December 24, 2012

Greetings and happy holidays! I write on this Christmas Eve from Pennsylvania. My fall has been full and exciting. My lab is bustling, my students are working hard, my course was a success and we have watched our yard improve with great excitement. Halloween was cold and bleak but we still got lots of Trick or Treaters. They looked miserable and I was glad that I had all of the candy I wanted inside my house. Matt spent two weeks of November in Chile and I worked alone at home. Mom came down briefly and then returned for Thanksgiving. Unlike Halloween, this holiday was beautiful. We took advantage of our new and improved backyard and played bocce and ladder ball until dark. What a delight!

I stayed put (more or less) in Cincinnati until the end of November when we embarked on the California great adventure of 2012. Matt and I first went out on the day after Thanksgiving to attend a wedding in San Francisco. We stayed with friends Ryan and Andrea in the city our first night, then made our way to the wedding at a church with the address 666 Filbert Street. The reception was in the hills above Berkeley, so Matt and I made our way across the bay and settled in for a couple of days. Berkeley was lovely and we very much enjoyed wandering among the tidy but whimsical little houses lining the hills above the city with our Santa Cruz friend Krish.

I then returned to Ohio for a full three days to teach, attend meetings, and take care of other academic matters. And then it was back to California for the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. I met up with Matt (who had remained in California) and friends Dylan and Ruby for a really lovely evening in the Mission District. We enjoyed excellent coffee, cocktails, chinese food, and a performance by a New Orleans funk band. The following day we met up with friends from Pittsburgh as well as old friends from Santa Cruz for lunchtime mimosas and an early evening. And then we traveled north to visit our friends Chris and George and check out the semi-annual open art studio where Chris paints. Matt and I purchased a sea turtle stool from one of our favorite artists, Bonnie Himberg “Bonika”. If you look up “Bonnie Himberg” using Google Images, you will see some of her amazing life-size fabric animal sculptures. We have admired her work for years but were either too poor or too cramped to accommodate such an item. We are delighted with our new ottoman and think he will provide many years of comfort and fun.

We were sad to only get to spend an evening with Chris and George. They are always wonderful hosts and their home is as welcoming as can be. But it was time to return to the city for my conference. But first we met up with Santa Cruz friend Giana and consumed one of the most tasty and unique lunches I have ever had at Avatar, which boasts a fusion of Indian and, Mexican and Italian flavors. Then we ferried back over to the city where we spent two nights in a rental apartment. During our stay we made sure to visit China Town and were saddened to find that our favorite restaurant, Sam Wo, has been shut down but the health board. This is, perhaps, unsurprising. The restaurant could not have been very sanitary but wow, it sure was an experience. Instead we wound up at an excellent vegetarian restaurant which did not disappoint.

During the day, I attended my conference, met with prospective students, watched some interesting talks, and presented a talk on my own research. The annual meeting for the American Geophysical Union is an impressive event. It attracts over 20,000 scientists from all over the world. I have known of this conference for many years but was intimidated by its size and scope. While it is true that 20,000 people is a lot of attendees, the meeting is not, in fact, as overwhelming as I had feared. Instead, I learned that the size of this conference allowed for entire sessions to cover topics that are of interest to me (which is definitely not the case with some of the smaller conferences I have attended). The size of the conference also meant that lots of old friends were in attendance and Matt and I had a fantastic evening at the UCSC alum event at the Thirsty Bear Brewery.

Wednesday took us down to Santa Cruz. It was just as beautiful as we remembered, if not more so. It was also just as weird. We made sure to hit up as many of our favorite spots as possible. This included wandering through the woods of upper campus, along the ocean, and through our old neighborhood. We had a beer at the end of the warf and a round of mini golf at the boardwalk. We even took in the local karaoke crowd at the bowling alley and squeezed in a game. We slept where we could hear the ocean at night. Aside from a forlorn foghorn, it was incredibly relaxing. We ate pizza and drank beer at the Seabright Brewery, devoured some burritos at local taquerias, and even enjoyed public art at a First Friday event downtown. The weather was unbelievably gorgeous and it was fantastic to get a chance to see old friends every day. Lucky us, we also got to spend some time with my brother and his girlfriend, Rose. I also took advantage of the trip by meeting with the technician for the isotope lab at UCSC and asking many questions as possible about setting up a lab. My colleagues and I have been awarded funding to build our own isotope lab in Cincinnati. This will be a major undertaking and I need all of the advice I can get.

