larger than the exxon valdez

i don't know if anyone has been paying attention to the kingston TN coal plant disaster that happened a couple of days before christmas. normally this wouldn't be anything more than evidence we need to ween ourselves off of coal as a means for generating electricity. the thing about this particular environmental disaster is that it occured about ten miles from where i was living and working in TN, even less as the crow flys. a massive breach of an earthern dam behind the plant contributed by heavy rains caused coal ash, a byproduct of combustion, to spill into surrounding areas even entering the clinch river, a tributary of the TN river, and incidenly feeds directly into Watts Barr lake, where river ridge environmental is located. initially reports cited that there was little danger to humans and animals alike stating the spill only contaminated 300 million gallons of the waterway. lately reports have become more dire as officals now awknowledge that over one billion gallons of ash spilled into the waterway. there is now speculation on what will happen when the ash, which contains several heavy metals contaiminates the ground water. the plant owned and opporated by tennessee valley authority, one of the largest utility companies has vowed to make things right. even if they do follow through with their promise what will it take for us to realize we need to change?

this is obviously a complicated question since we all use electricity.

http://www.ilovemountains.org/tva-spill/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27sludge.html

apparently when you hit save its exceptionally hard to figure out how to edit the post and the only thing you can do is publish it. anyhow, after spending the day at the museum i drove home only to be struck down with a bout of food poison including severe vomiting and discomfort. it was a nice way to ring in home with concern from the parents. being sick and away from home in my mind is one of the worst things that can happen and it was great to mope around in self pity the following day after sleeping in.

since getting over stomach issues life here has aligned much like boulder life. more often than not i'm looking for jobs over the internet or daydreaming.

okay, i'm sick of typing away. merry christmas!

christmas draws neigh

it seems like more often than not life has been in a crazy flux the last couple of weeks. thankfully my extended winter break (ie. job searching) has turned up little affording me to spend time with my family back in new mexico. this too marks a big transition from the last couple of years. all in all i've only spent about three weeks home the last two or three years and the prospect of staying here a little while seems nice, a way to get to know my parents and place better once again. perhaps just as important i enjoy the time in a cozy home to reflect about the past year whenever winter rolls around while in new mexico.

one of the more fun things i've done lately is go to children's museum where my sister works in albuquerque. akwardly this started out by me attending her annual christmas party after driving all day down from boulder. i've been able to hone my "get to know you" skills for the past couple of weeks but only for the grad school set but not before draining my extrovert tank, which was already past empty by the time the party came around. meeting the staff that stupid works with was well worth the trip though. there's something exciting when you see light bulbs go off in people's brains as they try to dissect the similarities between siblings and family in general. the most obvious between my sister and i being the well over a foot size difference between the two of us. explora got an even further dose of the thompson family the following day when my parents came into town with their little friends in tow while on babysitting duty. together we spent the day combing through the many exhibits with heat sensing cameras, elevators with couches, and giant size lincoln logs. it was a lot of fun to crawl through most of the exhibts with the children and made me remember how much it was to be carefree. what a wonderful day.

i was originally hoping to hold off with a new post giving a barrage of information about my new life here in boulder. things here are moving a bit more slowly than

i would like but not everything is bad. first a little recap on my trip out here

The trip started out pretty uneventful other than the normal gr snow for the season. not anything too out of the ordinary but not a good to begin.










Much later after stopping off in chicago for a couple of hours I came upon THE WORLD'S LARGEST TRUCKSTOP! Contrary to what anyone believes its not the most awesome thing in the world. There were some pretty sweet marine patches about the size of my chest with slogans like, "We don't negoatiate, we're Marines" with skulls liberally spashed all over the patch. i was puzzled why they had to be the size of my chest. There was also a pretty sweet wing of trucker wear with a sea of overalls and flannel. i was smitten but knew it was time to move on.


sleeping that night consisted of pulling off at truck stops and struggling to climb in my sleeping bag. i had packed my car so full that i couldn't tilt my seat back. this meant a ten minute fight before successfully zipping up and settling in for an hour or two of sleep. not the best choice but free.

nebraska was downright boring to drive through but things started to look up once i crossed into colorado. the sun started shining and fullfillment returned.


