Text to Self Connection

"The invasion of North Africa, code-named 'Operation Torch', has been in preparation for months.  Major General George Patton was due to sail from Virginia on October 23 with the Western Task Force of thirty-five thousand men, heading for Casablanca in French Morocco."  I was reading this passage and Operation Torch popped into my head and I thought about history class.  I heard about it but I did not remember learning about it so I went to my binder and found it.  Operation Torch sandwiched Rommel's soldiers which was led by Dwight D. Eisenhower.  I really like how Operation Mincemeat connects to what I have learned and knew about World War II.  With my prior knowledge, I can use that to better understand the book.  That is what I did in this book.  If anyone is interested in Operation Mincemeat or WWII, I highly recommend this book to you.

Describing the Setting of the Novel

I started reading Operation Mincemeat instead of The Secret Rescue because I could not find the book at the Mason Public Library. So I found this book in the same section as The Secret Rescue (940.547) which is the World War II area.

The book starts off describing a Spanish man, José, looking for sardines off the coast of Huelva, Spain.  This is taking place in 1943 during World War II.  José is a regular spotter who tells other fisherman where the fish are.  José is a non-educated 23 year old who was born on the beach.  Today was a bad day to spot for sardines.  José had found a body with a yellow life jacket while he was searching for sardines.  José dragged the body to Playa de la Bota where everybody gathered around the stench of the rotting corpse.  The body was examined closer by the children.  The bystanders found him in a khaki tunic and a trench coat along with large army boots.  There was a silver chain with a cross around his neck.  This was a huge mystery to the villagers since Spain was not in World War II by 1943.  "On the part of the beach called La Bota-the boot- José and Pepe dragged the body up to the dunes."

Operation Mincemeat information

What I Plan to Read Next

As I finish up Yellowstone Treasures, I must find another book to read.  I plan on going back to what I love to read.  I will read an aviation related book.  I went to Mason Public Library's site and found this book under 'airplane crash'.  The Secret Rescue is a book about how the passengers and crew of an American medical evacuation plane, including thirteen nurses and thirteen medics, survived after it crashed in Nazi-controlled Albania in November, 1943, until they could be rescued. This sounds like a good book for me to read because it is related to aviation and in history class, we are getting close to learning about World War II.  Also, this is a non-fiction book which I like also.  I really want to get back into reading these types of books because they interest me the most.

MH370 Update

1.  The co-pilot's cell phone
A cell tower in Penang, Malaysia detected Fariq Abdul Hamid's cell phone searching and made contact with the cell tower.  The phone was detected about 250 miles from the last known location.  The phone will keep searching for a connection unless it is on airplane-mode.  Experts say that the phone may get connection if the plane is under 10,000 feet, the plane is flying less than 160 miles per hour, the radio communications do not interfere with the cell tower communication, and the fuselage does not interfere with the communication as well. Of course, just because Fariq Abdul Hamid's cell phone was detected, that does not mean that Fariq Abdul Hamid caused the incident.  Many people 'forget' to turn off their phones or turn on airplane mode.  I am guilty of that but I do it on purpose.  Fariq Abdul Hamid may have been  a phone that was forgotten.  Most airline's procedure include turning off all electronic devices.

2.  Bluefin-21 Day One
Unfortunately, the underwater search ended early due to the depth of the water

3.  Bluefin-21 Day Two
The second search has started and the AUV should map the ocean floor for any possible wreckage until 10AM est Wednesday

“Krista Ramsey Introduction Activity.”

Krista Ramsey's column
This column is about 2 things.  One, the children need to learn for themselves by experimenting and learning to follow directions.  Second, the parents also need some personal space.

The most important quote is "If you want to play with the toy, you have to make it first." This impacts the reader because they can put themselves in these shoes.  If you want something, you have to work for it.  The diction used in this column is very low and informal.  Anyone who reads this will understand this.  The overall sentence length of this is long.  I did not find any short sentences.  In columns written by Ramsey, most of her sentences have been long.

Krista Ramsey's writing style has been consistent in the three articles I have read. "The Pied Piper that has drawn them is the Monthly Mini Build at the high-traffic Lego Store. "  She uses lots of real word companies and puts them into good examples.  The lego one, the Thanksgiving one, and the vision one all include her own voice.  I do not like this type of writing but her voice is very obvious to me.  She sounds like she is having a conversation.

Questions:
Why do you write the way you write?
Where do you get your ideas?
What got you into writing columns?

What have I learned from reading my book?

I have learned lots from Yellowstone Treasures ranging from the history of the park to how these geysers and color pools work to the trails/ roads within Yellowstone National Park.  I will share a couple of  things I have learned.

1. On page 88-90 of the book, Chapple explains how geysers work.  "The basic requirements are a water source, a heat source, and some rather complicated plumbing" (Chapple, 88).  I already knew that before she said so and most of you do too.  The cycle of a geyser is very easy to understand.  Right after a geyser erupts, there is very little water in the crack, or the constricted part of the geyser. Then, hot water seeps into the crack.  The hot water will fill up all the way to the vent and sometimes spill over.  The pressure of the hot water in the crack is very high at this point.  The hot rocks continue to heat the water until it boils.  The steam will exit out the vent first then the water will follow.  Remember, the crack is not that wide so the water and steam will come out like thrust from a jet engine.  



Very good comparison to geysers.  If you look at engine #2(left side here) you see jet wash.
Water and steam come out just like this.

2. If you see pictures  of colorful pools or go to Yellowstone and see colorful canyons, you may wonder why they are colorful.  The simple answer is the combination of minerals and living organisms.  "Rainwater and the oxygen in the air break down the rhyolite that is the predominant rock of the canyon" (Chapple, 181).  The chemical reaction change the color of the rock/ water in that area.  In moist places, the water will seep up from the ground and cause the ground/water to change color also.  If you see a really green area, it may be algae or moss growing.

What is the Context of Yellowstone Treasures?

I have not been reading much over break so I am not far into the book, Yellowstone Treasures.  The guide book I am reading takes me (the reader) through the trails and roads of Yellowstone National Park.  "The mustard yellow, orange, and brown runoff over the side of  Excelsior's crater into the Firehole is a perennial favorite of photographers" (Chappple, 64).  This is an example of the vivid imagery the author provides.  Janet Chapple goes through the whole park with pictures and words to describe what you may see.  There is also history throughout this park to help you understand the guide better.  For example, "Old Faithful has never recorded time erupted 'every hour on the hour' as you may have heard.  Here are some figures given for average expected intervals between eruptions: 60-65 minutes in 1870, 65.5 minutes in 1964, 78 minutes in 1990, and 92 minutes, 2008."  Unless you kept track of the wait time, I am sure you would have not known that the overall wait time has gradually gone up over the decades.  The author gives helpful tips that would help you enjoy the trip more.  In my guide, I will read the Upper Geyser Basin to come to my blog next week for more.

Atlas Air, GTI600 at FL340