29 January 2013
25 January 2013
a'a-wesome: even more cool rocks!
Flagstaff was about 16° Fahrenheit (that's about -9° Celcius, if you were wondering) on Monday morning.
We bundled up in as many layers as possible (only having brought so many warm clothes to Arizona) and embarked on a search for breakfast.We had stopped in Flagstaff for coffee on our way to Sedona on Sunday and every coffee place we could find was closed. Monday though-- no problem. We found a little place called White Dove Coffee Shop, which had great coffee and tea and breakfast burritos. I'm not fully human until I eat in the morning, so after that, the adventures could begin.
We decided to take advantage of free National Parks admission to celebrate MLK Day and went up to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument to explore a little bit. This fit in perfectly with the rest of the weekend's theme of COOL ROCKS: volcanic rocks! A'a! The greatest scrabble word of all time, right there in front of me. We only hiked one trail because it was really cold out, and there was a lot of ice and little guarantee that the trails would be ok, but it was really beautiful. I especially enjoyed the juxtaposition of lava fields-- rocks that were laid down by hot, violent volcanic explosions-- and the fresh, clean, sparkling, peaceful snow covering the park.
Disappointing: you can't hike up the side of the volcano anymore, too many people doing that caused too much erosion. Still, you can look up 1000 feet at it and just imagine what it must have been like about 900 years ago, all melty and exploding. Kind of cool.
Good weekend. Tree rocks, sedimentary rocks, red rocks, volcanic rocks. You could say the weekend rocked. ha ha.
We bundled up in as many layers as possible (only having brought so many warm clothes to Arizona) and embarked on a search for breakfast.We had stopped in Flagstaff for coffee on our way to Sedona on Sunday and every coffee place we could find was closed. Monday though-- no problem. We found a little place called White Dove Coffee Shop, which had great coffee and tea and breakfast burritos. I'm not fully human until I eat in the morning, so after that, the adventures could begin.
We decided to take advantage of free National Parks admission to celebrate MLK Day and went up to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument to explore a little bit. This fit in perfectly with the rest of the weekend's theme of COOL ROCKS: volcanic rocks! A'a! The greatest scrabble word of all time, right there in front of me. We only hiked one trail because it was really cold out, and there was a lot of ice and little guarantee that the trails would be ok, but it was really beautiful. I especially enjoyed the juxtaposition of lava fields-- rocks that were laid down by hot, violent volcanic explosions-- and the fresh, clean, sparkling, peaceful snow covering the park.
Disappointing: you can't hike up the side of the volcano anymore, too many people doing that caused too much erosion. Still, you can look up 1000 feet at it and just imagine what it must have been like about 900 years ago, all melty and exploding. Kind of cool.
Good weekend. Tree rocks, sedimentary rocks, red rocks, volcanic rocks. You could say the weekend rocked. ha ha.
23 January 2013
more colorful rocks
On Sunday morning, we returned to Petrified Forest National Park to look at the Painted Desert in the morning light. Amazing. The hills were all shades of red and pink, and the park was empty (so even quieter and more peaceful). We stopped by the few overlooks we didn't check out on Saturday, and caught some great views of petrified forests. Incredible stuff.
After leaving Petrified Forest/Painted Desert and meandering through Holbrook (where we'd stayed the night before), a town that doesn't have much besides a railroad crossing and a LOT of dinosaur statues, we intended to visit Meteor Crater and check out Flagstaff. We stopped at Meteor Crater only to discover that it's not particularly cheap to get in. Could we have afforded it? Probably. Did we want to? No. We were offended by the blatant ripping off of tourists, so we continued on our merry way, and on a whim decided to check out Sedona instead.
Still got to see a big hole in the ground!
Sedona is absolutely lovely. It was pretty chilly in Flagstaff, looking so nice and wintery with pine trees and snow. We began the drive from Flag to Sedona and were happily surprised to find that the squiggly lines on Google maps was a gorgeous, winding road down into Oak Creek Canyon.
