Catching the sun

so, yesterday i posted about how we found the sun in the National Wildlife Refuge... well, before we hit that place up, we traveled through Canaveral National Park. The park is made up of a significant amount of beach, as well as land surrounding the inner-coastal waterway. We dorked out on nature trails, watched pelicans fly-by, learned about native american life and saw the sun.

epiphytes!

really rad nature trails

blue sky and palm trees

pelicans in flight

sandpipers piping

Birds Yo!

Okay, cutting to the chase.

im in Florida, we went bird watching (so what?!?!), and it was super rad. We had the convertible which is officially the coolest bird watching vehicle ever. oh, and we saw gators. real gators.

The whole day started with the ultimate goal of finding the sun. Before I showed up on Monday, St. Augustine, Florida had amazing sunny days with 85 degree's without humidity. Since I got here, it's been overcast or raining and maybe 70. I'm not okay with this. So, our mission to find the sun, morphed into our mission to go the National Wildlife Refuge at Cape Canaveral. The refuge has over 140,000 acres dedicated to the preservation of wetland habitat for birds, which utilize the refuge heavily during migration.

Long wait is over. check out the photos.

to my bird friends. what the heck is this bird? (not the sandpiper)

Egrets in the road

no clue what these are, but they sure look cool

red winged black-bird

Not sure what these are, but they sure look like they're having fun

Roseate Spoonbill - won the cool bird of the day award

GATOR!

tippy canoe

Wednesday evening was beautiful.

sunny

warm

views for miles

snow capped peaks

eager group of grads and staff itching to get on the water.

So, we took out the little big canoe, and explored deer island. It was a beautiful pre-dinner paddle with songs, and awe inspiring views of Logan Peak glistening in the distance with the Fremont Glacier covering its flanks. Ahh, the North Cascades never disappoint

our paddling vessel

Look!!! More amazing stuff over there!

Smiles from the back

paddling from the front

pyramid... still beautiful

Break at Deer Island. Very close to Monkey Island

Logan Peak

Kids!!!!

The kids are here!!! Well, technically, our first school group arrived on Monday, but i was teaching at night (5pm - 9pm), so I really didn't get to interact as much as normal... but TODAY through Friday I am their main teacher... meaning i get to play outside with a group of amazing kids and teach them about rocks, glaciers, mountains, plants, trees, pikas and being present in a moment. This job is amazing!

I went to bed last night pretty nervous and woke up early this morning still feeling a little nervous and stressed out. Then magically at 11am, kids arrived, and it has been fun ever since!

On day 1 of their time here we teach them about the water cycle, rock types and glaciers. So, we went to the beach, then took some time out on one of the docks on the lake and ended up checking out the dam. All in all, an amazing day. The kids were really excited, and had a great time and kept asking tons of questions about plants, rocks, glaciers and really wanted to figure out ways to retain the information. Oh, did i mention it was 55 and sunny? it was magical.

The bus is here!!!

Getting ready to get oriented

Walking down the dam road to learn some stuff

Hanging out on the dock learning about stuff

rocking the boat

Big thoughts from little people

While providing Madi a piggy-back ride to the dock, she began to discuss the difficulties she was having with understanding how glaciers could truly form such a beautiful landscape. She continued by stating that she felt as if she was in a painting, and could not understand how such a place really could exist. I pointed out the height of pyramid peak across the lake, and described how the glacier that once sat here was as high as that point. She said she really wanted to visualize how such a massive piece of ice really could exist and move down valleys and how the ocean did not exist.

I then had the supreme comment of "well, i have the same problem when i try to visualize dinosaurs walking on the planet."

she responded with "hmmm. yeah."

me = blowing it

SPRING BREAK!!!!!!

So, i leave for SPRING BREAK on Monday to go to the sunny state of florida. So, before i continue, I just need to thank my sponsors for this upcoming trip:
Frankie - frequent flyer provider
Dad - Free house supplier
Susan - amazing chef (i.e., free food)

Seriously, as a grad student, could I ask for anything else? Anyway, in anticipation of this landmark legitimate SPRING BREAK trip, i received the following email from my dad.

Steph, check out these 2 photos...water is 70 but you still might want a light wetsuit!!! picked this custom 9'10' board on craigs list..guy lives less than a mile from me and makes custom boards in a shed in his back yard. Awesome dude.

And then he attached these photos:



So, i need to applaud my dad for a few things:
1. Getting a surfboard
2. Finding a way to include both of his automobiles in photos
3. using the word dude in a sentence, leaving the reader to question if he is serious or joking.
4. Not commenting on his "sweet rims"

Anyway, this photo was a pleasant reminder that the sun shines in a section of the world, and that I will be able to bask in its glory in exactly 7 days.

So, once again, I would like to thank my sponsors, and now the guy that builds surfboards in the shed in his back yard.

awesome.

Survey Question - What do you do when you are not at school?

Survey Answer:

mismash

thoughts:

1. A few years ago i had to go on a trip to China that was pretty stressful. On my way there, i had to fly through Tokyo's Narita airport. I still remember listening to this song as we flew over Japan and then landed. I remember walking through the airport surrounded by signs and words I did not understand and a culture I never really knew. I was pedaling going nowhere tonight, and this song came on and i could even smell the plane and remember looking out beyond the tarmac to the fields beyond. I remember thinking i wish i had planned a few days to stay over in Japan to finally see it... but i flew out to Hong Kong a few hours later. Maybe some day I will go... but for now, i'll listen to this song and remember the little I knew of Japan in place of turning on the tv to know what it is now.



2. tomorrow is graduation for the cohort ahead of me... which means i'll be graduating in a year... which is a good thing and a bad thing. Being in school and living here is pretty amazing, so i'm sad to see that end... but racking up debt is not amazing. So, yeah, one more year!!

3. I learned a few days ago that the latin name for the American Robin is Turdis Migratorius. Who comes up with something like that?! The reason we were talking about Robins is because they have nearly blanketed the landscape here in the past few weeks. They really are everywhere around, which is a fantastic signal for spring.

4. I start teaching again on Monday, and that's pretty darn exciting. Kids!!!

Snow Lobster

So, yesterday i posted about the snow lobster... pictured here for those that do not check my blog regularly:


The snow lobster looks pretty darn gross and like it will kill me at any second.

Well, i asked around today and learned a few things about the snowlobster. It's not known as a snow lobster... its actual name is: Hellgramite. not kidding. the word "hell" is used in it's name.

But more importantly, i found the Dobson Fly in it's larval stage, which is when it's called a Hellgramite. So, here's a picture I found of the Dobson Fly online:

The guy who took the above photo said it was larger then the size of his hand.

I just included the cat so there was something nice and fuzzy and cute to lighten the mood.


Anyway, don't get me wrong, i'm traditionally pretty stoked on nature. but seriously, what the hell is this thing?! I searched diligently (for 5 minutes) online to figure out what this insect does for nature... all i found out about was how kids in Appalachia use the thing for bait, after being dared by friends to search under rocks in the stream to pull them out. Oh, i forgot to mention that their pincers in the larval stage can draw blood.

So, there's your nature bite for the day. enjoy. im going to go find more pictures of cute animals.

Adventure Day

Right before going to bed last night we found the following statement on the Mount Baker website:

CLOSED ON SUNDAY - the snowpack needs to settle with this new front and etc.

fantastic. We were super stoked after riding through waist deep snow (not exaggerating at all) all day on Saturday and were pretty down and out after reading the closed notice. We went to sleep saturday night hoping it was all a sham and the next morning they'd post "Surprise!! we're open, just kidding about yesterday!!" That did not happen this morning. Still very very closed. Frankie & i just kind of stared at each other for a while this morning. First we were in shock that it was not 7am, but actually 8am (surprise, it's daylights saving time) and that we had no idea what we were going to do.

The storm that was coming in today was supposed to be pretty gross up in the mountains with over an inch in rain. So, what do we do? Deem it adventure day and go explore. We loaded the truck up with Frankie's touring skis and my splitboard (i left my x-country skis up at school, d'oh!) and headed toward Glacier. Then the fun began!

Getting Ready for Adventure.

Trying to locate Adventure

Nice Sign Baker

Adventure THAT WAY

Faster then the speed of shutter

FALLS!!!

Unidentified Snow Lobster

You can't tell from this photo, but his jacket is a new color of red due to drenchedness and skiing in the rain for the past hour and a half

Sopping wet and back at the truck

Trying to figure out where we were

We've concluded we skied somewhere between 1 and 8 miles up some creek outside of Glacier. Adventure Success!

THURSDAY NIGHT

Fundraiser for the Snowrider Project at Boundary Bay - 10:30pm

Come Dance

Come Eat

Come Buy Raffle Tickets

Come give ME a high-Five for staying up past 10pm

Come support a good cause

Come and listen to good music!

99 problems, but this blog ain't one

hova!!

Really though, this is officially blog post #1.0.0! i had no idea i have written that much or even had that many things to say.. but in retrospect, i'm sure at least 25% of my posts have stated "i'll be back next week."

But, this week my quest to learn about more birds came to fruition with the introduction to the Water Oozle. I like this bird already since it's fun to say "oozle." really. tell your friends there's a bird with the word "oozle" in it and they'll demand to view said bird instantly. So, we're going through training and walking out the dam road, and there is the cutest little grey bird just hopping up and down on one of the log booms in the lake with the coolest bird song ever. Super sporadic and high pitched... it immediately reminded me of Frankie with his current bouts of ADD & Turrets. Here's a video that has the song in it.



While on our walk around campus on Friday, we were graced with sunshine and beautiful things. Here are some shots from the day. Enjoy and come visit! The oozle is waiting.

DAM!!

Group Shot!!

My Mountain is better then your mountain

I'm going to ski the heck out of this mountain!

morning walk to campus

things i miss

some nights, while living in the middle of nowhere, i start missing things that used to be a normal aspect of my life. Those things are (and are listed in no particular order... this blog picture uploader has a mind of its own):

my boyfriend

old friends

my dad

new weird friends

my mom

blaze the dog


mountaintop vista's with friends

As great and amazing as the residency program is, i feel completely removed from my friends & family and the lives that they continue to live. I'm also not a phone person, so this greatly compounds the issue of feeling disconnected. anyway... time to go outside & play in the snow.