99 Years Later... We Solved It

While in college near San Luis Obispo (and taking classes in geology), I went on a 3 day geological field trip to Death Valley.  What a fascinating place!!  And yes, we all put forth hypothesis about racetrack & the rocks...all incorrect however. And this is what I love about science & scientists. They see the seemingly unexplainable...and get to work solving the mystery. And although I pursued a career in medicine, rather than geology....the geological field trips I took, are some of my fondest memories. (PS...we students and our professors were lucky enough to attend a one-woman show at an old movie theater named the Amagossa Opera House. The place had been featured in National Geographic, as a ballet/modern dancer by the name of Martha Beckett had painted the interior to resemble a 16th Century Spanish Court. Story was, that she danced professionally, until her doctors recommend she move to the desert for health reasons. Her and her husband Tom purchssed the run down theater and U-shaped motel and she painted the interior so that she would have an audience, while she danced. When we saw her "perform"....she must have been in her 70's or more, and danced ballet...doing multiple acts and costume changes that evening. Oh...and when we pulled up to the theater in our big school vans, we were greeted by none other than her husband Tom....in a full Tuxedo...in the middle of this desert landscape....truly a bizarre sight to behold!!).