{"id":109833,"date":"2019-11-21T12:13:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T17:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=109833"},"modified":"2019-11-21T12:13:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T17:13:40","slug":"column-the-musings-of-a-simple-country-man-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=109833","title":{"rendered":"COLUMN: The Musings of A Simple Country Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Hobie Morris<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Flying Higher<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Hobie Morris<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall: the season of change. Nature is in motion as it\nprepares its flora and fauna for their intricate often mysterious and complex\nliving journey that continues despite\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This simple country man and his beautiful wife, living in\nsuch a cyclical world (sadly becoming less known and appreciated) are\ncontinually awestruck by their daily immersion in the sights and sounds of\nFall. We feel so blessed to have front row seats to this amazing spectacle\nuntil the drapes are drawn and the klieg lights dim- but never go out. Behind\nnature\u2019s drawn drapes, another show is being prepared for its gala grand\nopening when the sun begins its journey higher and warmer. We look forward\nexpectantly to nature\u2019s drapes being opened once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the sounds we love, both now and when the sun is\nwarmer, are those of the Canada Geese. We are saddened in the Fall hearing them\nhonking as great \u201c Vs \u201c of them wing southward, pushed by the cold north winds.\nThis annual migration has been going on for millions of years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Occasionally in the Fall, I\u2019ll hear the geese\u2019s wings\nflapping as they rapidly fly over me barely above the tree tops. Their\nincessant honking is louder of course but a Beethoven sonata to my attuned\nears. Whatever I am doing, I always stop and watch in admiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Fall\u2019s cold deepens, much greater numbers \u2013 some large\n\u201cVs\u201d in the hundreds- majestically fly so high you can barely see them \u2013\nespecially on cloudy days. All too quickly their sights and sounds are gone. Our\naccustomed silence returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I feel \u201cdown\u201d in the pits of life, I yearn to fly\nhigher: to do better and be a better person; to rise above the darkness,\nendless turmoil, and hate. To fly with the geese in their special high and\nmighty world, I dream. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One fascinating mystery has stymied many since 1953.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A British Mount Everest Team is preparing Edmund Hillary and\nTenzing Norgay for their final push to the summit of this unconquered mountain\nover 29,000 ft. tall. At that height, every breath and step is a painful\neffort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lowe is a team member shuttling supplies necessary\nfor man\u2019s first conquest of Mount Everest. Lowe pants in the thin air, looks\nup, and sees an apparition: a goose flying effortlessly over the summit, the\n\u201cdeath zone\u201d altitude for humans. The bar-headed goose flies on like it is a\n\u201cfly in the park\u201d. Seemingly, this goose is migrating through and over the\nHimalayan Mountains! (Ruppell\u2019s Vultures have flown at altitudes over 37,000\nft.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was Lowe\u2019s observation a figment of an oxygen deprived mind?\nWas New Zealand climber George Lowe hallucinating?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, bar-headed geese have been migrating through the\nHimalayan Mountains for millions of years, traveling north from India to Mongolia\nand China to breed. During this time the Himalayas have been growing taller\neach year, making geese migration a little harder. But evolution has kept up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lowe kept his 1953 goose sighting quiet until 1961. Another\nNew Zealand climber, Lawrence Swan, climbing on Makalu \u2013 close to Mount Everest\nand the world\u2019s fifth highest mountain, recorded hearing, on one April night,\nthe honking of high flying bar-headed geese heading north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question remained. How could these geese possibly fly so\nhigh and so effortlessly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientific studies have discovered astonishing metabolic\ntricks that have evolved. Among the reasons: one surprise is that regardless of\nhow high the bar-headed geese fly, their heart beat and wing beats remain\nessentially the same. Somehow the geese were flying more efficiently: blood\ntemperature lowered and energy was adjusted to keep them going with a third of\nthe oxygen available at sea level. A lower blood temperature helps them pump\nmore oxygen to their muscles by tweaking the blood cells\u2019 ability to bind and\nrelease the gas. Also, amazingly these geese are able to temporarily switch off\nunnecessary activity in parts of their brain or digestive system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature has many surprises doesn\u2019t it! Unfortunately this\nsimple country man hasn\u2019t millions of years to \u201cfly higher\u201d. But maybe I have\nhope after all thanks to the wisdom of Ben Franklin\u2026 and I think I will try\nhard to follow his advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– The best thing to give an enemy is forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– to a friend: your ear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– to your child: a good example<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– to a father: reverence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– to your mother: conduct that will make her proud<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– to yourself: respect<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– and to all: charity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antiquated you say? Timeless I say. We\u2019ll all fly higher and\nhonk in unison if we fly together. Our \u201cV\u201d will be victory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hobie Morris is a Brookfield resident and simple country man.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flying Higher By Hobie Morris Fall: the season of change. Nature is in motion as it prepares its flora and fauna for their intricate often mysterious and complex living journey that continues despite\u2026 This simple country man and his beautiful wife, living in such a cyclical world (sadly becoming less known and appreciated) are continually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23677,23808,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}