The Princess and the Frog

I watched this movie last night, and it was great! Classic Disney with great animation, catchy songs and  good wholesome themes ("dig a little deeper"). It was refreshing to see diverse love-able characters (Ray the lightning bug was definitely my favorite) and bodes well for Disney's future. I have never been to New Orleans, and I'm sure what was portrayed is somewhat of a caricature, but I feel I know a lot more about it now than I did. Now I'm hungry for beignets...

Farmer's Markets!!!!!

Since moving to the Bay Area, I have attended seven different farmer's markets. Almost every neighborhood has one, and they all have different highlights. 

Grand Ave.: In addition to being the closest one to me, this is a really great farmer's market. I always treat myself to something at each farmers market, and at this one I had a delicious Belgian waffle (really did remind me of those I had in Belgium), a pretzel croissant (yes, as good as it sounds) and a German pretzel covered with cheese (I think crunchy edges of baked cheese is some of the most delicious food ever). Of course they have lots of vegetables--super fresh carrots, chard, kale (yes, Dad, kale!), broccoli etc. Also strawberries and at least one kind of dates. 

North Berkeley: I love buying fresh lettuce at farmers markets, especially because you can get just enough for a few small salads, if that's what you want, then come back next week. Another highlight here was the yogurt.

South Berkeley: This one really impressed me. For a weekday market, they have a pretty incredible selection including a date stand with more than five types of dates, a fresh cheese place that makes deals if you buy a couple of packages, vegetarian Mexican food, great hearty bread, interesting apple varieties as well as lots of fresh veggies, nuts and fruit. Out of loyalty to Riverside, I feel like I should say the oranges I bought here couldn’t compare, but they were pretty good. =)

***Note: I figured out why the South Berkeley market is so good—many of the same vendors as the Berkeley Downtown market. Bought some delicious handmade corn tortillas for enchiladas, and the seller explained that I need to heat them up before adding the contents so they don’t break! Made chips with the leftovers—yum!

Sausalito: After a weekend retreat in Stinson Beach, I came back by way of Sausalito. This wasn’t a great market in terms of selection or prices, but it was a pretty setting, at a park along the bay. The baklava I tried here (lots of pistachios and honey) was quite good, and I bought a cilantro chutney from a seller who kept giving me more and more pieces of bread with various spreads to try.

Jack London Square: This is in downtown Oakland, right by where the ferry to San Francisco picks up. Its still a pretty edgy neighborhood (at least compared to small-town Arizona) but does have a great fruit selection at good prices. There was a “pop-up” pasta shop one day I was there (they rent the space just for the day) that I bought as gifts. This is also where I found the flavored almonds I brought home for the holidays.

Another one of my favorites is the Montclair Sunday market. Montclair is this adorable European-type town in Piedmont (expensive neighborhood in hills above Oakland). The downtown is very compact, and full of interesting shops. I first attended a Christmas market here and they had carolers, cookie give aways and lots of festive atmosphere. This is convenient to my church, and also has a Safeway grocery store nearby, so I often pick up groceries before or after church, and then go home to cook! Some of my favorites here: German bread, fresh mushrooms, plum butter, Indian samosas, almonds and walnuts, eggs and nice fresh flowers.

There are many more to visit, but one on my short list is the San Francisco Saturday market, which I have heard is quite large and somewhat like Washington D.C.’s Eastern Market. 

A Streetcar Named Desire

Thursday night I attended the Oakland School for the Arts production of A Streetcar Named Desire. I have seen other Tennessee Williams plays before, including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with my grandmother in Delaware. I was very impressed by the production, which they describe as bare bones, and more focused on the characters themselves. To see high school students performing such heavy drama and exploring issues that are still very real today--it was a treat.

Hubbard Street and Alonzo King Dance Studios

Saturday night I went to a dance performance on Berkeley's campus by combined dancers from Hubbard Street Dance Studio in Chicago and Alonzo King's Lines Ballet from San Francisco. I attended an all you can dance classes for $5 at Alonzo Kings on of my first Saturdays here, so that's why the announcement caught my eye. All the dancers are trained in ballet, but the performances they do are more like modern dance--different music spliced together with a theme that the choreographer is trying to convey. Although it was neat to see the scenes with lots of dancers on stage at once, I found the really compelling parts of the performance were with just one or two dancers on stage, and watching their interplay.

Redwood Hike

After a frustrating morning dealing with smog check related issues, I recharged at Redwoods Regional Park in Oakland. The "rim" trail was full of families, dogs, runners and bikers. What I really enjoyed was getting back into the redwood groves, scrambling up and down the steep ravines and being in the still quiet of the great outdoors. A lovely afternoon hike in all respects!

