Lessons

I learned two important things today. Against all odds, it happened to actually be a nice day. No rain, not even cloudy! Since the sun's presence is somewhat of a rarity around here, I thought that I should take advantage of it. Besides, what better way to help break in my new hiking boots? A slow, and daunting task. It usually takes me a while to break in boots. They fit awesome the first time I try them on, but then as I slowly use them, they become uncomfortable in several different ways. Then begins the process of them becoming comfortable once again as they conform to my strange, strange feet.

Since I'm on the subject of my new boots, I'll begin with lesson #1: Don't walk in streams with light hiking boots! There are a few good reasons why I went with the Vasque Breeze, and the first, as the name of the boot implies, is that they offer respectable ventilation for a waterproof boot (obviously they're Goretex, but they also have several patches of mesh-y cloth to allow ample airflow. Which is great for me, as my feet are prone to sweating. And if I'd gone with heavy, sturdy backpacking boots, it wouldn't matter that they were waterproof if the weather was warm. Second, I've heard that heavy boots can take days to dry after getting wet (because given enough water, there is no boot that is completely waterproof). This was confirmed by Julie today. And even my previous boots (which were also lightweight), could easily take about a day or two to dry if they were kept indoors without ample airflow. And there's nothing worse than putting your dry feet into a still-wet boot before a day of hiking! So I'm glad I went with boots that will dry faster. However (and I did read this previously), they also get wet faster, despite being Goretex. To be fair, the insides were merely damp after walking in a creek. Sort of like how the inside of a Goretex jacket will be damp on the inside if it's been out in the rain. But it usually doesn't get any more than just damp, and my clothes stay dry underneath. So we'll see how the boots work. I'm sure that it's impossible to find a truly adequete hiking boot. One way or another, your feet will get wet! Whether this be from sweat, or external sources of water. The question becomes, is it better to get your feet wet more frequently but have boots that dry quickly, or have boots that keep water out in all but the most extreme circumstances, but take forever to dry. Also, in warm weather the sweat will be a problem in terms of comfort, though this certainly won't soak the boot and therefore drying isn't an issue. So what's the moral of the story? Yes, it's a tradeoff, and I think I made the right choice. I just need to get used to limitations (i.e. instead of walking through many puddles on an otherwise dry day and risk reaching that dampness threshold, avoid getting my feet when when possible).

Now onto lesson number two that I learned today. Nettles here are kind of a bitch. The nettles I've run into back on the eastern side of the country never really bothered me that much. Sure, they were a bit painful, but it was like a very mild sting, and gone after a couple of minutes. Still, some people really hate nettles, and I just figured they didn't affect me as much. That was until today. Perhaps it was because I encountered a species that I hadn't come in contact with before, but the effect was definitely exaggerated! When I first came in contact with it, the initial "sting" was a little more painful (still not very high on the scale of painful things though) and then the lingering painful numbness. Which usually dissipates after a few minutes. This didn't. In fact, at 10:45 pm as I type this, I can still feel the "sting." Perhaps whatever toxin/acid that this species has is more persistent in animal tissue. Interesting. I wonder how common this stuff is.

After WA

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything on here. This won't be very long since I'll have to leave for work soon. Yay for late days! I spent the extra time I gave myself in the morning doing research for the road trip at the end of August. So far Olympic NP, North Cascades NP, and Banff NP (Canada) are the three main targets for the return journey. I'm tempted to head up to Alaska, but I think that would be pushing it in September.

I've also thrown around the idea of substitute teaching when I get back to OH. The demand is high, and I honestly don't think I'll have much success finding an appropriate job in October or so. I can just teach until I hear about some seasonal positions in NPs. They'll most likely start in spring. Not sure which park yet, but that's the general plan that I'm leaning toward. Of course who knows what else might come up.

Yesterday one of the kids found a western red backed salamander (Plethodon vehiculum) at Stillwater. This place is basically a meadow, and the adjacent riparian forest that we're widening is not the greatest quality for Plethodontids. Oh well, it was a pleasant surprise, and I taught them about mimicry :D

February in WA

So from what I've heard, February is actually one of the nicer months in western WA. And so far that has been pretty much true. It hasn't rained for nearly a week, and not only that, but it's actually been somewhat SUNNY! Most of our non-rainy late fall-early winter days have either been very cloudy, or foggy. This is definitely a nice change of pace! Unfortunately, I'm also told that it won't last through March. Darn.

