Saturday, September 26, 2009

It has been a while...

I know it has been quite some time since I last updated. So much has happened in a month’s time, it is difficult to sum it all up concisely without blathering on and on. Oh well, here it goes.

I finished my job in PA on the 15th of August. I had a love/hate relationship with that job, but I am glad that I did it. I gained some great experience in banding birds, and I realize I still need a lot of practice picking birds out of mist nets. I was finally getting to a comfortable stage and then the number of birds we were banding dropped off considerably. I do, however, feel quite confident in my banding skills.

The one thing I am most grateful for is the opportunity to make some long lasting friends in Clarion. The people over at ‘The Creature Program’ are some of the most lovely, fun people I have ever met. It just sucks that they’re all the way on the other side of the country. While I went to PA for a job, it was the volunteer work I was a part of that made the whole thing worthwhile.

After the job was finished, I caught a ride with my co-worker to Chicago where I spent three days touring the city with a friend of mine from Wisconsin. I had a blast! There is so much going on in Chicago during the summertime. I could see myself spending at least a couple weeks there, enjoying all the free activities they have in Millennium Park and the other surrounding parks. I was amazed at how much they had going on in just one weekend. Free concerts practically every day, free dances, free exercise classes, even the zoo is free! Good thing too, because they charge you somewhere around $25 or more just to look out on the viewpoint at the Sears Tower (or is that Wallis now?). I did however; send some money on a ghost tour. I don’t think I’d do that again, it was a little disappointing even if we did get to see more of the city than we would have otherwise. I think our geocaching trips were far better in forcing us to see parts of the city we wouldn’t have gone. Anyway, I had a Chicago style hot dog, deep dish Chicago pizza, and tea at the Ritz. All was good.

Once we finished in Chicago, we drove up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. I visited for a few days at the wildlife center I worked at last fall. It was great to see everyone…and I found I really missed it there. For some reason it felt real nice to get back to Wisconsin. I fed some squirrels, saw some animals, and ate sushi. Good times.

I flew back to Portland for a visit that lasted three weeks! Most of the time I spent with my biological (or I’ve taken to calling them the ‘bionics’) family. My bionic mother showed me how to bake pies and bread. I spent time with my siblings, doing various things like camping, and tea, and drinking beer. I also spent time at the beach with my bionic dad and his family. Matthew came down to Portland for a friend’s wedding and we both went crabbing with bionic mom and her husband. Between all of us, we caught 39 crabs! Needless to say a feast was had by all.

The wedding was nice. I think it was worth it just seeing Matthew in a tux! :-D And there are pictures, so it did happen! Ha!

Even though I had a month long vacation it really seemed to fly by. Now, I am in Dillingham working at the UAF campus here in what is deemed as Student Services. I actually like my job here. I couldn’t ask for better co-workers and I enjoy actually getting to help and converse with students. Dillingham is pretty. The leaves were all golden when I got in and now, with the wind starting to pick up and winter peeking its head around the corner, the trees are quickly losing their shape.

I think I am going to enjoy living by the bay. Already I’ve seen some amazing sunsets and when the sky is clear, the world seems to go on forever. I have been here just shy of two weeks, but I have a good feeling about the place. People seem friendly and genuine. It sure is a change of pace, but a good one indeed.

No comments: