The drive today was nice. We got to see quite a few Amish people around Harmony, MN. That was quite fascinating. I wonder, have they always been 100 years behind technology, or did they pick a random year (?1885?) to stop updating their life. At some point, they had to embrace horse and buggy technology, etc... Why not new technologies?
Marci and I thought the city of Dubuque, Iowa was pretty cool. We stopped for lunch there and I especially liked the brick buildings. I did not see one single law enforcement car throughout the State of Iowa.We arrived at Grandma Sissy's house in Morrison, Illinois around mid-afternoon. The family put on a nice spread and we had as many people from the west side of the country as we did from Illinois. Sissy's new house is nice and the kids had fun playing with cousins.
The family had ice cream at DQ and then the kids caught fireflies with cousin Evan. Thanks, Uncle Dave, for the jar with holes punched in the lid. The grand pop-up trailer is proudly perched in Aunt Barb and Uncle Dave's back yard. Aunt Barb and Evan will camp out in the back yard with us in their own pop-up. We will enjoy several days here in Morrison and I might even be able to squeeze in a little fishing.
Random Thoughts:
I was surprised at all of the oil wells in northern Wyoming and all of the wind power generators in southern Minnesota.
Sam wants to know if fireflies swallowed gas or something? I didn't know the answer to that question. Does anybody out there know?
Quality of gasoline varies greatly from state to state, or company to company, and Pontiac mini-vans are very picky with what you feed it.
When you order a double Americano in a coffee shop in Iowa, they think that you want 4 shots of espresso. And I thought Illinois was closer to Italy than Colville.
3 comments:
Guess its a good thing there was no law enforcement in Iowa with that quad Americano under your belt. LOL
Interesting thoughts on the Amish... I think you should pull one of those buggies over and quiz them on the way back. LOL
As for fireflies... no idea... Seems like Go Diego Go or Dora may have answered this question at some point but the answer escapes me at the moment! ;)
Love following your Brent-Marci Expedition. I swear, it's the modern day Lewis & Clark! Bob and Max did the 3 days (one hour) drive from NYC to Seattle in early June ... the pix are hilarious! Yes, they went to Wall Drug, but didn't go through Iowa. I spent time in Sioux City a number of years ago; all I know is they only had one "latte" place and they served them in Styrofoam cups! Aren't we the west coast coffee snobs ? :-). Have a great time, as you already are! XO Sue Fruase
Fireflies:
Light production in fireflies (or in Ella terms "Blue Tailed Float Bugs") is due to a type of chemical reaction called bioluminescence.
There are several theories on how fireflies control the "on" and "off" of their photic organs. However, the exact mechanism(s) has yet to be worked out. The "Oxygen Control Theory" is based on the firefly turning on and off its light by controlling the oxygen supply to the photic organ for use in the chemical reaction. The "Neural Activation Theory" hypothesizes that fireflies have neural control of structures called "tracheal end cells" which, upon stimulation, may release a messenger molecule in the photic organ which initiates the activation of the chemical reaction. Regardless of how fireflies control the "on" and "off" of their bioluminescence, the production of light in the above manner is very efficient, with very little heat being given off as wasted energy.
Imagine what would happen if the beetle got as warm as a light bulb!
Fireflies are not really "flies" as we know them, but are beetles. "Flies" have one pair of wings (like houseflies) while all other winged insects have two pairs of wings, or, four wings altogether.
Gotta love the internet. I learned a ton about our friendly fireflies!
Great job with the Blog! Gives me something to look forward to on my lunch every day!
~Fricke
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