View Larger Map
The temperature jumped and it felt like spring. We enjoyed having the windows down and driving through the cute downtown area of Sedona, full of fun looking shops and restaurants. We decided to go to Red Rock State Park (over Slide Rock State Park, and good that we did, because apparently the main attraction there is playing in the river, which it wasn't quite warm enough for). That was a good whimsical decision.
Red Rock State Park is full of really great trails, and obviously, red rocks. They are beautifully maintained without being paved and excessively manufactured looking. We basically hiked the perimeter of the trails, probably 3-4 miles. It was beautiful. Stunning views, cool lizards and birds, bobcat scat (which we proudly identified correctly using our own logic of, it's fuzzy, so something that eats other fuzzy things, and it looks like cat poop), lots of cacti and trees, with a little stream running through (SO nice to be by water).
We stopped by a brewery in town and had a flight of samples of some great stuff before having dinner at a sandwich place and heading up to Flagstaff for the night. That windy road was less fun at night, but the infinite number of stars and the moonlight glowing on the snow as we gained elevation was pretty cool.
After leaving Petrified Forest/Painted Desert and meandering through Holbrook (where we'd stayed the night before), a town that doesn't have much besides a railroad crossing and a LOT of dinosaur statues, we intended to visit Meteor Crater and check out Flagstaff. We stopped at Meteor Crater only to discover that it's not particularly cheap to get in. Could we have afforded it? Probably. Did we want to? No. We were offended by the blatant ripping off of tourists, so we continued on our merry way, and on a whim decided to check out Sedona instead.
Still got to see a big hole in the ground!
Sedona is absolutely lovely. It was pretty chilly in Flagstaff, looking so nice and wintery with pine trees and snow. We began the drive from Flag to Sedona and were happily surprised to find that the squiggly lines on Google maps was a gorgeous, winding road down into Oak Creek Canyon.
View Larger Map
The temperature jumped and it felt like spring. We enjoyed having the windows down and driving through the cute downtown area of Sedona, full of fun looking shops and restaurants. We decided to go to Red Rock State Park (over Slide Rock State Park, and good that we did, because apparently the main attraction there is playing in the river, which it wasn't quite warm enough for). That was a good whimsical decision.
Red Rock State Park is full of really great trails, and obviously, red rocks. They are beautifully maintained without being paved and excessively manufactured looking. We basically hiked the perimeter of the trails, probably 3-4 miles. It was beautiful. Stunning views, cool lizards and birds, bobcat scat (which we proudly identified correctly using our own logic of, it's fuzzy, so something that eats other fuzzy things, and it looks like cat poop), lots of cacti and trees, with a little stream running through (SO nice to be by water).
We stopped by a brewery in town and had a flight of samples of some great stuff before having dinner at a sandwich place and heading up to Flagstaff for the night. That windy road was less fun at night, but the infinite number of stars and the moonlight glowing on the snow as we gained elevation was pretty cool.
21 January 2013
Petrified Forest
Rocks! Trees that are rocks! Rocks that used to be trees!
!!!!!!!!!!!
We began the long weekend (thank you, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for your good work for our world) at Petrified Forest National Park, a place that Mike mentioned he passed on his original drive west in July. He suggested maybe I'd be interested in going there sometime?
TREES THAT ARE ROCKS!
I really loved this park. The biggest impression Arizona has made on me so far is that everything is just so wide, so expansive, so vast-- Petrified Forest was no exception, but in a very different way than I've seen before. Grasslands as far as you could see, occasionally interrupted by a cluster of badland hills, with the Painted Desert around the northern edges. I think what made it feel so immense to me was the fact that I-40/old US-66 and the Santa Fe Railroad bisected the park, but you could watch a train with 100 cars go by and barely hear it. There was nothing for the sound to bounce off. It was sort of eerily quiet, but really peaceful.
We stopped and hiked a lot of the trails in the park. Most of them were reasonably short and accessible. The drives in between the trails were stunning, too, with amazing views of the badlands-- the stripes of sedimentation were really obviously and really cool colors. Grasslands as far as you could see with little specks of Painted Desert, badlands and petrified wood everywhere. So lovely.
