Back at my Home Away from Home

Back in California...

I returned to California on August 21st and started training again at the ranch on the 22nd. It was really hard for me to leave Wisconsin. I know now, without a doubt, that the  northwoods truly are my home. It is, however, wonderful to be back with my California family. Ryan, our former coworker and current supervisor is doing a great job of incorporating group dynamics and personal introspection into our training.

The poem below was written in about 20 minutes after reading a “Why I am From” poem example. I think it reflects me well.

Where I'm From
By: Angie Z.

I am from a land where cheese is loved as family
from dark aisles of cloth-bound books
where Socrates can be heard whispering on foggy mornings.
I am from church pews that taught me to disregard religious warnings.

I came of age clinging to Narnia and Neverland
and let's face it—I'll hold on forever if I can.

I was molded from the red clay of former prairie
but my heart pumps cold and clear
with the waters of Gitche Gumee.

When hard news knocks out the wind
I run into the open arms of ancient trees
they know my soul better than I know me.
I am made also from their hard-fought rings.

My vocal cords are of the loon.
Black and white I grow restless in the fall.
I too change clothes, and with a lengthy take off
tend to fly away quickly
only to return after a time.
Oh, and my soul's mortar has always been rhyme.

I am from homes that are built more of ideas than stones--
each inch of my strength has been painfully constructed
by days, willingly alone.

I am of friends past and present
and miss people with a ferocity not
rivaled much in modern life...
but I know that with strive comes truth,
knowledge, and strength.

So all of that together, give you me—today.
_____________________________________________________________
I think that figuring out where you are from is almost, if not more, important than knowing where you are headed. Accepting that the northwoods are home was a big step for me, and now I know where my heart wants to be. I think one of the most telling parts of my self discovery this year was being single. Without that I would never really be able to trust where I was heading to be my own choice. I lose myself to love so completely that I could live out my life never again returning to Superior, and not realize how much I miss it until the love is gone.

Heading Back West

As many of you probably know, my time here in Wisconsin is coming to a close. My last day of work is tomorrow, 8/16, and I will be flying back to California early in the morning next Tuesday. Once I get out there I will meet my friend Ivy who I worked with at Wolf Ridge. I’ll then grab my car out of storage and drive her and myself up the mountain back to the ranch. I am so excited for her to be working with me this year!

This summer has been an amazing learning and growth experience for me. It does feel like home up here in the northwoods and I am glad that I got to spend a few months here. I wish I could stay longer to see the seasons shift, the hazelnuts become ready to eat, and the loons switch into their winter plumage.

It will be hard to drive away from here, especially knowing that my parents have likely sold their house up here that I have known for 23 years. However, I am excited to get back to California. My rambling bones are ready to move again—and once I get done with the blastedly annoying packing I will be happy to move on.

Below are some pictures from this summer!

Lake Superior from the Porcupine Mountains--at the start of our 26 mile day hike

Gitche Gumi

Flash, our resident ferret at the center

A destroying Angel Mushroom we found on a hike

Roundup: killing since 1974

Having a beautiful yard has long been a status symbol and conversation piece in American life. There are commercials all over the airwaves advertising different products to kill “pests” and “weeds” from our homes and lawns. While a truly “weed-free” yard might be pleasing to the eye, there are some intrinsic dangers contained in popular lawn-care techniques. One of these threats that is often well-hidden from gardeners and home-owners is the popular product Roundup. “Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.” A study has found that even at much more diluted levels than used in farms and on lawns there are ingredients in Roundup that are toxic to human cells (Gammon, 2009).

Before you spray Roundup this summer please think about the risks associated with doing so. Humans are not the only species negatively affected by the herbicide. It has been linked with the deaths of amphibians and frogs as well. “…Researchers found that the recommended application of Roundup™ killed up to 86 percent of terrestrial frogs after only one day. ‘The most striking result from the experiments was that a chemical designed to kill plants killed 98 percent of all tadpoles within three weeks and 79 percent of all frogs within one day’” (Melville, 2005). Are a few weeds really worth it?

So what can you do? For starters do not use Roundup on your lawn. Also avoid picking any wild edibles or medicinals from areas that appear to have been sprayed with Roundup (having no other species of plant other than trees and grass in the majority of the park is a telling sign for this). If it looks like a local park is using Roundup ask them to stop and spread the word to your friends and neighbors.

If you would like to learn more about the dangers of Roundup and the ingredients included in it you can check out these links:

• http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weed-whacking-herbicide-p
• http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/roundup-weed-killer-is-toxic-to-human-cells.-study-intensifies-debate-over-inert-ingredients/
• http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/impacts_glyphosate.pdf

Works Cited
Buffin, D., & Jewell, T. (2001). Health and environmental impacts of glyphosate. Friends of the Earth, Retrieved from http://foe.co.uk/resource/reports/impacts_glyphosate.pdf

Gammon, C. (2009, June 23). Weed-whacking herbicide proves deadly to human cells. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weed-whacking-herbicide-p

Melville, K. (2005, August 04). Roundup™ super-toxic for frogs as well as tadpoles. Retrieved from http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20050704001701data

Below is a blog post I just wrote for where I work. An interesting thing to be aware of....

Top of Form

“Isn't that early?” This is a question I have been hearing time and time again since spring set in. From the San Jacinto mountains of California where I teach during the school year to the Northwoods it seems that nature's timing is changing—and this can have startling effects on humans and non-humans alike.

