Energy Solutions

As I was restlessly trying to sleep this morning, I started having those annoying thought patterns I get when I am sick. Maybe you do this too when you are sick. Some particular cause or problem will get on your mind and you just roll it over and around until you are even sicker and just want to go to sleep again but can't. When you do go to sleep you end up dreaming of this same issue and in general get no rest.

I was thinking about how gasoline has gone up so much in recent days with all that is going on in Libia and Egypt. I heard yesterday that if Saudi Arabia fell the same way, we would have $7 per gallon gasoline. I realized if that happened we would face a very different world. Airplanes would probably cease to fly because nobody could afford it. Only Al Gore could afford to drive his SUV. Most of us would have to start looking at public transportation options, but we as Americans have few of these in most places.

I then thought of a CSX railway commercial that proclaims they can move a ton of freight almost 500 miles on one gallon of diesel fuel. How ironic I thought that the riders on the Information super highway may end up looking back at the Iron Horse for delivery from this mess. I recalled a focus that Obama has on high speed rail in this country. It seemed like a viable idea. Of course people are not freight, but break it down in weight and we should be able to get least 4 people nearly 500 miles on a gallon of fuel. We may even be able to get 8 or 16 people that far if we could just get rid of those darn Happy Meals that are blamed for making americans obese.

I then wondered why Japan, China, France and so many other 1st world nations have high speed rail and we don't. At this point a light bulb came on in my mind and I knew the answer. Americans love FREEDOM and PRICACY as well as CONVENIENCE. The mass transit systems of other countries do not offer either of these to the level that americans would be comfortable with. Then I thought about the possibility of "Pod" cars that either hook up or ride on a train for general travel then become detached for that freedom we all seem to enjoy so much. Of course that would not allow stopping on a whim to see a giant ball of rubber bands or a field of Cadilacs planted on end in the ground. It would also mean all of those restaurants and motels at every exit on the interstate would suffer economic ruin. This in itself may be the Happy Meal solution.

At any rate, I think high speed trains are a great idea we need to pursue as a country, but they are not the only answer. I wonder where we will get the money to afford high speed rail implementation. If it would be profitable, why has not a private company tried to go with high speed rail service. I think we like our privacy, freedom and convenience so much that another answer will have to be found. Whatever the answer, oil has to not be the fuel for it. We need to develope viable electric cars that can be recharged by the sun or outlets. We need to find was to capture energy that is currently wasted. Did you ever wonder how trains are able to slow down or stop without burning their brakes out? The answer to that could in fact be the answer to some of our energy problems.

Trains are actually propelled by electricity. Diesel motors generate that electricity. When trains need to stop or slow down, they convert the propulsion of the engines into braking by converting the engines to generators. These generators require much force to generate electricity just like the engines need much force to propell the train. The generators of course generate electricity in stopping or slowing the train much the same way hybrid cars do but on a much larger scale. This electric energy is radiated off as heat of using panels atop the engine vehicle.These train engines generate enough energy to run a small town but it is wasted. This is one area to both capture wasted energy and provide income to the railways.

Suppose this energy was stored in batteries that were off loaded periodically to "service" stations for electric cars and depleted batteries were loaded back on for recharging. People driving electric vehicles would then lease batteries from the railways to power their electric cars, while paying a fee to change depleted batteries for charged ones. Refuling your car would be a simple stop to quickly change out your batteries and pay your fee just as you do now for gasoline. The highway taxes could be added on to the fee just as it is now to each gallon of gasoline.

NOW...do you see why I was so restless and annoyed last night? I hate being sick! I knew if I didn't put it in print I may revisit it again tonight.

Summer Camp

I spent the week of July 19th at SUMMER CAMP! Yes, you heard me correctly. I never had that opportunity growing up, so I decided to give camp counselor a try. I was a counselor at Laurel Ridge senior high Moravian youth camp. This camp is located on the continental divide in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Laurel Springs NC. Milepost 251 in the Bluffs district of the Blue Ridge Parkway is overlooked by the camp. This is the area of the Parkway where I was a ranger for a while back in 1984.

The camp is celebrating its 50th year and is indeed a treasure of a piece of property. The camp event was a spiritual treasure. Words can not describe the experience, but my faith in the future for our youth was greatly expanded. Much of the music we sang was familiar because it was Vineyard music. I had a wonderful worship experience as well as a renewing in my soul. The food was great, I met wonderful new friends and I saw young men and women making spiritual growth as they are beginning their journey into adulthood.

I have already put everyone on notice, next year I will be back if at all possible. I hope to take Mackenzie with me to experience this wonderful place. If you are looking a great place for your young person to camp next summer, I highly recommend it. Google Laurel Ridge Moravian Camp.

