solstice

Happy Solstice!!

Though it was not a bright, sunny day yesterday here in Eugene, it was solstice.

I've been giving a lot of thought to holidays over the last few years. Really, the traditional Christian holidays have less and less meaning to me. As a child they were fun and it was something celebrated in the classroom so it was all around you. As an adult, even with all the Christmas cheer of the family, it just doesn't do it for me anymore. It's not really a bah-humbug thing, more of a feeling that my celebrating feels misplaced - not focused on what I really value. If there was more of a focus on the spirit of Christmas it might be one thing, but the spirit is so washed out and we place so much value on this one holiday, that it just doesn't have much meaning anymore.

What I would like to do is make a shift to celebrating the seasons. It's a celebration of not only nature, but an acknowledgment of the rituals and mindsets that we associate with each season. For example, some think of spring as birth and rebirth, summer as the time to enjoy the pleasures of life, fall as closing of a chapter, and winter as the time to hibernate. Why not celebrate each for what they are?

Fall equinox is a celebration of food and bounty. Eat well, drink well, and enjoy the colors of time passing! It is a time for bonfires and camping out under a starry sky one more time before the cold sets in....

Winter solstice is an opportunity to come out of hibernation and celebrate the night. Mugs of hearty, warm drinks...yule logs on the fire...bright LED lights twinkling in the dark (and not sucking up too much energy!!)....

Spring equinox is a time to celebrate gardening plans and spring rains. An Irish jig on a misty spring morning and a glimpse of the fresh green....

Summer solstice is the longest day of the year, when gardens boom and flowers bloom. It is the time to celebrate the vivacity of life!

We had a solstice gathering last night to celebrate the coming of another year and our two year anniversary (which also marks 10 years of being together). We had a lovely time sharing our space with friends and family. It was a tad chilly, but it didn't rain so we could enjoy the outdoors. I was going to take pictures, but totally forgot to pick up the camera because I was having so much fun chatting away. It is too bad I didn't get a chance to take a photo of my plate of deviled eggs - the most beautiful ones I've made yet! Lots of fun all around - great conversations, flaming sausages, lots of tasty beverages, trips to meet the chickens and picking raspberries in the garden. The hula hoop even made a trip around and folks gave it a whirl.

So, even though I don't have pictures from the party, I'm including a few of the view from the front yard. Now you can feel like you were there too (or if you were there, you can be reminded).

wood and geekiness

I was reading a couple of the PhD (Piled Higher and Deeper) comics this evening and it made me think about my day. I spent most of the normal workday hours rearranging data, working out some basic trig and vector calculations, and plotting up data. And you want to know something? I got to the end of the day and was absolutely proud of all my plots. In fact, I am so excited I've even included one here.


So the plots aren't beautiful yet, but I'm using them to help me make sense of the endless rows and columns of data. Only graduate students get this geeked out over plots! (Though a close second probably goes to faculty.)

Yesterday was probably what most of you would think was more fun. I spent the afternoon working with the Eco-Informatics summer institute students to map wood in Lookout Creek at HJ Andrews Experimental Forest. This is a follow up in a sequence of many years of wood mapping in this reach. I led the students in a similar effort a couple of years back and both times have been rewarding experiences for me. I enjoy working with the students - talking about trees as engineers and the legacy they leave on the landscape. I wish I took pictures, but alas, I forgot my camera. Ah well.

three new hens

On a whim, we added three new hens to our flock last night. Cameron was searching through craigslist when he found a posting for a particularly good deal on laying hens. We had always thought that we would end up with eight hens, so thought this was a good time to move from 5 to 8 (and of course we have that "6th hen", our rooster).

And so our adventure began! We drove on out to Marcola and picked out a beauty, a beast, and a fantastic layer (i.e. a Wyandotte, a Barred Rock, and a Rhode Island Red).


We took a stroll around the property (which is for sale) - 13.5 acres backed by BLM land, creek running through it, and a substantial wooded area. Very nice, but a little too far out and a little too much money. Ah well.

Anyhow, back to the chickens...by the time we got back from our walk, the Wyandotte was limping. We aren't sure exactly what happened, but don't think it is serious. However, we were concerned about introducing her to our flock when she was already at a disadvantage (flocks boot out newcomers and there is a bit of "hen-pecking" until they sort out their order again). I convinced Cam to bring her home anyhow.

Last night, we had them in the run when the other chickens had already put themselves to "bed" and these poor hens didn't know what to do with themselves. They knew it was bedtime so they tried to fly up to good roosting locations. Eventually we just gave in and let them head up into the hen house. Initially there was a bit of confusion, but things settled down quickly.