After a showing of Green Fire (the documentary about Aldo Leopold's life and influence) I led a discussion several weeks ago. As always seems to happen as of late, the conversation veered off towards phenology (nature's timing). We learned from one community member that on average the lake he lives on is frozen for 50 less days per year than it was just twenty years ago when he relocated to the area. This fact alone is startling, but when taken in the context of some of the creatures that share these northern lands with us, it might be a question of survival.

The snowshoe hare, for instance, changes color when the amount of light per day changes. This color change will thus happen at the same time each year regardless of weather and plant conditions. Since snow sticks around for a shorter amount of time, and arrives later on average, this could leave the white-colored hares prone to predation in an environment they no longer blend in with.

Here is a link to an article about snowshoe hares and color change in a shifting climate: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224220347.htm

“Something mysterious happens when we look into the eyes of an animal, whether it be a panther or a poodle—we see something familiar looking back. Ourselves? Yes, but we also see an 'other.' We see something that is in us and yet without us, something we recognize and yet is unfamiliar, something we fear but for which we long. We see the wild.” –Renée Askins

Mammals are not the only creatures that could be negatively affected by the phenological shifts that are happening across our planet. Our avian friends could find struggles in their paths in the near future as well. Birds (along with mammals in many instances) are influenced greatly by day length.

"Day length, or photoperiod, plays a key role in the control system that synchronizes the               physiologies of individual birds and their environment...Molt and preparation for migration

also are triggered by changes in day length" (Gill, 2007).

If, for instance, a certain species of bird depends on a particular species of berry to build up fat stores for migration and that berry becomes ripe a month sooner than usual the bird will not have that nutrition source when they prepare to travel to their winter habitat. Conversely, when they migrate north, if a major spring food source has already come to fruition and been consumed by permanent residents the birds may not find the necessary nutrition to nest and nourish their young.

Robins love to eat raspberries.

So, enjoy the raspberries that are now ripe in our roadsides and back-country meadows, but remember to be conscious of the changes that are occurring all around us. Perhaps while you enjoy a raspberry sundae you can jot down the events you noticed during your picking expeditions. What other types of berries did you see? How large were the deer fawns you witnessed? When did you first notice loon chicks on the lakes near where you live? Having a base knowledge about nature's timing can help us to understand, and perhaps even help, the other species that share these forests with us.

“One has only to consider the life force...to lay the mind wide open to the  mysteries—the order of things, the why and beginning....One question leads inevitably to another, and all questions come full circle to the questioner, paused momentarily in his own journey under the sun and sky.” –Peter Mattheissen

Works Cited

Gill, F. B. (2007). Ornithology. (3rd ed.). W. H. Freeman.

Robin picture: http://aniruddhahd.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-in-life-of-animals.html

Snowshoe Hare picture from NPS.gov

Yes, I am where the compass points!

To be living in the northwoods, at long last, is perhaps a fact that makes me happier than I have ever been in my life. To find myself surrounded, in this evidently conservative state, with people who have similar interests and values is something I would have never imagined was possible. 

Below you can find a picture of a Luna Moth that I took just yesterday on the lodge at my work. So beautiful!

“To attempt a proof that non-humans communicate would not only be degrading—imagine a book purporting to prove that blondes can think—it would be silly, like proving the existence of gravity, love, death, or physical existence. It would be written in two words—pay attention—or better, in one—listen.” -Derrick Jensen

As soon as I rolled my car out of the grocery store parking lot in Minocqua and saw two loons looking at me curiously from the lake I knew that I had been welcomed back by a forgiving ecosystem. The eagle that soared over my head, as nonchalant as a race horse knowing it is beautiful, sealed my knowledge that I was truly home, and made me sad that I would be leaving it in two months.

My new job is wonderful, I am surrounded by naturalists and people who care deeply for the planet. My first day I met someone involved with the Timber Wolf Alliance who talked with passion about the wolf hunt that is set to happen here in Wisconsin. When I think of that hunt all I can see in my mind is the image of the majestic wolf that ran in front of my car when I was living in northern Minnesota last year. The way the eyes had a fire in them that seemed to speak of many things I could never truly understand while sitting in a vehicle. Of days spent running over the hard crusty snow of the north, hunting deer, howling to members of a pack...ahh it represents all that I strive for as a human.

“Until I heard my mother shouting through the fog

It turned out to be howling of a dog

Or a wolf, to be exact

the sound sent shivers down my back

But I was drawn into the pack and before long

they allowed me to join in and sing their song.

So from the cliffs and highest hills

Yeah we would gladly get our fill

Howling endlessly and shrilly at the dawn

And I lost the taste for judging right from wrong...”

-Blitzen Trapper

Perhaps it is what the wolf represents that is really my issue with the wolf hunt. A species demonized for thousands of years that is social, loving to their young, and unmistakably WILD. The inherent fear associated with the species is unwarranted, at best, savage in truth. There is no real REASON to kill a wolf except that you want to kill it. The effects they have on deer and livestock populations are trivial and well documented (when it comes to deer) to actually be beneficial to the herd as a whole. 

To the right you can see a picture of the porcupine quills I found in the woods and intend to make into jewelry! 

“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes – something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.” -Aldo Leopold

I sit here, with little stress planning out lessons for students I have never met, but for subjects I have taught so frequently that I barely give them a second thought. Orienteering, survival, things of that nature. I am honestly most stressed out right now about learning to drive a 15 passenger van! But hey, if that is my biggest worry we aren't doing too badly right?

