The Petri Dish

A petri dish is a shallow, circular glass or plastic laboratory dish with a lid, used primarily in microbiology and cell culture. Named after German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri, these dishes typically contain a nutrient medium (like agar) that allows microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or cells to grow and multiply. They are used for research or medical testing. When I was young I wanted to be a scientist, but the concept of science appealed to me much more than the reality of science. Science needs to be so rigorous and I managed to figure out somewhere along the way that rigorous is not my long suit. I don’t know that creativity and rigor are mutually exclusive, but I feel confident that the two represent the opposite extremes of a spectrum that reflects the modus operandi of many individuals…like me.

In two days we are heading off to Colorado for six days of family fun. My kids and I always get together in the early part of December in New York City for a little pre-Christmas holiday gathering. That is very much a tradition with us and it’s one that I’ve been able to maintain for over 30 years. Since Kim and I have been together (over the last 20 years), we have expanded that to even include my two ex-wives and make it a real extended family affair. But since we’ve moved out here to California, we felt the need to gather the brood in the middle of the year in one place or another. There was a time when that took the form of a foreign trip with a rented Villa, but those days are past for many reasons, the most notable of which is that it was always hard to get all three of my kids and their families to agree to be available for the amount of time that took. Since Covid and since not having our Ithaca place, we’ve been finding a spot in midsummer to get together for a few days. Last year at the urging of my oldest son Roger, we got together in Virginia Beach. This summer, my youngest son Thomas has taken the lead and organized a trip to Colorado, his new home.

I’ve been to Colorado many times. I’ve gone there on many ski trips over the years and I’ve even gone there for several business gatherings in the mountains. In fact, just last summer we did a road trip to finish off my daughter Carolyn‘s family visit with us by driving from San Diego to Denver. We all know Colorado is the Rocky Mountain State and we all know that Denver is the Mile-High City. So it’s safe to say that there is no surprise in the fact that going to Colorado involves going to altitude. But for various reasons this year, the subject of altitude has gone to the top of the list of topics in advance of this gathering.

Thomas has lived in Denver for about 18 months now, and from what I can tell from talking to him and from watching his Instagram feed, he has taken full advantage of being in the mountains with skiing and hiking and rock climbing events becoming a regular part of his and his wife Jenna‘s existence. I think that’s wonderful and to a certain extent it makes me think that my years of having a ski house in Park City, Utah contributed to his love of the outdoors and especially his love of the mountains. It’s funny because my youngest son is into the mountains and my oldest son, who lives on the Delaware shore, is into the beach. In that sense my boys have the traditional American summer vacations covered from one end of the spectrum to the other. Last year was our beach summer and this year is to be our mountain summer.

I recently wrote about altitude attitude in regard to a proposal Kim and I have to join a motorcycle ride in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. I spent a lot of time explaining to my motorcycle friends why altitude was not my friend and why spending a week riding between 10,000 and 15,000 feet would not work for me. I must’ve made some compelling arguments because they came back and told me that they too had concerns about such high altitude riding, so they tentatively chose a route that started and ended at 10,000 feet, but spent the rest of the time at lower altitudes. That presented me with a conundrum because it was right on the cusp between comfortable and uncomfortable for me. It also caused me to think about my upcoming family gathering in Colorado, so I started to look into what we would be doing and where we would be staying in Colorado. Remember, this gathering was completely planned by my youngest son Thomas, who has acclimated wonderfully to living in Mile-High City and going into the mountains almost every weekend.

Well, we are starting and ending our trip in Denver, which is at 5,200 feet of elevation. Then we are to spend the weekend in Summit County and sleeping in an Airbnb house in Dillon, Colorado, which sits at an elevation of 9,000 feet. That turns out to be very close to the elevation of Quito Ecuador, which is 10,000 feet. So, suddenly I am forced to wonder how I’m going to feel for two days in Summit County. To be clear, I have twice spent a full week in Dillon and Summit County when I was much younger. The first time was 35 years ago when I was in my mid 30s and the second time was 20 years ago when I was 50. The first time I was there in the summer and the second time I was there to ski for a week. I don’t really remember feeling any ill effects from the altitude, but that may have just been youthful exuberance. I have enough recollections during my 15 years of homeownership in Utah and during my travels to the Andes Mountains to remind me that altitude always matter.

What I have done is to turn this family gathering in Colorado into a science experiment. I am putting myself in the petri dish so to speak. I have researched high altitude sickness medication, and determined that Diamox is the best drug to take when going to altitude. Diamox is the branded version of Acetazolamide and is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor that affects several body systems. It affects fluid and electrolyte balance throughout the body. It increases urine production by preventing sodium and bicarbonate reabsorption in the kidneys, leading to increased excretion of sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, and water. This creates a mild diuretic effect. It decreases cerebrospinal fluid production, which can help reduce intracranial pressure. At high altitudes, it helps prevent altitude sickness by stimulating breathing and improving oxygen delivery. I asked my physician if it would be a problem taking Diamox with my other high blood pressure medications. She saw no problem for a short visit and prescribed four days of Diamox for me to take for two days before getting to altitude and my first two days there. So the stage is set for my little personal science experiment.

My biggest problem now the observer effect or measurement effect. The observer effect refers to the phenomenon where the act of observing or measuring a system changes the system itself. This happens because observation often requires some form of interaction with the system being studied. My daughter Carolyn, who is a bit of a worrier, is all over this altitude issue. She will be the biggest observer in the room and it will be hard for me not to cathect on the whole issue. I’m a bit big to fit in a petri dish, but in any case I’m going in. Wish me luck.