I haven't really taken any pictures since i got here save for these:

a very flattering before with double chin and dazed face















and a new and improved dorky picture:

we have a biracial president (!)
i move west in a couple of weeks (unemployment)
leaves here gracefully float to the ground as i eat soup

a homecoming

hey y'all,
i was recently able to go back home to new mexico for short weekend to participate in a wedding for the kruis family. my return marked the longest period i had ever gone without being home before, about 10 months, and has made me long for a future out west even as i enjoy life here in tennessee. coincidentally, i have also made some important short term decisions for me life (the stuff of adults) and will be relocating to the boulder colorado during the offseason. the move seems to make sense, as i'll be closer to family and have several friends already living in the area. when i say offseason there is actually a significant stretch between thanksgiving til march which i will not be in the south east after which point I have put in for reappointment, continuing as a naturalist in ten mile.

life here has afforded me quite a bit of time to play outside and in one week i went both rafting in south carolina and backpacking out at smoky mountian. both were good soulfilling trips and i hope to spend even more time outside as the leaves are bathed in fall splendor.


ps. i voted! i'll try posting more pictures on facebook when i have a quicker connection.

peacable bullets

staring blankly at a computer trying to compose thoughts while under the gun is a hard thing to do. it seems that i seldom have time or make time to compose "internet worthy" musings to share but i will try by using bullet points.

• went to the chattanooga aqarium a couple of weeks ago for free and received a vip tour of the facilities because our staff was in the area to give ee lessons. more education discounts on the way?




• tried frequenting the local scuzz bar near kingston. the line up or males with beer bellies and trucker caps playing pool was excentuated by the silence they offered as a group of coworkers and i waltzed in. definitely should have known better




• college football is huge in the south. no reports yet if has displaced the republican loving diety commonly reffered to as god. i suggest building youth group outings centered around six packs of odules, and tailgates while praying for a win would be a good way to dunk your child into both cultures.




• jumped off a forty foot high tree stretching to catch a trapeze for ropes course training. i love that an occupational hazard is getting rope burn accross your hiney (sp?)

• attended a local reagae concert in knoxville this past saturday. its my belief that this was the most heavily attended dude-bro (think baggy white tshirt plus matching white and or camo baseball cap) outing for UT freshmen looking to grind a willing girl. i danced in the corner for about an hour and a half before i realized i'm awkward, possibly sheltered.




• my speech patterns are know matching my roomates. i often insert 'man...' to begin a sentence. saying 'y'all' to groups no longer scares me. when i get the point where 'gal' is appropiate in most settings its time to move.




• southern fried dishes lead to tummy ache and more. no need to explain further.



• fall will be coming soon, the air feels crisp in the mornings. i can't wait for coldish weather

i'm sure there's more but that's all i can think of at the moment. despite some of these sounding mean spirited i really like it here.

settling

not too much here to report other than work and living is in full swing right now. i find my thoughts wandering to michigan as of late.

oh, since i'm at the public library and have a working internet connection i can post a couple photos i've taken. there should also be ones up on facebook shortly.

Ten Mile: More than a Job

I feel as though I’ve aged years in the past two weeks. Moving, driving and learning have left me with time to think about what I’m doing. Thus far working training has consisted of spending as much time outside as possible and going through a variety of different lessons we will later be giving as children. Running around playing variations of tag about trophic systems and belaying someone as they scramble up a tree has become normal. I’ve already taught five lessons ranging on topics of herpetology, outdoor survival skills, several team building exercises, and belayed for high ropes activities.

Life is good. I love Grand Rapids but the change in scenery has lifted my spirit and challenged me to open up to new ideas as life is more full of work and fun.

Our house is full to the brim of bright idealists from a number of different places: Georgia, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Maine, and of course, New Mexico. Listening to accents and inflictions of each person is a good way of passing time as we bond through eating, teaching, and sleeping in the same house. Luckily we get along famously and despite (or maybe in part of) the grueling schedule have spent time having conversation and telling stories of things we’ve done and how our lives have been shaped.

Living in such idealism has led me to try out being a vegetarian once again making our house evenly split between omnivores and vegetarians. This is much easier since when we do have time off we can cook together in our smallish kitchen in the naturalist house. My interests are moving more towards the ethics of food as I’ve started rereading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and have rewatched the documentary King Corn.

Having time off is to be treasured. Thus far I’ve been trying to make the best of it spending the most time outside seeing the sights that the south has to offer. On Saturday a couple of us drove a short distance to Fall Creek Falls in another part of Tennessee. There are about three or four water falls that all converge in a deep gorge and make roughly a 100 foot drop. The spectacular scenery included a vista that you could sit quietly dangling your legs off into the gorge and watch raptors below swoop down in search of food.

The other recent outing was not as pure fun as I thought it would be. Ashley, one of the other naturalists, planned an outing with relatives to the caves at Pigeon Mountain in North Georgia. Most of our house opted to join in towards the journey of possible doom. I can’t recall even doing something that scared and challenged me as much as crawling on my belly for 25 + feet and navigating through twisty z turns while being encased in rock. There were several times when I had to stop and take some centering breaths through my nose and out my mouth to regain composure. After spending nearly six hours exploring the cave getting out was an amazing experience. First light was piercing and comforting as my retinas struggled to adjust. The warmth of the rays of the sun embraced and pulled me up with the last bits of energy I had. Details of leaves and vivid colors in the vast outdoors were stunning. I’m not quite sure if caving is something I enjoy to do with any regularity.