The park sadly closes before sunset, but we got to stare at the Painted Desert in the northern end of the park as the sun got lower in the sky, and it was pretty awesome to see the colors just pop. Amazing reds and pinks and blues and greens, with the pale washed out grasses and the big, blue sky. Pretty awesome.
I just love petrified wood. I think it's really cool. Here are at least five reasons why:
1. They are trees and rocks at the same time! That right there is practically my top ten favorite things!
2. It's really pretty.
3. So many different colors from so many different minerals.
4. SCIENCE!
5. There are probably some good metaphors about living things that are somewhat frozen in time or things that are solid that also had life at one time or something. Very poetic, I tell you.
6. Did you know that it requires a diamond saw or dynamite to cut petrified wood? That stuff is serious business.
7. Petrified wood has so many interesting things to say about the geographic environment that it's in, and it's easy to see how that has changed, which is really cool (for example, a lot of the tree rocks we saw in the park were conifers. Conifers! It's all grasslands now with an occasional juniper and maybe another tree or two!).
Well, I got carried away with that. I would keep going on, except most of my reasons would probably just be me stuttering about how much I enjoy trees and rocks and trees that are rocks. It's true though.
Tree of the day: obviously, the ones that are now rocks
So, Petrified Forest? A raving success. That is a lovely park. It was a pretty beautiful day.
!!!!!!!!!!!
We began the long weekend (thank you, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for your good work for our world) at Petrified Forest National Park, a place that Mike mentioned he passed on his original drive west in July. He suggested maybe I'd be interested in going there sometime?
TREES THAT ARE ROCKS!
I really loved this park. The biggest impression Arizona has made on me so far is that everything is just so wide, so expansive, so vast-- Petrified Forest was no exception, but in a very different way than I've seen before. Grasslands as far as you could see, occasionally interrupted by a cluster of badland hills, with the Painted Desert around the northern edges. I think what made it feel so immense to me was the fact that I-40/old US-66 and the Santa Fe Railroad bisected the park, but you could watch a train with 100 cars go by and barely hear it. There was nothing for the sound to bounce off. It was sort of eerily quiet, but really peaceful.
We stopped and hiked a lot of the trails in the park. Most of them were reasonably short and accessible. The drives in between the trails were stunning, too, with amazing views of the badlands-- the stripes of sedimentation were really obviously and really cool colors. Grasslands as far as you could see with little specks of Painted Desert, badlands and petrified wood everywhere. So lovely.
The park sadly closes before sunset, but we got to stare at the Painted Desert in the northern end of the park as the sun got lower in the sky, and it was pretty awesome to see the colors just pop. Amazing reds and pinks and blues and greens, with the pale washed out grasses and the big, blue sky. Pretty awesome.
I just love petrified wood. I think it's really cool. Here are at least five reasons why:
1. They are trees and rocks at the same time! That right there is practically my top ten favorite things!
2. It's really pretty.
3. So many different colors from so many different minerals.
4. SCIENCE!
5. There are probably some good metaphors about living things that are somewhat frozen in time or things that are solid that also had life at one time or something. Very poetic, I tell you.
6. Did you know that it requires a diamond saw or dynamite to cut petrified wood? That stuff is serious business.
7. Petrified wood has so many interesting things to say about the geographic environment that it's in, and it's easy to see how that has changed, which is really cool (for example, a lot of the tree rocks we saw in the park were conifers. Conifers! It's all grasslands now with an occasional juniper and maybe another tree or two!).
Well, I got carried away with that. I would keep going on, except most of my reasons would probably just be me stuttering about how much I enjoy trees and rocks and trees that are rocks. It's true though.
Tree of the day: obviously, the ones that are now rocks
So, Petrified Forest? A raving success. That is a lovely park. It was a pretty beautiful day.
15 January 2013
Your tax dollars at work!
Today was my first experience driving a government vehicle! I felt especially inspired and capable after catching this episode of Duck Dynasty last night...
You know, I really enjoy that show.
Where did I go in the Chevy Silverado? Wikieup, Arizona:
View Larger Map
a small stop on the way to somewhere else. Presumably Phoenix. It took me an hour to get there from Kingman, and I saw maybe two vehicles and zero other things besides tumbleweed and open range on the way.
