Geology

 I've been musing on geology. Since spring, Monty and I have sailed up the Chesapeake Bay, down the Delaware Bay, through the Cape Cod Canal, and up to Maine a few times.... and are now in Cape Cod again. I grew up sailing Cape Cod and thought that a loose mix of rock... from silt to sand to gravel to house-sized boulders... was normal; but it is simply the result of a glacier scraping a huge pile of debris ahead of it and leaving it as it retreated. We call this heap of debris Cape Cod.

This was driven home to me as I sailed and, especially, anchored in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay. Everything there has been washed down slow rivers and particles range in size from silt to sand, so any larger rocks are rare, brought in by people. Ironically, this is the only place that I've ever snagged a boulder with my anchor, clearly one shipped in as ballast in a ship or for part of a breakwater. 

And up in Maine we have the remains of rock after the giant glaciers scraped over it leaving smooth surfaces or weathered surfaces where the rock has crumbled since the glaciers departed. 

And the weathering has produced rocks and sand since the glaciers departed. I love seeing different patterns in the metamorphic or igneous rock, 

some looking like wood grain, 

even some mica crystals flashing in the sun, remnants of bits of rock that cooled slowly and formed large crystals. Here I am pointing out the edge of the largest mica crystal I've found:

My son, Cody, and his partner, Katrina, have been traveling around the country and creating a video blog of their adventures and misadventures. You can google "Second Nature", I think, or watch them on youtube at https://youtube.com/channel/UCOeSUYMdZjpDBllr2KS0C8Q. I'm sure they will have one that shows them sailing with me up in Maine...

So, what next? I am waiting for Lucy to recover from surgery and get her stitches removed, then Cynthia and I plan to head south, assuming weather cooperates. We may stop in to the Chesapeake or at Cape Lookout in NC or may make it all the way to FL. Then time for me to visit CA, then off to the Bahamas or Virgins....

Stay well, my friends!