Shadow Chair

Photo: shadow chair sculpture

One of my favorite new things at my office lobby is the shadow chair.  One day, they put this mangled mess wires on the wall.  It looked ugly.  The next day they put a light above the mangled wires, and VOILA! a SHADOW CHAIR!  Fascinating, right?  How do those wires know to produce a shadow chair?

Energy Bars Made out of Crickets

 

Chapul Cricket Bars: Chaco and Thai

Photo by J. Wohletz

Recently, the quote of the day on Mountain West News made me laugh.  

Quote of the Day

"It's About Time." 

- Florence Vaccarello Dunkel, associate professor of entomology at Montana State University, about a Utah company that is marketing an energy bar made with ground up crickets. Salt Lake Tribune, March 5, 2013.

This sounded bizarre, so I clicked on the link and found out it is true.  A Utah based company is selling energy bars made out of crickets!  I don't think I'll be trying these soon. 

Pr. Dunkel also added that "The insects are like mushrooms — they take on the taste of what you put with them." She calls insects "land shrimp," since they’re genetically cousins to ocean shrimp.

Link to story.

Lincoln's Failures

We know Lincoln as one of America's greatest Presidents, but I read an excerpt today that summarized his failures.  It surprised and inspired me.  

"For all his legendary success and greatness as a president, Lincoln lost all the time.  Lincoln failed in business.  He failed as a farmer.  He lost running for state legislature.  He had a nervous breakdown.  He was rejected for a job as a land officer.  When he was finally elected to the legislature, he lost the vote to be speaker.  He ran for Congress and lost. He ran for and lost a U.S. Senate seat.  He ran for vice president and lost.  He ran for the Senate and lost again.  And, when he was finally elected president, the nation he was elected to lead broke apart."  

- p. 98, Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrazzi 

Everything does not usually work out the way we want it to.  Lincoln's story is a great example to keep looking forward and pursuing achievements for the good of others.

Bill and Ted's Executive Adventure

Photo via Black Hills Facebook Page

Enjoying that the Washington Nationals baseball team's 4th inning racing team, aka Presidents Lincoln, Taft, T. Roosevelt, Jefferson and Washington, visited Mount Rushmore last week.  Actually, Taft and Teddy raced (Bill and Ted), and of course, Teddy won.  Taft looks way too skinny here.  The other mascots flew in via helicopter.   I am mainly just enjoying this photo. 

For more, see: http://dcist.com/2013/02/nationals_mascots_visit_mount_rushm.php

and: http://blog.letteddywin.com/presidents-race-facts/ 

President Nominates REI CEO for Interior Secretary

Photo: Sally Jewell climbing her career ladder at REI Seattle (I think I saw this type of caption in one of last week's papers :).  Photo by Scott Cohen/AP

Last week the President nominated REI CEO Sally Jewell to be Secretary of the Interior.  A surprise pick, but one I had hoped for.  Last summer I went on a tour with Sally where she talked about conservation strategies in central Washington, and I am glad she will now oversee conservation for the United States, if confirmed.

Photo: Sally Jewell climbing Mount Rainier.  Photo by Janet Jensen, The News Tribune

When President Obama announced her nomination, he said she'll probably be the first Secretary of the Interior who frequently hikes Mailbox Peak in Washington State and who spent a month climbing mountains in Antarctica, "which is just not something I'd think of doing, because it seems like it'd be cold, and I was born in Hawaii." Ha.

One of my favorite writers, Timothy Egan (The Worst Hard Time, The Big Burn) wrote a great profile of Sally Jewell for NYT last week.  You can read it here: "A Secretary to Match the Setting": http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/a-secretary-to-match-the-setting/

Autocomplete: The United States Is...

FlipCollective has a map that shows the results of typing in a state + "is" for Google's auto-complete function. 

For instance, top results are "Virginia is for lovers," "Maryland is for crabs," and Delaware is awesome." Ha.  Check out your state! 

http://www.flipcollective.com/2013/02/04/the-united-states-is-how-autocomplete-describes-the-50-states-by-matt-shirley/

Map by FlipCollective and story via DCist.com.

Austrian Embassy

Friday night concert at the Austrian Embassy.  That guy rocked the violincello.

Inauguration 2013

One of the wonderful things about living in the D.C. area is attending historic events, like the Presidential Inauguration.  Incredible to see people from all over the country gather outside during the cold of January to celebrate.

 
My mother-in-law and I had tickets this year, up near the Capitol lawn, thanks to the North Dakota Senator having an extra few tickets for us.   When she struck up a conversation with the woman next to us, they found out they both graduated from the SAME COLLEGE in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the SAME YEAR!  Augustana College 1968!

"That's What's Up" Video

"I'll be the sun, you be the shining
You be the clock, I'll be the timing" - That's What's Up

Watching these little kids manage work-life balance in this video reminded me to find time to have fun and prioritize relationships. 

