Marsh Llama and the Importance of Interpretation

I put this picture in my last post, but it's worth viewing again, because the Marsh Llama is having a huge impact on my happiness right now.  View the awesomeness of Marsh Llama:

Now doesn't that image just make you happy?  

It certainly brings joy to my heart.  I posted it on Facebook yesterday and got some pretty good feedback, I think knowing about the existence of Marsh Llama should make everyone's heart happy.  

I've been ruminating over the power of interpretation all week.  Sunday I was listening to NPR, one of my favorite weekend activities, when a show came on that was all about the importance of "I Love Lucy."  Normally I might switch stations, because I have no strong feelings about "I Love Lucy", but my friend Karina absolutely loves the show, and had mentioned it that week as something that serves as her "reset button," so I continued to listen.  The thing that struck me about the radio show (which you can find here), is that the people they interviewed had so many different interpretations of "I Love Lucy."  One woman thought Lucy was the first feminist on TV and that everything she did was a feminist statement because she hit the very low "glass ceiling" every show.  The next interviewee thought Lucy represented the same thing we see on reality TV today, someone who wants to famous just to be famous.  There were people who were happy to see a Cuban on TV, people who used Ricky and Lucy's relationship as a template, others who thought it was abusive, and people who enjoyed friendships in the show.  It was really interesting to listen to, especially because it pointed out the way we all notice different facets of the same object.  

And how that is affecting me now.  I decided on Monday that I would have a bad week. Some of you may know that I am not an optimist; in fact, when people say "Look at the bright side," I always think about how much I need sunglasses.  Unfortunately, I think declaring my week to be "terrible" before I'd even cleared Monday probably turned that into a self-fulfilling prophecy.  By Wednesday morning I was in a bathroom stall on campus drying my tears and reminding myself that I can be in charge of my emotions.  Then I had CAR PROBLEMS.  Car problems always turn me into a puddle of bitter tears and make me feel as though I don't have control of anything, especially my emotions.  As I sat weeping over Phyllis the Forester, I realized that things could get worse and it was time for me to reinterpret my week.  So here's my revisionist history of the awesome things from just this week:

• Marsh Llama exists
• Brent is awesome, he offered to help out my car and gave me a hug when I was sad
• Karina is awesome, she went climbing with me and totally rocked it!
• I got better at my project climb at the gym, practice does help.  
• Peanut butter brownies 
• My family loves me and I love them
• I can finish a hard Sudoku puzzle on my tablet in less that 6 minutes.  
• I have deadlines for two writing projects, so there's an end in sight.  
• Yogurt.  
• This happened:

 

and hopefully there will be another vacation in store for me soon

• Finally, I've started blogging again, and hopefully will continue to use it as a way to boost my mood, share adventures, and generally feel better about the world.  

Writer's Block

Here I will attempt to break my writer's block by reminiscing about field adventures.  Currently, there is a bit of snow on the ground and temperatures dip well below freezing.  This means that plants are no longer doing their thing, so there's no good reason for me to be out looking at them.  Really, my annual schedule is pretty ideal, I spend the sunny months out at my field sites and the cold months inside writing about my research.  But it's hard to have that perspective right now, because I'm very bored with what I'm writing.  And a little dejected.  I spent gobs of time writing up a manuscript I presented last week, and I got some really good feedback, but the general consensus I took from it was that the paper made readers feel "brain-dead" (that word was literally written on two reviews).  Fortunately, the comments were presented in a constructive way; unfortunately, I'm a cranky-pants and focusing on the down-side of things right now.

So here are some pretty pictures from the awesome wetlands I get to study:

This is Bidens cernua, commonly called nodding beggartick.  It grows very tall, very fast, late in the season. Making field sites I visited early in the season look completely different.  It also has fun shaped seeds that cling tenaciously to clothing

Storm coming in over cattail.  

So, maybe not pretty, but I also have cool garbage at my field sites

View of Antelope Island from one of my field sites

Curious little ponds near a field site.  

Garden snake and pickleweed.  

Pickleweed turns some beautiful colors; it is my favorite fall foliage to view.  

Also, not pretty, but days that like made me feel like I was really living the good life.  

I think cows are frightening, often they just turn around and stare at my car, making me feel inadequately scary.  

Allenrolfea occidentalis, quite possibly my second favorite wetland plant

Marsh Llama.  Seriously.  Awesome.  

Beautiful pond and island of Schoenoplectus maritimus.  

Dragonfly that seemed awfully fond of my shirt.  It was nice that it matched my shirt.  

Swallows on a dead Tamarisk tree.  

Garden spider.  Despite several confirmations that this spider is harmless, I am still frightened.  And intrigued.  

Schoenoplectus maritimus is good bird food.  

So there you have it.  Wetlands are awesome.  Now I will go finish a proposal, in order to fund the super great research I am doing at these places.