This morning Cameron got up at 5 a.m. and opened up the coop. By 5:30/6 we were both watching the hens head out into the run and try to establish pecking order. Some beating up occurred, as expected, and the newbies have relagated themselves to the corner; but at least things have settled down for now. Fortunately, Kung-pao (the rooster) is keeping track of his ladies, breaking up fights, and generally keeping the peace.

canoes

Another week has gone by and I am only just now getting words down in the blog. How can so much happen in so little time?

I am still getting familiar with my new job as the Habitat Restoration Program Manager for the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council (if you haven't looked at the website recently, you should check it out - it has been updated). I've been meeting staff, the board, the technical review team, and some of our partners. The biggest task at hand is completing a very detailed proposal to become a Model Watershed and I am trying to help with the proposal as much as my limited schedule will allow. (Limited in that I am working 5-8 hours a week, max, until October.)

Last week, Cameron and I started talking swing dance lessons again. Drew and Catherina gave us a good refresher of the Charleston and got us excited again about dancing. The Eugene Swing Dance community has a website, complete with some review videos to help us learn. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. ;-P

On Saturday, we joined up with Pete Klingeman, Desiree Tullos, and others to learn about river engineering on the Willamette. This was accomplished by canoeing down the river from Corvallis to Albany.

Pete prepping us for the trip

Gathering together for a lesson

Cameron guiding us along while I snap pics

Drew, Desiree, and Sarah listening to discussion about revetments and bridges

Pete teaching on the river

We got some great glimpses of birds on this trip. At one point, a great blue heron flew close to the canoe on its way upstream. This one waited patiently for us to pass. Of course, we try to give them some space when we can!


If you are interested, here is a link to more pictures. It was a relaxing trip and the weather turned out to be pretty good. There was a little misting here and there, but it was relatively warm and no one got a sunburn. ;-P

On Sunday, I went to Woodburn with the ladies to do a little shopping. Since I have a general distaste for shopping, this is only a once a year deal - when I realize I really need to replace some things that are past their time. This is also a great thing to do with friends, to distract from the otherwise dull parts of wandering around the mall. Overall, I would say the day went by quickly and I enjoyed spending time with Sara, Karen and Elly.

Whew, back to work, planting, house projects, work, and more work. And we are planning a party....

rain and other fun stuff

Tonight was filled with thunder and lightening - a very exciting thing for those of us here in the valley. Fortunately, it was also accompanied with a good dose of rain and we are still at the tail-end of rainy season, so despite all this dry weather we've been having we may not have too many fires to worry about (?).

As normal, there is plenty going on around here. Veggies are growing in leaps and bounds - we can hardly keep up with it! As you will notice in these pictures, there is a lot of green that needs to be cut or weeded. (Thankfully I got to most of it just after these pics were taken.)

spinach and choi from the garden

kale, mustard greens, more kale, and other greens you may not be able to identify from here

herb garden

We have some wicked looking bamboo growing feet per day in the mint patch. We aren't really certain what is going on because they are about 3 times fatter than the bamboo we have growing at the corner of the house. It is already taller than most of it too and doesn't look like it is fully matured yet. Very cool! Here's a picture from a few days ago, when it was still pretty short:

We also had some adventures with the hot tub. We needed to seal the bottom because we were having some trouble with the wood rotting right where the staves meet the bottom. Well, we emptied the hot tub when we got back from Hawaii and needed a couple of days to let it dry. Then we had the wrong caulk and it took a couple of days to correct that. Then we needed to let the caulk dry. Yes, you guessed it, that took a couple more days. Of course, during this time it was 80 to 90+ degrees and the wood for the tub was bone dry. Refilling it took quite a good long time and lots of patience as we waited for the wood to swell and the cracks to seal. We were having trouble getting the top to seal appropriately, so Cameron laid some wet towels along the top.
After a couple more days we were able to get the top foot of the tub to seal. Whew! That sucker is nearly full now and it is raining away on it to help us meet our goal.

I have finally found something to feed my kick-boxing fix. It isn't quite the same, but I think it'll work...I've joined a gym - InShape. They have a good number of drop-in classes that are part of the very reasonable membership fee. I've just been testing it out this week, but so far I'm happy with it. Some of the instructors are better than others, but the aerobic classes seem to be aerobic and the strength courses incorporate lots of weights, etc. That works for me! I've been there both in off times and during "rush hour" and there are always open machines for the non-class types. To top it off, it's a great atmosphere, so I feel totally comfortable. So finally a place to go after I've been sitting behind the computer all day!