Light at the end of the tunnel...

I spent most of last week up in the City at the yearly geo-fest. This is the big meeting where 15,000+ geo-nerds descend on the city and talk shop. The meeting is a lot of fun in some respects (Christmas time in Union Square, seeing lots of old friends, hearing about the latest science) and thoroughly exhausting in others. It usually happens during finals week and the meeting is just TOO big. And it grows every year. How many geo-geeks are too many?

It is nice to be back in Santa Cruz; it is raining (finally) and the last real hurtle is getting the grading done. We diligently spent the weekend and yesterday grading the final projects. Hope to finish some time tomorrow???? Then Seattle on Friday. Yay! Looking forward to sleep, family, the smell of many tasty baked things, sleep....

Tis the Season

For decorating the palm tree.
We didn't get very far with our tree decorating last year (one strand of lights and about 3 balls). Seemed better to just decorate the slightly sad-looking living room palm. I think it looks happier now. Especially with the cardboard and tinfoil star tucked in the top.

For unrestrained eating.
The next time someone asks me what I'm training for, I will tell them I'm perpetually in training for the season of unrestrained eating. Otherwise, I'd have to turn down some of the many opportunities for dessert/turkey/friends' miscellaneous family delicacies/multiple days of eating in the City during AGU. Yum.

For rain?
We haven't gotten much of that yet. This could be a problem; many areas still have official water restrictions and it is already December. This doesn't bode well for the upcoming ski season or, more importantly, the snowpack and reservoir recharge status out here.

T-day and a wonderful home weekend

Just got home from Turkey day in Chicago with the Peterson extended family. I realized I didn't take any photos except 15 tries at the snow-coated tree in the backyard. As is tradition, it seems to snow on the way to Thanksgiving, or the way home. This year it was on the way to. I also realized I rarely see snow falling much, so this dusting seemed like a novelty. Hmm.

Lots of good food, Mom's birthday (which falls, every so often, on T-day), lots of talk of the state of the farms, the state of the Bears (which is usually bad?), the state of the Cyclones (also usually bad?), the occasional random geologic question for Katie ("they built a hospital in eastern Iowa that runs off geothermal power. What do you know about this?") and the usual life questions for Katie ("when are you going to get a boyfriend?" When are you going to get a real job?") to which I usually laugh and say that the answer is the same for both: unclear.

The weekend before T-day I finally spent at home and enjoyed a sunny Saturday sleeping in, and spending time with friends. Sarah and Rachel and I went up to the park to slackline, which Sarah and I have done extremely inconsistently for the last couple of years. We saw a couple of kids at the park who stop by every time we're there and are fascinated. They made us realize how long we've been going though, because the first time Cate tried it out, her little brother was too small to try, since he could only just walk. Now, they both charge down the line.

Shortly after, Cate abandoned the line to climb the tree.This little guy has a big old smile on his face!

Then it was off to celebrate Dai and Sora's half birthday and Wendy's whole birthday by having a "the 90's are the new 80's" party. This was an interesting idea; most of us can free associate for this category, since we were in high school in the 90's. So, there was a lot of flannel, Green Day, Naughty By Nature and imitation Doc Marten's. The obvious trouble is that we aren't really far enough from the styles, in fact most people's costumes were old clothes dug out of the closet, supplemented by the thrift store, which led to scenarios like this:

Patrick: Hey! That's a nice flannel.
Katie: Thanks, I got it at the thrift store this afternoon.
Patrick: Really?
Katie: Yeah, you should see if it fits...

Patrick: Hey it fits! Can I keep it?
Katie: Sure...

Maybe still too close to home? Anyway, that's about it. About 2-3 weeks left in the quarter, AGU and a paper to write.

Field Trip recap (aka where have all my weekends gone?)

I've gotten used to hearing "it seems like forever since I saw you" around the department during midweek. But, we took the last field trip for the quarter this last weekend, and I'm going to be in town for 9 days in a row (if you do the math, that has to include a weekend!) But, that doesn't mean the field trips haven't been fun. Here is a quick recap, with emphasis on the most recent weekend, since I can remember that one the best...

