Seattle to Co. Spr.

If there is anything I can't do, its turn down an interesting opportunity to travel and explore...I applied for the Colorado College Co-teaching Fellowship mid-way through my time in Greenland.  I love TAing, and can't with my current fellowship.  The CC opportunity seemed like the best way to teach again not to mention explore a new place.


For two weeks in Thule, after a full day of sampling and sample processing, I spent the evenings hitting their new bouldering wall followed by application writing for the CC position of Co-Teaching "human impacts on biogeochemical cycles".  This app required a teaching statement, CV and letters of rec.  It was the first teaching statement I had ever written...and at the end it was over 3 pages.  The submission date was truncated by the scheduled heli ride and Greenvalley sample trip...there was no time to fully proof-read it.  I sent it in from 77 degrees North...


...turns out it was a pretty good first jab at a teaching statement.  I interviewed at CC a few months ago.  My ~45min talk on longterm carbon cycling was a success and the meetings went well, so I got the job: Co-teaching EV 211 "human impacts on biogeochemical cycles" with Prof. Steven Janake.

road to Boise, ID

I decided to drive to Co.Springs, CO in 3 days.  I left Seattle on Saturday, Feb 11 after organizing work for my three undergrads, cleaning the apt. and tying up numerous loose ends.  Sat morning was relatively lazy, with a 7 am start, mega-egg breakfast, coffee, the works.  True to form, and despite my planning, I had not sorted out a way to play my ipod in the car, I left the directions for 3 days of driving in the one text book I decided to leave at home, and I ended up buying/owning three of the same car-phone chargers (don't ask, I'm just a little spacy... redundancy is better than a deficit?).  And, though I have a car GPS, I mostly relied on the classic paper maps that did make it into my car.

country music is poplular in the space age

Day 1 (Sat Feb 11) I drove approx. 500 mi. to Boise, ID.  Snoqualmie pass was clear and the weather was good for the entire first day.  I crossed the 45th parallel half way between the pole and the equator.  Along the way I stopped at "space age" rest stop in eastern WA, where country music was blaring in the little convenient store.    Who knew country music would be so popular in the Space Age.  The second best rest stop: Love's.  Whats not to love!?  Pulling into Boise I had my priorities: find a brewery.  Between my fancy new phone and GPS I found the Sockeye Brewing Co. and ended my 8 hour driving day with a fantastic burger and beer.

Day 2: Another 500 or so mile? drive to Jackson Hole, WY.  I headed into the mountains, off the direct route for some catch-up time with Vanessa Bergman!  My fearless outing club co-president from UR!  I met up with Vanessa at the Teton ski resort for some beer and good conversation with her friends. Then we headed up to the cabin she shares with Matt.  With the wood burning stove roaring, the house warmed up quickly.  We cooked elk meatballs with spaghetti and sauce.  The Elk was Matt's first kill and tasted wonderful.  You can't get any closer to organic, free range than that!  Much thanks to Vanessa and Matt for letting me stay with them; The house and company was wonderful and relaxing.  I instantly felt at home and fell in love with the place.

Wyoming flat lands

Day 3: I headed southeast to David and Joan's house in Longmont, CO.  The drive was long and mostly flat.  Leaving Jackson Hole I could see the mountains shrinking in my rear view mirror with only farmland and high wispy clouds in the foreseeable future.  My stay in Longmont proved another relaxing and homey place as always.  Over the next two days I played with Cody, now 3.5 months, an adorable laughing, flailing, little spit machine.  I took an evening to catch up with some friends I had lived with in New Zealand, and had not seen for about 5 years. 

Perspective of a stranger

Being my own company opens an added awareness of others, aka eavesdropping and a seeming propensity for attracting conversations with 30-40 year old men... 


My perspective as a stranger:




On my interview trip to Co Spr. I met a man who owns a fireworks company, traveling to Seattle for a firework convention.  We chatted about chemistry a bit, the colors different metal combustion reactions created, he offered his card and an invitation to meet up while he was in Seattle.


Traveling with my parents in Colorado a man stuck up a conversation with me.  He owns a plumbing/piping business that his mothers ex-husband trained him in.  He didn't know what he was going to do with his life, plumbing seemed to fit well enough, and someone was willing to teach him, he was happy.  "who was that guy?" my family asks, "A nice guy who owns a plumbing business."


Today, the woman sitting a couple tables away from me told her friend the story about how her son had a seizure.  He stopped breathing.  She was there, on the side of the road, giving her son chest compressions.  About 10 compressions in, he gasped and started breathing again...medications, bodies malfunctioning, brain connections lapsing in their duties.  My life feels easy.


5 middle aged women sat one table over, large glasses of red wine, chocolate cake split between them; talk about the primaries, bitching about their husbands, about hair dryers, about facelifts.  Only one woman said, my husband is wonderful...is this how it is? only 1 out of 5 really happy?


A man with a mac and an "artists" go-tee, sitting one table over, playing music in a coffee shop, (I find it annoying when people play their own music in coffee shops without head phones).  He strikes up a conversation, "what do you teach"? "human impacts on biogeochemical cycles"... many people aren't totally sure where to go from there... (ok dude) "what do you do?"  he runs/organizes? a non-profit organization on leadership and international *insert string of buzz words that don't really go anywhere* and hes written a book.  "oh, nice" I'm still trying to process what exactly this non-profit is about, after about 15 seconds I decide is possibly not about anything...I don't ask about the book.  He asks about the class. I tell him chemistry, Carbon cycle, etc.  "so things like global warming and shifts in the magnetic field" ... anytime someone relates shifts in the magnetic field to human activities, its a red flag...then he asks if we study anything like chemo*insert crazy theory term, maybe having to do with crystals here*.  Nope, just basic Chemistry.  Well, have a nice night (dude).


Colorado College climbing gym,I chat with a girl on Women's Wednesday; ask her what year she is (a freshman), what she is studying (no idea- my favorite answer :) ).  Then she asks "how old are you, I MEAN what year are you?"  It was hilarious. I explain I'm co-teaching a class, "oooooh that makes more sense...I was thinking 6th year senior or something".  grad students and 25 year olds are an anomaly at CC, most people, professors and students, are a little unsure of which one I am.


Jackson, WY; sitting with the locals who run the cafe at Tieton ski resort, talking with a guy about life, and only 1 beer in, hes telling me his life story, telling things people at the table who have known him for much longer than my 30min interaction, have never heard.  It all felt so real.  All of Jackson, my friend, and her happy, content and healthy relationship with her boyfriend, their small one bedroom cabin, heated by a wood burning stove; the story of his first successful elk hunt while eating elk meatballs we had cooked up.  Pure goodness.