Monster Truck Show

Monster Truck show. Feb. 2012

I was rooting for the "Monster Mutt" truck, but I don't have my own photo from the event. Photo courtesy of offroaders.com

My 1st Duck-Shaped Award

This week I received my first DUCK-SHAPED award, a very exciting event. The award is for my company's partnership with many groups to protect wildlife on the South Fork Snake River Area of Critical Environmental Concern in southeast Idaho near Idaho Falls.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages the area and has been a true leader in protecting this amazing section of river over the last two decades.

More than 300,000 people visit the South Fork each year to enjoy world-class fishing and floating, abundant wildlife and one of the most scenic rivers in the West, supporting 350 jobs and generating $12 million in income per year. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study of Idaho’s ecosystems rated this area as the most valuable, biologically diverse and unique ecosystems in the state.

I rafted the South Fork in 2009 and they had to pull me out of the boat; I did not want to leave. It was a beautiful, adventurous and serene day-float. I hope to go back and take Tom.

I'll let the photos speak from here...

Exploring the Colorado River

When I read a biography, it often feels like I am spending time with that person. This last month my husband would ask me what I was doing and I would say, "I am hanging out with John Wesley Powell."

I've been reading A River Running West: The Life of John Wesley Powell, and learning the amazing story of this one-armed Civil War veteran who was the first American to navigate and explore the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and beyond.

Photo: J.K. Hillers, Powell expedition starting out in southwest Wyoming on the Green River.

In southern Utah and northern Arizona, the U.S. map still said "UNKNOWN" until Powell's journey in 1869.

The author writes a comparison with Lewis and Clark:

"Powell's journey down the legendary river of the West was one of the greatest events in the history of American exploration. Only the travels of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark compare in significance or drama." Lewis and Clark wrote extraordinary journals with vivid descriptions, but they each had two good hands to write with. They had as an audience a highly literate President Jefferson who imagined their journey and gave them everything they needed.

"Powell, in contrast, raised his own funds and recruited his own party, with no one else to depend on."
Photo: J.K. Hillers. Powell's boat moored on a bank of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, 1871 or 1872. Powell rowed from a wooden chair tied on top of the boat.

Powell was from the Midwest, became a western explorer and then lived in D.C. for the last 20+ years of his life. I cannot compare myself too much to him, since I did not raft the Colorado River with one arm and/or start the U.S. Geological Service, but it was interesting to read the biography of a man who journeyed from the Midwest to the West to D.C., like me. And in terms of policy wonkness - I enjoyed reading about all of his endeavors to lobby Congress on western issues, which is my line of work.

As a side note, the book also covers how Powell's parents helped start Wheaton College in Illinois and a lot of history about the Mormon pioneers in Utah, two other aspects which were fascinating to learn about.

Photo: The Colorado River from the book Chasing Water, by Pete McBride

As I was reading about Powell, I attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival's tour in D.C., which included a fascinating film about the Colorado River in the lineup called Chasing Water. The film flies over a lot of the Colorado River, and it was a good way to watch and think about Powell's journey.

I learned that the Colorado River no longer reaches the ocean. The water is diverted for other uses such as southern California farming and runs out before the end. Very sad.

Photo: Colorado River delta, now dry. Photo by Peter McBride.

The Chasing Water movie trailer is a good overview, see below, and a 12 minute version is on Patagonia's website.

Horseback Riding in Southern Arizona

Tucson Panaramas

Bison Witches

Bison Witches Restaurant, 4th Ave, Tucson, Arizona. Try saying the name fast. ("Buy Sandwiches!")

Hike the AT in Four Minutes

This month I have spent a lot of time with groups that represent the National Trails System, including the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

Appalachian Mountain Club recently released this video, which allows the viewer to experience hiking the AT.

Green Tunnel from Kevin Gallagher on Vimeo.

"In 2005, Kevin Gallagher thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Each day he took 24 pictures of 24 successive steps along an exemplary stretch of trail. In 2011, Gallagher released "The Green Tunnel," a time-lapse compilation of these images that compresses the thru-hiking experience into a short, fascinating four-minute video."

Philadelphia

Photo: Obligatory image Benjamin Franklin, since this is a post about Philadelphia.

Today I FINALLY made it to Philadelphia. I think it's the only large city in America I have not visited, yet, so I wanted to check it off my list and see the historic sites.

I had a great day touring around with a friend. Our first stop was the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where Senators Casey and Toomey of Pennsylvania were hosting a Martin Luther King, Jr. ceremony with other local leaders. Leave it to me to take a break from DC and run into a couple of Senators.


The main reason I am blogging about Philly is that I wanted to share this Pumpple Cake I saw. If you look closely, you'll see on top it's an apple pie baked into a vanilla cake and the bottom layer is a pumpkin pie baked into a chocolate cake. Wow! You can find this at the Reading Terminal Market.

I did not eat a piece of Pumpple Cake, but I did have a Philly cheesesteak.

We also visited the giant Philadelphia Museum of Art. I am trying to avoid using the phrase, "the building with the steps from 'Rocky'," but I cannot help it.

I saw van Gogh's Sunflowers and lots of other amazing art. Glad to visit Philly.

Mr. T My Little Pony

Someone created a "Mr. T" My Little Pony. Thanks, CNN, for pointing this out. I guess.

There's also a "Tin Man" My Little Pony and many others. See this website for more.

Storm-Trooper-My-Little-Pony

Maphead

While reading Ken Jennings' new book Maphead, I spent time thinking, "Am I a maphead?"

When I considered that I spent weeks in anticipation for a book called Maphead to come out, grabbed it from the library and read it as soon as possible, and often describe my job as, "I love my job. I get to look at maps most of the day!"...I realized that yes, I can safely say I am a maphead.

Even if you do not self-identify as map-head, if you like traveling or geography, Ken Jennings' book is a terrific read. If you have not heard of Ken Jennings, he is a super-cool nerd known for holding the longest winning streak on Jeopardy. 74 wins in a row!

The book is speckled with fun geography facts, like how for a while there was a "Joe, Montana," and that Victoria Island in Canada is the world's largest triple island. What's that? It's an island with a lake that has an island, and that island has a lake with an island.

Photo: Joe, Montana. Town now is back to Ismay, Montana.

Photo: Victoria Island, Canada, world's largest triple island. Blue circle is the second island, red circle is the triple island. Photo from The Backyard Geographer blog.

The website that had the graphic of the largest triple island also had a photo of a sweater within a sweater. Amazing-ness.

The book covers the National Geography Bee, the rise of GPS technology, the trend of geocatching, hunts through the Library of Congress' map room and much more. He tells many catchy, compelling, personal stories. An enjoyable read.



Video: In the book, Ken talks about Lilly Gaskin, 2 year old map master. She can identify over 100 countries.

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.

---

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.