I met with a local (and my goodness is that a relative term in a place like Wikieup-- I'll come back to that) rancher who is building a cattle fence for NRCS, his wife, and a District Conservationist who needed more fence check experience. This was my first fence, too. We met at the trading post (seriously! the trading post! which is nearly the only thing there!) and jumped into one truck and spent two and a half hours driving on dirt roads around an enormous ranch, occasionally stopping to take GPS points and pictures to verify that the fence was put in as contracted. It was a beautiful, straight fence. They put the barbed wire at certain heights in different regions, depending on whether antelope are present or not (to make it easier for antelope but more difficult for cattle to sneak out). blah blah blah I like this stuff but you probably don't care whatever dream job!
So to give you an idea of "local"-- this man's got ranches all over the state, but lives somewhere outside of Wikieup. His daughter attends school in Wikieup, which is about 40 minutes drive from home. There are 27 students and 3 teachers in that school-- grades are combined K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. When she goes to high school, she'll have to take the bus an hour to Kingman. The fence we were checking today? 5.5 miles, and it was all within the ranch's borders-- NRCS doesn't built border fences, just partition fences to help with grazing management.
Drove back to Bullhead City and stopped to take this photo, because I think it says a lot about where I am.
You know, I really enjoy that show.
Where did I go in the Chevy Silverado? Wikieup, Arizona:
View Larger Map
a small stop on the way to somewhere else. Presumably Phoenix. It took me an hour to get there from Kingman, and I saw maybe two vehicles and zero other things besides tumbleweed and open range on the way.
I met with a local (and my goodness is that a relative term in a place like Wikieup-- I'll come back to that) rancher who is building a cattle fence for NRCS, his wife, and a District Conservationist who needed more fence check experience. This was my first fence, too. We met at the trading post (seriously! the trading post! which is nearly the only thing there!) and jumped into one truck and spent two and a half hours driving on dirt roads around an enormous ranch, occasionally stopping to take GPS points and pictures to verify that the fence was put in as contracted. It was a beautiful, straight fence. They put the barbed wire at certain heights in different regions, depending on whether antelope are present or not (to make it easier for antelope but more difficult for cattle to sneak out). blah blah blah I like this stuff but you probably don't care whatever dream job!
So to give you an idea of "local"-- this man's got ranches all over the state, but lives somewhere outside of Wikieup. His daughter attends school in Wikieup, which is about 40 minutes drive from home. There are 27 students and 3 teachers in that school-- grades are combined K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. When she goes to high school, she'll have to take the bus an hour to Kingman. The fence we were checking today? 5.5 miles, and it was all within the ranch's borders-- NRCS doesn't built border fences, just partition fences to help with grazing management.
Drove back to Bullhead City and stopped to take this photo, because I think it says a lot about where I am.
Quiet evening. Our friend Eric is here visiting. He's in Las Vegas for work this week. This weekend's trip (Petrified Forest and Painted Desert!) is being augmented by Meteor Crater, as per the brilliant suggestion of one of Mike's coworkers! Yessss!
14 January 2013
the pinyons up north
Today: field work at 5800+ feet at 19°.
I really, really, really love volunteering with NRCS (I think I'd love working for them more, but I'll take what I can get for now). Today's field work took us up to the Hualapai Reservation to Peach Springs, Arizona, which I visited in August. After a soil and water conservation district meeting, we drove up into the open rangeland north of town to spot check some conservation procedures. Apparently juniper is invasive here, so the object of this practice was to cut down/remove all junipers under 16 inches dbh (diameter at breast height, a common forestry measurement). The dbh limitation was because there were apparently some complaints about removing old growth (aka big trees).
So our job was to drive around the plot in question and spot check if there were any small junipers left. Even though it was open rangeland as far as the eye could see, it was kind of challenging, because juniper and pinyon look roughly the same from a distance in the bright, bright sun. We ended up getting out a few times to measure out 1/10 acre and count the species of trees. It was really cold and windy! Overall though, success. There were just a few small junipers that needed to be taken care of still.