Oceans, Fog and Missing Home a Bit...

It has, yet again, been a long time since I posted last. So much has happened.

Two weekends ago I went to a conference in Malibu that was full of other Environmental Educators. It was so refreshing to be surrounded by hundreds of people that share my passion for the environment and education. We all learned much from each other (and had a great time celebrating as well). I also got my long-overdo ocean fix.

Below you can see an image of a desert cottontail running across the road. When I walked out of my room this morning it was there to greet me. 

This past weekend I finally met up with my cousin Crystal. We went on a hike where we saw the oldest western structure in Riverside County, CA. It was an adobe house built for vaqueros (cowboys) in 1846. We also found a Native American plant use garden which really excited me. I learned some new things from it--and shared a lot of information with my cousin as well.

We are all starting to get into the summer mindset here. This past week even in the mountains it was in the mid 80's. This week it's back to the 70's again and feeling refreshing finally. I woke up this morning to find FOG outside. This is crazy here if you knew how dry it is. I can accidentally soak myself with a hose and be dry in 20 minutes.

An absolute
patience.
Trees stand
up to their knees in
fog

-Denise Levertov

I went to the orthopedic this Monday to find out if I do in fact need surgery on my wrist. I found out that I probably don't. I got my first cortisone shot of my life (and learned at the conference that it is derived from Mexican Yams). My wrist is quite sore now, but should improve in the next day or so. I go back to the doctor on May 21st to assess how things are going. In less than 6 weeks I also fly home! I am so excited.

I just got an email a couple of days ago about my coworkers/roommates for the summer. It looks like we should all get along pretty well. If we don't I can also run away to Birch Lake--where I am always happy regardless. I am so excited to get yelled at by red squirrels again--wake up to the call of the loon--and harvest wild edibles that taste and smell like home.

"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." -Maya Angelou

To the right you can see the onion spinach bread that I baked on Saturday night to complement our Rabbit stew!

Just tonight I went for a run and saw my first up close and personal BOBCAT! It took me a second to figure out what it was, but then I saw its feline gate and bob-tail! I kept running and saw my first Great Blue Heron of the season:) So much fun!

A photo tour of my life...

A post of mostly pictures....
Coulter (above) our newest goat addition. He just got down balancing on this log without falling.



Above you can see Grendel (3 weeks older than Coulter) on my back, and Coulter wishing he was that coordinated.



Me trying to get Coulter to look at the camera. (above)


Blooming cactus in Joshua Tree National Park.


Joshua trees--that look like Suess' Truffula Trees in The Lorax.

Snow, Mountains, and (gasp) Plans for the Future

Here you see Southern California after the snow storm we had last week. All of the snow is gone now, but it isn't too often that you see Yucca and Prickly Pear covered in snow!

Well, I have been here at the Ranch now for three months. I am happy to say that things finally feel like they are falling into place for me. The mountains surrounding me in this valley are starting to feel like my back yard, and those I live with are starting to become family. We have our issues, of course, as would any family of ten people in their mid-20's, but we are there for each other.

While this does feel like home, for now, I know that it isn't home forever. I learned this when I accepted a summer job in the north woods. Just the idea of sitting beside a birch tree again fills me with joy. I do not know where I will settle down and spend most of the rest of my life, but at least now I know it will be somewhere in the north. The loon's song shall greet me in the mornings when I am old. Assuming, of course, that climate change doesn't mess even that beauty up.

I have started to think a lot about my desire to travel. I am not so sure anymore that it is a desire to live a lot of places. I want a home base. I want to grow my own food and can it for the winter. I want to get to know a place like Sigurd Olson got to know Listening Point. I want to work to heal the land wherever I am so that it is better off for my being there. I am not sure that I can do that when I move every six to ten months.

"Wilderness to the people of America is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium." (Sigurd Olson)

I have been missing my family a lot too (you know who you are). Here I have no signal so it is hard to communicate via cell phone. My family and friends who are family have been great, but I don't want to be gone from contact for more than another year. Does anyone have an AT&T family plan I could hop onto? I have decided to come back here to the Ranch next year, but after that I think I'll try to find something more permanent. Will I be teaching children? Probably not exclusively. I'd much prefer to have some of my own land and teach bush craft courses to people of all ages. I could also teach things like I do now, ethnobotany for instance.

"As a matter of fact, an ordinary desert supports a much greater variety of plants than does either a forest or a prairie." (Ellsworth Huntington)

I just realized the other day that I haven't ever posted pictures of the house I am living in right now. Those will be coming soon, I promise! Until then, here are some pictures from a hike I took yesterday up Cahuilla Mountain.

The start of the trail (to get here we had to drive about 3 miles on dirt forest roads that made for a bumpy ride).

A little over halfway up, we took in the view!

At the top the box holding the log book contained a lot more than that. A spent shotgun shell, a wine cork, nun chucks (in case we met an adversary), a roll of toilet paper, a knife, two IB Profin pills, a prom ticket receipt, and several other things. It made for a good laugh.

Essays, Kids, and Singing

Above you can see me with my relay team after our race in mid-February.

I realized today how long it has been since I have updated this blog. So much has happened.

One of the baby goats died, but another was born to our other female goat. The names of the two that survived were Gretchen and Coulter, and until we realized that Gretchen is a boy...his name is now Grendel.