Martin Luther King Day

First I explored the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Oakland in their Church of Christ the Light. The original church on this location was destroyed during the Loma Prieta earthquake. The diocese wanted to build a new cathedral (a cathedral is a church with the bishop's seat) and after some consideration they choose to rebuild at that site. Its a very diverse part of the city and therefore should be available to all constituents. Its a lovely church. I really like that it is open all during the day, like the cathedrals of Europe. When viewed from overhead, you can see that it is shaped like a fish, a very old Christian symbol. The building is built of glass, wood and concrete blocks. The light inside is totally natural and even creates the image of Christ on the cross in the front. (Images courtesy ofvirtualsacredspace.blogspot.com and SOM).

I attended part of a film festival at Oakland's African American Museum and Library on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was cool to watch a film about MLK Jr. and learn things I hadn't known, and it was a neat and very interested mostly black audience I watched it with. After the film, many people stood up and talked about the work that still needs to be done today, or how they were involved in the protest marches back in the 1960s. Meanwhile, the building itself is quite beautiful and has exhibits covering the history of black populations in Oakland.

My Garden: Part II

Tomato plants are looking good--see some already red?

The first bunch of spinach...now without all the weeds.

Pepper plants and happy-looking sunflowers

Zucchinis and cucumbers

Parsley and Dill (blooming)

Was hoping you might know what this plant is and if it should be pruned back a bunch...we didn't last year and now it is even bigger. Already done blooming.

My garden!

Last night I got the final plants in my garden, and am posting photos!

(Left) Purple iris for Dad!

(Right) Spinach

Garden overview pictures

Middle Row: (Left) Peas (Right) Herb garden with parsley, dill and basil.

Choices

if i can't do
what i want to do
then my job is to not
do what i don't want
to do

it's not the same thing
but it's the best i can
do

if i can't have
what i want then
my job is to want
what i've got
and be satisfied
that at least there
is something more
to want

since i can't go
where i need
to go then i must go
where the signs point
though always understanding
parallel movement
isn't lateral

when i can't express
what i really feel
i practice feeling
what i can express
and none of it is equal
i know
but that's why mankind
alone among the animals
learns to cry

—Nikki Giovanni

Good friends

This was the future. Life would get busier and more varied, populated both by beautiful things and unfortunate circumstances. If their friendship demanded exclusivity or solitude, it couldn’t work. If it required that everything go as planned, it would turn brittle, and ultimately it would break. On the other hand, she knew that if they could be flexible and big, if they could encompass change, then they would make it...“Whatever happens, we will find each other. We always will.”

-Ann Brashares, Girls in Pants

Contagion!

This was a really good movie. But almost too close to real for comfort. Its one of the negative sides of living in a world that's so connected. It is definitely sticking with me though, and that's my definition of a good movie. Anyway, worth watching if you get a chance!

National Fossil Day at Glen Canyon

On Saturday we also celebrated National Fossil Day at Glen Canyon for the second time. We had a good turnout as Katie and I provided materials for dinosaur drawings and rubbings and stamp pictures and dinosaur footprint watercolors and clay dinosaurs...

I don't usually get to spend my days working with kids, and really enjoyed being pumped up by their enthusiasm! Their excitement, and wearing their new Junior Paleontologist badges and knowing the answers to all my questions during my therizinosaur talk.

What a great setting for National Fossil Day the visitor center was this year. Last year's milestone of getting a fossil case in was impressive. But this year to be surrounded by amazing artwork and the mounted therizinosaur skeleton and pictures of the Western Interior Seaway and the moving plesiosaur and the Pteranodon outside--surrounded by stories of Glen Canyon's ancient past!

A little more subdued in all ways from last year, it left us free to focus on the kid's joy and parent's curiosity.

One year ago today...

Glen Canyon lost two great rangers--Laurie Axelsen and Brent McGinn. We still think of them often and wish they could be back with us. We are inspired by what they taught us. In their memory I wrote a poem last year.

Harsh landscape

Sun and shadow

New ant hills on smooth riverbanks

Grateful to be alive

Tears leaking out

Beautiful landscape

Photos of wreckage

Haunting

Bright colors

Survived by parents

Tragedy

I can only imagine

Wind-whipped hair

Firm piloting

A good teacher

Winks and barefeet

The helpless feeling of knowing you can never name enough things after them

Friendly people, the prarie and pencils!

Just got back from a trip to South Dakota with Christin. We had a great time--driving our giant Suburban around, stopping randomly for wildlife, soaking in the prairie. We met up with the ferret folks for the 30th anniversary of black-footed ferret rediscovery in Meeteetse, WY. It was fun watching the playful ferrets released into prairie dog holes for their first meal. The group of scientists and land managers who have spent their careers dedicated to bringing these rare mammals back from the brink of extinction. Also got to meet some people who put conversation to practice on their own land and create their own small sanctuaries for native species. Of course I also did drag Christin along as we saw some of the paleontological and geological highlights of Badlands NP, thanks to Matt!