Driving to and from Hualapai from and to Kingman was pretty incredible. I just can't get over the enormous vistas here. Unfortunately, they make me kind of dizzy*, but it's pretty beautiful. I also saw my first instance of "blowing dust" today, from a ranch that NRCS is working with because it is like the Dustbowl there. Seriously, the fences get so clogged with tumbleweed and blowing dust that the cattle can just climb over it. So that's not good, but it was still really interesting to see.
No antelope, no burro, so that was disappointing, but I've only been here ten days, with more fieldwork and adventures ahead--
Tomorrow: field work in Wikieup, and driving a government vehicle for the first time!
This weekend: Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater and Flagstaff
*So it turns out that carsickness is a type of vertigo, which is exacerbated at high elevations. Fun!
I really, really, really love volunteering with NRCS (I think I'd love working for them more, but I'll take what I can get for now). Today's field work took us up to the Hualapai Reservation to Peach Springs, Arizona, which I visited in August. After a soil and water conservation district meeting, we drove up into the open rangeland north of town to spot check some conservation procedures. Apparently juniper is invasive here, so the object of this practice was to cut down/remove all junipers under 16 inches dbh (diameter at breast height, a common forestry measurement). The dbh limitation was because there were apparently some complaints about removing old growth (aka big trees).
So our job was to drive around the plot in question and spot check if there were any small junipers left. Even though it was open rangeland as far as the eye could see, it was kind of challenging, because juniper and pinyon look roughly the same from a distance in the bright, bright sun. We ended up getting out a few times to measure out 1/10 acre and count the species of trees. It was really cold and windy! Overall though, success. There were just a few small junipers that needed to be taken care of still.
Driving to and from Hualapai from and to Kingman was pretty incredible. I just can't get over the enormous vistas here. Unfortunately, they make me kind of dizzy*, but it's pretty beautiful. I also saw my first instance of "blowing dust" today, from a ranch that NRCS is working with because it is like the Dustbowl there. Seriously, the fences get so clogged with tumbleweed and blowing dust that the cattle can just climb over it. So that's not good, but it was still really interesting to see.
No antelope, no burro, so that was disappointing, but I've only been here ten days, with more fieldwork and adventures ahead--
Tomorrow: field work in Wikieup, and driving a government vehicle for the first time!
This weekend: Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater and Flagstaff
*So it turns out that carsickness is a type of vertigo, which is exacerbated at high elevations. Fun!
13 January 2013
London Bridge: desensitizing your parents
Yesterday, while on my way to the London Bridge, I sent my parents a text, "Going to see the London Bridge!" which didn't illicit much of a response from either of them. Mom replied, "!!!" and Dad replied, "is falling down, falling down."
That's it?! No shock, no awe?
Either I have totally desensitized my parents to my habits of slightly unpredictably geography, or they knew that the original London Bridge is, in fact, in Arizona. It's not falling down, it's in Lake Havasu City!
We drove down yesterday, just to check out the town. It was a nice day trip. We had to drive into California to get there, and took Old Route 66 a few miles through the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge (which looks like the rest of the desert but maybe has a little more sage brush and the Palo Verde trees don't look quite as manicured).
Lake Havasu City is just a big town at the edge of the desert by some water. It was founded in 1963 by a rich guy who then bought London Bridge when it was being replaced in England a few years later. Apparently, says Wikipedia, the London Bridge is the second most visited tourist attraction in Arizona, behind the Grand Canyon. Um, neat. So what's number 3? I need to add that to my to-do list.
Seriously though, my mind is blown that there are such new towns in this country, although I guess the rest of the world views pretty much our whole country that way. Just interesting.
Havasu was a good trip though. After many miles of open range with many signs warning of wild burros crossing (didn't see any though), we came upon the city. At first it mostly just appeared to be sprawly, but since there's nothing else around for miles, I guess that's understandable. The area around London Bridge was a nice riverwalk with lots of shops that we didn't really go in, and lots of nice ducks.
