a bit of an explanation

hey! hi there! No, no, i haven't been sick (well, a touch of a cold but nothing serious) and I haven't forgotten you. It's just pesky life getting in the way.

I'm out in AZ doing a bit of field work, and I always come with the best of intentions of getting lots of things done in my "free time". Then I spend 8 or 9 hours on my knees counting desert wildflowers and phew! how it tires the body.* And with the body goes the mind. So! No posts in ages.

But I know you've missed me as much as I've missed you, so here are some pics of where I am so you can picture me in your little head:

*A bit of a math lesson:

16 quadrants per research plot * 7 plots per day = 112 squats per day! Go glutes!

doing my travelling for me

Dear Savvy Traveler,

I'm hoping that the appearance of your collection of souvenir plates at my local thrift-emporium means that you have undergone a redecoration phase, and not that your heartless children carted your precious mementos off to the curb before you were even served your first tray of jell-o at the assisted living facility.

Either way, I want you to know that your keepsakes have found a good home alongside my Mississippi-magnolia-desert plate, a gilded dinner-plate from Palm Springs, and a serving tray from the Sooner state.

back on track

Back in the land o' internet after a week of detox.
In some ways it was nice--I read a book! An actual novel!
In other ways it put me face-to-face with how much I rely on having constant access... for instance: I was walking out the door on Sat night to go see Black Mountain* at the Bluebird.** I had never been there before, and I suddenly realized that I wasn't sure exactly where I was going... So I called my dad and had him look it up online for me. Seriously. I mean, it worked, but really.

* Adam was out of town and so I went alone and we text-convo'd after:

Me: Oh my holy... That was some serious rock.

A: Did they smite the unbelievers with their thunderous rock hammers?

Tee hee hee. That boy is funny.

** I'm a big fan of small venues, don't get me wrong, but does anyone else feel like the Bluebird is reminiscent of an under-18 nighttime hang-out in a shopping mall, or maybe even a church basement?

there goes March...

Dear Internet,

I've been ignoring the warning signs for a while now: the way I bring you up in almost every conversation during the day; the way I can't go more than an hour without needing to be with you; the way I'm overcome with jealousy when I see other people enjoying your company while I'm stuck doing something tedious...

I think I've grown a little too attached to you, Internet, and I think we need some time apart. I'll be house-sitting all this week, and they forgot to leave your password. I figure it will be easiest this way; cold turkey.

It's not like we can't say hi to each other at school. After all, we have to Get Work Done, and we can't let a few personal issues sour our working relationship. But maybe a few nights alone will do us some good. Maybe give us a little perspective? Maybe even breathe some new life into our relationship.

I'll see you next week,

Me

out with the (c)old

Dear February Doldrums,

I know we go way back, but you said it would just be a month. Just one month, until you got your feet back onthe ground, saved a bit of cash. And said "no, it's cool, you can totally stay in our extra room."

Then March 1st came and went, and there you were, drinking milk out of the container, sneaking your laundry into our loads. I'd really had it with you, February.

Today on my way to the bus stop I saw my first crocuses of the year. Crocuses! And I knew the time had come for us to part ways. I rehearsed my speech in my head all day, "we really like having you around, but its just... your cold cloudy days and general malaise is starting to bring us down. And I really think it would be better for all of us if you continued on your way now."

But then, as I turned the corner of my block on my way home, there you were. Sitting on my stoop with your boxes piled around you, the moving van just pulling up to the curb. I guess I underestimated you again; you always figure it out just in the nick of time.

See you next year!

a word with the governor

I know that it's belated, and I've been AWOL for a bit, but the theme for March is Open Letters. I intended to start it out on a happier note, but the NY governor has left me no other choice...


Dear Mr. Spitzer,

Wha'? Really? Honestly? $80,000 on high class hookers?! I mean, this is behavior that I might have expected from...oh, say, almost any other politician. But you? Mr. Root-Out-The-Crooks?

Sigh.

Ok, so here's the thing. I really liked you. A lot. I remember your grinning face on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. I remember all the balls you busted down on Wall street. Sure, your actions didn't exactly touch my day-to-day existence, but I really believed that you were one of the good guys. I was so bummed to move out of NY only two weeks into your tenure as governor. And this is what you do with my admiration? Bugger.