July Bee Week

I had a great bee themed week the week of July 4th. I started out by speaking to the Watauga County Beekeepers at their monthly club meeting in Boone NC. I spoke about natural beekeeping and using natural comb instead of foundation. It was very well received. I am glad to see so many beekeepers beginning to try and stay away from chemicals in their operations.

I next visited the Honeybee Garden at the NC Zoo in Asheboro. I had not visited this exhibit because it is so far away and made time to do so. NC beekeepers played a huge role in getting this exhibit placed at the zoo. At first I was taken back by it because I was under the impression it was to be a million dollar exhibit. I remarked, "This is not worth a million dollars. What I am looking at is about a $100,000.00 exhibit." I later learned that the million dollar exhibit had been scaled down to $180,000.00 and I felt much better about it. The exhibit is worth that and is very nicely done.

I ended up the week at the NC State Beekeepers Association Summer meeting in Salisbury NC. There I was elected a director of the association representing the Western NC region. A proposal was adopted which will bring about a honey standard in NC which is enforceable. It requires truth in labeling and will end the practice of labeling other honey as Sourwood honey or honey added to high fructose corn syrup as being honey. This standard has been turned over to the NC department of agriculture for tweaking, but I look forward to the standard being applied to honey sold in NC soon.

Sourwood Season was Sour Indeed

For all of you patient folks that waited another long year for Sourwood honey, after the failure of the 2008 crop, I have more bad news! There is no Sourwood honey again in 2009. Of course you can always find plenty of honey that is labeled Sourwood but no matter how much you hope and how much you spend, it will not be real Sourwood honey.

Last year the drought made Sourwood almost non-existent and what little was made in a few isolated pockets was quickly sold to friends and co-workers. This year, was full of promise due to all the spring rain and the weather turning dryer and hot as the Sourwood trees began to bloom. The trees did bloom but the blossoms had no nectar. It is believed that the drought last fall was so severe, as to have killed the nectar flow for the summer of 2009.

Instead of extracting gallons of this wonderful honey, I am trying to keep my bees alive by feeding them sugar. They have nothing else to eat at this point. I sure hope next year is better and that I can keep my bees alive until then.

Just you remember, there is much more Sourwood honey sold than is actually produced! Do not let yourself be a victim of a dishonest honey broker. Yes, there is no Sourwood honey this year.

A man's home is his castle...

...even if he lives in a VW bus! I know, I live in Asheville, and if there is one thing that will teach you is you have NEVER seen everything. I am amazed almost daily with some new expression, idea, contraption or invention in and about Asheville.

Last Saturday, I was on my way over to Johnson City Tn when I began to run low on fuel. I stopped at a gas station in Erwin Tn and saw this particular VW bus. It was surrounded by a party of photographers and just gawkers who were laughing and shaking their heads in amazement. The owner came out to drive away just as I was snapping my second photo. He did not seem at all amused by all of the commotion.

I wondered how anyone could come up with such a creation and not expect to attract a little attention. Notice the moat drawbridge door. I guess you just park in the creek and let the door down if you want someone to come aboard. The torch like light fixtures and the stained glass added to the atmosphere, but what really topped it off was the guard tower and complete simulated rock facade. All he needed was a dragon to complete the effect. No doubt he had just come FROM Asheville and probably would end up back there.

Hot Air Balloons

As many of you know, I am interested in hot air balloons. I often have balloons landing and taking off in my yard, and I have had an association with Asheville Hot Air Balloons almost from the beginning. The company was originally Mount Pisgah Balloons and the owners, David and Erma Woods, were good friends. David trained up an apprentice, Danny Smith, and sold him the company when he got too sick to continue. Danny partnered with a high school classmate of mine, Rick Bowers, and the two have continued the very successful business with a great partnership. The name has changed, but the values of the company to provide an excellent and safe experience have continued. I have been on a number of free flights, and have assisted with chasing duties when they have needed it. I promised Rick to assist this month, as the leaf season is here and they have been having capacity flights. I did assist yesterday and today with some great flights. This morning's flight was a record of sorts for me. We put up 7 balloons and the meeting place, Mountain Java, was full to capacity when Rick and I arrived with the two 15 passenger vans. They all were wide eyed with excitement and did not seem to mind that we were gathering before the sun was even up. By the time we got to the launch area, most of the balloons were up ready for take off, or pretty far along in the process. I had easy duty today, as I only had to drive passengers, chase, and help land the balloon then pack it up with a final shuttle to the coffee shop. What a beautiful day to fly! I enjoyed it and due to my duties, had the unusual opportunity to actually take a couple of photos during the morning. I thought I would share a few here. If you are interested in a unique experience, you need to check out www.ashevillehotairballoons.com

The Right Stuff

I was just looking at some photos of space and the space program. Some of the photos included the Apollo program and moon landing. I realized that next July it will be 40 years since we first visited that world and it brought back some memories I would like to share.