One of the reasons we decided to go down there was Mud Shark Brewery, but before we got there, we stumbled upon Barley Brothers Brewery. Both were excellent. Full review here.
All in all, a lovely day trip.
That's it?! No shock, no awe?
Either I have totally desensitized my parents to my habits of slightly unpredictably geography, or they knew that the original London Bridge is, in fact, in Arizona. It's not falling down, it's in Lake Havasu City!
We drove down yesterday, just to check out the town. It was a nice day trip. We had to drive into California to get there, and took Old Route 66 a few miles through the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge (which looks like the rest of the desert but maybe has a little more sage brush and the Palo Verde trees don't look quite as manicured).
Lake Havasu City is just a big town at the edge of the desert by some water. It was founded in 1963 by a rich guy who then bought London Bridge when it was being replaced in England a few years later. Apparently, says Wikipedia, the London Bridge is the second most visited tourist attraction in Arizona, behind the Grand Canyon. Um, neat. So what's number 3? I need to add that to my to-do list.
Seriously though, my mind is blown that there are such new towns in this country, although I guess the rest of the world views pretty much our whole country that way. Just interesting.
Havasu was a good trip though. After many miles of open range with many signs warning of wild burros crossing (didn't see any though), we came upon the city. At first it mostly just appeared to be sprawly, but since there's nothing else around for miles, I guess that's understandable. The area around London Bridge was a nice riverwalk with lots of shops that we didn't really go in, and lots of nice ducks.
One of the reasons we decided to go down there was Mud Shark Brewery, but before we got there, we stumbled upon Barley Brothers Brewery. Both were excellent. Full review here.
All in all, a lovely day trip.
11 January 2013
first week rundown
This is my seventh day in Arizona. So far I have:
Blowing dust?! This apparently brought some kind of "cold front". I'm excited to do field work with NRCS at much higher elevations next week, where the high is expected to be well below freezing. Arizona?!
- gotten my brain into this time zone
- begun Arboriculture and Urban Forestry online (the irony of taking those in the desert)
- signed up for two Coursera classes
- learned how to operate a French press
- cold brewed coffee (this was entirely too strong, but the right flavor, so I'll keep working on it)
- gone for long walks every morning
- completed two of three days of week 1 of the Couch to 5k program with Mike (on a scale from couch to 5k, I am probably somewhere in the middle, although the hills and altitude may have set me back a bit)
- did a soil texture analysis (Carrizo-Riverwash complex: loamy sand! Let me know if you want to see my lab report.)
- caught up on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and Prairie Home Companion
- applied to over 800 jobs (this is not an exaggeration, but this includes 702 openings around the country within the same announcement and four other announcements with over a dozen openings-- I guess it makes more sense to tell you I applied to 14 jobs this week)
- spent a lot of time on facebook and Google Reader
- Skyped with Mom and Dad
- read half of the 12th book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series (love love love these books)
- spent yesterday morning with NRCS on Mojave Nation land checking out cropland deficiencies (mostly due to irrigation systems that were inundated with sand)
- Yes, it turns out there is cropland in the desert. Alfalfa mostly, and some cotton. They have sheep grazing nearby here. They do floodgate irrigation by the Colorado River. It's kind of bizarre to see a swath of green in the desert.
Blowing dust?! This apparently brought some kind of "cold front". I'm excited to do field work with NRCS at much higher elevations next week, where the high is expected to be well below freezing. Arizona?!
07 January 2013
the last few days
My last few days in New Jersey were a whirlwind of seeing family and friends, a last minute field trip with NRCS to look at glacial landscapes, dog/apartment sitting at my brother's, and putting off packing as long as possible. It went quickly, and there were so many people and places I wanted to see, but I'll be back.
These last few days in Arizona (well, first few!), I have mostly been a lazy bum trying to recover from the time zone change. For as much as I love traveling, I am actually pretty terrible at it. Only two hours difference, and I feel like a complete zombie.
I have a lot of small projects that I'm going to be working on while I'm out here: applying for jobs, taking two courses online through Bottineau (Urban Forestry and Arboriculture! good thing it's two tree courses, and there are about two trees in all of Mohave County...), learning to bake bread, learning how to operate a French press and cold brew coffee, getting better at running, probably other things.
