November 17, 2008

Sorry you haven’t heard from me in awhile. My fall has been extremely full – which is why you haven’t heard from me. Somehow months have passed since our trip to Scotland. Actually, that trip seems like a million years ago at this point. Let me regale some of my adventures for you.

Almost immediately upon our return from Scotland, we attended my advisor’s wedding in Carmel. This little town is just south of Monterey, probably 45 minutes from Santa Cruz. But Matt and I decided to take advantage of an excuse to stay there, so we could have a little vacation by the sea. Carmel is a quaint but seriously ritzy town. The wedding was really lovely, and small, and I was honored to have been included in the celebrations. The day after the wedding, a wine-tasting trip was planned and interested guests were bussed inland from Carmel to some very nice wineries that I did not know existed.

Upon our return to Santa Cruz, Matt, our housemate Martina, our friend Jorge and I headed up into the Sierras. Martina and Jorge embarked on a massive 12-day trans-Sierra hike. Matt and I decided to take it a bit slower and we only did a two-night trip. We started in King’s Canyon National Park and hiked up above tree line. The views were stunning – and I had plenty of time to enjoy them during my frequent stops gasping for air. We bid Martina and Jorge adieu and Matt and I parked ourselves at a little alpine lake in a glacial cirque and rested ourselves for two days. At the end of our hike, Matt and I took a loop through the ancient grove of giant Sequoias at Sequoia National Park. I was surprised by how much they differ from the redwoods. They really are massive trees and the pictures just don’t do them justice. All in all, it was truly a splendid little trip, and relaxing to boot. I’m really glad we decided to go. Martina and Jorge continued on their journey across the Sierras and I am sure that they have some of their own wild adventures that they could share with you.

And then the quarter started. We threw a small but epic “beginning of the quarter, end of the world” party, and then it was October. This quarter is marking a turning point in my life. I have switched departments for the last time (I am now in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), and I am taking my last course (unbelievable!). I also just completed my comprehensive exams in my new department on Friday. These were some hellacious tests that involved four days of essay writing and then an oral exam in front of a committee that could ask me “anything about anything” but that would probably revolve around foundational theories in ecology, evolution, plant and animal physiology, animal demography, stable isotope theory and applications, chemistry, ecosystem science, paleoecology, primate phylogenetics, basic biology, or important scientists in any of these fields, oh, and maybe some geology just for fun. No biggie right? I have been studying since May and I have to say that this feels like the biggest thing I have ever accomplished. I feel proud and a bit scared of my own knowledge right now. Don’t worry, I am sure that I will forget the majority of it rapidly.

This quarter is also (hopefully) my last quarter of being a teaching assistant. I say this with a touch of sadness because I really do enjoy my teaching experiences. But perhaps it is time for me to try to finish school. I am TAing a comparative anatomy course that has been quite rewarding. For starters, it is a small class and I like all of the students. But the real kicker is that we have had the opportunity to dissect several types of monkeys for the “comparative” portion of the anatomy course. It has been really neat to see all of the differences between a vervet, a macaque and a langur.

But aside from school, this quarter has been filled to the brim with other activities and small trips out of town. The beginning of October heralded my old friend Sophie’s wedding in Colorado. There was no way I was going to miss this event - a 1920’s wedding for one of my oldest friends in the Colorado mountains during prime aspen season - regardless of whether or not it happened to occur right after our quarter started. Matt and I flew out for a quick visit, saw Dad, saw some other good old friends and family, saw my good friend Megan up in Frisco, and then headed to the wedding in Evergreen. Because we could not find a place to stay in Evergreen, and were not willing to drive after wedding celebrations, we made the rather ingenious decision to rent an SUV and sleep in it. We had to rent a car anyway, and this would certainly save on cab and room fees. The plan worked flawlessly. Except that we had to change for the wedding in a health food store bathroom in Frisco and I forgot my suitcase outside of the store after saying goodbye to Megan. There are not a whole lot of exits on I-70 westbound and by the time we were able to turn around, nab the bag, and get back on the highway, we had lost an hour. So we sadly missed the majority of Sophie’s wedding. But we did get to see the important vows and “I do’s” and we did get to give them some hearty congratulations afterwards.

