Happy Father's Day

A beautiful day to celebrate Fathers, and I know a great one!  The rain and humidity cleared out and the sun shone with temperatures in the low 80's. Gorgeous! Happy Father's Day to all you Fathers.

Who knew that the way to celebrate Father's Day was to visit Purgatory Chasm in Massachusetts, the geo-site for the state. Not since we visited The Natural Bridge in Virginia have we had to share a geo-site with so many people. We really enjoyed seeing so many families with young children enjoying an outing together on Father's Day. It was great!

Purgatory Chasm is included in the geo-site book because the geology of the site is subject of controversy, or at least a consensus regarding the chasm's story remains elusive. The chasm is a vertical cleft 0.25 mile long and 70 feet high by 50 feet wide. It dissects heavily fractured granite rising from a floor littered with a jumble of annular blocks and the question is, how did this chaotic scene come to be?

Scientists have advanced an array of possible causes: river erosion, shoreline abrasion, volcanism, earthquakes, and glaciation. After years of debate, many, but not all,  scientists believe that one or a series of earthquakes shook and fractured the Purgatory Chasm granite terrain. Then massive ice sheets moving across the area invaded one of these fractures, widening and deepening it until it reached the dimensions of today's chasm. Then water repeatedly freezing and thawing in the fractured granite caused the granite to break into the angular boulders that litter the chasm floor. 

With the finding of new evidence, other solutions are possible, but until then, Purgatory Chasm continues to provide a geologic mystery.                           

Lest there be any doubt....

Families, even babies, crawling all over the boulders of Purgatory Chasm.

Mr. Spock intrigued by the scattered boulders.

Mr. Spock beginning to form an opinion.

Jumbled boulders filling the chasm.

Huge boulders sliced in half.

Interesting faulted rock.

After visiting Purgatory Chasm, we drove over to Suzanne and Scott's house to celebrate Father's Day     with a visit with the grandkids and a classic summer dinner from off the grill.  Suzanne is a great cook and baker so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had a wonderful time.

Watch out Bruce Springstreen!

Or maybe the next Emmylou Harris.

Dessert was Devil's Food cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. Yum!