I went someplace warm!

So, I suppose I could come back to the historical photoblogging. Right now I think I owe you something that was promised. I went someplace warm and I've been taking plenty of photographs.

Where did I go? Puerto Rico. This exact location, to be more precise. It looks much less grimy from space, but I can step out right on to the beach, so I can't complain. Plus it was free for me!

Why Puerto Rico? Because my father was going, I was planning on going somewhere warm, and he offered to pay for my fare. Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

What about philosophy? I just just sold out for the money.

...

No, I'm just kidding! Philosophy is alive and well in me or else I've rationalized myself into a moral rut.

I've been meaning to post for a while about one of the most humbling and redeeming things that anybody has ever said to me. "I don't understand what you're doing, but I want to. Help me understand. Why are you living in a tent?" My dad said that to me verbatim (at least as I recall). And he listened. Stay tuned for more on that, maybe when I get back.

I know, enough introspective jabberjawing. Let's see them purty pictures.

Here is me (left) and my portly father (not left) atop the tallest tower on the highest mountain in El Yunque National Forest, the only rainforest in the US National Forest system.

Here is the tower upon which that first photograph was taken. I had a meme stuck in my head that was just dying to get out here, but I couldn't figure out how to make it work logically. Here's the quote, make your own joke:

"From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I fought him, the Balrog of Morgoth. Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside. Darkness took me. And I strayed out of thought and time. Stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as the life age of the earth. But it was not the end. I felt light in me again. I've been sent back until my task is done." ~ Gandalf, LOTR

You could say it was epic. Or that I'm a nerd. Or both.

In photo, from closest to farthest: the rain forest, the ridge, the foothills, the rural countryside, the city of Fajardo, the Bay of Fajardo, the Atlantic Ocean, the edge of the world, here be dragons

Here is another like the one above, but note the fast-moving stratocumulus-looking clouds. I thought their shadows looked pretty neat. The camera seems to do a poor job capturing the visual scale of what I was looking at.

By turning east and slightly south, I could see what I believe to be the towns of Luis M. Citron (left) and Ceiba (right). I may be incorrect about this.

The mountain peaks here are part of what makes the rain forest possible. They have an altitude such that clouds passing over the island slow down and accumulate at their peaks, which results in frequent precipitation. I believe the little gray fellow in the top-left did eventually spring a leak later in the day.

Stay tuned for more! :-)