At the end of our brief but very rewarding stay in Santa Cruz, we drove through the mountains above the campus to see the studio of Mattie Leeds, a ceramic artist who has spent 35 years building himself a surreal wonderland among the redwoods. What a great way to end our trip. I have never seen such a blend of found objects, gargantuan ceramics, river rocks, and redwoods. I was just a little bit envious of Mattie’s son, who will grow up with a close-to-life-size rocket ship in his bedroom. We bid Scott and Rose adieu and then wound our way north along the coast back up to San Francisco for one last evening with friends Ryan and Andrea. We checked out the Pacific Coast Brewing Company, watched a movie and fell asleep early. This trip was great but wow were we worn out. Returning to Ohio was a relief.

The term wrapped up with little fanfare and since then I have been frantically catching up with my research and getting prepared for the spring term. It is wonderful to be free from the regular schedule surrounding the academic term. Matt and I are currently in Pennsylvania with Matt’s family. Mom very generously offered to watch Lou and our fish for us for a few days so we could go east unfettered. Thank you Mom! We will celebrate a belated Christmas and New Year with her back in Cincinnati. Matt and I made ample use of our Lou-free travel time. We enjoyed several holiday parties in Pittsburgh and played tourist during the day. I saw parts of the city that I have never seen before including the South Side, the Strip District and the North Shore and I ate some fantastic food. Ironically, Matt and I finally got to go to a Hofbräuhaus. We have one of these in Cincinnati but it is always too crowded to be enjoyable. The venue in Pittsburgh was right on the river and the perfect place to watch the snow fall while eating pretzels and drinking good beer. We also spent some time at the National Aviary. I was delighted to learn that among their many residents, the aviary houses several species from Northeastern Australia, including the Wompoo fruit dove, which was one of my favorite birds when I lived in Queensland. I also recognized many of the birds I saw in Trinidad. By far the best part of our visit was the 2 pm “wetlands feeding”. We sat ourselves on bleachers and were introduced to some of the more social species in this exhibit. The first indication that this might be a memorable experience was the pair of waddled curacaos (which are quite large) that decided to share the bleachers with the audience. The docent that was leading the feeding joined us and proceeded to pull out bowls of all sorts of bird treats. She made sure that the feeding experience was a shared experience. “Ok everyone, I’m going to pass out meal worms. Take a handful and pass some to your neighbors. Hold these over your heads and the grackles will fly by and nab them”. I was amazed that very few people hesitated to deftly hold worms over their heads, particularly since many of these were dropped by the birds and landed back on the audience. Next the docent passed out raw fish for us to proffer to the Inca terns. Fewer audience members volunteered to take part in this activity. After the Inca terns, we were introduced to Stormy, the Blue-bellied Roller. In order to see Stormy’s beautiful colors, we would need to see Stormy fly and in order to entice Stormy into flight, we would need to offer her her favorite treat, baby mice. The idea would be to throw baby mice up over the audience, and Stormy would swoop down to retrieve them. The docent then mentioned that Stormy had been rather lacks with catching the mice earlier in the day. It was at this point that I started to laugh and couldn’t stop. I don’t think that I was the only one who was surprised by such a “hands on” feeding experience, but I think I was probably the only one who found it funny rather than totally terrifying. At this point most people had their shirts up over their heads, but the docent didn’t bat an eye as she threw little mice up and over the audience. Luckily Stormy was in good form and she didn’t miss a single one. And she was, indeed, very beautiful when she flew. Lou would have been jealous.

Last, but not least, we visited the Mattress Factory, which is an art museum that showcases the work of artists in residence. I haven’t been to a modern art museum for quite some time and enjoyed this trip very much. Some of the installations were very memorable and thought provoking. Of equal interest was “RandyLand”, which is a private residence just down the street from the museum. If I had to describe this space in 5 words I would have to say rainbow, signs, maps, curiosity, and Oz. I recommend doing a Google image search.

And now we have some down time in State College for a few days. We’re going to lay low with Matt’s parents, brother, new puppy and cat. I am pleased to have such a welcoming home base. It is hard for me to believe that 2012 is coming to a close. Was it really a year ago that we drove down to Florida via New Orleans? Much has happened since then and I am proud of all that I have experienced and accomplished. I can only hope that 2013 will be as fulfilling. I hope that wherever you are, you are able to take a moment to reflect on your own year and smile. You will be in my thoughts as we make our way into the New Year.

Sincerely,

Brooke