Thanks Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes for this That's What Up video to your catchy song.

2012 Year in Review

Photo: stairs to Snoqualmie Falls, Washington

2012 seems hard to summarize, maybe that's why it's taken me until the end of January 2013 to try.  The year involved healthy doses of the things I love the most: family, friends, and experiencing the outdoors, often all at once.  Tough to pick the highlights, but I'll try a few:

MORE LITTLE PEOPLE


New Niece - Jane!

New Nephew - Noah


New Hayes twins!  Eloise and Ainsley


New Trotter - Jack
  
MORE FLOATING
















White-water rafting Class 3-4-5 at New River, West Virginia

Brandywine River Canoe Trip, Branywine Valley of Pennsylvania and Delaware

Two days of sea-kayaking trails and camping on a platform at Jane Island State Park, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland


Jet-boat tour through the canyon at South Fork Snake River, in southeastern Idaho.  One of the nation's best trout fishing rivers, thanks to 20+ years of conservation work protecting the land along the river.

MORE MOUNTAIN BIKING

Overlook in Cle Elum, Washington.  Biking with the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance during the Western Governors Meeting


Obstacle park in Park City, Utah




Keystone Mountain Trails, Colorado


MORE CONGRESS

Always fascinating to meet Senators in person (and to try to figure out what to say!) I spent more time meeting with the Wyoming Senators, Montana Senators, and other Senators, and took my parents-in-law to a breakfast with Senator Al Franken for Minnesota constituents.


Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) always has the most animal decorations!


MORE CACTI

 

Photo: Bear Canyon Trail to Seven Falls, Sonoran Desert, Arizona.  Took a few trips to Arizona this year - visiting Tucson, Oro Valley, Saguaro National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Sedona, and Phoenix.  Can't wait to return in 2013. 

MORE TEDDY


Still obsessed with Theodore Roosevelt.  Read Colonel Roosevelt, the third book in the Edmund Morris series, spent a lot of time running around the Potomac's Roosevelt Island, and kept learning more about the man who in many ways provided the foundation for the American conservation movement.

MORE MARRIAGE



One year anniversary with Tom.  We celebrated with a backpacking trip in the Wilderness in Shenandoah National Park

MORE OF THE WEST

Family trip to Lake Dillon and Keystone, Colorado.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

 
Pagosa Springs, Colorado, for The Conservation Fund board meeting
 
MORE BOOKS


Felt like I did a better job reading this year.  Some favorites include: Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard (about tragic death of Pres. Garfield; riveting book!); Lasso the Wind, Away to the New West, by Timothy Egan (essays and observations on Western towns); Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Sempel (fun story that pokes fun at Seattle elite), End of Men by Hannah Rosen (informative on some recent demographic transitions), Maphead by Ken Jennings (fun chapters and info on anyone who loves maps.)

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS



Meeting Sally Jewel, President of REI, and hearing about how much she cares about conservation.  I've heard she's on the short list of possible candidates for the next Secretary of the Interior.

Not sure if seeing massive fires up close in Idaho were a highlight, but definitely memorable!

Climbed a 14'nr!  Gray's Peak, Colorado

This unexpected picture happened.  My mother-in-law and I were touring various embassies in D.C., but stopped in between at a mosque with an open house, where they gave us head covers in order to experience the mosque. 


Standing outside the Supreme Court when they announced the decision to the Affordable Health Care Act.  

Fish-farming in West Virginia

Today I visited The Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where we grow fish.   Our first stop was the "fish eyeball" trays - the eyes of baby Atlantic salmon, 28 days old (photo above).

They asked us to guess how many fish eyes were in this tray, about the size of a desk-top inbox for papers.  I guessed 300, but the answer was 3,000.  3,000 baby Atlantic salmon. 

 Next, we visited the medium sized-fish.

Finally, we saw the full-grown fish. 

The Freshwater Institute is a premier national institute for research on sustainable water use and reuse.  As part of their work to enhance the sustainability of the modern fish farming industry, the Freshwater Institute raises Atlantic salmon to market size in indoor freshwater tanks with currents.

I learned that the male salmon are mean and take bites out of the female salmon.   I also learned that wild salmon gain their orange color from eating krill, and since these salmon are tank raised, they are not orange, but they feed them pellets that help them turn orange, or else people are scared to eat non-orange salmon.  The process is safe, and the Freshwater Institute's methods for all of fish-growing does not use chemicals or other non-safe products. 

I learned that we eat female salmon, because the male salmon mature too quickly, and then the meat is too soft to eat (people don't want to eat it). 

Fish-farming is an interesting line of work and science that I am learning more about, and interesting in its role in the corporate fish business, as well as a strategy for dealing with food security. 

For more on the Freshwater Institute - see this link.  Who knew about all of these Atlantic salmon growing in West Virginia!! They also grow Rainbow trout, Arctic char, and other fish, too.