The Marsh Giveth and the Marsh Taketh Away

  The wise words I chose to title this blog with are not my own, they belong to my friend Eric, who has used them to console me more times than I care to enumerate.  I study wetlands, and I love it.  I think they’re insanely interesting and ecologically important.  Wetlands are great places to watch for birds, the plants that grow there are the bad-ass, and these systems can improve water quality and prevent floods.  All-in-all, wetlands are super cool.  But wetlands are also very muddy, very wet, and very productive systems.  This means that while they have given me many great experiences, they have also swallowed many things, literally.

In the last year, I spent four months gathering data in the wetlands of Great Salt Lake, I also got to spend a week in the wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay.  There were some amazing times; I've had my mind blown by these ecosystems.  But I’ve also cried a lot, and risked my sanity to gather data. 

Let me list what I have lost to the wetlands in 2012:

• 1 key/remote to a 2009 RAV4: $175

Said remote might have been lost here, in this field of Hordeum jubatum, or anywhere in the mile it takes to get to the field site here. 

• 1 clutch on a 2002 Forester: $1400

It was difficult to capture just how much of my engine and car was covered by pollen.  It was enough for the mechanic who fixed to clutch to remember.  

• 2 soil probes, bent to hell in the summer's heat: $140

• Lost productivity: $390 (conservatively estimated as 1 hour of crying per week at minimum wage)
• Sleep: priceless, 1-2 hrs/night for 90 nights. 

But the marsh has given me many more things, unfortunately, they are less tangible:

• 5 GB of pictures 

• 731 completed data sheets 

• Tan lines 

Note quite tan lines, but beneath the dirt I had some sweet Chaco lines.  

• Understanding of complex ecological processes

These piezometers provided lots of data I hope will improve my understanding of wetland management.  

• Laughs 

I’ve found this especially important in the last week, where I have had to replace the key I lost to the wetlands and get an additional part put on my Forester, in hopes that it will not die again next year.  It all leaves me to wonder, what should I drive next field season?  I know I shouldn’t take my car because it doesn’t have high enough clearance to keep it safe from the bad-ass wetland plants.  But if I take the field vehicle, I will spend the entire time wondering if the key is stowed in a safe place. 

Eh.  I suppose I can wait until March or April to figure that out.  In the meantime, I will be trying to enjoy the snow and Powder Gods have blessed us with.   Here’s to hoping the marshes will be more generous in 2013.  

My Parents Were Right About Everything (OR: My Sister Is Awesome)

The older I get, the more I realize my parents were right about everything.  Since I can’t go back and stop my teenage eyes from rolling, I thought I’d blog about three of the things they were right about.  I’m sure there will be more I learn about in the future. 

1.  Your friends come and go, but your family is forever.  I think this is the most important.  My parents used to say this when my sister, Liz, and I were arguing.  Turns out they were totally right!  I’m still friends with some of the girls I grew up with, but as we've all gone to college and they've gotten married, I've ended up spending a lot more time with my siblings when I go back home, and they’re awesome. When I start getting homesick, it’s usually because I haven’t seen my Lizzy in too long. My sister is my best friend, I love her more than bunnies (and any other metaphor for great love).  

2.    Clean the house so we can relax over the weekend.  Growing up I was terrible at doing chores.  I’m not sure why, I think it’s because I assumed one of my more responsible siblings would take up the slack.  Anyways, I spent a couple days before the semester started last week cleaning up all the corners of my apartment.  While I was working through two weeks of dishes I realized why my parents always tried to get us to clean up the house before Sundays and big holidays, so they could sit back and enjoy what what going on, rather than follow us around cleaning up our messes.  So, I apologize for being such a slacker.  I keep my apartment cleaner than I kept my bedroom growing up. 

I couldn't find pictures of a messy house, so I've put in pictures of me and my more responsible sibling, Liz (our 'Nother Mother).  

33.  Remember who you are and what you stand for.  I think my dad told me this before every date I went on.  At the time I thought it meant to not do anything on my date I wouldn’t tell my parents about.  Since I moved out I realized that it means to be aware of the way the things I do and say reflect on who I am.  And who I am is directly influenced by my family and what they taught me to value. 

My grandparents and I at my baptism

Most of my family, we've added Stephanie and Coby since then.  

There's a strong female presence in my family

 

There are some other things my parents have tried to tell me that I’m sure whether they’re right about yet.  For example, the importance of communication (they would suggest it’s less important than others), food touching (I say, mix it up), and how often the dog needs to be fed (I think 3x per morning is excessive) are all up for debate.  But they said some pretty great things.  

Things That Are Ruining the Internet

I usually try and post something thoughtful, something story-telling, and something frivolous.  But I can’t think of the frivolous thing right now.  I've been resisting the urge to list my pet peeves, because that’s giving way too much energy to my pet peeves, which are better ignored than indulged.  So I’ll just say this:

I hate sports and work-out motivation.  Dumb quotes posted over images of sweating people.  Usually something like this:

Hate it!  However, it must motivate someone.  In the end, I just don’t like being told what to do, I suppose.  I don’t like to be yelled at to go faster and do more repetitions.  In fact, I don’t like repetition.  I like to run for long distances at a 10-minute mile pace.  That’s it.  I like when people bring posters to marathons, the most motivational one I've ever seen said “You Can Do Hard Things.”  Eh.  I suppose it might all just come down to my love of running slowly and my distaste for lifting weights.  I shouldn't spend too much time hating on it, right?  I've almost come to terms with the fact that my witty blog about pet peeves probably wouldn't be that funny.  But every time I find myself in a bad mood, I want to rant....  