We had a couple of Saturday trips to the beach: Point Lobos and Ano Nuevo. Point Lobos is always spectacular. The area is part of a state park with some incredible rocky coastline and (as I know now) some great folds and faults. The top photo is a nice view of the students doing their best to ignore the gorgeous surroundings.

Ano Nuevo was sunny, beautiful and windy, with one geology tour sighting. How can you identify a geology group at the beach? They always face the wrong way:

The view for a normal beach-goerOur class....

The culminating project for the class is to map an area just outside of the old, mostly abandoned mining town of New Idria, and they do this in the course of 2, 3-day field trips. So, this requires logistics that include mass grocery shopping, hauling port-a-potties, long field days (rain or shine), beer and music around the campfire and a victory stop at the Panoche Inn on the way home, which is a cross between the Salty Dawg Saloon (Homer, AK) and the Chainsaw Sisters Saloon (Ely, MN).

The caravan resting at the Panoche Inn after the first successful weekend. That idyllic scene changed to a more comic scene as toilet paper from one of the toilets became a fluttering streamer behind the van as we drove. The vehicular equivalent of walking out of the bathroom with TP stuck to your shoe? I'm sure if vans could be embarrassed, it would have been.

Anyway, these trips are great because the students get so much better over the course of that first weekend. The overwhelmed, slightly panicky looks when first asked to draw a contact line on their map give way to debates with lots of emphatic gesturing among field partners about the orientation of faults into the hillsides. In the second weekend, they are exposed to more complicated structural scenarios and finally finish off their maps with an instructor-free afternoon.

First meeting with the Yokut Formation
And a more advanced view back to their mapping area.

And miscellaneous shots:
QuasiHilde: demonstrating mapping-in-the-rain techniques or serving up a platter of shrunken students? You decide.
When forced to decided which side of the creeping fault to be loyal to, most went Westside..
Evidence that full geodork-dom has set in for these students. Note the offset in Chris' birthday cake. The transform to official geologists followed with many bad puns over the weekend and excessive singing-while-mapping of songs with lyrics changed to bad geology puns. Case in point, the new song Lodo for the Lodo Formation, sung to the tune of (yeah, you guessed it) the Kinks' Lola.
Marshmallows sacrificed to the weather gods to keep the rain at bay Sunday.

The District (well almost)

Continuing on with catch-up goal... I took advantage of my first field-trip free weekend for the quarter and went to DC to visit my grandparents. A pile of United miles and my parents also visiting might have played a small role as well.

So, I caught up on some sleep, graded some papers, ate lots of Grandmama's excellent food and enjoyed the family. Pretty relaxing. The excitement mostly came from the cancelled flight out of San Jose, which ended as well as it possibly could. They threw many of us on a direct flight out of SFO and while I got to DC 3.5 hours later than I was supposed to, I did get to watch the new Harry Potter as a result.

On Saturday morning, we went into the city to see the Natural History Museum. The last attempt at this failed because the basement had flooded during 3-4 days of intense rain that flooded the basement of many of the Smithsonian museums and some Metro stations. I haven't been to the museum since I was a kid, and figured it was high time to stop in again. We saw a special nature photography exhibit; among other things was a nice set of arctic photos with skinny polar bears and some pretty skinny-looking glaciers. Then off to "Geology, Gems and Minerals." Mom liked the Esterville meteorite (we always drove by the crater during visits to NW Iowa) and I like the musical seismic stations, that make a sound everytime there is seismicity somewhere in the world. After that we met up with Malea, her boyfriend Eric and her dog Areck (spelling?) for a sun-filled fall Sunday lunch (the theme of the weekend seemed to be food). Sorry no pics, I didn't have my camera.

This weekend it's off to the field for the last time this quarter, which is good because I think the recent in-and-out of town is taking its toll on my ability to figure out the days of the week. I tried to put the trash out on Wednesday night, and only when I got the cans to the curb and realized there were no others, did I realize it was actually Tuesday night. My housemate then informed the next morning, that I must have gotten the month wrong too because it isn't my turn for the garbage. Oops.

