2011 Year in Review

Photo: View from Vivenda Miranda, our honeymoon resort in Lagos, Portugal

This year was the year of the perfect wedding, seeing more west coasts (Oregon, California, Portugal), throwing out my TV, visiting Kansas City five times, meeting with 12 Members of Congress, and it all seeming like a blur because I'm traveling in this giant orb of contentment after a big-event, life-changing year.


Below I have listed some highlights, which doesn't include many wonderful moments. Would be too hard to choose a "favorites" list from the wedding.

Photo: Harley ride with Tom's Dad in New Ulm, Minnesota

FIRSTS (other than the wedding):

• Helicopter ride: over the redwoods in California
• Harley ride: with Tom's Dad in New Ulm, Minnesota
• Grotto boat tour: sailed to above-water ocean caves in Portugal
• Debt ceiling crisis: it was the year of many, many threats of government shutdowns
• Earthquake: August 2011
• Hurricane: Hurricane Irene, same week as the earthquake

Photo: Rogue Wild and Scenic River, near Grants Pass, Oregon

FAVORITES

• River: Rogue Wild & Scenic River, Oregon. Took exciting jetboat tour through canyon
• Park: Jedidiah State Park, California. Dirt roads carving through hills canopied by giant redwoods
• Campout: Bachelorette party campout in Colorado mountains near Fairplay
  
• Drink: The port of Portugal
  
• Book: Cleopatra: A Life. Fascinating life. Woman of incredible power and leadership. At 11 years old, married her younger brother. Had Children with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony.
• Movie: Midnight in Paris
  
• Podcasts: Slate Political Gabfest, Dave Ramsey, NPR Planet Money
• Mundane new thing: not having to label my items in the refrigerator because I no longer have roommates
  
• Person who didn't walk down the aisle for my wedding: Paul Cotter. Tough job for a two-year-old. Paul, someday your aisle walk will come

Photo: button flowers, made out of my great-grandmother's buttons

OTHER

• Reading: Started the year reading a book about Theodore Roosevelt and ended the year with another TR book: Wilderness Warrior and Colonel Roosevelt
• Art: drew a save-the-date card, made hundreds of button flowers, painted a moose, designed tea boxes
• Biking: mountain biked on the Appalachian Trail (they allow this in Damascus, VA), toured Gilchrist State Forest area in southern Oregon via mountain bike (best work day of the year)
  

GOALS FOR 2012: more cooking, camping, crafting.

Photo: mandatory photo of Tom as a boat captain to sum up 2011

Update: Smokey the Bear Keeps His Job

Update: Smokey the Bear will keep his job, after his threatened funding cut this week. Yay!

Dear Photograph

Photo from "Dear Photograph" website.

Caption: "Dear Photograph, I was once as skinny as my clarinet. These days I should be playing a tuba. - Eric"

I am a fan of the "Dear Photograph" site, where people match up old photos with the current surroundings and write a short caption. Check it out at this link.

Photo from "Dear Photograph" website.

Caption: "Dear Photograph, Remember when you had to come home when the street light came on? Where are the good old days when the neighborhood was full of kids outside playing tag, hide ‘n seek and wiffle ball? Those were kick the can fun times! - Linda"

Giant Wreath

Photo: Christmas at Union Station, Washington, D.C.

Smokey Might Lose His Job

"Only Congress Can Prevent Smokey Bear's Death by Budget Cuts"

is the headline for National Wildlife Refuge's (NWF) coverage that Congressional cuts to environmental education may lead to Smokey losing his job. Very sad.

The NWF site states "The U.S. Forest Service’s conservation education programs include efforts to get kids outdoors, healthy and connecting with the natural world. Do we really want to say farewell to Smokey Bear at a time in our nation’s history where kids spend less time outdoors than any generation in human history?"

Link to full story here.

Puffy Sleeves

Photo on Awkward Family Photos blog

I am still reminiscing about my "year of the wedding," and this "Awkward Family Photo" post on its site today made me appreciate that puffy sleeves are not in. I can't believe this dress exists.

R.I.P Google Notebook

What in the world? My Google Notebook just informed me it is ending today. So sad. I keep all of my to-do lists, work plans, cooking ideas, gifts ideas and a zillion other items on here. Planned my wedding with Google Notebook. Don't really want to switch to something else. I guess I will try Evernote. Uggh. Google Notebook was so easy to use, since I am a gmail user. I am not a huge fan of Google Docs.

