I had a great time in Madagascar, but since I have been home I have been waiting to schedule a hip replacement. I now have a date in the beginning of April. I did Ok in Madagascar, but that was aided by a cortisone shot before the trip. I have known for a couple of years that eventually I would have to take some time off in order to get surgery. To pass the time, I have been sitting at home looking at old photos of travel and watching a lot of television. I haven’t taken many photos since my return. If you go back to my very first post, I said the simple goal of this website was “To remain relevant while having a positive influence on people and creatures that share this truly awesome planet.” Maybe it is not such a simple goal after all, and I can’t say without reservation that I have achieved it, but I am still trying. Even though it has been harder this winter, the existence of this little website of mine has motivated me to keep heading toward that goal. I know I will never see it all, but that’s as it should be.
I have said in previous posts that I have been influenced by many people and while watching a random episode on one of the National Geographic Channels recently, I was impressed by someone new to me. Though it was a rerun from several years ago, the gentleman was an adventurer who despite being an amputee was still out there getting it done. Though his PhD is in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of California San Diego, he hosts shows that have more to do with archaeology. His name is Albert Lin and he was recognized as National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year for 2009. Since I had time on my hands, I wound up binge watching all I could stream on my television. I like his style and the way he involves the local people. He truly seems to be trying to bring people together and recognize that we all have more in common than what divides us. He is an educator who builds people up.
The photo above is from a show he hosted that was on the Chachapoya people, a pre-Inca civilization in northern Peru I had never heard of before the show. As you can see, I was multitasking by looking at the current edition of our state wildlife magazine (Wildlife conservation has been a life-long interest.) as I heard one of the community elders say (I believe in response to one of Albert’s questions) that he felt proud to learn new things about the people he recognized were his ancestors. I didn’t know this when I was traveling in Peru in 2017, but it turns out that DNA analysis shows I have a little bit of Peruvian ancestry. Like many people in the USA who can trace their ancestors back several generations, I have genes that come from all over the world.
One of my grandsons (who soon will be ten) says he wants to be an archaeologist someday and he credits Indiana Jones for his interest. Last Halloween, my grandson dressed up as Indiana Jones. I found it interesting that Albert Lin also credits the same iconic figure for his interest in the subject, but he has added his stamp to the field by using modern technology to further the research of archaeologists today. As a former science teacher, I appreciate Lin’s modern approach. Watching him travel the world motivated me to go through my photos, looking for photos that I have taken over the years of old, man-made, structures from way before my time. I started by looking at photos of the trip to Peru in 2017 that I took with my wife, but that led me to looking at other archives. To see some photos that I found, click here.
I plan to go to South America this summer if all goes well. I am certainly looking toward the future, but right now all I have been able to do with any success is look through my photos from the past.
Imagine how less wondrous things might be if you didn’t feel like there was a world of adventure and discovery beyond your building or the streets of your city?
– Albert Lin from one of the National Geographic website pages.