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| visiting Chicago in the snow in December |
Hi there!
Well, it's been many months since I've blogged. I thought I would quit the blog for good but... after scanning through my Euro posts I decided to use the blog, for now, more as a photo diary about what I've been up to since. Possibly not as amazing as galavanting around Italy but, still some good stuff.
A couple weeks ago I relocated to Ashland, Oregon, where I'll be spending the summer doing plant survey stuff (back to my prior career as a field biologist) at Oregon Caves National Monument and Crater Lake National Park. So far, so good! Ashland is a sweet spot just north of California, full of hippies, outdoor opportunities & charm. It is home of the famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival and I hope to take in an outdoor play at some point soon. I've moved into an awesome place with some fantastic roomies, a nice garden & outdoor shower, within close walking distance to downtown & a great food co-op. I couldn't ask for much more! I spent the last week camping out near Cave Junction OR, hiking around in the forests of Oregon Caves National Monument, a small park and hidden gem of southern Oregon. I'll be there again next week & have high hopes of tracking & sighting the elusive sasquatch!
Although I haven't done a field botany job in about 8 (?) years my skills seem to be coming back pretty quick. Hiking around, taking data on plants & trees, establishing plots, identifying plants, remembering scientific names... all of these simple skills & more.
Here is a map for reference of my new zone. In the past I have lived in Grants Pass and a couple of smaller southern OR towns when I worked for a summer surveying for Marbled Murrelet habitat. This new work is somewhat similar, I feel like I've gone back ten years in time. Not that I am fulfilling any great career aspirations, more like I've gone in a circle but, these days jobs are hard to come by & I feel lucky & happy to have found something that will be interesting & fun!
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| outside the field museum in Chicago with my bestie, Elysia, her boyfriend, sister & hubano |
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| field museum |
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| Chicago cityscape |
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| nighttime in the city. Note: all of these photos on this blog entry were taken with my iphone, a pretty decent camera! probably almost as good to better than my point & shoot! |
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| hotel mirror with Elysia & Jimmy |
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| we visited the Chicago Institute of Art where I was, of course, drawn to the Roman area & marble sculptures... trying to conjure Italy I suppose. |
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| the tower formerly known as the Sears Tower |
I took a brief trip up to Madison, Wisconsin, scene of my undergraduate exploits for the memorial service of a college friend. It was a bittersweet visit, nice to see some old friends but, sad to say goodbye to one gone way too soon.
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| good old Bascom Hill, how many times did I trudge up and down this thing? |
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| and State Street, so much time spent here during 4 years that shaped my life. :) |
I spent about 4 months upon return from Italy in Springfield, Illinois staying with my dad. In retrospect, it wasn't my best life decision to think that I'd be happy in central Illinois staying with family at the age of 35 after just having epic adventure in Europe but, it seemed like my option at the time. The best part of this was spending a lot of time with my dear dad, more than I have since I was... in high school. I am so thankful that I was able to build a friendship with my dad, something I definitely would have missed out on if I hadn't spent that time in Springfield. During those months I taught yoga at a few places and worked a retail job, which was humbling indeed.
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| old state capitol of Illinois |
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| Dad's yard after a massive snowstorm |
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| went to visit dad @ work on his birthday! miss you, Dad! |
Springfield's big claim to fame is that it's where Abe Lincoln spent most of his life. There is this whole old timey Lincoln zone complete with preserved houses, wooden sidewalks and other cool stuff. Many people come to Springfield to see this site as well as a nice Lincoln museum.
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| P's leg is on the mend from a mega hiking incident |
Another highlight of my winter was hanging out with my friends Penny, Mark & Katie in Chicago. Nothing like seeing old pals to lift one's spirits. Seems like all my friends these days have popped out small children so I have been meeting all these little ones.
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| i had another visit to the Chicago Art Institute, can't get enough, carrying Mr. Quinlan around, taking in the Impressionist period. |
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| spring has sprung in Springfield! here is the new state capitol. |
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| really pretty inside, nice dome! the capitol was bustling on this day as the senate was voting on a bill to legalize medical marijuana. it passed! |
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| spring magnolias |
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| couldn't resist these cute Tom's :) |
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| bronze of a young Abe Lincoln |
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| and this is where I spent a lot of my Illinois downtime. at the gym, teaching yoga, swimming & getting my fitness on! |
In April, I decided to depart Springfield & make my way back out west. I spent a few days in Minnesota visiting my fam, friends & cat. It was awesome to see everyone again!
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| Jasmin & I @ the Minneapolis sculpture garden |
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| MPLS basilica |
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| I also went into the St. Paul Cathedral & I believe these photos are in there. |
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| really liked this door & this lighting |
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| Minnesota State Capitol. |
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| viewing the might Mississippi |
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| the old stone bridge |
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| hanging out in Uptown, walking around Lake Calhoun |
And then, I solo road tripped it out west. Fairly uneventful except for this freak snowstorm in... where was I? Possibly Nebraska.
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| stressful |
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| Salt flats of Utah |
After a few days, I arrived back in my beloved Berkeley, California. How do I love thee... On the trip out I had a job interview for this Oregon job so at this point I was wondering where I would end up. I had planned on finding work/home in Berkeley or San Francisco.
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| the tasty loquats, or nespole, reminding me of Italy. |
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| ventured up to Bolinas to hang out with my pal Kelly, her new baby Oisin & her Irish manfriend. |
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| hiking @ Pt. Reyes |
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| visiting the De Young Art Museum |
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| visiting my buddy JP in the city & meeting her sweet girl, Sapphi. |
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| Kel, Ruadrhi & Oisin on the Berkeley campus |
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| one of my favorite spots, the Berkeley Rose Garden! |
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| family photo |
And that's that for now. If anyone reads this, I hope you enjoyed! If not, I am happy to have recorded my memories. More to come as I've been traveling all around & doing lots of amazing things!
:)
xo