Moose painting

First snow of the season in D.C.
I stayed inside and painted a moose.
24 x 30"

Word Trend, Actually

I am actually a top culprit in the trend in using "actually" in too many sentences. I am trying to stop. Has anyone else notice this? It is actually everywhere.

Did the usage of "actually" become more prevalent now that so much of our lives are lived virtually? (or interacting with virtual reality?)

Count actually how many times you hear "actually" during the day and you'll start to notice. I am about 50/50 in actually getting myself to stop.

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The other word I am working on ceasing to say or write is "got" (or "get" or "getting," which I used in the sentence before this. I takes effort to re-write that sentence!) I don't know if this is a Midwestern trend, but I have heard using the word "got" is not the best English, so I am trying to stop. It is hard to come up with descriptive verbs on the spot. If someone asks me a question, many answers use the word got.

Q: What did you get at the store?
A: I got milk and bread.
A2: I obtained milk and bread (Is this what I am supposed to say?). I bought milk and bread.

Q: What time did you arrive?
A: I got there at 7:00pm.
A2: I arrived at 7:00pm.

Q: What grade did you receive on your exam?
A: I got an A.
A2: I received an A.

Any other word trends you are noticing?

Skyscraper Forest

Photo: The world's first vertical forest is under construction in Milan, Italy

From Grist.org:

"[Trees] make you smart, improve your home's value, filter pollution, provide shade, and produce oxygen. But even in a city that prioritizes green spaces, surface area is at a premium. How do you provide enough trees while still living densely? Milan, Italy, has a creative answer: a forest in the form of a skyscraper.

The Bosco Verticale takes the same attitude towards green space that highrises take towards living: You can fit more into a smaller footprint if you build up instead of out. It's an apartment building, but each apartment has a balcony with its own little mini-forest. These provide the pollution-filtering benefits of plant life and the energy-saving benefits of shade, but in a small area; Bosco Verticale's architects estimate that if the same amount of vegetation were laid out flat, it would require 10,000 square meters of woodland (plus another 50,000 meters of land for the living spaces). And kitting out the building with personal forests added only 5 percent to construction costs."

Random D.C. Event of the Day - Potato Vote

Potato Showdown! The random D.C. event of the day is that the Senate may vote to ensure that potatoes will not have a limited serving amount in school cafeterias.

In other words, the Department of Agriculture will likely soon impose maximum limits on the frequency of serving vegetables in school lunch programs, i.e. schools will not be able to serve french fries every day and the Senate may vote on an amendment today that will say, 'Agriculture Dept., you can not limit potato numbers for our children!"

Potato people are upset. See this article for an overview. I run into the potato lobbyists sometimes when I am visiting the Idaho Senators' offices. There are lobbyists for everything.

Save the Salmon! Video: Bristol Bay and Pebble Mine

For salmon lovers and Alaska enthusiasts, below is an outstanding video covering the Pebble Mine controversy, a major threat to Bristol Bay, Alaska, one of the best places for fishing in the world. The proposed Pebble Mine would create waste equal to 1,000 pounds for every person on the planet.



Video: The Wilderness Society

While I am thinking about salmon, I remembered that when I interned at Trout Unlimited, we talked about a "Salmon Bill of Rights." Pretty funny, but important.

Crooked Forest

Amazed by Crooked Forest in Poland.

Apple Forever

Photo: Steve Jobs, 1955-2011. 1982 portrait by Diana Walker, National Portrait Gallery.

As a life-long Apple user, I wanted to post a tribute to Steve Jobs, via this amazing 1982 photo. Thanks, Steve, for the Apple IIGS, my first computer, and everything after.

1985 Bears Visit White House

Random DC event of the day. 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl team visits the White House.

Video: Super Bowl shuffle.

You're Welcome, Dinosaurs

Photo: fiberglass dinosaurs outside Petrified Forest National Park


Earlier this month the National Park Service acquired 26,500 acres of new land for Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, a project that's been part of my scope of work.

Twenty-six-thousand-five-hundred-acres is a LOT OF LAND.

Here's the map of the Park before the acquisition. Notice the skinny strip going down the middle.

