General Beauregard Lee’s annual appearance.  He’s the famous local groundhog, and he predicted an early start to spring.

Then I went to Church at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, just north of my hotel, before heading to the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) (see picture directly above).    After a few hours at conference proceedings, I stepped back to the hotel before the ECP reception later in the evening.  While walking back, I passed through the Centennial Olympic Park (see second picture below), with its Fountain of Rings (see directly below).

I also took in the view of Atlanta skyline, and a large Ferris wheel that was all lit up.  And I enjoyed the lovely mild weather that evening (see below), with temperatures in the 60s, after it had reached 74 earlier that day, which broke the high temperature record of 72.  (You know, I’ve never really had a strong desire to escape a Chicago-style winter in my life.  But this was nice.  I didn’t need a Cancun-style escape.  That night in Atlanta was enough.)

Look Mom (and everyone else), it's the start of February, and I don't need to wear a jacket, much less a heavy winter coat!

The next day, I had some time for sightseeing, as my bus wasn’t scheduled to leave until the early evening.  So after I checked out, I got on MARTA, and went east to the King Memorial Station, disembarked, and then walked about 10-15 minutes to the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, which incorporates a number of sites in a neighborhood along Auburn Avenue NE. 

After my visit there, I went back to the MARTA, and rode it to that mouthful name of a stop by the CNN Center to join Valparaiso University meteorology students, faculty, and alumni for lunch, graciously provided by the College of Arts and Sciences, at McCormick and Schmick’s.  It is customary for the department to arrange a lunch for current students and alumni who attend the AMS meeting.  We had for our choosing, three items from their menu (see second picture below); I had the grilled chicken sandwich.  It was great spending some time with meteorology students I know well from my days at ValpU.

Here's the ValpU meteorology group inside the restaurant

Once lunch was over, I got back on MARTA and rode it to the Georgia State station, and then walked the short distance to the Georgia State Capitol.

This was the first time I had made a first-time visit to a state capitol on a day of the state legislature’s session.  By the time I got there in the afternoon, the session had adjourned for the day, but there was still plenty of activity, with lobbyists and legislators milling about.  I walked around, looking at the statues, artwork, and busts of famous Georgians, the architectural features, and the state museum displays on the fourth floor (such as the one with the various state symbols in the picture directly below).  I also looked inside the House and Senate Chambers, since the two bodies had adjourned their sessions for the day.

When I stepped into the House Chamber, I was greeted by a friendly woman named Donna, one of two Assistant House Doorkeepers.  She showed me around the chamber and shared a little bit about the workings of the Georgia General Assembly.  She also introduced me to Henry Howard, Representative for Georgia’s 124^th House District, based in Augusta.  Donna and I also got to chatting about things in Atlanta and Georgia.  When she found out I was in town for the AMS meeting, she asked if I was going to be on the Governor’s new task force in response to the wintry weather disaster the week before.

Donna took this picture of me in front of the podium in the House chamber

Then I went to look around at the grounds outside, and took note of some of the state government buildings surround the Capitol.  Subsequently, I walked over to the Five Points station to make a quick jog up to Midtown to get a peek inside the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank’s museum.  The museum had some exhibits on money, and large glass windows that gave views of the vaults and cash-processing areas.

With that, I headed back to the hotel to get my luggage, and then made my way onto MARTA for the last time, back to the Garnett station and then to the Greyhound station.  By 5:30, the bus was loaded—at full capacity, which wasn’t always the case on all the legs of either journey—and made its way out of downtown Atlanta, bound north for Chicago.  While we headed out, I got to experience Atlanta-style rush hour traffic (see this picture below).

I also admired the setting sun as we headed out of the Atlanta Metro Area and through northern Georgia.

So that's the way it was, another trip for me, this time into the great Southern locale of Atlanta, which rose from ashes to become a major city again.  This was a valuable chance to the see the world from new perspectives:  I gained them from interacting with meteorology professionals about their work in the field.  I garnered them from the people who call the Atlanta area home.  I experienced it in the southern-style February weather.  And I saw it at the sites I visited, through the eyes of those who went from Atlanta onto the world stage to make a lasting impact, which surely have an impact on me as I go forth in life.

A Celebration of Enrichment

To celebrate Black History Month and the Black members of the community, Ascension Parish held a special Black History Month liturgy at the 11 AM Mass, on Sunday, February 16.

Deacon Lendell Richardson was the homilist, and he spoke well on the occasion at hand as well as the themes of the readings for that Sunday.  God has given us His Law, and the choice to choose good or evil, life or death.  He gives us free will, which we can use to bring God's light into a world of darkness.  He laid out what that darkness is, describing the unfortunate circumstances of African-Americans in present-day US society.  Deacon Lendell also spoke to the dream that Dr. King had.  And by heeding our baptismal call, and abiding in God, He can turn the present nightmares into the realizing of our dreams for a better world.  Furthermore, we obey not the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law, which is its true essence for the making of that better world.