Halloween

Ok, I'm getting a little behind. I'll start with Halloween, since I'm already behind on field stuff. I love halloween, and they do a pretty good job of it down here. Regardless of the day of the week, main street shuts down and the whole town comes out in costume. If nothing else, it's a good excuse to tap total strangers on the shoulder and ask to take their picture. (top photo was the New Idria field pumpkin. Hilde asked for suggestions on how to make it scarier; I think the bags under the eyes made him look resigned to trying to scare.....)

Ze French (and not total strangers; among them are some applied mathematicians/statisticians).

Pascale and I are Singing In The Rain.

We thought this guy is supposed to be Prince??

And a couple of goodies from Halloweens past. I don't think anything will ever top the halloween my first year here...

The famous jellyfish of Santa Cruz. All in all, a brilliant costume (Halloween '04)

Jem and the Holograms. That pink hair was the bane of my existence for the next couple of days, but making the guitars was a ton of fun.....(Halloween 04)

Sora, Kena and I are not in costume. We really are mad scientists (Halloween '06).

Quake

Last night, there was a 5.6 quake on the Calveras Fault, NW of San Jose, which counts as the biggest quake I've felt in since living in earthquake territory. It rattled the house, set the hanging coffee cups swinging and made us realize we don't have the shelves in the house bolted. It rumbled long enough for my housemates and I to look at each other and say, oh, it IS an earthquake, not just a truck driving by. But, the power stayed on and everything was quiet afterwards.

WWWD?

My friend Malea, who has been diligently politically active for as long as I've known her (and is now her career), sent many of us current and former Minnesotans a wonderful piece written in honor of the late Paul Wellstone, on the 5th anniversary of his death. I just wanted to pass it along, as we head into primary season, because the piece expresses a very timely sentiment. I remember the day I heard about the plane crash. I heard the voicemail from Mom telling me the news as I walked into the house and at the same time, heard Seth and Joel (two other Minnesota to Seattle transplants) asking me if I'd heard. I felt a long ways from home just then and had trouble explaining to people at work why it seemed like such a loss. So, I'm happy to share another person's much more eloquent synthesis of Wellstone's unique and effective take on the role of a politician.

As long as I'm on the political departure, I read an interesting study recently, forwarded by my advisor, on the role that fear plays, mostly subconsciously, in our voting habits. Very intriguing and quite frightening, but it puts a lot in perspective with regards to the last two elections. I can't post it, but if you're interested, let me know and I'll send you the pdf.

Never fear however, the blog will be returning with the usual fare of entertaining field stories after the weekend. We have our first 3-day field trip to the big mapping area, New Idria, and any time you go on a trip that requires caravaning with porta-potties in tow, there are bound to be some good stories.

An auspicious number

Sora pointed out the other day that this is a milestone you reach approximately 27 years and 5 months into life... Excel helped us figure out that, for me, that day is today.

And those other awards...

And of course, they also announced this year's Ig nobel awards. I was most intrigued by the study cataloging the many critters that live in our beds, but have opted not to read it before bed in case of psychosomatic itching. The study into the adverse effects of sword swallowing is not bad either. Not quite as good as some of my past favorites: one study that shows our inability to notice a woman in a gorillas suit when we're focused on other things (2004 winner), and a cure for the hiccups that makes me grateful I have other tricks up my sleeve (2006 winner).
I also like the woodpecker study (2006 winner), though I learned of this first through Calla and didn't know it won an Ig nobel award. It turns out that woodpeckers have interesting muscular and skeletal adaptations that protect them from brain damage. AND, at least in the case of the pileated woodpecker, it turns out that they hammer their heads into trees, not to feed, but as a form of communication or territorial display. Calla's take on this was she no longer feels about telling it to shush when one wakes her up at 6:00 AM. And who says science isn't fun?

Go Al!

Just a quick (albeit late) post to congratulate Big Al and of course the hard-working IPCC climate scientists and politicos on their Nobel Peace Prize. I'm glad the folks on the Nobel committee have insight enough to see the connection between climate and peace. Given the thread of editorials (even here in liberal coastal California), it is clear not everyone has made that leap yet.

