Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts:

I named today's image "Search for Reality".   The name came about when something in the image reminded be of the sub-atomic realm, which is a totally different form of existence.

I have been fascinated with 'reality' ever since my father introduced me to the puzzle of reality when I was around age 12.   Until then, I had wondered why there was such a fuss about the nature of reality.   I had automatically assumed that the world we see around us is real, and that was that.   Then on a Sunday morning, as my father and I were looking from a second floor window at a ringing bell swinging back and forth in the tower of a church a block away, he turned to me and asked if the sound we were hearing was the actual bell itself.   Thinking it was a test of my scientific knowledge, I replied that we were not hearing the bell itself, we were hearing only the sound waves from the real bell.

Then he pointed to the bell swinging in the tower and asked if that were the actual bell.   Without thinking, I replied that yes, that is the actual bell that is making the sound.   But when I said this, my father told me that I was wrong.   We were not seeing the actual bell, we were seeing only the light waves coming from the real bell.   When he said this, I asked him what then is the real bell, and he told me that no one knows what the real bell is.   The real bell, as well as the reality behind everything else we see in the world, is a mystery, and this mystery is what all the philosophical fuss is about.   Ever since then, I have been wondering what, if anything, is really out there.   And now I find myself wondering if even fractals are really out there.

One thing certain (I hope) is that today's image really exists.   Its heavenly blue tints and gently curved neon rings have earned it a rating of an 8-1/2, 1/2 point of which is a reward for the coloring.   The parent fractal is the same one that has supplied the past 3 days' FOTD images.

The calculation time of 1-3/4 minutes will pass like magic once the heavenly colors come into view.   Those who doubt that heaven exists may see the image on the FOTD web site at:without fear of eternal condemnation.

Heavy clouds, continued breezy conditions and a temperature of 41F 5C made for a typical midwinter day here in central Pennsylvania.   The fractal cats were restless due to the lack of sun, and almost got into a fight over a catnip mouse.   My day was rather uneventful, which, taken wrongly, might imply that there actually was an 'event'.   The next FOTD will be posted in 24 hours.   Until then, take care, and would the real reality please stand up.


Jim Muth
jamth@mindspring.com
jimmuth@aol.com

START PARAMETER FILE=======================================

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END PARAMETER FILE=========================================