Thoughts on Goodbyes

So it's amazingly sunny and beautiful today, a rare gorgeous day this summer since it's been pretty cold and rainy.  On days like this I cannot possibly imagine leaving Alaska.  It's truly a place like no other.  I had a great time at a bonfire with friends last night - yummy smores made with Reeses!  And plans for some more fun in the midnight sun tonight.  

I love being close to the mountains and the ocean, even when I don't get out in them as much as I'd like; I like having them there - being able to look at them and appreciate them daily.  Walking into work and being stopped in my tracks by the beauty - what an amazing creation God has made!  I love going out fishing and then spending the evening at a fish fry with friends.  And living in a small town - although it can be tedious to have everyone in your business, it's fun to go to the grocery store or post office and say hello to ten people.  

It's heartbreaking to think of leaving . . and my mind keeps wanting to postpone it.  But I really think that grad school is the route to go to get into the fieldwork I really want to be doing and have the desire and passion for.  Also, if God pulls some strings and potentially opens a door at Duke University . . I kinda feel I should take it.  I guess the good way to look at this is, it's not goodbye, just see you later.  (hopefully soon)

Temperate Forest Woes

It's raining.  For those who know me, not usually a huge deterrent, but in this case, it means really high meltwater in the steams.  My weekend pans were dampened (literally) by weather and unavailability of the forest service cabin. I booked it for another weekend and will hope for calmer streams and nicer weather.  The recent rain has turned our streams into blueish-grey turbulent rivers.  So I 'm going to try and hike the Harding Icefield trail on Monday if it's clear skies.  Living around here you get spoiled - no point in hiking the whole way up and being unable to see the icefield due to clouds.  

My own little cabin is clouded in today.  I can barely see the tops of the treeline nearby.  I know there are large snowcapped mountains in my view too, but you'd never be able to tell without prior experience - the fog is too thick to even show the shadowy outlines of the mountains.  

The other day, I was a few minutes late for work (unfortunately becoming more frequent due to my horrid sleep habits), but this day I had a good excuse - There was a momma and baby moose in the middle of my neighborhood road who seemed pretty contentment to just stay there, regardless of the cars.  Only in Alaska are moose and bears valid excuses for tardiness.  Unfortunately being exhausted is not.  I have sleep issues anyways, but having picked up another job, waitressing at the bistro, is taking it toll - although it's incredibly fun, some days more fun than the aquarium - mainly due to the abundance of smiles from coworkers at the bistro - I'm tired.  It is helping add to the gas fund for the trip south though.  And I bought my first piece of roadtrip gear today - a hard shelled box for the top of my car!  I'll pick it up at REI in Anchorage in two weeks along with a roof rack.  Fun stuff!  No timeline or departure date set yet, so keep checking back.  

Here's a few more photos of my kids.  From left to right:  Rhinoceros auklets, Red-legged kittiwake, and Common murre.  (All in the aviary habitat).

Photos

  

The Avian Habitat, as viewed from the aquarium roof.  

Conducting education programs with Darin, using distance education technology. 

Conducting a Puffin Encounter program for Shannon and Nikki.  

One of my favorite kids, "Hudson", a pigeon guillemot at hatching.  

"Rain", a horned puffin, and frequent educational ambassador.  

Welcome & Background

This blog was originally published at www.trailjournals.com/nicki but is being relocated here for the long term.  Here are the original posts:  

Come this fall, I will be departing Seward, AK and traveling to Durham, NC, anticipating to start classes in January at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment, the Master's program in Coastal Environmental Management.  

For those who are new, I graduated from Sweet Briar College in 2006 with a B.S. Environmental Science, minor in Biology.  During my sophomore year, I worked with a SBC alum in Long Key, FL at a marine lab - most of the work was conducting underwater field surveys and working in the spiny lobster disease laboratory, but it was my first "job" in the marine field, so it was pretty exciting.  From there I spent part of my junior year abroad in Baja California Sur with the School for Field Studies, studying grey whales, sea turtles, and the coastal ecosystem.  I fell in love.  That summer (2005) I

 took my first trip up to Alaska, as an intern in Seward, where I tried to get my hands into anything they would let me.  Something must of worked, because I came back just over two years ago for a full time position with the Avian Department.  My job is split between husbandry (taking care of the exhibit and research birds) and conservation education.  I also get to spend some time in the rehabilitation department, working a bit with the marine 

mammals and seabirds who come through those doors, as well as working with the conservation science department (research) whenever possible collecting data.  I have learned so much with my first full-time job in the marine field, and am so thankful for the experiences and opportunities I have had here.  But it's time to move on - at least for now.  To grow and explore and learn.  

The roadtrip back to the 'Lower 48' will be a roundabout trip full of adventures - the plan is to include some fantastic stops along the way like Wrangell-St. Elias and Yellowstone National Parks.  I loved my time working with the Outdoor Program (SWEBOP) at Sweet Briar College, and I've loved my time in Alaska - it's a fantastic, original, outdoorsy place - so I want to include as much wilderness and fun hole-in-the-wall places on my trip as possible.  

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy my Alaskan summer, abet the shortage of sunny, warm days this year.  It's been colder than normal and I'm pretty busy - working for the Avian Department as well as waitressing at Yoly's Bistro, and playing on the company softball team (non-competitive team).  This weekend, the plan is to hit up the Resurrection Pass Trail on the Kenai Peninsula and stay at a Forest Service Cabin there.