Anyways, in celebration of the good weather, I went for a hike this past Saturday. It was just in Everett, specifically Forest Park. I'd been to this park before and wasn't impressed with the amount of trails (probably less than a mile of convoluted connecting and twisting paths in a wooded section of the park). These trails were pretty cool for a park in the middle of a city, but not enough to amuse me for very long. Well, I found more trails! There was a random gated park road that I walked down, and it ran parallel to a stream (Pigeon Creek, I believe). There was some pretty cool erosion, and part of a steep bank had been carved away; it looked like sandstone with a younger conglomerate stratum, and then possibly more sandstone/soil above that. When I crossed the creek and took a look at what I thought was a spring coming out of the rock, I realized that the bank wasn't lithified at all! The "conglomerate" stratum was overhanging me, and so in the interest of safety I immediately vacated the area, lol. The "spring" was actually a pool set in a gouge that the flood waters had carved out, and I'm guessing that was the level of the water table on that side of the bank? Which seemed a little odd, as it was at a higher elevation than the other bank, but whatever.

Anyways, I got to the end of this road only to find...a sewage treatment building of some kind. Anticlimactic, huh? Well, not quite. Beyond that was a barbed wire fence, some railroad tracks, and a small sandy beach!!!! Now, the fence said no trespassing, but that of course didn't stop me :D This road was actually in the valley that Pigeon Creek ran through, and so there were decently steep slopes flanking the ends of the fence. Made it pretty easy to simply WALK AROUND the fence, if you took the opportunity to actually investigate those areas. I'm going to return to this beach regularly, I think, in the hopes of finding sea lions.

As I was about to turn around, I noticed that there was a trail going up one of the slopes. The park property was pretty extensive on either side of the road, and there were actually a decent amount of trails on the slopes/in the uplands!!! Overall it was a nice hike, and the weather was very spring-like. It even smelled like spring. At one point at the top of the hill there was a large waste water treatment facility, with a big-ass pipe (4-8 foot diameter? It was fairly far away...) spewing water into a reservoir. The whole complex was surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and around it on the outside was a typical suburban greenspace with some cool meadowy type grasses along the perimeter of the mowed grass, and then of course the terrible, invasive Himalayan blackberry. But for some reason the place really reminded me of my childhood. Exploring around the railroad tracks and such. Not exactly "wilderness," but urban/suburban outdoors that hadn't succumbed to development yet. Not sure if that area was park property or PUD property. Anyways, it was back into the woods after that. The trails through the wooded area had a lot of side paths branching off of them, and the topography was decently variable given the area. A lot of small ridges and valleys.

So yeah, there's at least one place in Everett with hiking that isn't terrible. Which is good. Plus the "secret" beach. There was one guy standing down on the beach, and so I didn't go down there. Wasn't sure if he was some type of worker or just a fellow trespasser like me, hehehe. Honestly though, I suspect the "no trespassing" signs are just a formality to keep kids off the train tracks, which do see a lot of train activity so it's a valid concern.

Ok, I'm done rambling on now. I'm sure a lot of people in the midwest would be very jealous if they read them, but I gotta say, I do really miss the winter. And this January had record snowfall!!! Yarg. I would miss that. Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to wait until next winter. Speaking of which, not having a winter is really screwing with my biological clock. It feels like early spring for me...like it should be April, and that I hibernated through the winter or something. In a month or two I'm going to expect warm weather and it's just not going to come.

On my Self-Education

I'm not going to get super philosophical with my definition of self-education. In this case, I'm simply referring to voluntary activity similar to what I would be required to do were I still in school. Essentially, my efforts are being focused on obtaining textbooks, reading them, and taking notes. You could argue that it's not the most effective way to learn, but it's what I'm used to so why not go with it? It's unfortunate that I can't really incorporate a field component very easily. For example, my current subject of study is geology. I can go out and attempt to look at rocks and rock formations all I want, but without an experienced geologist to guide me, answer questions, and either confirm or correct my thoughts, it isn't going to help me much. And so I am utilizing the textbook. But no matter: knowledge gained from books, if nothing else, provides a solid basis for experiential knowledge that may be gained later in life. I am aware of how inarticulate this paragraph may be...and I don't really care all that much. I'm sorting through thoughts a little bit here, and I feel like updating so why the hell not?

