They say you learn something new every day, but do we really? I love learning new things, but I’ll admit that there are days and even weeks that go by that I’m stuck in my typical mundane routine. I’ve decided to start a little series to keep myself accountable in truly learning something new EVERY day of the week…let’s see how long I keep this up! This series will go up on Monday for each previous week.
Here are my findings for April 9-15; maybe you’ll learn something new too!
Sunday
My parents came back from their weekend trip to Madison. I learned that Wisconsin’s capitol building is made entirely of pure marble. Pure. Solid. Marble. The stairs. Walls. Pillars. Dome. The building was finished in 1917; 100 years old this year! The total cost was $7.2 million (at that time.) The only thing that is not marble are the mosaics; these are stone. I’ve been to Madison before, but never inside the capitol building.
Monday
One of TOP things on my bucket list is getting to scuba dive in the famous Great Barrier Reef. I had heard the GBF has been dying, but did not know the details. Being the science geek I am, I actually did my research. I learned more thoroughly the details of coral bleaching. I’ve heard of it many times, but not the specifics of what it was. Coral bleaching occurs when corals are stressed by various conditions such as temperature change (cold or hot), light or nutrients. When stressed, they expel symbiotic algae that lives in their tissues causing them to turn WHITE, hence the term “bleaching.” Fortunately, it is possible for coral to recover from this, but if the stress continues, they die.
Tuesday
Tuesday’s teachings didn’t quite bring solid facts like these other days. Being a single 20-something young woman, I have met and/or dated quite a few guys, most don’t go past the “first date” for some reason or another. However, God teaches me something through each of them, good and bad. On Tuesday, I learned that if someone doesn’t know what he wants or where he wants to go in life, he can’t be a good leader…and he definitely is not for me. I’m rather headstrong, and at my age, I’m rather proud to say I know what I want for myself. (How I am going to get there is definitely in my prayers.)
If a man can’t lead himself, how can he lead me, us, and any potential children in a positive direction?
Wednesday
What I learned on Wednesday was something I also added to my bucket list! Granted, there are a few of similar ones scattered across the US, but I learned about the Edmonton Ice Castles in Alberta, Canada. I came across this lovely blog about her experience. Take a peek at her gorgeous pictures! She states that each of these castles weight around 25 million pounds and are made up of about 10,000 icicles! They look stunning.
Thursday
On Thursday, I learned I have to truly make an effort to learn something new every day. This is harder than you would think! Kidding… here’s the real fact. After mentioning my struggles to my mother, she asks, “Have you heard of the terms ‘supinate’ and ‘pronate’?” I paused and mumbled that they sounded familiar while I typed them into google. No wonder they sound familiar… it’s fitness related, so my mom was the one who mentioned it to me! These terms are particularly important to runners because it can affect how they run and potential injuries. Pronation refers to the inward rolling of the foot during normal motion and occurs as the outer edge of the heel strikes the ground and the foot rolls inward and flattens out. Supination is the opposite; it refers to the outward roll of the foot during normal motion. Excessive supination or pronation can actually cause various ankle/foot/hip injuries, shin splints, arch pain, and more! A bit random for a Thursday evening, but hey…the more you know!
Friday
Friday’s discovery was fasciotomy! It’s the surgical procedure where the fascia is cut to relieve tension or pressure to treat the loss of circulation. The fascia is the piece of fibrous tissue covering a muscle or organ. This procedure is used to treat compartment syndrome (definition: insufficient blood supply to the nerves) and can save your limbs! If you have a queasy stomach, I would suggest NOT google image searching this term. There’s a reason I’m in the marketing field and not the medical field! Science is interesting, and I love learning about the body…. though I have my limits. The pictures didn’t bother me too much, but you can bet I didn’t do deeper research. Props to the nurses, doctors, surgeons, EMTs, etc. that deal with this stuff; this is not what God made me to do!
Saturday
On Saturday, I had a conversation about how common tattoos have become recently. In fact, according to this study, 36% of young adults from 18-25 have at least one tattoo! Though the tattooing industry has come a long way (there’s is numbing product now–what!), tattoos have been around for centuries in many cultures. Thanks to the Smithsonian, I learned that the earliest evidence of tattoos when scientists found the Iceman with tattoo patterns along the Italian-Austrian border. They estimated him to be around 5,200 years old! There has been other evidence from Egyptian and Japanese figurines having tattoos – these figurines are from 4,000 BC, but none are physical evidence.
Miranda Knudtson 
Thank you so much for including me!
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No problem! I loved reading that blog!
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