canoeing on a closed river

Oops, for work we canoed a river we later found out was closed for high water. The upstream site we canoed the next day was open, but on the verge of being unsafe to sample when you have to suddenly pull to the bank to evaluate habitat and collect samples. Two people went overboard at 2 different times and in different canoes, resulting in a loss of 3/4 of our datasheets, a clipboard, and GPS. The fun canoeing quickly turned into not fun and shook us all up. But we did complete the site! The motorized boat took someone back to all the transects to redo the data. I'm not going to mention the river in case someone like a park ranger comes across this! I'll post photos when I get them uploaded. We did enjoy a cave tour the 1st day when it was pouring rain, and staying in cabins for 2 nights and grilling out.

Update: I posted more photos on facebook. See Jenny's blog about canoeing high waters: http://gorgeousbiologistknitter.blogspot.com/2007/05/not-ordinary-weekend.html

Aloha friends

Well, I have some news. We just got back from Hawaii yesterday. That is news in itself! We had a great time. The weather was warm and mostly sunny, and the sights were beautiful! But the real news is that I accepted a postdoc in Hilo. I am so excited about the job and living in such a great place.

I will be working on a dry forest restoration project. The goals are to reduce invasive grass cover (which will reduce the potential for forest fires) by increasing native species establishment in the understory. The project has the standard factorial field experiments and a big remote sensing component. Very little is known about native dry forest communities in Hawaii, so there should be a lot of neat questions to explore within the project!

The town of Hilo is really interesting because it is not touristy at all. It has a great farmer's market, with all kinds of things I've never heard of before along with papayas, lychee, and the rest. The population is mostly Asian and native Hawaiian, and there are lots of Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Filipino restaurants. SS, you can't go too far without bumping into another bubble tea place!

I am going to keep advertising the wonders of the Big Island with the hope that you all will come visit us there. Starting with waterfalls in town:



Beautiful Waipio Valley:


And lots of lava and huge craters:


Start saving your frequent flier miles!

Scary Mega Dog Brawl.

This one isn't cute like the other. I thought I'd record it for posterity. I house sat for Jennifer D. out in the country, and when it was time for me to leave Sunday morning, I carried Rusty to the car thinking I could get there and get him in before Billie showed up. Billie is the alpha dog at Jennifer's and a stout female bully who once picked Rusty up by the abdomen and shook him. So they hate each other and I keep them apart. Unfortunately, Billie caught up with us, my overnight bag had slipped off my shoulder and was dangling from my elbow so I was awkwardly hurrying to the car, and I couldn't get the car door open b/c it was so cold. Rusty was snapping at Billie from my arms, and Billie tried to get him. So I got him on the roof and thought it would be all ok - just get him in the car and close the door. But then I needed to get Sally in and thought Rusty would just cower in the corner, but he came charging back to get at Billie who was halfway in the car by then, so I tried to shove my overnight bag between them, then got bit twice in the arm by Billie. I had a thick fleece coat on and a sweater and long shirt, but it still left huge bruises on my arm and abrasion sores. Then I got the door closed, but Sally was still outside, and the three dogs, Billie, Dusky, and Sally, were all in a fight - I thought Billie and Dusky were attacking Sally - but it was Sally and Billie against Dusky! Sally was charging in and biting her. So I pushed them around with my feet and somehow got Sally away and into the car. The last part I don't remember. So then I went back inside to recover and keep an eye on Jennifer's dogs to make sure they were ok. They were bleeding. Rusty had chomped down on Billie's upper jaw and wouldn't let go - so her nose was bleeding horribly. But after about 1/2 hour I went back out to check on them and they didn't seem as bad as they 1st appeared. And Billie tried to lick Dusky's wounds and she wouldn't let Billie near her at 1st. The darn dog had just been attacking her a short while ago. But eventually they started grooming each other, and I was more composed for driving, so we left. And this was after waking up to water POURING down from the ceiling in their mud porch and the new bathroom area. The pipes had been frozen, and then thawed over night. I had gotten the water to the house turned off, and was relaxing and planned on coming back up to stay last night. But then the dog fight happened and we didn't go back. Now Rusty's lower eyelid is swollen. He looks like he had been in a fight. Sally is unscathed. I'm sore and still physically and emotionally tired. This is why I didn't become a veterinarian - can't handle animal emergencies.

confessions of a consumer

Since I initiated consumerism boycott, I thought I should fess up on my spending habits. 1st was the fake finger/hook I bought for my boss - he was with me when we found them and is missing 2 pinkies, how could I resist? Made in China, 95 cents. I bought 2 museum catalogs of the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit at Union Station. I'll never see them again, the info was a bit overwhelming, my best friend in PA loves archaeology. Yes it was a book, but not a novel, $5 each. Dog treats - bought a bag at the Merc - the Good Dog brand made locally by homeless people. I also buy them at the farmer's market. So in sum, the finger is the only frivolous thing. Oh - and the 25 cent cheapo headband at the rec center. Forgot my scrunchie, miserable in aerobics with hair hanging down, had to do it.

On another note, I put my 35 gal. rain barrel together yesterday afternoon, and it's full. Once I make sure it's not leaking, I'll make my 50 gal. one. The back yard turned into a small pond of water, along the fence line which the dogs run, so I can't put my rain garden in the pooliest parts of the yard, but it's right next to it. Check out this ironic dog rescue:
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/may/07/rain_forces_road_closures_across_county/
Rescue teams from Douglas County and Osage County help Gail Jackson and her dog "Rocket" into a rescue boat at the FOB range near Lone Star Lake. Rising water stranded six women and five dogs that were part of a Boxer rescue program which used the site as a retreat over the weekend.

Rain

I think that several parts of the country have been getting lots of rainfall recently, and I thought I'd share a photo of the results of our recent rain.


There has been some flooding in central IA recently, and this photo was taken from a bridge over the Skunk River, which runs through Ames. It is one of my favorite place in Ames (which is may explain why I keep posting photos of it...).





For an idea of what the river normally looks like, here is a photo of the river in December.





Spring is here!