So geology is sort of interesting I guess. Learning the basics is a little dull, and I'm eager to get to chapters later in the book. But I don't want to rush it, because oftentimes boring stuff can be important to know, and it may inform more exciting stuff. Overall I'm making decent progress. I think I've read 6 chapters at this point? And since the book is due back next Monday, I've had it for 2 1/2 weeks. Not too shabby, but I'll definitely be renewing it at least once, probably twice. Interesting observation: one would think that chapters on natural disasters would be the good, juicy stuff that most people would want to read about. But I skipped the chapter on volcanism after the igneous rock chapter in favor of trudging right through sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, and I definitely plan on skipping the chapter on earthquakes. I may go back to them later, but my initial reaction was that these topics just didn't pique my interest.

I know that it's looking somewhat far ahead, but I'm debating whether my next subject should be Ornithology or Genetics. If I put off genetics, I'll probably continue to do so in favor of more interesting topics, but I'd really like to have a basic understanding of the subject (beyond the Mendelian stuff you learn in intro bio and E&E). And given that my textbook source is currently the library, and said books have a due date and a limit on the # of renewals, I don't want to take on multiple subjects at the same time (especially since I plan on reading various other books too). I suppose if I find a good textbook at Goodwill or something I can pick it up and take as long as I would like. But last time I was there (which, admittedly, was a couple of months ago) they didn't really have anything that I felt like buying.

Question: how bored does one have to be to actually read through blog posts of this nature? If someone else wrote this and I started reading it, I think I'd move on after the first few sentences...

Oh well, whatevs.

2009 New Years Predictions!!!

I know they're late, but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, does it? I am determined to go through with this tradition, especially after Reyan actually WROTE about it.

1.Winter and spring in WA will be dull, but the summer will make it worthwhile.

2.President Obama will assume a major role in addressing climate change, but will fall short with energy policies.

3.Reyan will get another job writing about sports :)

4.I will get a sub-par job, but I will actually be making money (which I will then save up for travel/grad school)

5.While in WA, I will consistently follow a self-education program which I began this very day by checking out a geology textbook from the library. Genetics is next.

6.Erin and I will coordinate a really awesome camping trip for this summer.

7.At least one more of my friends will get engaged.

8.I will once again remain single this year.

9.I will NOT get poison ivy or stung by bees at all this year!

10.I will find $5.


So there you go. Happy New Year! Just think, this is the last year that you'll be able to date things with a year beginning with '0. Unless the science of preserving heads in jars to survive indefinitely is perfected within our lifetimes. Which is possible, given that many modern celebrities have heads in jars in Futurama. Of course many dead people also have heads in jars, so clearly they will develop the technology to resurrect heads, but in a lot of cases I doubt some of those celebrities WOULD be resurrected. I'm sure it's a costly process, and it wouldn't be worth it for many of the heads on that show. But the point is still moot I guess, since heads in jars can't sign a date anyways. Unless they have cyborg or robot bodies. I'll bet most of us won't get those.

2008 New Years Predictions Reviewed.

In the past I've been good about getting these done before the new year, but this year the holiday time was unusually busy. In a good way. I saw a lot of people, and I'm glad I did because I had to. I fly back out to WA tomorrow, and I won't be back in OH again until August. It's kind of scary that 2009 will be roughly 2/3 over by the time I get back; oh how the time does fly.

Unfortunately, the first thing that I happened to do in 2009 was get the flu. It was actually really bad, too. I wasn't able to travel back to Maple Heights on the 1st, so I spent an additional night at Erin's house. I REALLY hope that nobody else gets sick!

Anyways, in the interest of brevity (since I'm still not feeling so great), I shall review last year's predictions and hopefully I will still be motivated to post 2009 predictions tonight.

2008 Predictions Reviewed:

1. I will graduate from Denison, and it will be an incredibly messy slew of emotions.

Yes, I suppose this was a given, but I was surprisingly numb on the actual day of graduation. I guess there was just so much going on and it happened so fast. I am, however, extremely glad that I've been able to see as many Denison people as I have since graduation, I'm glad that I've stayed in contact with so many people, and for those who I haven't seen yet, hopefully there will be opportunities in 2009.

2. One of my friends will have a difficult time adjusting to life after Denison.

Nothing too serious that I can think of.

3. One of my friends will be presented with an amazing and unexpected opportunity.

Hmmm...not super sure about the "unexpected" part. I'm also apparently having a mental block tonight (I blame being sick) and apparently can't think of specific examples of anything, really. Also, this question is so very subjective and relies on the perspective of the one granted the opportunity much moreso than me...

