In 2009 I had an extraordinary experience, one of the most enlightening of my life (on Earth :-) ). As an Architect I have always been good with spatial scale, and as I flew above and along a major glacier flowing down from Mt. McKinley, Alaska, I noticed the glaciers vertical shrinkage, evidenced by the bare marginal scars on each side of the constraining rocky slopes and just above the current glacial surface. I noticed huge boulders left behind which gave me a sense of scale, and I commented to the pilot that the vertical margins appeared to be 40 or 50 feet high. No, he said. They are 400 feet high! That shocking realization was confirmed again and again in Alaska. What I thought was 5 miles away was 50, a factoring that held true for many situations. The vastness, the immensity, made it easy to see how one could readily miscalculate and endanger, not only their location, but their very life. In retrospect, at best, I was luke-warm about even going to Alaska. So, I have to thank my wife for the prodding and hard groundwork enabling that trip for us. It allowed a correction to my perception which showed me that I dont know jack about spatial scale, and just how circumscribed my spatial perceptions really were. It is an experience and realization forever valuable and worthwhile. Thank you, Shirley.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 17:12:41 +0000
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