Saturday, September 26, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Tree
this tree, on campus, has a piece of lichen on it that I've been watching.
As usual there are more field sketches on the flickr page.
Sumac on Mt. Philo
This was a day where hawks were migrating, in a couple of hours, over 700 broad-winged hawks flew overhead or nearby.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Fog Droplets in Green Mountains
Last weekend we climbed Camel's Hump, one of the larger mountains in Vermont. It hadn't rained in a while but the trees were covered in little droplets of water deposited by passing fog.
Things are good here. I am incredibly busy. We went two weeks without rain which is about as long as Vermont ever goes without rain (or snow). Now it is raining again. The maple trees are just starting to turn colors, and lows will be in the mid 40s for much of this week. Fall is coming!
Monday, September 07, 2009
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Swimming in Lake Willoughby
Photo, taken by Pam, of four of us wading into Lake WIlloughby for an evening swim. This was taken about two weeks ago at the peak of summer. It is amazing being in a lake at sunset, swimming around, and seeing the bright sky and clouds both above you and reflected below you.
I know someone is going to ask if we were naked... and no, we were not. The nude beach was one bay over.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Human-influenced Vermont Landscape
This is what Vermont used to look like, about a century ago. Over time, most of the farming/pasturing ended and the forests came back. There are some open areas like this left, and while they aren't natural, they are very pretty.
Vermont is Not California: Thoughts on Change
There are quite a few reasons I moved to Vermont but one of them was to break myself of the assumptions and mannerisms that had built up in me from being in the same place most of my life. The difference between people here and people in California is not as distinct as the difference between chaparral yucca and striped maple, but the differences are real and I run into them every day. My experiences here have been overwhelmingly positive - but they are also forcing me to change quickly. This is not a bad thing at all, but it can be a bit disconcerting and uncomfortable at times.'
Recently, I told one of my friends that my overly-emotional nature was something I couldn't change and that it was part of who I was. She challenged this and told me that she thought it was silly for me to just decide I couldn't get rid of a characteristic about myself that I didn't like. She told me she is making herself better too, and if she is able to, so am I. I thought about this while sitting in a fen, and I think she is right. There are definitely things I can change about myself that I just don't, because I haven't had to in the past, or because I am too stubborn.
The hard part is figuring out which things about me are the ones that make me special, unique, fun, good, and which things about me are not core to my personality or are detrimental to my enjoyment of life, and can be changed. That's a hard question and one that I don't know the answer to yet. However, I did recently notice one thing. People here as a general rule are much more sincere, open, and honest than they are in Malibu and Santa Barbara. I have acquired the habit of responding in a cynical, sarcastic way to people, and I've done that a few times here when people were actually being real and honest. (how much dislike of Californians is caused just by this?) Even worse, I sometimes overreact and become too emotional when people don't react the way I want. It's a bad habit and one I need to get rid of (and it sounds much worse reading it here than when it was in my head!). Why am I defensive and insecure when I am around such great people?
So, here's my goal for fall semester: to be a little bit less reactive, more soft spoken. To take people at face value rather than assuming they have negative intentions. To be open to new ways of thought and new activities that I would not be open to back in California. Most importantly, to decrease the magnitude of expression of negative or extraneous emotions, while at the same time retaining the excitement, happiness, artistic expression, and love of the neat stuff in the world world that make me special and fun, I think.
Wow, that's a lot. We'll see if it works. I'm excited about my life here and think whether I stay in the Northeast or go back to California in a few years, I'll come out much stronger and more effective and less walled off.
Whew! Next time I'll post pictures, I promise. I have some neat pictures of a mossy forest and a fen.
Recently, I told one of my friends that my overly-emotional nature was something I couldn't change and that it was part of who I was. She challenged this and told me that she thought it was silly for me to just decide I couldn't get rid of a characteristic about myself that I didn't like. She told me she is making herself better too, and if she is able to, so am I. I thought about this while sitting in a fen, and I think she is right. There are definitely things I can change about myself that I just don't, because I haven't had to in the past, or because I am too stubborn.
