It may be that our cosmic curiosity…is a genetically-encoded force that we illuminate when we look up and wonder.
~ Neil deGrasse Tyson ~
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Brontology is the study of thunder. If I had ever seen or heard the word, before this morning, I had forgotten it—until a short while ago, when I conducted a cursory search of the internet to refresh my memory about what causes thunder. According to people who claim expertise in the matter, thunder is caused by lightning, which heats the air around the electrical discharge, causing the air to rapidly expand and contract. The temperature of that super-heated air can reach up to 54,000°F, five times hotter than the surface of the sun. The different characteristics of sounds we hear (loud cracks, dull rumbles, etc.) result from atmospheric conditions, distance from the lightning source, and other factors such as sound waves bending around (or being absorbed by or bouncing off) objects in the path of the waves.
Despite the scientific explanations of the sources of thunder and the reasons thunder can sound very different from moment to moment, that celestial noise leaves me awestruck when I hear it. And those explanations do not even address the process by which lightning, the source of thunder, takes place. The sight of jagged fingers of brilliant blue light leaves me equally as spellbound as, if not more so than, the sounds that accompany those massive sparks in the sky. Incidentally, those electrical discharges take place between clouds, within clouds, or between clouds and the ground. Why does lightning take different paths? I imagine the answer lies in “paths of least resistance,” but I did not get that far in my exploration. Why did this topic enter my head this morning? It probably had something to do with my memory, recorded in yesterday’s post, of fulgurite. Petrified lightning and blackened and broken tree trunks are among the few pieces of physical evidence remaining after lightning has bathed the sky in blue light. Why blue? That may be a subject for another episode of curiosity.
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Once again, I went to bed quite early last night. I felt mildly out of sorts, physically, and thought more sleep might help. Just moments after getting in bed, though, a wave of nausea suddenly overcame me. Fortunately, I was able to rush into the bathroom before it unleashed its unpleasantness. I do not remember dealing with nausea during my first round of chemotherapy six years ago, nor did it affect me during the first six months or so of chemo sessions this time around. Different restorative poisons, an older patient, and a weaker body might explain, in part, the changed experience this time. Not that it matters. I’m not sure why I occasionally feel compelled to document the unappealing experiences of cancer treatment; maybe just so they will jog my memory some time in the future.
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There was a time, not too many years ago, when the music of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, The Killers, and Stone Temple Pilots (alternative rock or grunge) held no interest for me. Over time, though, my tastes have broadened to include a substantial number of tunes from those bands. I think the expansion of my musical interests took place in response to hearing more of those groups’ music, thanks to Sirius/XM radio, in my car. Today, I’m just as likely to like music by Red Clay Strays as I am to enjoy old Gordon Lightfoot tunes. And, of course, I still enjoy classic folk, rock, classical, and various other genres. But the crossover between genres is making it increasingly difficult to characterize where tunes fall along the musical spectrum.
If my musical preferences can be classified by what I listen to on Amazon Music, my musical tastes are eclectic, with favor given to what Amazon calls Alternative and Alternative Folk, both of which seem to be more recent sounds. Though I am quite fond of some music I first heard during my high school and college years, much of the seventies sound has long since left me cold. A number of members of my high school graduating class, who are planning a 53-year reunion (a 50-year reunion was not held), are asking prospective attendees to supply a list of dance tunes from our time in high school; the list is to be given to a DJ hired to provide entertainment. If I had been waffling about whether to attend that event, the idea that I would be expected to dance the night away to music I do not particularly like has cemented my decision not to go. I have not attended any reunions since I graduated, nor have I attempted to stay in touch with any of my classmates. There’s no reason to start now. Sitting at home, listening to music I really enjoy, is much more appealing to me.
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