We taught our first elective classes last week, and yet again this week. That means we have nearly four hours to teach whatever we'd like. The students decide which class they want to take. I taught animal tracking and had a blast. This past week we found bobcat tracks which was really fun for the kids.

I celebrated my birthday by going out to karaoke with my roommates. It was a lot of fun. We went to a small tourist town called Idyllwild that is about 20 minutes up the mountains from here. There was pizza before we went to the bar.

I am also job hunting for the summer pretty extensively. I have an interview on Tuesday for a job I want in N. Wisconsin.

I will be going paint balling again next Sunday at a course complete with a Jungle section with a river! It should be really fun.

I read the book Water for Elephants this past week and really enjoyed it.

I know this is really disjointed but it's better than nothing right?!

In April there is an AEOE conference where environmental educators from around the state will get together for workshops. I am applying for a scholarship to help pay for it. Below is my essay.

There are many people with stories of knowing what they wanted to be as a child and attaining that goal as an adult. Tales like that may be inspiring, but it would be a lie if I told you my life turned out that way. I was always one to bounce from one dream to another, never settling or standing still for long. I went from dreaming of being a paleontologist to a marine biologist in what must have seemed like a blink of an eye to my parents. Before they knew it I was painting over the whale mural in my bedroom and scrawling words across the ceiling with my dream of being a writer. That one lasted a bit longer—only to be derailed by a desire to be the best marketing person the world had ever seen. I never considered a life as a naturalist. I didn't know that it was an option.

I graduated college with a BA in English Writing, a minor in Philosophy and no idea what it was I would do with my life. I had spent much of college working in Outdoor Education and I loved that, but I viewed it as something to do during college, not after. I had been taught from a young age that I needed a “real job” 401k, insurance, and all after college. So that is what I ended up finding. I suffered for three years in front of a computer in an office writing manuals. I found myself stealing away at lunch to sit in the forest nearby—wishing that there was a way I could be outside for a job, a way to help the planet while I worked.

I started reading more and more environmental literature in my free time, pummeling through book after book and feeling more and more that something was missing in my life. I joined campaigns to remove dams, protect rivers, and clean up the area where I lived. This didn't seem like enough, however. I saw children spending their entire childhoods sitting in desks or staring at screens full of video games. Something needed to change, and I wanted to be a part of that change. Finally, I read Last Child in the Woods and realized what it was I needed to do with my life. I quit my job, sold most of my possessions, and entered a graduate naturalist program in Minnesota. Nearly two years later I am now here in California, teaching and working outside.

Working as a naturalist I combined all of my passions. I could tell stories, share poetry, teach ecology, and be a walking commercial for the planet. When it comes to my view of Environmental Education (EE) the most important thing is the physical environment. One might ask about the education half of EE, but for me it is really education for the environment. Potentially mistaken as advocacy—what I mean is not that—through my teaching I hope to help children to care about an environment they oftentimes do not have a relationship with. My goal is for the planet to be a healthier place because of the connections with the land that I help to foster with my teaching. I hold it to be true that in order to be a truly great educator a teacher must be passionate about the subject matter at hand. With the well defined drive and goal of helping the planet I feel that I fit into the (flexible) mold of an Environmental Educator. I use my knowledge and compassion for living things to help children see the importance of the natural world and keeping it healthy.

One of the things that I do to continue to spread the word about the environment and what I do is to compete in slam poetry competitions and readings. Below and continuing on the following page you will find a poem that I wrote about being an environmental educator. I have plans to develop a slam poetry lesson that I will teach to students. Spoken word seems to speak to them so much more than other literary forms.

Misunderstood

By: AZ

Yeah, I'm a teacher

but not the normal kind

I teach classes, you see

where children go outside.

And I hear day after day

year after year

from teachers whose classrooms have walls...

"Little Timmy isn't the best behaved"

"Suzy cries and lies and probably can't be saved."

These are the children of our future

and hope has already started to wain

but aren't the geniuses

those most often misunderstood?

Isn't Einstein an example

of a child they said couldn't

but could?

Does it really do any good to base anything at all

on a child enslaved by education's walls?

I think the real gems of students

are those who can't pull their eyes off the windows--

the ones who sit, jittery in their seats--

who dispose of their ADHD medication, secretively.

I see more soul in the eyes of the child who

taps incessantly on her desk,

the one with a beat so deep inside her,

it CAN'T be suppressed.

(continued on next page)

This is a poem for the children who despise

single file lines,

the lost boys and girls who just want to be outside.

It's a plea to the teachers who judge them while they're in--

Take them out and watch the children be

as they should have always been.

Teach them to love the land

by pointing to trees, not books

attune that girl's tapping heart

with a babbling brook.

No need out here to worry

of the boy's eyes looking out.

Out is where we are.

...Where children laugh and learn

without walls that are bars.

This is a poem for the misunderstood minds,

screaming to be wild.

It's for the exploring heart

that's in every child.

It's for the drop outs that saw

more life outside than in,

For the counselors, outdoor educators,

the adults that refuse to judge

the wandering children.

It's for waking up to the sunrise

and hiking at night.

The rough bark of ancient trees

and a bird's very first flight.

It's for the child in all of us

that still glances to the window--

For the Einsteins, the Timmys

and the Suzys we all know.

Because like Einstein they're examples

of students they said couldn't, that could.

I think the geniuses are the ones

most often misunderstood.

I miss you all and hopefully I'll be getting you letters soon.

-AZ

Baby Goats

Life has been going well here at the ranch.

