Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Cottonwood, Arizona
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. ~ Proverbs 23:4
I wish I was able to sing “The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain . . . .”, but we didn’t, so I can’t. . . .
My devotional this morning was about being thankful – – especially for things we don’t usually think of, like our brains for example. So I set out in search of some facts to share. Just for fun. And education, of course. 😊
Information in your brain can travel up to 268mph. A Formula 1 race car has a limit of 240mph.
Experts estimate that the average brain generates around 50,000 thoughts per day.
There are roughly 400 miles of blood vessels in your brain.
Your brain has a virtually unlimited capacity to store data. (I don’t know about you, but if I’m storing it, I certainly haven’t figured out how to access it! 😊)
The human brain is the largest brain of all vertebrates relative to body size.
It weighs about 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kilograms).
The average male has a brain volume of 1,274 cubic centimeters.
The average female brain has a volume of 1,131 cubic centimeters.
The brain makes up about 2 percent of a human’s body weight.
The cerebrum makes up 85 percent of the brain’s weight.
It contains about 86 billion nerve cells (neurons) — the “gray matter.”
It contains billions of nerve fibers (axons and dendrites) — the “white matter.”
These neurons are connected by trillions of connections, or synapses
Signs of successful brain surgeries go as far back as the Stone Age.
About 75 percent of the brain is made up of water. This means that dehydration, even in small amounts, can have a negative effect on the brain functions.
The largest brain of any animal is that of the sperm whale. It weighs about 20 pounds.
The human brain will grow three times its size in the first year of life.
Headaches are caused by a chemical reaction in your brain combined with the muscles and nerves of your neck and head.
Cholesterol is key to learning and memory. However, high cholesterol has different effects depending on your age and other factors.
Phantom limb pain syndrome is when the central nervous system, which includes your brain, continues to feel the pain of a limb that has been amputated.
The brain can’t feel pain. It interprets pain signals sent to it, but it does not feel pain.
A brain freeze is really a sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. It happens when something you eat or drink something that’s cold. It chills the blood vessels and arteries in the very back of the throat, including the ones that take blood to your brain. These constrict when they’re cold and open back up with they’re warm again, causing the pain in your forehead.
The human brain begins to lose some memory abilities as well as some cognitive skills by your late 20s.
The human brain gets smaller as we get older. This usually happens sometime after middle age.
Eyewitness accounts of criminal suspects is usually only about 50 percent accurate because it is difficult for your brain to remember the details of someone you’re not familiar with. Traumatic events can also affect the brains ability to remember details.
Your brain uses 20 percent of the oxygen and blood in your body.
Your brain generates about 12-25 watts of electricity. This is enough to power a low wattage LED light bulb.
Frequent jet lag can damage memory. Stress hormones released during jet lag can damage the temporal lobe and memory.
It’s no accident that telephone numbers in the United States are seven digits long. Our working memory, a very short-term form of memory which stores ideas just long enough for us to understand them, can hold on average a maximum of seven digits. This allows you to look up a phone number and remember it just long enough to dial.
Multitasking is actually impossible. When we think we’re multitasking, we’re actually context-switching. That is, we’re quickly switching back-and-forth between different tasks, rather than doing them at the same time. The book Brain Rules explains how detrimental “multitasking” can be: Research shows your error rate goes up 50 percent and it takes you twice as long to do things.
There is 2,500,000 gigabytes of storage space in your brain. The top-of-the-line iPhone 7 has 256.
Reading aloud promotes brain development. It’s indeed one of the strange facts about the brain because we usually teach our children to read and talk politely. But to promote brain development in your child, you should read and talk aloud in front of them.
Being able to access information quickly (e.g., on the Internet) makes you less likely to remember it. It’s great being able to access almost any piece of information in a few seconds, and resources such as Google, Wikipedia and YouTube have clearly been major parts of a revolution in how we find information. But studies suggest if the brain knows it can just access it again so easily, it’s less likely to bother remembering the information itself!
One study looked at students in New York and showed that those who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14% better on IQ tests than the students who ate lunches with these additives.
Our brain prefers images over text. Participants in studies only remember about 10% of information presented orally when they are tested 72 hours after instruction. However, that number jumps by about 65% when an image is added to the learning process.
The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left and right, connected by a bundle of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum. The hemispheres are strongly, though not entirely, symmetrical. The left brain controls all the muscles on the right-hand side of the body; and the right brain controls the left side. One hemisphere may be slightly dominant, as with left- or right-handedness.
