Yellowstone

This weekend I went to Yellowstone with my mom and two of my bestest friends! It was sooo so beautiful and amazing. We hit Artist Paint Pots, Norris, Mammoth, Old Faithful, Fountain Paint Pots, Biscuit Basin, Black Sand Basin, and Mesa Falls. It was pretty great.

I've been contemplating death recently. I believe strongly in an afterlife and I thought about this weekend. I wonder if we'll all compare death stories. Some old guy with twinkling eyes and a beard might say 'Yep, I went the right way. Died in my sleep five days after my wife.' Another could boast about how their parachute was tinkered with by a jealous ex-lover of their significant other and it ripped as they plummeted to their death.

I think I prefer the first one, but if I had to die soon I'd want it to be in a cool way. Like being sat on by a buffalo. I can see it now. "Oh, I can top that. I was in Yellowstone minding my own business and this huge buffalo charged me so I ducked and then it stopped and so I pet it but then it sat down on me and... well... here I am!" Luckily for me this past weekend a buffalo didn't so much as acknowledge my existence. I did however, seriously consider risking death.

As a scientist, one must exhibit the dangerous trait of curiosity. This is my query: does the surrounding environment of geothermal features absorb the chemicals released by them? In other words, will a rock by a geyser taste like sulfur? I suppose there exists a 'proper way' of observing, testing, and recording this phenomenon, but after all there is no time like the present! I therefore decided that, for the purpose of scientific discovery, I must risk my life by leaping across the thin crust to lick a rock near a volatile geyser.

I ultimately decided that since I don't actually have my chemistry degree at the moment, I'm not a REAL scientist yet, so I'm not bound to the associated code of honor. I am supremely grateful for this loophole that allowed me to escape a hot, gruesome, and certain death.