Keen Critic

On the inside cover of the Top Flight Chub notebook that I carry with me is written: Be a keen observer, a critical thinker. I need the reminder most of the time. Yesterday I was reading a book review of Michael Brooks' The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time on Discovermagazine.com and the reviewer made a comment that made me chuckle. "Choose carefully, researcher: You are deciding whether posterity will view you as a visionary, reactionary, or crank."
I'm not a scientist, so any whiff of crankism around me is not only allowable, but expected if not preferred. Still, being out in the world and experiencing it demands that I pay attention. Hence my reminder to observe and think. Weather permitting this weekend, MK and I plan on getting out into the world and hopefully discovering a few natural gems here and there. I've been boning up on the geology of Pennsylvania. It seems to make the hikes more exciting.