Just this past week our goat, Madonna, gave birth to twins. One boy and one girl. I spent the morning/early afternoon today hanging out with them. I held one while my friend held another and we introduced them to the horses. The horses were very curious and smelled them. The ears of the babies were about the size of the horses' nostrils:) The fur on baby goats is very soft as well. The girl, Gretchen, actually fell asleep in my arms while I was holding here. I won't lie, when I'm done with this post I will probably go back out there to cuddle with them some more.

We also had the chance to teach electives this week. That means that we had nearly four hours of time with a group of students who chose our class to teach them about something. I developed an Animal Tracking class. I used some things that I taught last year in an Animal Signs class, some that I used this year in an Animal Ecology class, and some that I developed on my own. I created a to-scale animal tracking handout for each kid so they could figure out what the tracks were that we found. At the end of the class I had them track me down! I went down the trail and hid in some bushes, leaving some noticeable tracks and making sounds (so they learned tracking isn't just about tracks).

The weather has been beautiful here all week--in the 70s each day. Last week was a different story, however. We got over a foot of snow in one night. By the next evening it was almost all melted away--leaving slush everywhere. I spent four hours of that morning shoveling slushy snow. It made me miss the light fluffy snow of Northern Minnesota. The picture above is just outside my front door.

I made home made cinnamon rolls with one of my coworkers that turned out so good I'll never buy store-bought ones again. Just to give you an idea--it made three cake pans full and called for 2qts whole milk, a box and a half of butter, and over four cups of sugar.

Tomorrow I think I might go out and gather a bunch of Yerba Santa for tea and White Sage for gifts. It is really interesting living in this desert ecosystem! More later--feel free to write me letters here.

Love,
AZ

A Tan California Girl

I know I haven't been as good as updating you all lately on the goings-on of my life. Things have been busy.

Last week I had a fever for a couple days, but just took it easy and worked anyhow. I feel much better now. On Monday (a week ago) I got trained in on the Alpine Tower here (a high ropes element). It was nice to finally know how to run it with my co-workers so that I can be scheduled to do it in the future. We also all got trained in together on how to operate “the swing” which is a series of thick wires that you get pulled 30 feet high on then let go to swing. I was petrified (so much scarier than rock climbing) but was laughing uncontrollably less than a second after I started to swing.

We all laughed and dressed in bright crayon colors for the second half of the afternoon on Monday.

This past week was pretty easy as far as teaching goes. We had one school with about 60 kids at the ranch. They were all well-behaved and curious. The weather was also phenomenal...mid 70's all week. The Manzanitas are blooming (earlier than they should) and I've started to get a legitimate tan. I finally look like I live in Southern California!

Nature names have really taken off here at the ranch. We have all started to refer to each other not as our first names but by the nature names that Meadow has begun to give us all. I am now known as Badger—and no she had no clue Wisconsin's mascot is a Badger. Her reasoning? I am apparently only ferocious once I feel threatened. I couldn't disagree! So now I am Badger and loving it. The kids get a huge kick out of the fact that we have easier to remember names than Angie and Maddie.

On Sunday morning (yesterday) I ran a half marathon relay with my fellow naturalists Yucca and Mountain Goat. We finished first in our bracket (mixed gender relay). Mountain Goat started us out with a 5.3ish mile leg, then Yucca with a 3.5ish leg, followed by me with a 4.3ish mile leg. I finished the race and it felt great. I really do need to run more though. Just running a couple times maximum each week isn't going to cut it if I want to run at my full potential. My goal is to find a half marathon in the beginning of April sometime.

Well, I have a long week ahead of me with a lot of teaching but I still find myself excited to do it. I am loving life here. I had an interview last week for a summer job in Maryland at a Girl Scout Camp. They offered me the job at the end of the interview but I ended up turning it down. I have another interview on Friday for a job in Alaska for the summer. It sounds really great and I am likely to take it if they offer—however, I applied for a wildlife rehab. job in Wisconsin I am really excited about as well as one at a Discover Center in the N. Woods where I would do Wolf Howl surveys and Bat population surveys. I miss the north woods a lot. If you are close to one, hug a birch tree for me.

I will let you all know where I'll be for the summer as soon as I know.

Love,

Badger

Manzanitas, Live Oak Springs, and Yucca Punctures

I never thought that I would live in a place categorized as desert. I saw in my mind's eye images of the coyote and road runner chasing each other over barren landscapes. While that is the case in some deserts, it is not so here. I have learned much about the plants around this place, and will continue to do so. There is the ribbon wood, that smells amazing after a rain, or when you breath upon it letting the moisture of your breath release its scent. The manzanita, that has red smooth bark and can kill off parts of itself in order to survive during dry spells. The Yerba Santa that smells of strawberries and makes amazing tea.

I am just going to post a ton of pictures from my adventures on this post, so you all can get a feel for where I truly am.

Above you see me holding a Coulter Pine Cone (the trees are also called Widow Makers because the cones are so heavy and could kill you if they hit you wrong).

Yesterday I went on a 12(ish) mile hike around the area to a place called Live Oak Springs where we refilled our water. On the way back I had my first major cacti experience. I accidentally chopped my hand into a yucca and a chunk of the spine broke off in it. So after some minor surgery (performed from a fellow naturalist) I am doing okay! Don't touch cacti...bad news!

I found a half marathon relay on 2/12 that I think I'll be running with two of my friends here. It should be fun, and is several thousand feet down in elevation from here (we are just under 5,000) so hopefully it'll be a bit easier!