This morning I took a nice long walk to scope out a running route. I got sort of lost in the sense that I didn't end up where I meant to, but didn't really not know where I was. It was a nice walk, despite how windy it is-- it does actually get cold in the desert at night, so it was a chilly morning here, and the "breeze" (yeah right, NOAA) was really howling in my ears. I might give myself a few days to get used to the altitude before I actually start running. It's about a 1050 foot difference, which is really not much, but consider the fact that I grew up pretty much at sea level. My ears pop constantly when driving around NJ. My ears pop when I go down the street here.
During my walk, I was lamenting the vegetation. I was just really missing the smell of something green. It just smells like sand here. But, I was feeling thankful for the beautiful views of mountains that completely surround this place. I do miss a lot of things about home, but I'll find little things here to get excited about, too.
Suggestions for projects, new things to learn, and things to look for are welcome... in fact, encouraged!
These last few days in Arizona (well, first few!), I have mostly been a lazy bum trying to recover from the time zone change. For as much as I love traveling, I am actually pretty terrible at it. Only two hours difference, and I feel like a complete zombie.
I have a lot of small projects that I'm going to be working on while I'm out here: applying for jobs, taking two courses online through Bottineau (Urban Forestry and Arboriculture! good thing it's two tree courses, and there are about two trees in all of Mohave County...), learning to bake bread, learning how to operate a French press and cold brew coffee, getting better at running, probably other things.
This morning I took a nice long walk to scope out a running route. I got sort of lost in the sense that I didn't end up where I meant to, but didn't really not know where I was. It was a nice walk, despite how windy it is-- it does actually get cold in the desert at night, so it was a chilly morning here, and the "breeze" (yeah right, NOAA) was really howling in my ears. I might give myself a few days to get used to the altitude before I actually start running. It's about a 1050 foot difference, which is really not much, but consider the fact that I grew up pretty much at sea level. My ears pop constantly when driving around NJ. My ears pop when I go down the street here.
During my walk, I was lamenting the vegetation. I was just really missing the smell of something green. It just smells like sand here. But, I was feeling thankful for the beautiful views of mountains that completely surround this place. I do miss a lot of things about home, but I'll find little things here to get excited about, too.
Suggestions for projects, new things to learn, and things to look for are welcome... in fact, encouraged!
01 January 2013
Standing on the shoulders of giants
Sometimes things just fall right into your lap. Such was the case for my father, listening to REM's King of Birds on his way home from a day trip to PA, while we were waiting for him with some awful, awful news: Uncle Fred was gone. Well, at that point, he was on life support while the family waited for one of his sons to make it up from VA, but he passed away quietly on the evening of December 22, almost exactly 24 hours after my great aunt noticed something was amiss.
I was absolutely kicking myself, because I'd passed through my cousin's town in VA during my travels in the previous days, and was mad at myself for not planning better and visiting with them on my way. I consoled myself during the long drive home that I was sure I'd see them soon at some family event. That felt terrible upon arriving home and receiving the news from my mom.
My father spoke at Fred's funeral, using the line "standing on the shoulders of giants" from that REM song to illustrate how lesser men and women stand on the shoulders of giants to get by. Uncle Fred was one such giant for our family-- a kind and loving man, devoted to his family, serving others, and full of great stories and jokes to keep his four younger siblings (my grandmother and uncles) and the rest of us on our toes.
I'm feeling extremely blessed to have known him in my adult life, to be able to appreciate those stories and zingers. In the height of my family picture scanning blitz, he sat down with me one quiet afternoon to go through them and help fill in some dates and names, including information about my grandfather, who none of us ever knew. It was a difficult conversation, but he was kind, helpful and tactful, as he ever was. I'm so glad we had all of the family gatherings in the last few years, where I could appreciate him as the eldest of the complete set of George and Edith Spain's children.