Summer's last hurrah

Ok, I feel like I can let go of summer, now that I had one last gorgeous weekend outside. I'm TA'ing for the field geology class this fall and we had our first field trip Saturday, to the exotic locality known as the "campus meadow." We wandered all over campus, and our brave students learned how to accurately locate themselves on a map while avoiding common field hazards. These included the meat cleaver, the random exercise equipment from the weight room, the temptation of the harvest festival at the campus farm and disgruntled cows. You know, the usual fare.

Geidy picking up some mad orientation skills Trying to get a little extra respect through sheer intimidation (ie, the cleaver in action)
I spent Sunday in San Francisco, where I caught one day of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. I can't say enough about this show; every year, Warren Hellman (of mayonnaise fame) spends a bunch of money and puts on 3-day bluegrass festival in the middle of Golden Gate Park, with some incredible acts, entirely free to the public. We planted ourselves in front of the Banjo stage and enjoyed Hazel Dickens, David Grisman, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, and of course, Emmy Lou to finish out the day. It was sunny, we had cold beer and free music.

Kena, Hwakong and I are hardly strictly happy! When you find two empty PBR cans and a free CD waiting on your windshield, you know you had a good day.
Just in time; we had the first real rain Tuesday and they're calling for more.....

Fall quarter in full swing

So, the quarter is in full swing (we're in the midst of our first full week) and I'm slowly getting back in the swing of having a scheduled life again. But, it's been nice to be home, though not much to write home about. I've caught a couple of nice sunsets on the commute home.

It has also been the week of eating. My advisor's mom is in town and they cooked up an amazing Italian food fest the other night, and Sora's mom is in town and is cooking up a Korean food fest tomorrow night. There was also a large orb weaver spider that built its web across the front porch, and was feasting on a large bee. My photo of this did NOT turn out; I think I'm grateful for that.

(the view from the top of the bike path on campus, looking south across Monterey Bay to the Monterey Penisula)

The cave, part 2 (and a bit more fieldwork)

I headed back to Nevada for one last gasp of field work before the quarter starts. I've been trying to coordinate with a grad student, Peter from UNLV who works on rocks in Sheep Pass Canyon. However, other, slightly more rational folks than I, don't work in Nevada in the middle of July. So, once again, I got on an airplane and flew to Las Vegas. Remember the picture of Paul and hammer in front of cool conglomerates interfingered with limestone? Of course you do! Same section, but much more goal-oriented this time around. The grand goal was to get samples through the 1 km+ thick section in four days. We almost made it; I think we made it through ~700 meters of section. Poor weather that dumped early snow in the Sierras mostly just rained on us all morning Saturday. We tried to wait it out, but left when we realized if it continued, we wouldn't be able to drive out the road. While it did cut short the field work, the rain was useful for a couple of things: I realized I need to re-seamseal my tent, and my raincoat needs to be re-waterproofed. Also, I got to use my pick to scrape mud from the tires, to improve traction down the road, and it always makes me feel better about flying with bulky, heavy tools if they serve multiple purposes.

Sunday, Peter's friend Mike joined us and we went caving in nearby Whipple Cave. I've been in a couple of caves before, but nothing quite like this. The cave formed in fractured Cambrian limestone, and most of the passageways are the result of dissolution along these fractures. The opening is a hole in the ground, so you have to rappel down into the cave, and then ascend the rope to get out. Though the gear is a little different, the basic idea for both rappelling and ascending are the same as climbing, so I finally got to use the skills I learned for climbing out of a crevasse. Actually quite fun. We spent a good three hours seeing all that we could of the cave, and then headed back to Las Vegas and I headed home.
Entrance to the cave: Happy, happy!
Edges of empty pools; I've seen a few pictures on the internet with these pools full.
This kind of stalactite formation always reminds me of the stylized paintings of steep, Chinese hillsides with draping trees and mist.
Popcorn "formations"

The Oregon Coast

I spent a long weekend with my parents on the Oregon Coast. They rented a place in the town of Yachats (pronounced "ya hots"). They're looking for a replacement for the north shore of Lake Superior, and I think they enjoyed the coast. I gave them a hard time about dressing alike, but I guess that's what happens when you've been married for almost 40 years. My friend Jean visited from Portland for a couple of nights and we reminisced about rugby songs and caught up on the last couple of years.