Back to the title of this post. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Rapid City something was different. People were so kind and friendly and deferential. If I was walking too fast (I have a problem with this) and cut someone off, they were the one apologizing to me. It made quite an impression on me. People in the Midwest really are friendlier!! We also had a couple of random conversations with strangers at viewpoints where we would talk for 10 or 15 minutes and they were so impressed we worked for the park service and we were happy they were enjoying their vacation and it was just lovely.

The prairie...I had forgotten how much I love the prairie. My first experience with it was in Nebraska, on my two week trip around the northern part of the state visiting paleontological sites, helping sift for fossils and scan for fossils and grid out and excavate for fossils. The sandhills was totally my favorite part of the trip. The gently rolling hills and softly moving grasses are such a contrast to my harsh yet still beautiful landscape out here. It was nice to visit somewhere a little less intense. It was a nice time of year to visit, too. We saw some great sunsets, light catching on the grasses.

And finally...pencils. It was odd, but it seemed like everywhere we went, instead of just sticker machines and gum ball machines, there were pencil machines. Maybe this is because South Dakotans are much more studious or more wholesome or something. But at Badlands, at restaurants, everywhere you could get pencils. Go Wall Eagles!! =)

Earthquakes

In regards to the two earthquakes today--one near Trinidad, CO (5.3) and the other near Mineral, VA (5.8). Its worth checking out the USGS seismic hazard maps, as both earthquakes occurred where it was predicted earthquakes were likely. (The star shows where today's earthquake occurred.)

Colorado: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/2011/eq_110823_c0005idz/neic_c0005idz_z.html

Virginia: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/2011/eq_110823_se082311a/se082311a_z.html

For some more interesting discussion of today's earthquakes, see: http://live.washingtonpost.com/east-coast-earthquake.html?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost.

Although the east coast is an old plate boundary, it can still have minor earthquake activity. The New Madrid fault zone near St. Louis, MO is a zone with potentially large earthquakes. According to USGS "The geologic record of pre-1811 earthquakes reveals that the New Madrid seismic zone has repeatedly produced sequences of major earthquakes, including several of magnitude 7 to 8, over the past 4,500 years." The 1811-1812 earthquakes included three earthquakes with a magnitude likely more than 7.

It is good to prepare for how to respond to an earthquake (stop, cover and hold on), even if you live on the east coast. Learn more about earthquake "drills" from the Great Shake Out program, see http://www.shakeout.org/.

Finally, a good commercial

Have you seen the latest Payless commercial? Its about paleontologists. =)

Keys, tents and travels, oh my!

My feeble excuse for the lack of posts is my busy summer schedule. In May I went to Grand Canyon to help with their paleo program. I had a great time there. First, there were trees (imagine, not being able to see for miles in every direction while running). Second, there was snow! And hail. And rain. I had a nice place to stay, I went running to see the South Rim every day, and I worked with great people.

Since June, I have been working in Kanab, UT, which is only 1hr 15min from Page, but feels a world away. Utah is a different time zone, and although I try to stay on UT time, I still spend a lot of time adding and subtracting hours and trying to make sure I'm not late for work. Kanab has been around a lot longer than Page, and used to be the site of many western films. It is thrown in with the Salt Lake City/St. George/Cedar City news cycle, rather than the Flagstaff and northern Arizona news. There are some really great restaurants here, and more variety in terms of what is at the grocery stores.

For the first half of my time here I camped and/or drove back and forth. I camped both in town (with a showerhouse and even wireless internet) and on BLM land (beautiful vistas and solitude). Both were good in their own ways. Now I am renting a bedroom in a house, which frees up more time to catch up on things in the evenings.

Travels

Christy suggested I post this map. The colored states are the ones I've visited (not just driven through). Still a few states to go, but not too shabby...

National Park Service

There is created in the Department of the Interior a service to be called the National Park Service, which shall be under the charge of a director who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Director shall have substantial experience and demonstrated competence in land management and natural or cultural resource conservation. The Director shall select two Deputy Directors. The first Deputy Director shall have responsibility for National Park Service operations, and the second Deputy Director shall have responsibility for other programs assigned to the National Park Service. There shall also be in said service such subordinate officers, clerks, and employees as may be appropriated for by Congress. The service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations hereinafter specified, except such as are under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army, as provided by law, by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

New digs

Moving this weekend! I will miss the winter morning drives along the lake, watching the sun rise. And running/biking/walking along the lake. But otherwise, I am ecstatic to be moving into town. We have leased a lovely house, very open with nice big windows and a walled in backyard with lots of bushes and trees. Although my room itself is smaller and I'll eventually be sharing a bathroom, the rest of the house is huge, so space is definitely not a problem. Plus I can walk to church, to the grocery store, library, etc. Or also bike around town more.

Despite the turbulence of ever-changing roommates, my room on Scorpion Way has been a haven for me. Nine months in the same place was a nice treat after so many moves in D.C. I will miss my walk-in closet. And randomly running into people on the street. Scorpion Thanksgiving and Christmas were definitely some of the highlights. But I'm sure there will be many more card nights and dinner parties in town as well.

Farewell, my first home in Page!