And then it was time to come back to California for a couple of weeks. I madly worked on learning as much as I could for my exams and then we headed to Houston, Texas for the Weirauch family reunion. This little journey reacquainted me with the Weirauch’s that I already knew, and I got to meet some new unique and wonderful people. I am very grateful that I was able to go on this trip. I had a great time and I got a tour of the parts of Houston that I would never have been able to find on my own. For example, we visited the Ima Hogg estate (yes, that actually was the name of a very rich and philanthropic lady), and we heard a great music trio, the Hudons, at a rustic small venue called Anderson Fair. Thank you Weirauchs!

After returning to California, we had a day to recuperate and then we drove up to San Jose to see the Penguins play the Sharks in a not-so-epic hockey line up. Nevertheless, it was fun seeing the action live. After hockey, we had Halloween. I was a bit disappointed with Halloween this year. It tends to be one of my more preferred holidays. But it rained this year and somehow, even though it was a Friday, there just wasn’t a whole lot going on. We did dress up and had a few intrepid packs of trick or treaters make it to our door (literally, they were packs of 15 people each). The rain let up later in the evening and we walked with a couple of friends down town to check out the always-impressive array of costumes parading up and down Pacific Avenue. We checked out a small party, played some foosball, and drank some beer. That was about it.

Somehow, other than Halloween, the weather this fall has been absolutely phenomenal. I know that this is unusual, and somewhat disturbing, but I am not complaining. It is really nice to be able to sit outside in the sunshine instead of dealing with rain. I am sure that the rain will come. I am just glad that it has held off long enough for me to enjoy a bit of weather after my exams.

I’m excited because next week Matt and I are going to get to go down to southern California to see my relatives and my mom. This will likely be the last holiday that we will get to spend in California, and it seems appropriate to meet up with family. I know that we have been traveling a lot this quarter, but this trip will be different because I won’t be trying to cram in reading every spare moment I have. I look forward to eating some good food and relaxing. We might even see some snow if we go up in the mountains. I realize that snow is probably not very alluring to those of you who live where there is actually a cold winter, but to me, it sounds very nice for a weekend.

What next? Well winter break, and then, come January, I am destined to return to Madagascar. This should be an interesting trip. It will be during the rainy season when the roads are notoriously muddy. But I have to go during the wet season because I have to finish my plant study. I have to collect leaf samples when the trees have new growth so I can compare young fresh leaves with old, drier leaves that I collected during the dry season last year. Luckily it is a short trip and I will have good company. Wish me luck.

I am also working really hard to get some money and permission to print and post some interpretive signs about coastal processes that I have been working on for years. You may or may not remember (or have ever known) that I had a science education fellowship for several years several years ago… Well, these signs are the remnants of that fellowship and one of my major goals is to get them posted so that they can actually be read by the public instead of just sitting on my computer. This has been a maddening process but I think that I am nearing the last hurdle – permission from the city and/ or state. Wish me luck for this one too.

Perhaps there are even the whiffs of finishing graduate school on the air. The set of exams that I have just completed were certainly a major step in the right direction. Now I just have one more set of exams to pass in order to advance to candidacy, then it will be time to finish writing up all of my dissertation chapters, and then time to move on to a new chapter in my life. These thoughts are making me a bit nostalgic. I have been in Santa Cruz so long. This place has been a really great home for the past six years. However, I also realize that it is probably time to get a fresh start and try something different for a bit. Hey, I can always come back here some day if I want to.

So, there you go. If you have been in Santa Cruz and you have wondered why you haven’t seen much of me, or if you are far away and are wondering why you haven’t heard much from me, now you know what I have been up to. All of you are in my thoughts frequently.

Brooke