Spring is here, and everything is waking up. The hills are green, the orange poppies and yellow mustard are in bloom,and the trees are budding pink and white blossoms. Such a beautiful time of year! Pretty soon there will be baby ducks and geese waddling all around. Speaking of ducks, on my way to work each day I pass a golf course with a variety of web-footed residents. One white duck in particular has a tuft of extra feathers on his head that, to me, resemble a little hat. The "hat duck" has become a favorite of mine, and I look for him every time I pass by. He seems so happy amongst his fellow duck friends, waddling around without a care in the world. Seeing this little fellow going about his little duck life with his little odd "hat" makes me smile from ear to ear every single time.
03/14/2010
01/17/2010
Yellowstone
After the Christmas holiday, we road tripped to West Yellowstone, MT and spent three days enjoying the winter beauty of Yellowstone National Park. Once again, I have become a huge fan of off-season travel. We spent one day snowmobiling to Old Faithful geyser, stopping to see bison, elk, fumaroles, and mud pots along the way. We spent another day on a snow coach tour seeking out more bison and elk, along with bald eagles, coyotes, and wolves. We spent an hour walking through the icy wonderland of the Geyser Basin, where steaming barren ground was juxtaposed with snow-packed walkways and ice-laden trees. Despite temperatures as low as -22º, the weather was comfortable with blue skies and no wind... just sunlight and silence. We wrapped up the trip by visiting the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center before making our way home across the wintry plains of Idaho and Nevada. On the final leg of the journey, somewhere outside of Reno, we stopped and released a Wish Lantern to welcome in the new year.
01/10/2010
Grandpa
My Grandpa Green passed away on December 30, 2009. He was 98 years old. When I think about Grandpa, four things come to mind: his barn, his scrambled eggs, his carpenter's hands, and his laugh... a chuckle, really. Grandpa was a good storyteller, and he had a quiet, humble way of telling childhood stories, many of which involved practical jokes or ornery behavior. While telling a story, Grandpa, would clasp his hands in his lap and twiddle his thumbs and then, during the funny part, he would pause and chuckle while closing his eyes and tilting his head slightly back in a way that seemed like he was re-living the moment. Seeing him like that always made me smile.
I will always wonder at the scope of changes my Grandpa experienced in his lifetime and how the decades must have looked through his eyes. From being born in a dugout as the product of homesteading in the early 1900s, to farming through the Dust Bowl as a young married man in the 1930s, to building and refinishing furniture during his retirement in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, to finally selling his farm and quietly living out his days amidst the bustle of wi-fi Internet, cell phones, and digital pictures in the 21st century. Of course, when I think of him, I will always see the steady, quiet, self-made farmer in a plaid flannel shirt, blue jeans, boots, and ball cap with talented hands and a chuckle that lit up my world. (This handsome picture is of Grandpa in the 1930s when he was in his mid-twenties.)
10/28/2009
New Mexico
During the first weekend in October, I traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to see the annual Balloon Fiesta. The balloons were colorful and big as expected, but what impressed me most was their quietude. Despite hundreds of them hovering in the sky, all that could be heard was the occasional propane burner releasing hot air into the balloon.
The Fiesta was the primary reason for the trip; however, other highlights included:
• Petroglyph National Monument
• Santa Fe
• Hyde Park aspen groves (at their peak!!)
• Taos Pueblo
• Rio Grande Gorge.
09/27/2009
Yosemite
In June, I went to Yosemite with my mom and my aunt. This was their first visit to Yosemite and it had been almost five years since my last visit, so it was a fun trip for all of us. What I enjoy most about Yosemite is how it makes me feel very small. I like how nature can so quietly and elegantly put humans in their place. I find comfort in knowing that there is something greater than mankind on this planet–something that we have not harnessed and that we don't fully understand, a beauty that we can't recreate.
Small
Beneath the towering red wood
That is soft and fragile, yet fierce,
Below the imposing granite walls
Supporting the very Earth
From which they came,
Amidst the vast valley
Where the river flows
And the bear roams
And the mist and wind compete,
I am small.
The world is greater, is wiser,
And I am at peace.
07/29/2009
Peanut
My favorite furry companion of 9 years passed away yesterday, and I am amazed at the size of the hole that she left in my heart. Peanut, a cat who had the social personality of a dog, brought so much joy to my life. For me, she was the glue that held everything together–the one constant that always brought me joy. From Idaho to RV living to branching out on my own, Peanut was by my side. She introduced me to my neighbors providing me with a sense of community; she took walks with me at night; and she was always within reach (often on my pillow) in my bed at night... a true kindred spirit who I love and miss so much.