The hard part is figuring out which things about me are the ones that make me special, unique, fun, good, and which things about me are not core to my personality or are detrimental to my enjoyment of life, and can be changed. That's a hard question and one that I don't know the answer to yet. However, I did recently notice one thing. People here as a general rule are much more sincere, open, and honest than they are in Malibu and Santa Barbara. I have acquired the habit of responding in a cynical, sarcastic way to people, and I've done that a few times here when people were actually being real and honest. (how much dislike of Californians is caused just by this?) Even worse, I sometimes overreact and become too emotional when people don't react the way I want. It's a bad habit and one I need to get rid of (and it sounds much worse reading it here than when it was in my head!). Why am I defensive and insecure when I am around such great people?
So, here's my goal for fall semester: to be a little bit less reactive, more soft spoken. To take people at face value rather than assuming they have negative intentions. To be open to new ways of thought and new activities that I would not be open to back in California. Most importantly, to decrease the magnitude of expression of negative or extraneous emotions, while at the same time retaining the excitement, happiness, artistic expression, and love of the neat stuff in the world world that make me special and fun, I think.
Wow, that's a lot. We'll see if it works. I'm excited about my life here and think whether I stay in the Northeast or go back to California in a few years, I'll come out much stronger and more effective and less walled off.
Whew! Next time I'll post pictures, I promise. I have some neat pictures of a mossy forest and a fen.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
13-Mile Canoe Trip
Yesterday I embarked on an approximately 13-mile canoe trip with three of my friends. Although my canoeing experience is rather limited, several of my friends were more experienced and I learned how to paddle with my body rather than just my arms. I am still sore despite this, but not nearly as much as expected. It was a great trip and we hope to take this one at least once more before it gets cold.
After a 'portage' where we carried a canoe through the streets of Burlington and Winooski, we 'put in' at the Winooski River just downstream from the waterfall and dam. The trip down the river was about 10 winding miles; the flow in this part of the river is quite slow so we mostly made progress by paddling rather than by the current. Once we arrived at the lake we paddled south for about three miles. The water was actually rather rough on the lake with swells of at least 1 foot and a bit of a headwind to paddle into. It was never dangerous but it made the ride more interesting. Eventually we landed at a beach north of Burlington, where we went for a swim and some of us took a nap in the sun.
Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera, because I didn't want it to get wet. However, we did get to see the following things:
-an osprey carrying a fish (or something it killed but they mostly eat fish)
-Other birds seen: green and great blue herons, snowy egret, kingfisher, turkey vultures, red tailed hawks (which look totally different here).
-a pileated woodpecker (heard but not seen)
-raccoon and skunk tracks (and smelled a skunk).
-mature floodplain forest with silver maples
-invasive plants
-goldenrod and jewelweed
-interesting species of wild cucumber, morning glory, and cocklebur that look somewhat similar to the species seen in California
-Mussel shells (possibly just invasive zebra mussles
-A great view of the Adirondacks
-watching the tiny canoe informally named 'The Tate Crate' brave fairly large swells and not capsize.
Things are going to get more busy now but I still hope to go canoeing one or two times before it gets too cold. Then, it will snow, and I'll try cross country skiing and snowboarding.
After a 'portage' where we carried a canoe through the streets of Burlington and Winooski, we 'put in' at the Winooski River just downstream from the waterfall and dam. The trip down the river was about 10 winding miles; the flow in this part of the river is quite slow so we mostly made progress by paddling rather than by the current. Once we arrived at the lake we paddled south for about three miles. The water was actually rather rough on the lake with swells of at least 1 foot and a bit of a headwind to paddle into. It was never dangerous but it made the ride more interesting. Eventually we landed at a beach north of Burlington, where we went for a swim and some of us took a nap in the sun.
Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera, because I didn't want it to get wet. However, we did get to see the following things:
-an osprey carrying a fish (or something it killed but they mostly eat fish)
-Other birds seen: green and great blue herons, snowy egret, kingfisher, turkey vultures, red tailed hawks (which look totally different here).
-a pileated woodpecker (heard but not seen)
-raccoon and skunk tracks (and smelled a skunk).
-mature floodplain forest with silver maples
-invasive plants
-goldenrod and jewelweed
-interesting species of wild cucumber, morning glory, and cocklebur that look somewhat similar to the species seen in California
-Mussel shells (possibly just invasive zebra mussles
-A great view of the Adirondacks
-watching the tiny canoe informally named 'The Tate Crate' brave fairly large swells and not capsize.
Things are going to get more busy now but I still hope to go canoeing one or two times before it gets too cold. Then, it will snow, and I'll try cross country skiing and snowboarding.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
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