Deacon Lendell quoted pieces of Dr. King's "Mountaintop" speech, remarking that we have been to the mountaintop, having caught glimpses of God's glory in various moments in our life of worship and service as a Church, as God establishes His Kingdom through us.

The choir also sang some special songs with African tune influence.  When the soloist, Pat, started singing the song after communion, I was struck when I heard the lyrics speaking to how we can thank God for what He has done for us--"thanking God", which is what Eucharist means.

After Mass, in the Pine Room, there was a reception and brief presentation with remarks by various people who contributed to the celebration.  Lynn Allen, director of the District 97 Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) at Percy Julian Middle School, also gave a short presentation.  She had brought a large sampling of items from the MRC's collections (covering many cultural groups), including pieces from Africa, the era of slavery, and African-American history since Emancipation.  She spent a few minutes sharing highlights from the collections, which included items from traditional African villages (like furniture with intricate artistic carvings), instruments, slave shackles, cotton, and posters of people from the Civil Rights Movement.  It was all so fascinating.

So far as I know, this is the first time I've participated in this Black History Month celebration at Ascension.  I'm glad I had the opportunity this day, because it's a great celebration of Africans and African-Americans.  And it's not only about celebrating their history and culture, but the place they have in our own community, in Oak Park and at Ascension.  They bring their own sense of spirit and life, to enrich our sense of family in the community.

Closing Thoughts on Sochi

I just finished watching the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.  It was another incredible display of culture, showcasing Russian art, architecture, and music.  It was interesting to have the Valentina and Yugi characters come in, a tribute to two cosmonauts.  The South Korean culture display was also well-done.

I also liked the "retro" music that played as the athletes came out.  And I felt the rendition of the Russian national anthem with all the young people was better than with the homogeneous male-voiced choir during the Opening Ceremony.  I do wonder why the Olympic Anthem wasn't performed along with the Russian and South Korean national anthems.

And what a nice touch to celebrate a "New Spring" at the end with all the flowery pollen filling the stadium as a celebratory note to end a collection of 17 days and all the spirited athleticism that occurred during them, and the showcasing moments of the best of humanity.

Looking forward to Rio de Janiero 2016 and PyeonChang 2018, (and Tokyo 2020, too, and the 2022 Winter Olympics site) and all they have to offer.

Science Sensations

I spent a Saturday afternoon with science on February 15, when I went to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Chicago to see the exhibits at the 2014 AAAS Annual Meeting.  I had been looking around at science related things online when I stumbled upon the meeting website and found out it was being held in Chicago.  I primarily went there to see the exhibits that were open free of charge to the public, including the science displays that were part of the Family Science Days.

After getting my badge, I headed down into the lower levels of the Hyatt.  I wound my way around the exhibits, and then into the posters.  I stopped to take a closer look at a poster by a graduate student from Arizona State University that examined the reasons for skepticism on global climate change.

Then, I headed into the Family Science Days area, where I met up with Mike Mogil at the table for How the Weatherworks.  I met Mike at the 2013 AMS Annual Meeting in Austin.  His company has as its mission telling people, especially students, how the weather works, as its name suggests.  He's very involved in efforts like summer weather camps and fun weather demonstrations.  I spoke with him briefly at the table, and spent a while watching him run his demonstrations for the kids that stopped by.  He showed them how raindrops form through using little bubbles on pieces of wax paper and ping pong balls and a wind machine--at least, that's what he called it: most others would refer to it as a hair dryer.

A little later, he held a science demonstration on the stage for Family Science Days, in front of a larger audience.  He did some of the same demonstrations on stage, but he started off with a demonstration that had a very astute conclusion.  He took three cups, and poured water into each.  He then poured the cup out on a volunteer from the audience standing under an umbrella.  Each time, he asked the audience for what chance in percentage it would rain on the person.  The first time, everyone said 100%, figuring the water put into the cup would fall right out.  And that's what happened.  But the second time he did it, after the audience said 100% chance, Mike poured the cup, and nothing came out.  The third time it happened, it was a 50-50 chance, as it could rain water or not.  When Mike poured the cup, powdery snow came out.

All of this was to demonstrate that meteorology is a hard science because meteorologists really don't know what's in the atmosphere, as they try to determine what the weather is going to be like.  While Mike admitted that he cheated for the purposes of his demonstration, by putting chemicals into the cups to absorb the water, and change it to snow in the other, in reality, there's so much going on in the atmosphere, and it's no easy task trying to figure out what's really going on.  Maybe that's why one of my professors remarked that meteorology is actually harder than rocket science.  So meteorologists work with the tools they have to determine what's going on up in the sky, which sometimes works out well, and sometimes doesn't.