06/21/2009
Launch
Over the past two years I have been supporting the education and public outreach efforts of NASA's newest lunar mission, and on Thursday, June 18, I was privileged to watch the two featured spacecrafts launch on their journey to the Moon. I spent the eight days leading up to the launch sharing the news about the mission with the guests at Kennedy Space Center's visitors complex. It was a hectic week, with ups and downs juggled between the launch of our lunar mission and the launch of the STS-127 shuttle mission to the space station. The ups were getting to see (and touch!) the Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility and then to see the over 200-foot tall setup poised and ready to go on its launch pad. The downs were that twice I woke in the wee hours of the early morning and dressed in eagerness to watch the space shuttle launch, only to receive a disappointing phone call saying that the launch had been "scrubbed" due to technical problems. (It's no easy task to go back to sleep at 3:00am with a let down like that.) Add to that the daily back-and-forth discussions as to which mission (shuttle or lunar) had launch priority and how the weather forecast was stacking up, and you can see how the emotional roller coaster took its toll. Even on launch day, the anxiety didn't let up. At 2:30 in the afternoon, we arrived at the viewing site and spent the next 3 hours sitting in the humid Florida heat watching the threatening rain clouds build and move closer and closer to the launch complex. There were three opportunities to launch: 5:12, 5:22, and 5:32. The first two time slots were "no go" due to the impending weather, and the third slot looked pretty bleak. Then, just as heavy disappointment was setting in, the announcer said launch was a "go" and the exciting checklist dialog and final countdown began!
The experience included a mixture of excitement and mild disappointment. The overcast clouds limited our viewing of the rocket to about 30 seconds which was a bit of a let down, especially since we could still hear it rumbling above the clouds for several seconds. However, seeing the billowing smoke and the bright orange flame as the rocket lifted off from its pad followed 10 seconds later by the loud roar of the engines was pretty spectacular. It was truly awesome standing there watching the rocket move straight as an arrow into the sky like a pencil on fire while reflecting on all the effort that went into planning the mission, designing the spacecraft, and coordinating the efforts leading up to this moment. Then, to me, it was even more exciting to think about what was happening after the rocket left Earth's atmosphere – the firing of the second stage after 4 minutes, the separation of the orbiter after 45 minutes, and then the eventual flyby of the Moon after 4-5 days. It fascinates me to think about all the work that each little instrument and robotic spacecraft component will do over the next few months while we go about our day-to-day lives here on Earth. Pretty amazing!
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/index.html
01/11/2009
Iceland
After visiting Paris, I flew to Reykjavik for a weekend visit and absolutely loved it! Geologically, Iceland is a fascinating place. Just imagine being on the big island of Hawai'i... only much further north and covered in snow in the winter. I saw geysers and enormous water falls up close and personal; I relaxed in the milky mineral waters of the Blue Lagoon under a full moon that never set; I watched the slow motion rising and setting of the sun; and I became enthralled with the adorable, stout, furry Icelandic horse. The northern lights never appeared (due to the ever-present full moon), but that's okay. I will look for them during my next visit. ;-)
Paris
In early December I traveled to Paris and spent three days enjoying the city of lights in the off season. The weather was cold and the crowds were few, which made the insides of cafes and museums all the more inviting. I have been to Paris once before 12 years ago and enjoyed it then, but this time I gained a new appreciation and love for the city. I rediscovered the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower (decked in blue lights in honor of France's EU presidency), and I made new discoveries such as Napolean's Tomb, the late-night bustle of Champs-Elysees, and the underground catacombs. I even enjoyed the French people and discovered how far a simple "bon jour" or "merci" will go.
Grandpa
My grandpa is 97 years old and one of my favorite people. He was raised in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, and he spent his life farming wheat and raising dairy cattle on a section of land just a few miles from the dugout in which he was born. He survived the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, and he built his own two-story barn all by himself using his hands and the tools he had (amazing!). After he retired from farming in the 70's, he took up wood working and spent the next 30 years building and refinishing furniture. In 2004, at the age of 93, he finally sold the farm and moved in to the local town. He now lives in a nursing home but is still sharp as a tack. I had the opportunity to visit Grandpa while I was home in October, and we went to the local history museum to see an antique sleigh that he had refurbished years ago (see picture). I treasure the time we spend together and love listening to him laugh as he recaps the stories of his life.
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