2011.10.20 07:00 - Zanesville and Chernobyl

The Guardian for this meeting was Storm Nordwind. The comments are by Storm Nordwind.

Storm Nordwind: Susan, good morning!
iwandertoo Resident: waves :)
Storm Nordwind: It is quiet in the pavilion this morning. And it seems the first winter ice has formed on the pool. :)
iwandertoo Resident: :)
Storm Nordwind: Good morning Dash
iwandertoo Resident: Hi Dash
Dash Earthboy: hey Storm, Hey Susan
--BELL--
Dash Earthboy: namaste y'all
iwandertoo Resident: waves
Storm Nordwind: Hello Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: Hey, Storm and Susan.

Zanesville.

Bruce Mowbray: hope I didn't scare her off.
Storm Nordwind: Your tiger might be seen as scary
Bruce Mowbray: or perhaps the fish.
Storm Nordwind: A pirana?
Bruce Mowbray: The tiger shirt is in memorium for all the animals that were killed in Ohio yesterday.
Storm Nordwind is not a fan of zoos
Bruce Mowbray: me neither. . . but three tigers and three other animals did make it to the Columbus Zoo - -
Bruce Mowbray: which, I suppose, is preferable to being murdered.

Chernobyl.

Bruce Mowbray: Did you by any chance see the PBS show last night ("Nature") that featured Chernobyl?
Storm Nordwind: Is that this "television" thing I keep hearing about?
Bruce Mowbray: mmm. . . . don't know. . . but . . .
Storm Nordwind: Perhaps you could describe it?
Bruce Mowbray: 25 years after the meltdown. . .
Bruce Mowbray: scientists are studying the effects upon wildlife in that area.
Storm Nordwind: Ah I see. And what have they seen?

Comeback.

Bruce Mowbray: It is absolutely amazing and wonderful that so many species are making a come-back.
Bruce Mowbray: especially wolves.
--BELL--
Bruce Mowbray: but also, bison, moose, hawks, beaver - - - all of the animals that humans either killed or scared away.
Storm Nordwind: And they are coping with the residual radiation?
Bruce Mowbray: yes, apparently very well.
Bruce Mowbray: the radiation is confined to the graound/soil
Bruce Mowbray: so they are also studying plant life. . .
Bruce Mowbray: and are taking lots of samples of fur, feathers, etc.
Bruce Mowbray: to see if ingesting plants might pass the radiation along.
Storm Nordwind: The normal thing is for pollutants to become ever more concentrated as they rise up the food chain.
Bruce Mowbray: yes.
Bruce Mowbray: I was impressed by how well the researchers covered their own bodies. . .
Bruce Mowbray: not to protect themselves form radiation. . .
Storm Nordwind: They probably had a big incentive!
Bruce Mowbray: but so that they would not pass along their scent. . .
Bruce Mowbray: or anything from their own bodies (contaminating the environment).
Bruce Mowbray: there is virtually no danger unless they touch the soil -- of radiation doing harm to humans.

Dead zone.

Storm Nordwind: Are humans excluded from the area normally or is it just seen as an undesirable place?
Bruce Mowbray: Oh yes -- it is a "dead zone" to humans. . . lots of check-points, etc...
Bruce Mowbray: but certain individuals are allowed in. . . for studies . . .
Storm Nordwind: How large is this dead-zone?
Bruce Mowbray: quite large.
Bruce Mowbray: I'd have to look at maps to be sure. . .
Bruce Mowbray: perhaps 15 miles radius around the power plant. . . or maybe more.
Bruce Mowbray: I'd have to look that up.
Bruce Mowbray: The show will be re-broadcast tonight.
Bruce Mowbray: I'm going to watch it all again.

Intense.

Storm Nordwind: I remember feeling the radiation come over, when I lived in England. It was quite dramatic and intense - though thankfully shortlived.
Bruce Mowbray: OMG!

Wolves.

Bruce Mowbray: They are now saying that ythere are over 300 wolves in the area.
Storm Nordwind: Nice
Bruce Mowbray: that would have to made the dead-zone pretty large.
Bruce Mowbray: Yes,...
Storm Nordwind: Well it implies a great deal, because there has to be enough food there for that many wolves.
Bruce Mowbray: after the horrible news of the animals being killed in Ohio, it was good to have this show . . .
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, they require a large area.
Storm Nordwind: They require a lot of prey.
Bruce Mowbray: also, bison. . . and other animals that require a large grazing area...
Bruce Mowbray: They have now introduced wild horses, also...
Bruce Mowbray: to aid biodiversity.
Bruce Mowbray: Storks have come back and are nesting in fire towers.

Where to see.

Bruce Mowbray: If you received PBS "Plus" -- then it will be re-televised in your area tonight.
Storm Nordwind: Not sure. I'll check the list of channels we get.
Bruce Mowbray: cool.
Bruce Mowbray: And this show was followed by two hours of NOVA.
Bruce Mowbray: Talking about the possibilities of life elsewhere in our solar system.

Raptors.

Storm Nordwind: I wonder if the raptors have returned too.
Bruce Mowbray: Oh yes, they have!!!!!
Storm Nordwind: Nice to hear
Bruce Mowbray: There were some excellent scenes of hawks.
Bruce Mowbray: and that means there are lots of rodent populations.
Bruce Mowbray: The beavers naturalls built dams that make marshes, so there's a lot of waterfowl. . .
Bruce Mowbray: but the wolves are cutting back on the beaver population - -
Bruce Mowbray: so the marshes (made by beaver dams) are receding.
Storm Nordwind: Once more the cycles establish themselves

On target.

Bruce Mowbray: The narrator kept using the term "ironic."
Storm Nordwind: Lushness from contamination?
Bruce Mowbray: that what drives humans away is such an Eden for the animals.
--BELL--
Bruce Mowbray: that human disaster has made a great habitat for the animals.
Bruce Mowbray: Usually, post-apocalyptic visions (in movies) show vast deserts, etc. . . but this area seems to show the opposite.
Storm Nordwind: Sure. The deserts are part of the same thing that people want to save the world, but actually the world will manage very nicely without them,thank you. What they really want to do is save the world in a state that is convenient for them and with them in it! :)
Bruce Mowbray: got that one right on target, Storm.

Poem.

Bruce Mowbray: My poem for this evening's WoK group relates to this a bit -- although it's a bit of a stretch. . . still, it serves my "way of knowing..." about such things.
Bruce Mowbray: Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay"
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwJ-ppxCGPk
Bruce Mowbray: That reminds me - - - I need to send out a reminder message to the group.
Storm Nordwind smiles
Bruce Mowbray smiles back.
Bruce Mowbray: Well, then, thanks for this chat.
Bruce Mowbray: I hope you'll have a beauty-filled day.
Bruce Mowbray: bye for now.
Storm Nordwind: It always is, but thank you!
Storm Nordwind: Bye