My entire life, Uncle Fred has been our patriarch. I realize that our time on earth is finite, but I still generally prefer to operate under the assumption that no one is leaving any time soon. This was sudden. I've lost people before, people who were dear to me and an important part of my upbringing, but this is the first time that it's happened so unexpectedly. I am now more acutely aware of my own mortality.
It just felt so conclusive, singing A Mighty Fortress at the end of the service and hearing someone ring the bell. It kind of rang right through my heart as I followed my father out of the funeral so he could help my cousins carry Uncle Fred out of the church.
Rather than dwelling on that in a negative way, I'm trying to take what fell into my father's lap, this idea of standing on the shoulders of giants, and move forward. I'm not the New Years resolution type, but especially as I'm in this time in my life where nothing is certain, and I'm trying so hard to move forward, to find my vocation and to just do something, I find myself thinking about standing on the shoulders of the giants of my life-- Uncle Fred, and so many others. I'm holding close the many stories of his servant's heart, his faith, his strength, his love and his compassion, and remembering these things that were encouraged by the village of Spains and Kecks and Earps and so many others that raised me (and continue to raise me).
As we begin a new year, and as I continue my search for what's next in my life, I'm going to keep in mind that I never walk alone, and that I've been given great gifts by many giants. I'm going to listen a little more closely for my calling, and I'm going to bring all of the compassion, strength, caring and love that I can to the table.
Uncle Fred, and all of the others, are still with us in this way. We'll miss you, Uncle Fred.
Happy 2013. May it be the best yet for all of us, honoring the giants who came before.
I was absolutely kicking myself, because I'd passed through my cousin's town in VA during my travels in the previous days, and was mad at myself for not planning better and visiting with them on my way. I consoled myself during the long drive home that I was sure I'd see them soon at some family event. That felt terrible upon arriving home and receiving the news from my mom.
My father spoke at Fred's funeral, using the line "standing on the shoulders of giants" from that REM song to illustrate how lesser men and women stand on the shoulders of giants to get by. Uncle Fred was one such giant for our family-- a kind and loving man, devoted to his family, serving others, and full of great stories and jokes to keep his four younger siblings (my grandmother and uncles) and the rest of us on our toes.
I'm feeling extremely blessed to have known him in my adult life, to be able to appreciate those stories and zingers. In the height of my family picture scanning blitz, he sat down with me one quiet afternoon to go through them and help fill in some dates and names, including information about my grandfather, who none of us ever knew. It was a difficult conversation, but he was kind, helpful and tactful, as he ever was. I'm so glad we had all of the family gatherings in the last few years, where I could appreciate him as the eldest of the complete set of George and Edith Spain's children.
My entire life, Uncle Fred has been our patriarch. I realize that our time on earth is finite, but I still generally prefer to operate under the assumption that no one is leaving any time soon. This was sudden. I've lost people before, people who were dear to me and an important part of my upbringing, but this is the first time that it's happened so unexpectedly. I am now more acutely aware of my own mortality.
It just felt so conclusive, singing A Mighty Fortress at the end of the service and hearing someone ring the bell. It kind of rang right through my heart as I followed my father out of the funeral so he could help my cousins carry Uncle Fred out of the church.
Rather than dwelling on that in a negative way, I'm trying to take what fell into my father's lap, this idea of standing on the shoulders of giants, and move forward. I'm not the New Years resolution type, but especially as I'm in this time in my life where nothing is certain, and I'm trying so hard to move forward, to find my vocation and to just do something, I find myself thinking about standing on the shoulders of the giants of my life-- Uncle Fred, and so many others. I'm holding close the many stories of his servant's heart, his faith, his strength, his love and his compassion, and remembering these things that were encouraged by the village of Spains and Kecks and Earps and so many others that raised me (and continue to raise me).
As we begin a new year, and as I continue my search for what's next in my life, I'm going to keep in mind that I never walk alone, and that I've been given great gifts by many giants. I'm going to listen a little more closely for my calling, and I'm going to bring all of the compassion, strength, caring and love that I can to the table.
Uncle Fred, and all of the others, are still with us in this way. We'll miss you, Uncle Fred.
Happy 2013. May it be the best yet for all of us, honoring the giants who came before.
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