They’re Baaaaack

It’s been a long hot summer, but Blue Bell ice cream is back in Houston area stores today. 

Super Moon

Tonight’s full moon will be what is called a Super Moon – so called because the moon is at its closest to the earth and appears larger and brighter than usual. 

But – last night’s moonrise was pretty spectacular! 

Until it was about 20 degrees above the horizon, the moon was a brilliant red, and the sky looked more like a sunset than a moonrise.  It wasn’t the Blood Moon described in scripture – that’s a month away at the end of September, but it was the reddest moon I’ve ever seen.

Dew Point

Over the past few years, TV weathermen/women/persons have followed a trend to quote the Dew Point rather than the Relative Humidity.  I think that, much like choosing a gender-neutral description for weathercasters, this is an attempt to find a gentler, less threatening, term to describe the weather, since Humidity has somehow become synonymous with excess Humidity and discomfort.

The Dew Point, put simply, is the temperature at which the Relative Humidity reaches 100%.  It is the point at which water in the atmosphere condenses as fast as it evaporates.  It’s just another way to view/express the same atmospheric condition, but apparently the PC police took time out to determine that it sounds nicer.

I found a chart to post showing the relationship between Dew Point, Humidity and Human Comfort, but comfort is subjective, and I think the chart was designed by someone from Colorado – Or, since it uses temps in Celsius, someone from Canada.  The comfort ranges were definitely not designed by anyone who grew up on the Gulf Coast.

Psychrometer

The very first scientific instrument I ever used was a psychrometer.

That may sound like a gizmo to measure mental health, but (also known as a wet/dry bulb hygrometer) it is a tool used to measure relative humidity. 

It looked something like this:

One thermometer had a sock over the bulb, and to take measurements, you would wet the sock, then swing it around by a string attached to the top.  I was probably about eight years old, and “helping” my dad in his air-conditioning business, when he let me use it for the first time.

The back of the device was a specialized slide rule used to do the actual humidity calculation.

This type of hygrometer was invented by a German scientist named Richard Assmann.  Swinging it around was fun, but a big part of the attraction for an eight-year-old boy was being able to give the humidity reading according to the Assmann scale.

Eye of the Beholder

I was reading through the posts on RV.net, and came across this photo.  The writer was doing a trip report on Capitol Reef National Park, and along with the usual photos of gorgeous scenery he posted this:

I really can’t explain the appeal, but I thought it was one of the most striking pictures I’d seen in a long time. 

The photographer framed it perfectly, bringing out the beauty in something that has probably been ignored by thousands of visitors over the years.  The truck, an old International that once served as a water drilling rig, sits abandoned and falling apart, and if you saw the whole truck, you would probably consider it ugly and a little sad.

Red Duke

Houston lost a real super-star yesterday – not some sports figure or overnight internet sensation, but a real-life hero.  Dr. James (Red) Duke passed away at the age of 86. 

A world-class surgeon and head of the trauma center, Red Duke was responsible for bringing Life Flight to Hermann Hospital in 1976, making it the first civilian hospital in the world with helicopter ambulances.

Years earlier, as a surgical resident at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, he was the first to see President Kennedy when he was brought into the ER in 1963, and he was the man in charge of treating Governor John Connally.  The Governor often said that Red Duke saved his life.

Over the years, he hosted a couple of TV series on medicine, and in 1986, a TV drama series  “Buck James” was based on his life. Unfortunately, even with Dennis Weaver in the title role, that series couldn’t live up to the real-life drama that was Red Duke.

In a statement yesterday, Dr. Giuseppe Colasurdo, president of UTHealth and dean of its medical school, said "Dr. Duke was a true pioneer — a talented and tireless surgeon, a dedicated and inspiring educator, and a friend and mentor to everyone he met. He never sought to be a leader, but became one naturally through his brilliance, compassion, patience and selflessness."

I heard Red Duke stories first hand for years.  My wife ran the blood bank at Hermann when Life Flight came into being, so she interacted with the trauma center constantly.  She says all the accolades are true and well deserved, but she also remembers that Red Duke had the gift of remembering everyone’s name and would ask about them and their families when they met in the hall.  He treated everyone like a friend.

Tuesday, Wednesday……