May 24, 2024

Getting up to speed…

Greetings, and happy Memorial Day Weekend. It’s hard for me to believe it has only been five months since I last connected. 2024 has been full so far.

We had another mild winter in Cincinnati and enjoyed an early and lovely Spring. Matt and I decided to advantage of an Anthropology conference in Los Angeles that took place the week after our Spring Break, and we had an absolutely fantastic two-week adventure that included visiting friends and family all over the state, including Humboldt County, the San Francisco Bay area, and the greater Los Angeles area. The trip was an immensely positive experience. We were able to see people we have not seen in years, including some cousins, multiple dear friends from Santa Cruz, and even an old friend that I met when I studied abroad in Australia way back in 2000. We had unbelievable weather for nearly the entire duration of our trip, which made it possible for us to see and do more than we had originally planned. We were able to walk the entire length of the Embarcadero in San Francisco, hike amongst giant redwoods at Prairie Creek State Park (adjacent to Redwood National Park) just south of the Oregon border, wander the woods and our former haunting grounds on campus at UC Santa Cruz, explore the hills of Griffith Park at the northern edge of LA, and visit many diverse coastlines. We also got to visit the Getty Museum, which is something we have wanted to do for years. The conference was an excellent experience as well. Good science, good colleagues, and good venue. Yay.

Upon returning to Cincinnati, we had a quick April. We held our annual little neighborhood Easter gathering, which involved some fun crafts and a continuous egg hunt (we hid plastic eggs while kids found them). We also were lucky enough to witness the total eclipse with friends Keriann and Travis, who drove down to join us from Guelph, Ontario. We reserved a place to stay in a cute little artsy town called Nashville, Indiana a couple hours west of Cincinnati, and it was the perfect location. We had our own private balcony porch where we were staying and there was barely a cloud in the sky (which is rather miraculous – we didn’t see the sun again for a full week afterwards). I knew what to expect this time, but it was still mind blowing. must admit, I cried a little (tears of joy I think). It’s hard to explain. The experience is profound.

Shortly after that I visited Blacksburg, VA and gave a talk at Virginia Tech. I had not been to Blacksburg previously and I hadn’t appreciated how it is truly a little town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. My talk went well and I got to meet some other researchers and discuss mutual interests. I also was able to visit my friend and colleague Rachel, who was a fellow grad student from UC Santa Cruz. And in the weird and awesome world of coincidences, another friend from our grad cohort was also giving a talk at Virginia Tech during my visit, so we all got to connect and have a little mini reunion.

Upon returning to Cincinnati, we had a couple of weeks filled with social engagements, including participating in the closing reception for a juried art show I was part of (hosted by the School of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning at UC), and attending the annual Derby Party hosted by our Kentucky friends Jennie and Jason. My graduate advisor, Paul Koch, also happened to be driving through the city on his way across the country, and we enjoyed a nice evening of catching up. We also had a flurry of student qualifying exams and graduations. One of my students successfully passed their qualifying exam, and another student defended her dissertation. Matt also had two PhD students finish. Whew! This summer I will continue to be occupied with helping these folks (as well as some former students), wrap up their writing and get their work submitted for publication.

And just like that it was May and time to head North. We were able to spend a nice few days with my Mom in Kalamazoo for Mother’s Day, and then we continued on up to Mackinac Island. It is very good to be back on the island. Everything looks good here. The house is still standing, and nearly all of the plants I planted in past years seem to be coming back. This is, of course, a relief. We are now working on decompressing and getting into a new routine that involves a slightly slower pace of life than we had in Cincy. I am so glad to be able to have a little down time. Work has kept me busy, and the Fall term is going to be involved as well. I’m tired, and wow is it refreshing to be up here and breathing clean air, being bombarded by hundreds of different hues of green, smelling the various scents of spring, feeling the cool breeze combined with warm sun on my skin, and hearing birds and frogs everywhere. Our pair of phoebe flycatchers is back and has already set up their nest on their box on our back porch.

The next few months are somewhat fuller than I would like, but at least all of the upcoming events will be nice things. Matt and I will both be participating in a science retreat for the University of Toronto in early June, and I will be attending the semi-annual North American Paleontological Convention in Ann Arbor in later June. I’ll be participating in a symposium in honor of my academic grandfather (my PhD advisor’s advisor) and helping run a symposium on Caribbean Paleontology. We are also looking forward to hosting some family and friends later this summer.

Come Fall, I will be stepping down from my role as Graduate Director for the department of Geosciences (I have served in this capacity for the past six years), and getting ready for a much-needed sabbatical in the Spring. I’m sure I’ll have more to report on that front as I will be spending several months in Bordeaux, France as a visiting scholar.

So that’s my update! I have also created Google photo albums of our trip to California: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9rg4zACFuYug9kX17, as well as our house up here on Mackinac: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jgtQFLHBoBZopyAA8. I understand many of you have been curious and am sorry it took me so long to put this together. I will continue to add to the album as time goes on.

I hope that 2024 has been good for you as well and that you are looking forward to a pleasant summer.