Pythons and Bearded Dragons

Above you will see a map of the main campus where I live.

Well, another week has gone by and I am still in love with my job. I know that the end of my experience last year I was disenchanted for many reasons—but now I know that I do in fact love teaching outside. There is something truly magical about watching the “trouble students” shine brighter than they ever could under fluorescent lighting.

I cannot wait until I am trained in on all the classes here and I can begin to give them all my own unique spin. I am not sure that this job will change the world, but I think it has the potential. I am already changing. Getting hugs from students who hiked further than they ever had before. Smirks as they dunk their hands deep into murky water looking for macro invertebrates. How is that not magic? How can I not smile? How can I not be making a difference?

I have started to spend more time in our nature center here where I can hang out and hold the many animals that also call this place home. This afternoon I held one of our ball pythons for awhile. I have never had a fear of snakes, but with each passing day I do feel myself more at ease when he wraps tightly around my arm. The snakes and reptiles in our nature center are family to us.

I have started to look for summer jobs. I think I’ll return her next fall—which means I need something from June-the end of August. I have been thinking Alaska, but also applied to a job in Maryland yesterday. I’ve already heard back from that job, at a Girl Scout camp, being a nature manager. I’d not only train people and develop curriculum (yay for admin. Experience) but also spend a fair amount of time outside. There are still many details I need to find out, but they want to schedule an interview for the beginning of February. Not having reliable internet could make the Skype component of it difficult, but hopefully it all works out.

For the rest of the day I am going to run, play basketball, read, and hopefully write. I need to get ready for the poetry slam I found out about on Wednesday.

Take care everyone, and send me a letter. I love getting them!

-AZ

Teaching and Loving Life

Above you can see me and some of my fellow naturalists!

Hello from a sunny, but often windy California.

I have really started to settle into mountain life here. I drove to the nearby (30min away) town of Idyllwild this weekend and spent some good quality time in a coffee shop. It's so interesting to me that I can drive a half hour up the mountain and drop nearly 20 degrees in temperature. Yet if I drive 45 minutes down the mountain I end up in Palm Desert, where it's 20 degrees warmer. It is desert here, but it did rain a bit this past weekend. I had four days off because of MLK day. This coming weekend I might head up to Mammoth mountain where some of the other naturalists will downhill ski and I'll hike, CC Ski, or just hang out. I haven't decided for sure if I'll tag along or not yet though.

I am loving teaching and it's great to realize that the negative attitude I left my graduate program with last year is finally fading away. There truly is something special about teaching outside, something that has been so lost in the recent decades. I wish that I could make a bigger difference in the lives of these children however. It makes me sad that they will likely not spend an entire week outside besides sleeping for the rest of their lives.

I am still in the training process here, shadowing classes and then cloning them for the next class period. I find myself memorizing names like I learned to do at Wolf Ridge. It truly does make a difference in classes when you know every student's name.

I am working as hard as I can manage on the composting here. I am hoping to get the bins lined with plastic over the next couple of weeks to limit leachates from seeping into the soil. I keep referencing the research project I did with fellow naturalists last year.

I have an afternoon of geology followed by a night hike awaiting me so I should be heading out. Please everyone keep in touch and message me your addresses so I can write you letters.

-AZ

A New Start

I am about to start my first week working with children again and I'm really excited. I think my biggest challenge will be the length of classes here. They are only one hour and forty five minutes long, in contrast with the three hour classes I taught all of last year. It will take some getting used to, but I think it might be a good change of pace for my teaching style. I feel like I always ended up killing time last year.

The people here are just phenomenal and I already feel like a part of the community. Two nights ago one of the people working here made us all bracelets out of retired climbing rope with the insides taken out. Another naturalist also made me a cording survival bracelet (all the other naturalists already have them). It is a very functional community it seems up here in our secluded valley in the mountains. From where I sit this morning I can see three peaks!

I have been hiking, running, and baking bread. So when it all comes down to it I am quite content.

I haven't done any biking yet because of what are called Goat Heads. These evil seeds that pop tires! I apparently need to grease my rims or something before biking. I need to look into it more so my bike doesn't end up with a flat.

Last week the weather was just beautiful. Mid 70's (F) each day and around 30 at night. This week will be a bit chillier at about 55 each day and 30 at night. It is also quite windy today.

My next two weeks will be quite full since instead of just teaching four classes a day I am also training in on everything between the classes as well that typically rotate between the ten of us. It will be exhausting, but worth it I dare say.

More to come later when there is more time; now I am off to a meeting!

-AZ

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls, Please Stick to the Rivers and the Lakes that You're Used To

Well, TLC—you may have shaped my opinion of MTV when I was younger, but I'm not taking your advice. My time for exploration is upon me. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about my life and where I want it to end up over the next few years. It has been really liberating to think just about me in this equation, instead of me and someone else—where my dreams need to make concessions, or concede entirely in order for someone I'm with to live theirs. What I have come up with is that for the next 5ish years I want to travel and live many places. So far I have N. Minnesota, Oregon, and now California. I am thinking perhaps Alaska for the summer, then who knows. I will work as an environmental educator, or some sort of outside job at each of these and somehow manage to save some money. Once the travel and exploration bug are out of me I will lay down roots somewhere (and possibly with someone, or many in a community setting). I'll then begin homesteading. There is something that has been missing in me lately, being unable to grow my own food, can it, etc. because I live seasonally. Where will this place be that I finally settle in? I have no idea—thus all the traveling!Above you see the tire chains I have in my car just in case...driving through mountains can be crazy!

