Winter Blahs

Okay, I have had enough of winter and ridiculously cold mornings (its 9 am and still -12). Teaching outside in this weather is difficult- kids show up without the right gear and complain endlessly about the cold. Cleaning mews is not a picnic when your hands keep freezing to everything.

My sandals have been taunting me for the past week. I would love to be able to run outside to my car without having to add 100 layers. I want to be able come back inside after a walk and not have my glasses fog up.

At this point I would settle for some nice mild weather, maybe mid 30's or low 40's. Alas, it doesn't look like that will be happening any time soon. Don't get me wrong. I have been enjoying the snow and the activities it brings like cross country skiing and photography. I am just ready for it to be spring.

BIG WIN!!

So tonight Manu, Amanda and I decided to have a fun girls night. This meant an evening at the Grand Casino, Hinckley where there was a swimming pool, free wi-fi and TV! After watching 24 and going for a swim we decided to try our luck on the slots.

I have only gone to a casino once before and was slightly baffled by all of the buttons and choices. This time around, I stuck to the penny slots. I put in $2 and started playing. Turns out there are methods to all the madness - its best to play the most lines. This gives you the best chance of hitting something. I sat town at a machine and played 20 lines. I was excited just to win some bonus spins. Next thing I know I won BIG- $26 BIG!!!

At the end of the night, I decided not to press my luck and walked away with a giant smile on my face :)

Banning by Snowshoe

Today at work I got the chance to go play in the woods - literally. Shayna, Clarissa and most of the interns went on a snowshoe hike in Banning State Park. For those of us taking Hamline courses, this was considered a class. This meant I did have to pay attention and take some notes while having fun.

Our hike followed the creek beds and was close to 3 miles. The rock around here is sandstone which is a rather soft rock - this makers for some interesting rock formations and views as it weathers. Along the way we saw some animal signs like coyote tracks and scat, bits of deer remains, mouse homes and some woodpeckers. We also came across some amazing views and frozen waterfalls (as you can see behind us in the picture).

We stopped, built a fire and ate lunch over looking one of the creeks. The steep incline also provided a perfect hill for sliding. Which we did...several times while exploring other inlets in the area. Its not often that we all get off site so when we do, we are sure to make the most of it. After smores, we headed back to the cars. All in all, not a bad day at the office!

good friends and lots of laughs!

After a very busy week of teaching, I was super excited for the weekend. I worked on Saturday, doing an outreach at a hardware store in Northbranch. It was definitely an odd one just because of the setup (we literally were doing a raptor show in the middle of the lawn and garden section). It was a good time though because about 100 people of all ages showed up with fun bird stories.


Following the raptor show, I jumped into my car and drove down to the cities to celebrate my friend Heidi's birthday. We had a hotel room downtown, got dressed up and went out to dinner. While we were in the hotel bar, a guy joined our table. Turns out he was the drummer for Theory of Deadman (a rock band). He stayed and talked for a bit - I must say I was surprised at how nice he seemed.

It was a great end to a long week...I can't remember the last time I laughed so much! I enjoyed catching up with all my friends from way back and this party was just what I needed.

Where the Wild Things Were

For much of the past weekend, the intern house was without internet. This was fine by me because I spent a lot of time curled up in bed with a cup of coffee and a good book. I just finished one of the books I got for Christmas - Where the Wild Things Were by William Stolzenburg. This is a book about the disappearance of large predators around the world and the impacts of their absence. It looks at many of the major papers in Ecology and breaks them down into simple terms.


The book starts with Paine's essay about a predatory starfish and tide pools along the Western coast of North America. When all the starfish were removed from a tide pool for several months in a row, the diversity of life within that tide pool plummeted. From there, the book moved on to larger oceanic predators including the killer whale. The killer whale is made to eat large meat. If you compare the jaws of the orca to that of t-rex, they look almost identical. A single killer whale has to eat 5% of its body mass a day which can amount to 600 pounds! These whales are like the wolves of sea, hunting in pods and capable of taking down a blue whale.

The charismatic large predators like the wolf and African lion were also talked about. What struck me was the fact that in much of the world today, the megafauna are missing. In their absence, small and medium sized animals like the deer, domestic cat, raccoon, and coyote have taken over. Deer are now in such high densities that some forests have been browsed beyond recognition. Domestic cats alone kill over 1 billion small critters a year and are the prime suspect in the extinction of 33 species. As recent as the early 1900's these medium sized pests would have been kept in check by the large predators now missing. The return of wolves to Yellowstone has shown that when apex predators are present, the ecosystem is healthier and has higher diversity.

The books ends talking about the greatest predator ever to walk this planet - humans. For all our good intentions, we have developed technology that allows us to change our surroundings faster than any species that came before us. Its interesting to think that while trying to make the world safer for ourselves, we may be causing more problems. Overall, I enjoyed this book - it was easy to read, made me think and I learned a few fun facts along the way!

XC Skiing

The past week has been busy and fun. On Monday and Tuesday, there was staff training on cross country skiing, snowshoeing and a few other odds and ends. On Wednesday, 75 children and 30 adults descended upon the Audubon Center as the first group of the new year. In the schemes of groups, this one was great - well organized and respectful kids. A great group to get back into the mode of teaching with.

On of the highlights was cross country skiing. It has been years since I last went but quickly remembered how much I enjoy it. After Mondays training, I got to help teach a small group of the 5th graders visiting. Skiing with kids is difficult, especially when they fall over (I actually tweaked a muscle helping a child get up).

Today, I went for a quick ski with Amanda around some trails that I hadn't explored yet. The weather was a little on the warm side for skiing but other than that it was a great day to be out and about.

I am not the best skier but it certainly was fun! Living in the Midwest, I have heard people say that to survive the winter you need to find an activity you enjoy outside. Who knows, this may be mine. Either way I look forward to exploring the site a bit more in the upcoming month!

~ fun times ~

On Saturday, I took a quick trip down to the cities to hang out with Amanda and Heidi (and get away from site for a couple hours). I got to catch up with a couple friends, eat at places with good food and go to a mall.

I hadn't been to the Mall of America in a number of years but it is pretty much what I remember - lots of people and lots of walking. One neat thing going on at the moment is a Barbie exhibit celebrating 50 years. Barbie first debuted in 1959 and since then has taken on many forms. All around the mall are a bunch of different Barbies in little glass showcases. There is also a Barbie store. This is where I bought the print (pictured below) showing some of the most memorable Barbies. I think that its super cool and cant wait to have in framed.