A recent list of amazing things and events

I've taken a break because I'm still searching for the focused purpose of this blog.

Right now, I have two things to share. One is an extremely well written and well-expressed account of a bicycle trip taken by two young, twenty-somethings who are friends of my daughter's. If you want to read about two young men taking an adventure and sharing it with stories, pictures and personal reflections, check out, Good Times, Bike Times by Tomas Bielskis and Daumantas Mockus.

As I am determined to blog about mostly things that aren't related to exploring the Solar System, I'd like to briefly comment about a book that I just finished. Entitled Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, it is about a mountaineer who attempted to climb K2 in the Korakoram mountain range in Pakistan, almost died, and was nursed back to life by people in a village called Korphe. The relationships he developed with the villagers resulted in his committment to provide basic needs and schools for children, especially girls in 90 villages across Pakistan and into Afganistan. His fund-raising efforts have come from donations mostly from individuals. The story is truly amazing. This book was on the best seller list for 120 weeks in 2007, but I just came upon it through my Concord Academy book club. In his own way, Mortenson and his friends in Pakistan have been on a mission for peace that is more effective than any counter terrorism efforts any government can put into effect. It is a truly awesome story, one that makes me painfully aware that there are millions of people whose basic needs of clean water, shelter, food and the security are not available and hence they cannot realize their full potential as human beings. There is way too much suffering in the World. I'm still processing the book and its many dimensions.