This new year has gotten me thinking about goals as well. I am currently sitting in a motel in Arizona on my way to California to start my new job. Here are the goals I have come up with so far.
1. Write letters to people (which means I need addresses, send away!)
2. Keep up with this blog.
3. Write more and compete in at least 2 poetry slams this coming year.
4. Incorporate slam poetry into at least one of the classes I will be teaching.
5. Get better at knot tying.
6. Learn to tie snares.
7. Make my own bow.
8. Train for and run another half marathon.
9. Learn more about rock climbing/get better at climbing.
10. Learn how to care for horses (working at a ranch comes in handy here).

I am in Arizona right now, will start the new job in just a few short days (bright and early on January 3). I have prepped most of my lesson plans already, except for some classes I have never taught anything similar to before. (Archeology, Wild Fires, etc). I hope that I am ready. I am really looking forward to meeting the people I'll be living and working with until June. I am sure that just like at Wolf Ridge, I will meet lifetime friends in the coming months.

My new years eve is looking to be a blast. Looking back on all my past new years I feel like they always ended in disappointment. There is always so much hype, and the actual evening never lives up to it. Since I am mid-road trip now I just booked a suite (for a great price I might add) complete with king size bed, couch, and jacuzzi tub—all for me. It will be a relaxing new years—I don't think I can ask for anything more. I'm spending the day tomorrow hiking and exploring Petrified Forest National Park. It should all and all shape up to be a great day/night. I'm getting old, I'll be in bed before midnight I bet! Then new years day I am off to Palm Springs, CA to gather last minute necessities and spend a night before moving in on January 2nd to my new mountain home. So excited!

I have been listening to the audio books for the Dark Tower series by Stephen King on my road trip west. I am HOOKED! I just started the 4th book today. They are roughly based upon a poem by Robert Browning that I've put below (because we all need a little more poetry in our lives).

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came
By: Robert Browning

I.
My first thought was, he lied in every word,
That hoary cripple, with malicious eye
Askance to watch the working of his lie
On mine, and mouth scarce able to afford
Suppression of the glee, that pursed and scored
Its edge, at one more victim gained thereby.

II.
What else should he be set for, with his staff?
What, save to waylay with his lies, ensnare
All travellers who might find him posted there,
And ask the road? I guessed what skull-like laugh
Would break, what crutch 'gin write my epitaph
For pastime in the dusty thoroughfare,

III.
If at his counsel I should turn aside
Into that ominous tract which, all agree,
Hides the Dark Tower. Yet acquiescingly
I did turn as he pointed: neither pride
Nor hope rekindling at the end descried,
So much as gladness that some end might be.

IV.
For, what with my whole world-wide wandering,
What with my search drawn out thro' years, my hope
Dwindled into a ghost not fit to cope
With that obstreperous joy success would bring,
I hardly tried now to rebuke the spring
My heart made, finding failure in its scope.

V.
As when a sick man very near to death
Seems dead indeed, and feels begin and end
The tears and takes the farewell of each friend,
And hears one bid the other go, draw breath
Freelier outside, (``since all is o'er,'' he saith,
``And the blow falIen no grieving can amend;'')

VI.
While some discuss if near the other graves
Be room enough for this, and when a day
Suits best for carrying the corpse away,
With care about the banners, scarves and staves:
And still the man hears all, and only craves
He may not shame such tender love and stay.

VII.
Thus, I had so long suffered in this quest,
Heard failure prophesied so oft, been writ
So many times among ``The Band''---to wit,
The knights who to the Dark Tower's search addressed
Their steps---that just to fail as they, seemed best,
And all the doubt was now---should I be fit?

VIII.
So, quiet as despair, I turned from him,
That hateful cripple, out of his highway
Into the path he pointed. All the day
Had been a dreary one at best, and dim
Was settling to its close, yet shot one grim
Red leer to see the plain catch its estray.

IX.
For mark! no sooner was I fairly found
Pledged to the plain, after a pace or two,
Than, pausing to throw backward a last view
O'er the safe road, 'twas gone; grey plain all round:
Nothing but plain to the horizon's bound.
I might go on; nought else remained to do.

X.
So, on I went. I think I never saw
Such starved ignoble nature; nothing throve:
For flowers---as well expect a cedar grove!
But cockle, spurge, according to their law
Might propagate their kind, with none to awe,
You'd think; a burr had been a treasure-trove.

XI.
No! penury, inertness and grimace,
In some strange sort, were the land's portion. ``See
``Or shut your eyes,'' said nature peevishly,
``It nothing skills: I cannot help my case:
``'Tis the Last judgment's fire must cure this place,
``Calcine its clods and set my prisoners free.''

XII.
If there pushed any ragged thistle-stalk
Above its mates, the head was chopped; the bents
Were jealous else. What made those holes and rents
In the dock's harsh swarth leaves, bruised as to baulk
All hope of greenness?'tis a brute must walk
Pashing their life out, with a brute's intents.

XIII.
As for the grass, it grew as scant as hair
In leprosy; thin dry blades pricked the mud
Which underneath looked kneaded up with blood.
One stiff blind horse, his every bone a-stare,
Stood stupefied, however he came there:
Thrust out past service from the devil's stud!

