Rediscovery

I've been a nerd since long before it was cool. When I was ten years old we didn't have shows like Big Bang Theory and Numb3rs that exposed dorks to the wider world in a friendly and idolistic way. No, all we had were the shows that fostered our nerd-dom while keeping us firmly separated from popular culture. But man, did I love those shows. I can't tell you how many evenings of my childhood were spent watching Discovery Channel Special Presentations or National Geographic Explorer presentations. They made me the man I am today, and I truly miss them.

Unfortunately, I've had to watch as the Discovery Channel slowly became less about visually captivating documentaries and more about people doing physical labour in extreme situations or how matches are made. Occasionally though, they still hit the mark, and tonight was one of those nights. I saw an online advertisement a few days ago for a special entitled Drain the Great Lakes. This caught my interest for a few reasons. First off, I am a Southern Ontario boy, born and raised. I may have spent the past few months fulfilling a lifelong dream of living among the mountains, but the Great Lakes and the vast stretches of Boreal forest that make up my home will always hold a special place in my heart. Second, with a title like that, and a deep-running love for disaster movies, how could I not watch?

I'm happy to report that the show managed to exceed my expectations and took me back to the glory days of educational TV. I spent the hour learning about ancient fluctuations in lake levels that exposed cliffs hundreds of feet high. I learned how some of North America's first inhabitants hunted caribou along the now submerged escarpments. I listened intently to the story of undetected earthquakes of the shoreline of Toronto that have created geologic "pop-ups" up to three meters high and how these represent the astounding tectonic forces squeezing an area that many people think of as relatively stable. I even learned about the mysterious circular feature that is nearly two kilometers in diameter and could be one of the best preserved meteor craters on the planet, albeit under a few hundred feet of Lake Ontario waves.

I'm glad to see that, every once in a while, an eye catching documentary still comes along. It gives me hope for young nerds who are growing up in a time without Bill Nye the Science Guy or Popular Mechanics for Kids. Hopefully these fledgeling scientists are satisfying their curiosity in some other way. Possibly with the vast supply of BBC docs on YouTube or by way of some great education show that I am totally unaware of. 

Either way, one of the great things about being a kid is how all the fun facts that us grown people take for granted can still inspire awe. I remember, a while back, I was trying to explain the seasons to my little brother so I turned out all the lights in his bedroom, grabbed a globe and gave him a flashlight. The look on his face when he saw how the angle of the Earth effects the way that light hits its surface reminded me of the wonder I used to be able to find so easily. Now I have to dig a little deeper to learn interesting facts, but that dorky kid who dreamed of being a herpetologist is definitely alive and well inside me.

Until next time, stay curious; because the world is just awesome.

-Steve 

Photo courtesy of www.discoverychannel.ca