I then wandered over to the Argonne National Laboratory table, which had a tornado chamber, simulating the funnel formation.  It was actually made by the daughter of a meteorologist who works at Argonne, and who happens to be the brother-in-law of one of my dad's bosses.  It reminded me of the tornado machine the ValpU meteorology department has in the Weather Center in Kallay-Christopher Hall.

Next to the Argonne table was the Museum of Science and Industry, which had a 3D printer on display.  This is a printer that uses a wax-type material to recreate an object that is designed on a computer.  This is certainly an interesting piece of up-and-coming technology.

After stopping by the NIU STEM Outreach table, the last thing I stopped at was the NIST booth.  Before going there, the only thing I knew about the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) was that the atomic clock I have in my bedroom receives its time display from a signal from the NIST's facility in Colorado.  The man at the table explained to me how that facility in Fort Collins re-broadcasts a signal sent out from an International Standards facility in Paris, which is measuring the vibrations of an atom of cesium, which occurs about once a second, and is used as the most accurate way to measure time.  He then went on to tell me how scientists are working to measure a second even more precisely, which can help make length measurements more accurate, which is important when an army is launching air strikes, or astronomers are determining the location of something in outer space, light years away.

Then, he explained to me some of the other things the NIST does, which I wasn't aware of.  They develop standard samples for things like DNA testing, food products, and bullets.  For example, if a company is seeking to produce 2% milk, to ensure that their machines are producing milk that has 2% fat, instead of 4%, they get a standard sample from the NIST, and run it through their equipment.  If the machinery produces 2% milk from the sample, then they can be sure it will produce 2% milk from anything run through it.

I was so fascinated hearing about what the NIST does, and I probably spent 10-20 minutes at that table soaking in all this information.

What an afternoon it was having some fun in the world of science.  As a person who studied science in college, it was great getting to meet people who do science work, and learn about all different parts of this broad field of study, and how it all fits into our lives in many relevant ways.

A Weatherperson of Note

February 5 is National Weatherperson's Day, celebrating the work that meteorologists do in the United States.  It is timed to be on the birthday of John Jeffries, who was an early weather observer in the United States.

Notably, it comes just days before February 9, the day in 1870 when the US Weather Bureau was established.

On this occasion, I'd like to recognize the work of a certain weatherperson: Jim Allsopp.  At the end of November 2013, Jim retired as Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service Chicagoland Forecast Office in Romeoville, IL.  In addition to his work of disemminating alerts from the office, he spent much time with at public events, training spotters, and doing other outreach, like at the Fermilab Severe Weather Seminar.

I was fortunate to meet Jim one Saturday in July 2004.  A couple of weeks earlier, while listening to my NOAA weather radio, I heard an announcement about a weather workshop for middle schoolers.  I jumped at the chance, and signed up.

Jim led the workshop, giving us a tour of the office, giving us an inside look at the process of forecasting weather, and even giving us the opportunity to issue a fake weather warning, along with other activities.  It was a delight to have this chance to channel my interest in meteorology.

Thank you so much Jim for your work at the office and getting the general public, including youngsters, involved in the world of weather.

P.S. You can read more about Jim on page 30 of the Winter 2013 edition of Weather Currents, the Chicago WFO's newsletter: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/lot/newsletter/winter2013.pdf

Musings on St. Louis

This weekend, St. Louis had a big birthday bash marking 250 years since it was founded by two French men, Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau, on February 15, 1764, near the confluence of the Missouri River into the Mississippi River.  In those years, it has played an important role in the development of the United States, especially as Gateway to the West, commemorated by the Gateway Arch.  And let's not forget about its serving as the first North American site of the Olympic Games in 1904, and all those good eats that came out of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition/World's Fair held there at the same time.

I have memories of St. Louis stretching back to my earliest years.  My Dad often went there for business, and there were some times when the rest of our foursome would head down to St. Louis to join him.  We also went there on one summer vacation.

I remember being a little nervous going up in the elevator to the top of the Gateway Arch, but getting quite a view once there.  We also toured the Old Courthouse, and ambled around all the shops at the Historic Union Station.

And I remember the one time we went inside the Regal Hotel, now known at the Millennium, which apparently just closed, according to Wikipedia, which appears to the south of the Arch in pictures of the St. Louis skyline from across the Mississippi River in Southwest Illinois.  We went all the way to the top, where there was a restaurant and 360-degree views.  (It was also there that I first encountered a piano that was programmed to play by itself, which puzzled me as a young child.)

Most recently, I passed through St. Louis while riding Amtrak's Texas Eagle line from Chicago to Austin and back for the 2013 AMS Annual Meeting.  The train traveled along tracks that gave us clear views straight at the city's skyline from the opposite side of the riverbank.

Here's to the fine city of St. Louis on its 250 years.

Here are a couple of different pictures I got of the St. Louis skyline while I was riding Amtrak's Texas Eagle train out of St. Louis, bound for Chicago, back on the morning of January 11, 2013.  Notice in the picture above the shadow of the Gateway Arch on the building behind its right side according to this photo's perspective.