12 for 2012

It's my list of the highest points in 2012!  In no particular order.

1.  Ancient Art, Fisher Towers (a literal high point).  When we got up there I couldn't do anything but smile and talk about how awesome it was that we got the opportunity to be up there.  

Other notable summits include Three Gossips, Moonlight Buttress, Middle Bell Tower.  

2.  Miles 25 and 26 of the Top of Utah Marathon.  I felt great, I knew my mom was waiting for me, and I was able to run with a smile.  It was almost enough to forget miles 13 - 24.

3.  Marsh Llama.  I saw this guy on the last day of my field work, while I was toodling around waiting for Brent to get back from Houston.  Altogether, a sublime moment.

4.  Trad climbing leads.  I was trying something new, and it was lots of fun.  And I got to do it all with my favorite climbing friends.  

5.  Chilling in the hammock.   No where to go, just relaxing.  What a great place to be.  Especially great in the desert.

6.  I got a new bike that helps me get up and down hills faster.  I can keep up with my friends too.  

7.   Maryland + Scallops.  I got to spend a week doing field work with one of my friends in a completely new area.  Estuarine wetlands are pretty rad, but I think discovering how delicious scallops are overshadowed everything else.

8.  Spicy Thai peppers.  I had a lot of fun with my garden, but by September it was producing more zucchini than anything else.  Then my peppers finally came in, and they were spicy and delicious.  Totally worth the trouble.

9.  Skiing.  I bought a ski pass this year and rediscovered how great it is to ski, especially by myself on fresh snow.

10.  Kayaking in for my field work.  There's just something great about being on the water, I can take my time, I don't get stuck in the mud.  I just love it.

11.  Turned in a manuscript for review from my thesis research.  It's been a long time coming, but the process of writing it all up has gotten me excited about that research again.  And now it will stop haunting my to-do lists and free weekends.

12.  Digging soil pits.  It's science, which I like.  And it's muddy, which I love.  Muddy, stinky, and fascinating.  I love wetland soils!

Best Escalade Ever

I've probably mentioned this before, but Brent is a really good gifter, even when giving cash.

Can you tell he wanted to get me a rack for the top of my car?

Brent is also pretty good holiday company, we spent last night eating and watching old episodes of the Simpon's.  It was exactly how I like to spend New Year's Eve.

2013 Could Be a Transformative Year

I'm one of those New Year's Resolutions people.  It feels a little arbitrary to resolve things just once a year, in the middle of the winter when I don't ever get much done.  But when else would I do it?  This year I've been especially reflective, and my yoga magazine has facilitated this a great deal.  In the last week I've read articles on karma, recapitulation, and fear that have all resonated a great deal with the way I'd like to see myself (I highly recommend perusing those articles if you've got some free moments).  The word that stuck out to me most in these articles was "transformation".  The article about karma suggested that the reader note their major skills and major challenges then consider how both positive and negative aspects of life have interwoven to create change and transformation.  So I did that.

Currently, I consider my top three abilities (or good karmas) to be writing, running, and climbing; my top three challenges (or negative karmas) are publishing in peer-reviewed journals, asking for help, and the fear of falling. It's easy to see how most of those are linked together.  The rest of the article talked about how to change your karma by changing your actions, action being the key word here (in fact, action is one way karma is translated).  This particular quote summed it up well.

"Your past actions may create some obstacles for you, but your present actions can help you overcome them.  So according to the teachings of karma, every moment is both the result of your past and a seed of the future."

In the last two weeks I've been thinking of ways to change my habits (both thoughts and actions), in order to see positive transformation in my life.  Specifically, I want to be less fearful, because that seems to be my biggest obstacle.  The article on fear discussed being in the 'trance of fear' where you can't see anything but what you're afraid of, you can't enjoy the moment you're in or remember the love that is around you.  This is exactly what it's like when I get scared lead climbing, I only see the worst case scenario, I can't remember that climbing is fun and that  I have a belayer on the other end of the rope who loves me and will catch me when I fall.  It's similar when I think about asking someone for help, I can only imagine them saying 'no.'  The article suggested cultivating an 'unconditional presence' where one "faces fears with courage and kindness" which will eventually lead to "the freedom to live and love fully."  Granted, there's some fluffy language in there, but the idea of living fully is one that resonated a lot with me.

In order to overcome these bad karmas, I made a list of resolutions for the year.  Before doing that though, I went through the process of recapitulation, where I listed all of my successes and regrets from the last year, then I tore them up and threw them away.  It was kind of a heavy process, it was really easy to come up with regrets, but harder to come up with an equal number of accomplishments.  This surprised me, because I like to consider myself an un-regretful person. What it really came down to, in the end, was that the regrets I had produced stronger feelings than the successes, and I could trace all my regrets to two things: fear  and missed opportunities.  But one important step in recapitulation is facing your negative moments and then moving on.  And I felt better seeing that there are ways I could make next year better, especially by embracing my successes, which involved going new places (higher heights, longer runs, bigger hills), working really hard, and cultivating important relationships.

With all this in mind, here are my resolutions for the coming year:

1. Become a more competent lead climber: try a 5.12 sport route and a 5.10 trad route.  Lead at least one pitch of a difficult desert tower.  
2. Run faster: complete a half-marathon in less than two hours and a full marathon in under four hours.  
3. More substantive reading and writing: less Facebook, more blogging, much much more leisure reading (at least six books).  
4. Publish: submit two manuscripts for review, one from my Master's research and one from my PhD research.