XIV.
Alive? he might be dead for aught I know,
With that red gaunt and colloped neck a-strain,
And shut eyes underneath the rusty mane;
Seldom went such grotesqueness with such woe;
I never saw a brute I hated so;
He must be wicked to deserve such pain.

XV.
I shut my eyes and turned them on my heart.
As a man calls for wine before he fights,
I asked one draught of earlier, happier sights,
Ere fitly I could hope to play my part.
Think first, fight afterwards---the soldier's art:
One taste of the old time sets all to rights.

XVI.
Not it! I fancied Cuthbert's reddening face
Beneath its garniture of curly gold,
Dear fellow, till I almost felt him fold
An arm in mine to fix me to the place,
That way he used. Alas, one night's disgrace!
Out went my heart's new fire and left it cold.

XVII.
Giles then, the soul of honour---there he stands
Frank as ten years ago when knighted first.
What honest man should dare (he said) he durst.
Good---but the scene shifts---faugh! what hangman hands
Pin to his breast a parchment? His own bands
Read it. Poor traitor, spit upon and curst!

XVIII.
Better this present than a past like that;
Back therefore to my darkening path again!
No sound, no sight as far as eye could strain.
Will the night send a howlet or a bat?
I asked: when something on the dismal flat
Came to arrest my thoughts and change their train.

XIX.
A sudden little river crossed my path
As unexpected as a serpent comes.
No sluggish tide congenial to the glooms;
This, as it frothed by, might have been a bath
For the fiend's glowing hoof---to see the wrath
Of its black eddy bespate with flakes and spumes.

XX.
So petty yet so spiteful! All along,
Low scrubby alders kneeled down over it;
Drenched willows flung them headlong in a fit
Of route despair, a suicidal throng:
The river which had done them all the wrong,
Whate'er that was, rolled by, deterred no whit.

XXI.
Which, while I forded,---good saints, how I feared
To set my foot upon a dead man's cheek,
Each step, or feel the spear I thrust to seek
For hollows, tangled in his hair or beard!
---It may have been a water-rat I speared,
But, ugh! it sounded like a baby's shriek.

XXII.
Glad was I when I reached the other bank.
Now for a better country. Vain presage!
Who were the strugglers, what war did they wage,
Whose savage trample thus could pad the dank
Soil to a plash? Toads in a poisoned tank,
Or wild cats in a red-hot iron cage---

XXIII.
The fight must so have seemed in that fell cirque.
What penned them there, with all the plain to choose?
No foot-print leading to that horrid mews,
None out of it. Mad brewage set to work
Their brains, no doubt, like galley-slaves the Turk
Pits for his pastime, Christians against Jews.

XXIV.
And more than that---a furlong on---why, there!
What bad use was that engine for, that wheel,
Or brake, not wheel---that harrow fit to reel
Men's bodies out like silk? with all the air
Of Tophet's tool, on earth left unaware,
Or brought to sharpen its rusty teeth of steel.

XXV.
Then came a bit of stubbed ground, once a wood,
Next a marsh, it would seem, and now mere earth
Desperate and done with; (so a fool finds mirth,
Makes a thing and then mars it, till his mood
Changes and off he goes!) within a rood---
Bog, clay and rubble, sand and stark black dearth.

XXVI.
Now blotches rankling, coloured gay and grim,
Now patches where some leanness of the soil's
Broke into moss or substances like boils;
Then came some palsied oak, a cleft in him
Like a distorted mouth that splits its rim
Gaping at death, and dies while it recoils.

XXVII.
And just as far as ever from the end!
Nought in the distance but the evening, nought
To point my footstep further! At the thought,
great black bird, Apollyon's bosom-friend,
Sailed past, nor beat his wide wing dragon-penned
That brushed my cap---perchance the guide I sought.

XXVIII.
For, looking up, aware I somehow grew,
'Spite of the dusk, the plain had given place
All round to mountains---with such name to grace
Mere ugly heights and heaps now stolen in view.
How thus they had surprised me,---solve it, you!
How to get from them was no clearer case.

XXIX.
Yet half I seemed to recognize some trick
Of mischief happened to me, God knows when---
In a bad dream perhaps. Here ended, then,
Progress this way. When, in the very nick
Of giving up, one time more, came a click
As when a trap shuts---you're inside the den!

XXX.
Burningly it came on me all at once,
This was the place! those two hills on the right,
Crouched like two bulls locked horn in horn in fight;
While to the left, a tall scalped mountain... Dunce,
Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce,
After a life spent training for the sight!

XXXI.
What in the midst lay but the Tower itself?
The round squat turret, blind as the fool's heart,
Built of brown stone, without a counter-part
In the whole world. The tempest's mocking elf
Points to the shipman thus the unseen shelf
He strikes on, only when the timbers start.

XXXII.
Not see? because of night perhaps?---why, day
Came back again for that! before it left,
The dying sunset kindled through a cleft:
The hills, like giants at a hunting, lay,
Chin upon hand, to see the game at bay,---
``Now stab and end the creature---to the heft!''

XXXIII.
Not hear? when noise was everywhere! it tolled
Increasing like a bell. Names in my ears
Of all the lost adventurers my peers,---
How such a one was strong, and such was bold,
And such was fortunate, yet, each of old
Lost, lost! one moment knelled the woe of years.

XXXIV.
There they stood, ranged along the hill-sides, met
To view the last of me, a living frame
For one more picture! in a sheet of flame
I saw them and I knew them all. And yet
Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set,
And blew. ``Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.''