I was an excited child of only 10 years old enjoying my summer vacation from school on July 20, 1969. I was excited because I had a fascination with space travel and the possibility of visiting other worlds. I had enjoyed the biographical section of the school library reading about early explorers in this world. I imagined what it must have been like to "boldly go where no man has gone before" as I watched Star Trek or Lost In Space. I even enjoyed reading or television about ocean diving. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea fascinated me for this reason. I also enjoyed fictional books about space travel as I imagined doing so myself. Now, in a few minutes, I was going to actually get to See someone step onto the surface of a new world.

I had anticipated this for days as the crew of Apollo 11 were launched toward their destination from Cape Kennedy in Florida. Speculation that they would land on the surface of this unexplored world and sink deep into the dry dust of it caused me concern for the astronauts. How did they know they would not bounce off of the moon and fly out into space, or some unknown force or being would not destroy them? It was real life exploration of an unknown world that I had only read about before and now I was going to get to see images and hear the voices as Neil Armstrong made history for mankind.

I loved the name Neil Armstrong, it was so masculine sounding and appropriate for my young child's imagination of what an explorer should be. The other names were not as important to me, because they were not the first or the commander. I wondered at how disappointing it must have been for "Buzz" Aldrin to have to watch as someone else was allowed to step onto the moon first. I then thought about the poor sap, Michael Collins, who was circling the block in the Apollo 11 Capsule, waiting on the Eagle to return to the mother ship from the moon with his crew mates. How did he get stuck with such and unrecognized but important position. So close, yet so far. I imagined him being the guy that thinks things like "always the bridesmaid, but never the bride".

I was awakened early by my father and though I could not wait to experience this history, it was summer vacation from school and I was already used to sleeping in every morning. (I later learned this event had actually taken place after I had gone to bed the night before at 11:56pm and this was just a replay, but it was a new event in my mind) I remembered eating breakfast while listening to the T.V., something that just was not done in our household. We always turned the television off when the family gathered around the table for our meals. This day was different, because today the world's history would change forever. I could scarcely wait any longer, as I had very little patience. I wanted to cut to the chase and fast. I always saw situations resolved quickly in thirty minute television shows and this seemed to drag on and on. I finished eating and still, those astronauts were in their capsule, the Eagle, sitting on the surface of the moon. It seemed so long since the words, "The Eagle has landed" were broadcast to the universe. I remembered how quickly I jumped out of the car when we traveled across North Carolina from Asheville to Wilmington to visit my grandmother. That was only a one day trip, and I wondered if the Astronauts were as eager to get out of the "car".

Would this be the moment, I wondered, as the television announcer, Jules Bergman, described what was to happen soon. In a moment, history was happening too fast it seemed. Neil Armstrong stepped down the ladder from the Eagle. I remember the video being too grainy and hard to see. It did not help that we lived in a "shadow" of the television antenna high on top of 5700 foot mount Pisgah and never had good reception anyway. This was before cable and satellite television and we only got three channels over the air. I recall going outside to adjust the antennae while dad called instructions out the door of the house. "A little more to the right, now left, easy, there, that is perfect!" I would get in to find perfect was a relative term. Neil stepped onto the moon and made that famous statement which I heard live, "One small step for man, one giant leap for macccgghhhhttt". What did he say? It had to be mankind, but it was garbled with static at the end. I was so disappointed that the moment was not perfect. Was it our T.V., or was it the transmission from the moon? It turned out the original transmission was a bit garbled at the end, but we know he did say, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" What perfect words these were. Short concise and so true they were. What else could I expect from a man named Armstrong?

I remember watching for more T.V. footage of the activities on the moon and feeling let down, because I wanted to see more. I wanted this to last and last so I could explore with them. Then, all too soon it seemed, they got back inside the Eagle and blasted back to the Apollo capsule. I was relieved that my heroes were safely able to break free from the moon and the mission was a success so far. I imagined what questions Michael Collins must have had ready to ask Armstrong and Aldrin when they docked back with his craft. I thought of the wast as the Eagle was jettisoned to make the return back to earth.

It seemed no time that the Apollo 11 capsule splashed down in the ocean and the crew was picked up. I remember the quarantine to be sure no diseases or organisms were present to destroy our world and the relief to find there were none. I remember the disbelief of adults that were saying this was all staged and we never landed on the moon. How could they not believe a man named Neil Armstrong? If for no other reason, his name was so American he had to be the real thing. I was just glad to be able to be a part of the generation that got to experience the men with "the right stuff."