Polar vortex, singing, Video gaming and Diet

‘Mornin’, Don.

WOW! The power of the word to deliver the weather! Your pictures were very telling!

Actually, the snow is your fault – there is something called a “polar vortex” (a very cold cyclone) located at the north pole around Baffin Island and Siberia. These low pressure areas are really strong in the winter. When the low pressure system breaks down, all that cold air spills south.  According to NOAH, this happens when the stratosphere suddenly warms up.

I was thrilled to hear that you were able to ride out the blizzard warmly. Several friends in Minnesota weren’t so lucky and one of our Wormhole writers in New York got a bit cold because the electricity went out. Everyone reports being warm again. Colorado was on the western edge – it just got cold, dropped only 4 inches of snow. The wind has been the problem here – bitingly cold and gusts up to 50 miles an hour.

We occasionally experience blizzards here – about every 4 or 5 years. The kind that break trees. The last one kept us house bound for about 4 days. The blizzard itself was gone within 40 hours, it was the 3 feet of snow on the roads that kept us home. Lately we’ve been in a bad drought so we could always use more snow.

One to other exciting topics! Like singing! I noticed that you mentioned that the human voice was the ultimate instrument. I know we’ve discussed that listening to music is one of the whole brain activities that keeps our minds nimble and flexible. Now there is evidence that  participating in music keeps us young.

I’ve read several articles about older people and choirs. It appears that singing in groups increases longevity and life quality. It also, believe it or not, decreases the risk of falls. Because the choir members are all breathing at the same time and rate, their heart rates synchronize and produces a sense of calm. Pretty amazing if you ask me!

I’m impressed with the oak flooring. Are you going to stain it? Leave it a natural light color? The smell of the sealant will take several weeks to get out of the house. Hopefully your weather will be nice enough that your son can let the cool clean air in. What are your new cabinets made out of? Will they also expend into the laundry room?

I’ve been working on the Wired Generation. Learned some interesting things: they don’t use the frontal lobe for thinking; they use the temporal lobe instead. This means these good folks don’t have as many ways to work out an issue or a problem. This ties directly to the reptilian brain and keeps the body in the fight or flight mode.

So I’ve been collecting information, bits and pieces here and there and I have a theory I’d like to float out. We’ve had a number of shooting lately, people not able to work through their anger or frustration without killing others. So I’m going to propose a  little different idea here.

Concept one: We now have evidence that violent video games can lead to violent behavior – but the final tie in between video games and violence will probably never really be made. We do know that people who participate in violent video games are 70% less likely to help their neighbor out.

Concept two: We now have evidence that sugar-sweetened drinks affects a teenager’s behavior. For younger children, this shows up as aggression, ADHD, destructive tendencies, fighting and attacking others.

Concept three: Children and teenagers who use a lot of technology have been found to not think with the frontal lobe which allows for critical thinking, empathy, and prediction. Instead they think with the temporal lobe which creates a sense of fight or flight.

Theory: Is it possible that a combination of diet, technology and participation in violent video games has created young people who are unable to stop themselves from doing harm to others?

Just a thought.

On to the cave!

I have begun the process of collecting the riddles. I have to admit that there are several that don’t have answers. And, I think we can divide them into easy, moderate and brain numbers. I’m excited about this! I also have the cover in mind already!

Okay – Pots and pans! I missed it! I should have thought of that given your talking about cleaning out your cabinets. Ah well.

I think my last one was a repeat from one I did last year. I haven’t found the original yet. Mine was “photograph”.

My new one:

Green or black

Crop or weed

Medicinal or energy creating

Wrapped in a flow through package

Imbue saturate or soak

Add sugar, milk or cream

Feet up, sip

Have a great week folks!

Carolyn 

All images retrieved from Google Images
Polar Vortex – 2013 retrieved from www.digitalafro.com

Healing Harmonies Retrieved from www.ucsf.edu

Soft Drinks by Lauren Malley Retrieved from www.fotopedia.com

Human Anatomy Retrieved from www.aokainc.com

More Violence in Kids with deployed parents Retrieved from militaryfamilies.com