Speaking of caving, I’ve spent the majority of my time here dealing with some type of injury. My accident prone nature through lack of coordination has shown itself through a big bike crash that scraped up both legs and arms pretty good and stupidly messing up both knees while caving. I hope not to spend the entire season in some type bandage.

I would appreciate any suggestions for reading material that anyone has. Now that training has concluded life will be much slower and I’m looking forward to learning more and spending moments of stillness with my nose, eyes, and ears buried in a book. Most of all, if you’re reading this thanks for taking interest in my life. Hopefully I can be more attentive to updating this blog so not every post is freakishly long.

I’m off to go hike on the peninsulas we have on the property overlooking the TN river. Peace.

Ten Mile: More than a Job

I feel as though I’ve aged years in the past two weeks. Moving, driving and learning have left me with time to think about what I’m doing. Thus far working training has consisted of spending as much time outside as possible and going through a variety of different lessons we will later be giving as children. Running around playing variations of tag about trophic systems and belaying someone as they scramble up a tree has become normal. I’ve already taught five lessons ranging on topics of herpetology, outdoor survival skills, several team building exercises, and belayed for high ropes activities.

Life is good. I love Grand Rapids but the change in scenery has lifted my spirit and challenged me to open up to new ideas as life is more full of work and fun.

Our house is full to the brim of bright idealists from a number of different places: Georgia, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Maine, and of course, New Mexico. Listening to accents and inflictions of each person is a good way of passing time as we bond through eating, teaching, and sleeping in the same house. Luckily we get along famously and despite (or maybe in part of) the grueling schedule have spent time having conversation and telling stories of things we’ve done and how our lives have been shaped.

Living in such idealism has led me to try out being a vegetarian once again making our house evenly split between omnivores and vegetarians. This is much easier since when we do have time off we can cook together in our smallish kitchen in the naturalist house. My interests are moving more towards the ethics of food as I’ve started rereading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and have rewatched the documentary King Corn.

Having time off is to be treasured. Thus far I’ve been trying to make the best of it spending the most time outside seeing the sights that the south has to offer. On Saturday a couple of us drove a short distance to Fall Creek Falls in another part of Tennessee. There are about three or four water falls that all converge in a deep gorge and make roughly a 100 foot drop. The spectacular scenery included a vista that you could sit quietly dangling your legs off into the gorge and watch raptors below swoop down in search of food.

The other recent outing was not as pure fun as I thought it would be. Ashley, one of the other naturalists, planned an outing with relatives to the caves at Pigeon Mountain in North Georgia. Most of our house opted to join in towards the journey of possible doom. I can’t recall even doing something that scared and challenged me as much as crawling on my belly for 25 + feet and navigating through twisty z turns while being encased in rock. There were several times when I had to stop and take some centering breaths through my nose and out my mouth to regain composure. After spending nearly six hours exploring the cave getting out was an amazing experience. First light was piercing and comforting as my retinas struggled to adjust. The warmth of the rays of the sun embraced and pulled me up with the last bits of energy I had. Details of leaves and vivid colors in the vast outdoors were stunning. I’m not quite sure if caving is something I enjoy to do with any regularity.

Speaking of caving, I’ve spent the majority of my time here dealing with some type of injury. My accident prone nature through lack of coordination has shown itself through a big bike crash that scraped up both legs and arms pretty good and stupidly messing up both knees while caving. I hope not to spend the entire season in some type bandage.

I would appreciate any suggestions for reading material that anyone has. Now that training has concluded life will be much slower and I’m looking forward to learning more and spending moments of stillness with my nose, eyes, and ears buried in a book. Most of all, if you’re reading this thanks for taking interest in my life. Hopefully I can be more attentive to updating this blog so not every post is freakishly long.

I’m off to go hike on the peninsulas we have on the property overlooking the TN river. Peace.

confession

i have something to confess, i'm still in grand rapids. my exit did not fall into the ride into the sunset category i had planned. my car has been beset with minor problems the past week and spent a day in the shop getting things repaired. by the time the wednesday repairs were completed it was already apparent it made little sense to go on two cross country jaunts where the midwest and west meet and later bleeding into the south. so meh. the extra time has granted me perspective on leaving, last week was crammed full of work, packing and seeing friends. with the onset of unemployment life has suddenly become rather mundane and relaxing. this is my summer vacation, what glory it is.

i leave next saturday for tennessee. anticipation has been growning in the pit of my stomach from quite some time.