Here's the Park's ownership after the purchase, with the addition of the large block to the east. The large block to the west is the expanded boundary, but that land remains mainly in private ownership. Visitors probably used to think the view-shed to the east was part of the Park, but it was at threat because it was in private ownership. Owners in the past had attempted to sell some of the artifacts. Now, the land to the east is protected and the National Park Service will be able to survey the land better.

Photo: dinosaur fossils at Rainbow Forest Museum in Petrified Forest National Park

The new land has "long been the envy of archeologists and paleontologists and will increase opportunities for both researchers and visitors to peer back into the Late Triassic period, which preceded the Jurassic period, during which giant dinosaurs thrived." reports the New York Times, one of the many national papers that wrote about the deal. Exciting to see this project receive so much coverage!

Photo: John Muir surveying Petrified Forest National Park, 1905

President Theodore Roosevelt established the Petrified Forest National Park in 1906, after a bit of lobbying from John Muir. Muir is famous for his work in California and Yosemite and starting the Sierra Club, but he also helped create Petrified Forest National Park, too.

More about Petrified Forest National Park at this link.

Who wants to go with me to Arizona to see some more dinosaurs! (fossils)

Photo: Rainbow at Pedestal Log, Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest National Park

Five Boys Three & Under

Photo: Grant Cotter, son of Chris and Cathy Cotter. Best looking man with a blanket award

I'll post a few more wedding photos soon, but I don't think there are many weddings with five nephews ages three and under. Here's the line-up of the babes-in-black.

Photo: Owen Cotter, son of Chris and Cathy Cotter

Photo: Paul Cotter, son of Kevin and Lisa Cotter

Photo: Paul smiles, too


Photo: Alexander Ingebritson, son of Aaron and Yvonne


Photo: Samuel Ingebritson, son of John and Susan. I'll find his suit photo...

What a handsome line-up!

Wedding Week!

Photo: Posted on Awkward Family Photos

It's wedding week! I am in KC and Tom is in Virginia. Hope he can make it to the Midwest after Hurricane Irene hits the East so we don't have to marry via Skype!

Falling and Flying in the Forest

Photo: Helicopter for forest survey

This week I worked in a 24,000 acre northern California redwood forest.

Photo: Garcia River Forest, Mendocino County, California

I helped with "falling a tree," which is different than just "a tree falling." We cut down selected trees - already marked for harvest - to measure their growth rate and other factors.

Photo: Tree cookie and me

Falling a tree includes COOKIE cutting! The forester cuts a small slice out of different sections of the tree - a "cookie" - and we would count the rings to determine the tree's age at that height. By examining a batch of cookies, we could determine how fast the tree grew at different stages. ("Batch of cookies" is my term that I think the foresters should now use.)


By chance, I happened to visit the forest on the day where work included flying in a helicopter to search for certain invasive species.

I had been terrified of the idea of riding in a helicopter, but I could not pass up this chance. I hopped in and spent a few hours gliding above redwoods and weaving between mountains ridges. I pretended that my view was like a video screen - virtual reality rather than reality - and this helped calm my nerves.

Photo: Riding in the helicopter! An exciting and beautiful trip.

To learn more about what's going on at Garcia River Forest, click on this recent NPR story, "Scientists Turn Trees Into Carbon Banks" or San Francisco Chronicle's "Forests Break Ground by Selling Offsets." The second story has cool photos and graphics and explains how forests reduce carbon.

Pony Espresso

West coast tour top 5 shop names:

1. Pony Espresso, Jacksonville, Oregon
2. Consigning Women, Grants Pass, Oregon
3. Krop, Paper, Scissors (scrap booking), Grants Pass, Oregon
4. Shady Lady (window blinds), Eureka, California
5. Fiddles and Cameras, Fort Bragg, California





Photo: Fiddles and Cameras store, Fort Bragg, California. Because, why not.

The Egghead restaurant in Fort Bragg receives an honorable mention for randomly having a Kansas theme. I never thought I would wind up in coastal California dining beside a Wizard of Oz mural with my feet on the yellow brick road and drinking a tornado shaped latte.

Tree-hugging

Photo: Alone in the redwoods on my birthday. Tree-hugging while touring Redwood National and State Parks. Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

Bagpiper Sunset - Oregon

Sunset in Brookings, Oregon. My tranquil, cool-weathered walk after a long afternoon's drive became even more sublime when a bagpiper's tunes accompanied the view. Wonderful stop in between my tour of Oregon and California forests.