Your brain isn’t fully formed until age 25. Brain development begins from the back of the brain and works its way to the front. Therefore, your frontal lobes, which control planning and reasoning, are the last to strengthen and structure connections.
The spinal cord is the main source of communication between the body and the brain. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, causes the neurons in the brain and spinal cord to die, impacting controlled muscle movement.
Another disease that affects both the brain and the spinal cord is multiple sclerosis (MS). In MS, the immune system attacks the protective layer that covers nerve fibers, causing communication problems between the brain and the body.
Adequate sleep helps maintain the pathways in your brain. Additionally, sleep deprivation can increase the build-up of a protein in your brain that is linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
Your brain has a big job. Be sure to take care of it.
When was the last time you thanked God for your brain?
Blaine ran across a couple of funnies this morning.
“Home schooling is going pretty well. So far two kids have been suspended for fighting, and one teacher has been fired for drinking on the job.”
“I’ve been using so much soap and disinfectant that when I go pee, it cleans the toilet.”
Since all the COVID-19, ‘Stay Home’ orders, Social Distancing stuff began (well almost that long anyway), we’ve tried to adhere to it as we feel is necessary. We try to limit grocery store stops to every two weeks, we don’t talk much to our neighbors and keep our distance when we do, we avoid all public restrooms (toilets and showers), we don’t eat out – not even take out, we spend a lot of time driving Jeep trails, and we’ve chosen to traverse less-frequented trails, or take on more popular ones very early in the morning.
Most of the time, we’ve managed to avoid almost everyone.
However, today’s Saturday. You’d think that since people aren’t working and the kids are home, and families are together 24/7 that they’d choose times other than the weekend to be out. I don’t know. Maybe old habits die hard and all that. . . .
We saved Bear Mountain for today because it’s a strenuous trail and we foolishly believed that most people wouldn’t try to take it on, but we were wrong. Fortunately, we adhered to our “leave early” policy, because we didn’t run into very many on the way up. But the way down was a bit of a different story! And we passed people on their way up that should’ve never taken on this trail. People sweating profusely, huffing and puffing like a woman in labor, and carrying no water with them. Some even had their little dogs on leashes with them. Oh. And bad weather was moving in, too. These rocks, while beautiful, become very slippery when wet. We hoped they all stayed safe. And I’m not talking virus stuff.
Time to hit the trail!
but thankfully, these rocks don’t move!
What beauty!!
We found a rock to share just off the trail.
Nah. It’s just a plane. : )
Along the way, we were suddenly cast into a state of shock and awe!!!! We saw the shadow of the Easter Bunny!!!! He’s very busy today, so it’s good we spotted him at just the exact right moment, or we would’ve missed him!
How many people have been privileged to see the of the Easter Bunny as he completes his rounds?
We feel very special!!
It was a very strenuous climb (as you’ve already seen), and we didn’t finish it. We came to within about 500’ of the actual top (which still meant we climbed 1,500’), took a look around, found the perfect place to sit, and heeded the advice of a younger couple on their way down who told us the top wasn’t all that much and not to feel bad if we didn’t finish. Including the break time at the “top”, it took us about 5 hours to complete it.
And that plateau in front, is the top of Doe Mountain.
The blue dot shows where we currently are, and the rest of the red line shows the trail’s end.
I think that couple was right! No need to climb any higher!
and that’s what our friends said when we sent them the picture. : )
Pretty amazing if you ask me!
The parking lot’s much more full than when we left! Plus cars are parked along the street – – on both sides!
how monstrous and impressive this rock is when you’re standing next to it!
Unfortunately, this picture didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped. I was being rushed along because a woman and her elderly mother were clinging to the cliffside waiting for me to pass them.
Wonder how that happened??
Since it was still early in the day, we decided to look for another Jeep trail. It’s not on Barlow’s maps, but Blaine manages to find other ones for us to enjoy. This one was called “Cliffhanger”. Different, but still beautiful scenery, even under the ominous storm clouds. We managed to avoid the rain that was surrounding us. 😊
How blessed we are to be healthy enough to enjoy days like this! And blessed to be able to receive calls and pictures of our family! The following are from a hike our oldest, Chris, took with his three sons.
He’s lying on a coyote fur blanket that Chris made.