I've been traveling a bit this last year. In the winter 2009, I drove across West Texas, to visit my parent in El Paso, the second safest city in the US, next to Juarez, Mexico, one of the most dangerous cities on the continent. All through the trip I was aware of the many totems of energy accross the landscape. Old wind mills that once pumped water. Giant Wind turbines. Oil pumps. Gas stations. And these days I spend a lot of time paying attention to the energy industry.

In El Paso there was snow on the mountains. I've found my self wondering about the choinces I've made in my life. I've been in mid-life crisis mode for about two years. But things have been going along fairly well. My jobs makes me travel enough to keep things interesting.

I've now seen the stars of the southern hemisphere. I saw the stars fo the Southern Cross, like in that song by Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young. I didn't think I would find my way to Brazil in this lifetime. And while staying in Rio de Janeiro, I got to peek in on the underbelly of the thriving metropolis rising out of lush green jungle.

I crossed the bridge to Niteroi, and visited the ports, shorebases and shipyard, buidling the next generation of state of the art electric powered workhorses.

And back in the states I toured the Gulf coast Through Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Fort Walton Beach, Florida. I went looking for workboat and oiled beaches. I found oil on the beaches of Gulfport, Mississippi. Not much, there crews in Hazmat suits on the beach picking most of it up. I had to run ahead of them to find enough to put in a sample jar. I'm not saying there wasn't oil on the coast, it was July 4 weekend, but I was limited to where my car could take me. I wanted a reminder of this envirmoental disaster. I've been collecting stones from different places I've been, and bringing them into work to talk about with our inhouse geologist. I do love geology. The industry is acutely aware of geology.