The Blaisdell Blog

Coronavirus, originating in the crowded streets of China and being spread by jets that travel faster than viral incubation is not what wakes me up in a cold sweat.   That honor goes to the day that Avian flu becomes transmissible from human to human. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson is a non-fiction book about the search for the source of the cholera epidemic in London in 1854.  In the last chapter of the book he talks about why workers in the poultry industry in Asia are given flu shots.  The shots don’t keep them from getting avian flu, they keep them from getting the basic, human influenza.  Why?  Because doctors and scientists want to make sure that there is no way for the deadly avian flu to mutate into a human carried influenza.   Avian flu, while lethal to humans can only be passed from bird to human through physical contact and is rare in humans.  This is the opposite of human influenza which, while less lethal, can be transmitted from ...

This is Superbowl week.  It is time for me to become conversant in football.   Perhaps a bit of background is in order.   There were no sports played, discussed or promoted in my house.   My father did watch the Wednesday and Friday night fights and I, being the Tom-boy in the family, watched with him.   I was probably the only nine year old girl in Denver who knew what a "10 point must" scoring system was.   But boxing has long ago lost its charm. That leaves me with trying to catch up to football.   It will be a stretch.   I once commented that when it came to football, I was lucky to know there were ten men on a side—only to find out there are eleven.   Whoops!   But I am intelligent and know how to dissect complex things.   The theory of relatively makes sense to me, how challenging can football be?   Right? [Pride goeth before the destruction; and a haughty spirit before the fall.   Proverbs 16-18] In...

I think this might be the propitious moment to examine the Constitution of the United States.   This is a document so beautiful that it implies divine intervention.    It is the law of this land.   Simple in form and only 4 pages long in its original handwritten form, it created our government, allowed for change, and preserved to the states all matters not mentioned in the Constitution itself.    The consummate good sense of this document is an important reason why the United States is the oldest republic in existence.             The writing of the Constitution showed a certain cosmic alignment of intellectual stars.   Gouverneur Morris probably wrote the eloquent words of the Preamble.   James Madison (Dolly’s diminutive husband) is generally called the “Father of the Constitution” though his efforts might be more akin to those of a midwife, with much pushing, pulling and exhortations...

Being the tomboy in the family, one of my daily household tasks was to take the trash and garbage out to the alley.   The garbage went in the nasty smelling pail to be picked up twice weekly by the Denver garbage men (yes, it was called “garbage,” not “transfer,” and they were all, I promise you, men).   The trash was to be dumped into the burn pit, a large, brick construction, about three feet tall and four feet square.   There was a hole about a foot in diameter in the top, through which the trash went.   Since there was always a low, slow, slumbering fire in the pit it was a comfy place even on the coldest Colorado winter nights.   I would crawl up on the top of the burn pit, dump in a fresh load of fuel and lay down on the warm, brick top and enjoy the nighttime sky.               One of my favorite constellations in that sky was Orion, the hunter.   More than a clear, brilliant configura...