4. Reyan will finally finish something (I’m not giving up on that one)!

Have you? ;)

5. I will show interest in another girl, but I will remain single the whole year.

Depends on how you define "interest." I did go on a date, but I doubt that will lead anywhere, seeing as she's going to be in Costa Rica for most of the time I'm in WA. I did, however, remain single :D

6. I will go on an amazing camping trip and finally see a large predator in the wild.

Ha, I don't even remember how many black bears I saw in the Smokies. Somewhere between 10 and 20. If you count them as large predators. They're mostly omnivores, sure, but they ARE in the Order Carnivora and they DO weigh more than me. Aside from that I did see some rather large cougar tracks while hiking in the Cascades with Erin, but we never saw the owner of said tracks (of course we were hiking at night and probably wouldn't have seen the kitty if it were right off the trail, but I digress...)

7. I will come to a realization about my future which will inform my grad school search.

More like scattered thoughts I suppose. I did realize that I definitely do not want to live in a large city (my definition of large is probably much smaller than most people's...). Ok, so I figured that before but living in Everett has really proven it. Other than that uhhh...I guess I haven't really thought about grad school all that much. I still have plenty of time. I do miss the academic environment, and so I guess that's telling too, right?

8. Someone I know will decide to live in a different country.

Does it count if I also met said person this year? Sure, why not! Paul, one of my fellow SCA interns from the Smokies, is doing a Masters program in England. Oh, and I guess Alice Brindle is too, so there's two people in different countries.

9. I will have distressing financial troubles.

I wouldn't call them "distressing" yet, at least not for me, but I'm sure many people would not be too happy if they were in my shoes. Or boots, specifically, because my lovely Gore-Tex boots are getting too worn out, and so they leak. And I can't afford new ones. Oh, and my other pairs of shoes are falling apart. I've pretty much brushed footwear off as a low priority until the situation becomes much more dire.

10. I will spend my “time off” after graduation meaningfully.

Yay SCA! The summer was good. My AmeriCorps position has certainly been meaningful so far as well, if not consistently as enjoyable as the SCA internship. I'll just have to try to get as much out of my residency in the Evergreen State as I can while I'm there!

So 6/10 for 2008. 7 if Reyan actually finished anything, but I'm guessing since he was so busy getting published a billion times that he probably did not...

"We can not solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when
we created them." -Albert Einstein

Argh internets!

Soooo the internet in my house is down. Has been down for the past three days. It kind of sucks, because now I have to go to the library for internet, but I guess since the library's like a one minute walk from work it's not that bad. And it's open until 9. I've dealt with worse *coughGatlinburgcough*.

On Sunday morning I looked up a couple of recipes for stuffed cabbage b/c the landowner from the planting the previous weekend had given me a HUGE cabbage from his field. Well, later that afternoon was when the internet crapped out so I was flying blind cooking this stuffed cabbage. I used some stuff from a couple diff. recipes, in addition to simply making it up myself. Didn't turn out half bad. Actually it was a damn good first attempt, the more I think about it.

Yeah, I don't really have anything else to say.

Some quotes

I've been reading a collection of John Muir's work ("Nature Writings") and I pulled out some good quotes from what I've read so far. So, for anybody who reads this and is even remotely interested, here they are:

On poison oak: "Like most other things not apparently useful to man, it has few friends, and the blind question, "why was it made?" goes on and on with never a guess that first of all it might have been made for itself." ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra

"Here, we are camped for the night, our big fire, heaped high with rosiny logs and branches, is blazing like a sunrise, gladly giving back the light slowly sifted from the sunbeams of centuries of summers; and in the glow of that old sunlight how impressively surrounding objects are brought forward in relief against the outer darkness!" ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra

"No wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself." ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra

quick update

I'm going to Corvallis to visit Erin for thanksgiving!!! Yay!!! Unfortunately it's more expensive than I thought it would be, and involves more sitting on a Greyhound than I would like, but I don't care. I get to see Erin!!! And then, for those who don't know (and actually read this blog), I'm coming home for Christmas for almost three weeks, actually. I fly out of here December 16th and fly back January 4th. So I'll be around for New Year's, too.

Tomorrow I have my second planting, and it's going to be muddy as all hell. Hopefully it'll be fun though. I'll stay more or less dry through the miracle of raingear, and I just hope that the volunteers will not be miserable. Especially the little kids. I'd rather deal with mud fights than complaining kids :)

Just putting it out there, but this season of The Office is amazing.

I want to go camping. Really badly. I suppose I should probably wait until it's not raining every day though...