Locale

Creative Commons picture by Meanest Indian.

Creative Commons picture by extranoise.

Creative Commons picture by Fr Antunes.

In the fall deciduous trees show more commitment than a sprinter diving forward to win a race. Then after such an incredible displays of potential, they give up on appearances and look bad until spring. In a way these trees sacrifice beauty for the pursuit of beauty. The beautiful irony is overwhelming.

Creative Commons picture by shioshvili.

These trees are committed to beauty. In the fall they expend great amounts of energy to produce a flash of beauty. With grace their magnificent color expands into the world around them making everything that much prettier. Deciduous trees are the makeover artists of the plant world, capable of turning an abandoned and rusting car into a jaw dropping work of art.

Awesome places to observe deciduous trees this coming fall:

1) The Ancient Aspen Grove at Fish Lake National Forest in Utah

Aspens are particularly amazing tree in the fall because whole groves change color at exactly the same time. Their roots are so interconnected that it is often argued that they are really one organism. The roots of this particular aspen grove is thought to be some 80,000 years old. They were sacrificing beauty for beauty even before the Trojan War.

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Creative Commons picture by jurvetson.

I personally love the Olympics. With a battery of drug tests and a flurry of trumpets a sizable amount of pomp is kicked up into all sorts of circumstances. Fun.

However, even if you think “the butterfly” is a type of pastry, Beijing has a lot to offer you. In the last few thousand years it has been able to accumulate a lot more than just the uneven bars. Here are three sights you shouldn’t miss on your next visit to the city formally known as Peking.

The Forbidden City

Creative Commons picture by r_neches.

In the category of “places that display the might of an empire” the forbidden city is arguably cooler than the death star. Visitors are allowed to see about 2/5 ths of this incredible palace complex. You can marvel at the beautiful yellow roofs (the color of the emperor) and vast courtyards secure in the knowledge that Darth Vader never ordered this complex to destroy a planet.
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Check out the reflection in his visor. It is of the astronaut who took this picture.

I can see the desolation, extreme isolation, and unfiltered bombardment of solar radiation…but that reflection. It strikes a cord in me that results in both amazement and a touch of fear.

This elevator could put a certain chocolate factory to shame. Taipei 101’s high speed elevator can climb at 37.7 miles per hour. That is the fastest ascending elevator in the world. It gains altitude a little less than twice as quickly as a human cannonball. It is an elevator that climbs as fast as a Boeing 737. I guess it makes sense that such an elevator is in one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers (the Burj Dubai is taller but incomplete).

A Rate of Climb Comparison

The building of such a tall structure in Taiwan demonstrates a certain amount of moxy on the part of…well…almost everyone involved. Taiwan is a seismically active area that has a history of getting pummeled by typhoons. It has the natural disaster downsides of both Florida and California. This is where they decided to build a huge skyscraper.

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