-Me

email conversation

Me:

I just remembered that we have Girl Scout Cookies at home, and I am now consumed with two thoughts:

1. How much better would our road trip have been if we had remembered to bring them?!

2. Should I ride back home right now and get some, or make myself wait until the end of the day.

Here's the math involved in #2: if I ride my bike all the way home and then up to school, don't I deserve more cookies, in the end, than if I had just waited until the end of the day to ride home, in terms of overall calories burned: calories consumed?

Hmmmmmmmmm..........

I want to make a Samoa-Thin Mint sandwhich, where the Samoas are the bread, and the Thin Mints are the filling. And Then I want to switch it up and put Samoas in between Thin Mints. I might die right there.

A:

That’s a horrible idea.
Right up there with the time I got stuck in traffic for 45 minutes on my way to work because at the last minute I decided I needed a Worlds Fair dounut.

Me:

At least you had sustenance.

I was off the blog for a bit so that I could Focus On School. I've had enough of that, and I'm back on the blogging wagon. The March theme Open Letters starts tomorrow.

a little science lesson

As I left this morning I looked down and noticed that our crocuses are coming up! And not just a little bit. Could it be a sign that this interminable cold could someday end? Is spring on its way?

On a related note, I just ran across a bunch of drawings I did for a little educational book about vernal pools. I worked on it for an old job, along with my friend Andy (who coincidentally just emailed me to say hi. Hi Andy!) Andy and I also worked together on a book about wastewater treatment, but that's a story for another time... poop on a conveyor belt! wheee!

The annual migration of amphibians to vernal pools is my absolute favorite rite of spring. During the first rainy spring nights, the earliest emerging frogs & salamanders migrate to temporary woodland ponds that form from snow melt and rainwater. Think Serengeti wildebeest, but with salamanders, in the dark, in the rain. And maybe not quite so many, but a lot! So many that in some towns they set up roadblocks around high(salamander)-traffic crossing points, or install tunnels under the roads.

Vernal pools are critical habitat for a whole host of organisms, such as:

Spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum)

Wood frogs (Rana sylvatica)

and fairy shrimp (Eubranchipus spp.)

Yes! Shrimp! In the forest!
They survive all year long as little tiny eggs on the forest floor, then for two weeks in spring they hatch, grow, breed and die, and their eggs spend the next year hanging around in the leaf litter. I'm telling you, it's things like this that make me wonder:
Why doesn't EVERYONE want to be a biologist? Biology is just so awesome.

All of the other organisms that breed in the vernal pools have to hurry up & get to it as well, as they have to be grown and out of there before the water dries up. It's a mad dash.


For a real multi-media vernal pool experience you have to listen to Adam's story about amphibian migrations here. You can hear all the peepers & wood frogs go wild in the background.

could anyone spare a taxidermied waterfowl?

I have been on the hunt for some old photocubes for some time now. It started as my brilliant holiday gift idea; I'd fill them with various meaningful pics for various meaningful people. I scoured thrift stores with no luck and I finally tracked some down at Target, but they were too pricey for a block of plastic, if you ask me. Anyway, I scrapped the present idea, but I've kept my eyes open, and this weekend I found a few at TFA.

I've had a few ideas about how I would fill the cubes:

• pictures of my puppy
• pictures of cupcakes!
• old family photos of our parents as kids, etc.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to top the pictures that came with the photocube packaging:


A miniature golden piano (being caressed ever-so-gently by Barbara Streisand's doppelganger), a collection of creepy plastic dolls and a senior portrait with a ship replica? Honestly people, how can I do better than that?

two for one

Just when I was beginning to think that maybe I don't hate all clowns, a wet puppy nose came along and swiped this one. I guess now we know what Moxie thinks of carnies.


Whenever I can't think of something to draw I just ask Adam for an idea. He's like a random-number generator for picture ideas. He comes up with things like A robot surgeon, operating on a squid! or three cats fixing the sewer lines! Last night's gem was this one:
A yeti holding two pennies!