Vacation time with the parents always involves seeing things so we drove up and down the coast,stopping for cool coastal views/phenomena, lighthouses,
bird watching and stopping to smell the flowers.
Good geology too; I liked how the basalt at Cooks Chasm weathered back in rectangles because of the parallel-trending parts of the rocks that were composed of slightly different basalt. They would break first, dictating the initial fracture that the surf would slowly chip away at.

I bored mom and dad at Seal Rock with an impromptu game using cross-cutting relationships to put together a story about the coastal sandstones, Columbia River flood basalts and some conglomerates. It would be a fun little field exercise for a geology class. Now, if someone wants to give me a job in Oregon.... Even a nice little lake along Hwy 101 that reminded me of northern Minnesota. Good weekend.

I know I said no more driving....

So, I'm getting back in the car tomorrow, to meet the 'rents on the Oregon coast. So I'll get a little bit of vacation. Then back in SC for a day, then to Nevada for one last field work hurrah before the quarter starts. Then no vacation until Christmas, nose to the grindstone, pedal to the medal, burning the candle at both ends, you get the picture.

And more transience. I'm coming to grips with the transience. Considering how much advance planning I don't typically do, I feel like I'm starting to see how the next 2 years map out. It evens seems possible that I'll spend more time away from Santa Cruz than in it. But that is jumping off the bridge before I get to it.

Anyway, I'll post some Oregon coast pictures when I get back. In the meantime, we had an unprecidented number of people in the lab, working away today, and were entertained by this episode of the This American Life called "Running After Antelope." which is mostly the story about a man chasing antelope. According to Kena, this man's brother (referred to throughout the story) is a big-whig in the animal morphology world - Kena's students are often entertained by hearing about the lizard that can't breath when it runs. Give it a listen if you have samples to weigh out or plants/rocks/animal parts to crush. Or any other brainless activity to do. Or want inspiration for a new training regime (the campus deer, perhaps?). We were all rooting for the guy to catch the antelope.....

The Cave

So what have I been up to, you may ask, now that I have all this home time? Data processing, tying up loose ends and getting ready for a real vacation (woohoo!) and some more field work (see, fooled you! I'm getting back on a plane AND in a car). But that isn't very fun to write about.

I've also been cleaning cobwebs. The spiders seem to be out in force, in a way I've never seen. Getting into the backyard through the gate is often a gauntlet of 4 or 5 spider webs with big spiders in the middle of them. I know I'm supposed to like them, since they eat other bugs that tend to eat us, but I'm just really not a fan. They're kind of shifty. I can't think of a time a spider bit me (or tried) in broad daylight. But let the cobwebs collect too long in the skylight and I wake up with lots of bites. See? Shifty.....

You don't really want to hear about my recent cobweb cleaning obsession though. The most interesting thing recently was a lunch time excursion with Kelsey and Nadine to the cave near Porter College. Campus is underlain in places by marble, which has influenced the topography in the area (sinkholes, caves, etc. are common features of "karst" topography; think Puerto Rico and the giant sinkhole that houses the radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory). It was an interesting building challenge the school has had to overcome and the campus also has old quarries that were dug for the lime. The department sends undergrads there for one of the classes, but I hadn't quite managed to get there yet.

Anyway, the cave was fun, people have made odd figurines out of the clay that coats the floor and it makes for a fun lunchtime break. And now I can say I've finally been to the campus caves. One more thing checked off the list of things to do in Santa Cruz before I graduate....

Entrance to the cave:
Clay dinosaur figurine, and a tiny figurine at the bottom clinging to the ledge for dear life. You might have to look hard, above Kelsey's hand....
Tree roots lining the floor of the cave. My favorite part.