I suppose I've left you all in suspense long enough.
There is also a possibility that I will come back to Chicago for the AAM (American Association of Museums) conference in May. But that is still months away and I have only just managed to make a decision about February!
By now I bet you are all wondering if I am ever going to leave the country! (or at least get off the continent)
And the answer is...
I've been accepted to a program (actually two programs) in Thailand. One is to teach English and the other is to work in a national park or on some sort of Eco-Tourist program.
I have to admit I'm terrified!
But I think I'm going to go! Ironically, just as I am getting ready to go, things here in San Diego are picking up. There are a lot of (possibly paying) positions working in education and/or exhibits in the S.D. museums. I'm torn!
Both Christmas and New Years were spent in San Diego with Jon and Vanessa. And both were relatively quiet.
Christmas Eve we decorated the rosemary bush as a Christmas tree. Then we drove to Coronado, to the hotel, to ice skate. (Here's another tangent -- The Coronado Hotel is huge! and rambling structure. Beautiful, especially at night all lit up, in a late 19th Century style. I felt very much like Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in "Some Like It Hot!" Coming from Chicago (where TC and JL witness the St. Valentines Day Massacre -- which occurred just down the street from where I used to work, by the way. We went for happy hour drinks at the Clark Bar which had a HUGE photo from the paper of the bodies in the garage where the "Old Folks Home" is now.) to the hotel where the film was, well, filmed.) What is more Christmas than ice-skating! Especially outside on the beach surrounded by palm trees?! The idea was great. The reality was a bit less. The rink was tiny and the ice so soggy that the hotel employees had to squeegee it constantly. "Where is the Zamboni?" I asked. Jon pointed to the squeegees. "I think they are the Zamboni!" 
It was also a bit expensive, so we decided to walk on the beach instead. That was such a great So. Cal. thing to do -- I went wading in the Ocean on Christmas Day! 
How many people can say that? (Other than all the other people on the beach I mean). Vanessa's friend Maria joined us and the four of us walked along the beach, enjoying the warm (almost) barefoot weather (it was a bit chilly). Someone suggested building snow men out of sand, and we considered it for a moment, but didn't. Then, just a little ways down the beach we saw two of them! Actually they were sand penguins, but the idea was there -- a friend and I in High School made a snow cat because our second ball was too heavy to lift onto the first one. 
We reached the end of the beach (traveling through the dog beach) just in time to stare in wonder at the beautiful red/orange sunset. The best of all, though was that as the sun was setting at least two, possibly more, dolphins came out to enjoy it too. 
Jon saw them first, then me and Maria. As we all stood pointing out the dolphins to Vanessa we saw one go up to the left, then immediately, from the same spot, we say another go up to the right. "There are two!" We all four cried out together! What an amazing and wonderful way to celebrate the year! (The strip of land, by the way, is the point that has the light house we visited at Thanksgiving and the dark blob in the water below the lighthouse is a dolphin.) On the way back we walked by moonlight. A quarter moon, waxing, but casting enough light so that I could see my Moon shadow! (I did not leap and hop, but reveled in it none the less) We finished our visit by sitting outside eating homemade ice cream at the hotel.
The day before New Years Day (does it have a name other than that?) 
We took a short tip into Mexico -- My trip around the world is now officially an international trip!). We got to eat real Mexican tacos and I got to practice my Spanish (which is pathetic -- though I can count to 20, say hello, good by and thank you.)
New Year's Day the three of us and the two dogs took a lovely walk through one of the canyons along what counts for a river in California, (read “stream" if you live in the Mississippi River Valley or east) to a Californian waterfall (read "rapids"). 
Our hike started by passing through a field that smelled of liquorish (always a good smell in my book). We continued past some sort of gourd and sycamore trees and then to the falls; the overall vegetation changing from desert scrub to grass land to big green bushes as we neared the water. The falls is lovely, though not really a "falls" by any but desert standards. The "river" flows gently though the narrow and rocky path it has cut through some tough rocks creating a rapids. 
We waded across the falls and enjoyed the ravine. Then we headed back as the sun was setting. Passing through the sycamores just as the smell of night (cold and wet and earthy and very welcome to me in dry San Diego) took over, the most amazing thing happened. Across our path -- only about 15 feet ahead of us -- flew a hawk! It glided, coasting down from the treetops to land in the tall grass about 20 feet away. Then after a minute or so (during which we all stood stunned with awe) it took off again. This time it drifted, almost lazily, into a tree nearby. Fantastic. So graceful. A good omen for the New Year I'm sure -- though I couldn't tell you what it means.
I seem to be here in San Diego for a while. I've been hanging out with Jon and Vanessa and their friends (one of whom I actually knew in college! We did a seminar term at the Newberry Library together -- how strange it that!), buying last minute things for my trip, and going to puppy school.
Christmastime in San Diego is odd. I'm having a very hard time realizing how close it is to the day itself. The weather here has been very warm (though we are in a cold spell at the moment -- highs in the low 60s, and record breaking temps at night -- it actually got down to 32oF a day or so ago!) -- at least by Midwest standards. The grass is green and the jade are all still blooming -- as are the Birds-of-Paradise (is that the correct way to pluralize it?) and various other flowers. The ornaments, however, hanging from the cactus just seem bizarre. And I can't quite reconcile seeing inflatable snowmen and light-up reindeer on beautifully manicured lush green lawns, or strips of cotton batting draped over bushes to look like snow. Too strange for my Midwestern brain. It's also funny to see the full range of clothing, being worn outside -- people are walking around in flip-flops and parkas -- sometimes simultaneously. I suffer from cold feet (no pun intended) and have begun wearing socks and sandals. It looks very strange. But I'm hoping it will start a new trend!
And here is one last comment, to ponder until the next installment: I found a transition hair the other day -- hairs that actually show the change from brown (or whatever) to white -- but this one (oddly enough) went from white to brown. The only conclusion I can come to is that I'm getting younger! Somewhere or other I came across the fountain of youth!
Las Vegas is a very strange city. And, though I think it is worth a visit at least once in a life-time (if for nothing more than a the realization of how bizarre it is), I have visited it many more times than I ever expected to. The first time I visited was bout 15 years ago. The Geology Club planned a summer field trip to California -- Death Valley, the White Mountains, etc. It is hard to take gear for 20 to 25 people (stoves and tents and such) on air-planes. So, some of us drove the van, loaded with equipment across the country, camping and enjoying the emptiness of the west on the way. We arrived at the Valley of Fire state park and spent the night, sleeping out, under the stars, listening to the sounds of the desert in the spring. The next morning, we got up and drove down the strip, looking for breakfast. ... I think we all experienced culture shock without even leaving the country. There were slot machines everywhere (even in the airport!), We got trapped in Cesar's Palace (there is a moving sidewalk into the casino, but no way out!) where, in the streets of ancient Rome, the statues of the gods come to life and clouds drift across a painted sky. The second time I visited I overheard two women on the street talking about the city. One says to the other as they walked under the Eiffel Tower at the Paris (?) Casino, "I don't know why anyone needs to go to Europe, when you can see all the wonders of the world here. In one place."
(I actually kind of enjoy LV. I could die happily if I never go back again, but ignoring the ecological disaster that it represents (Kentucky Bluegrass and fountains in the desert; and enough lights to make it seem almost like daytime in the middle of the night), there is a festive, amusement park feel to the strip. It is every excess of American culture with no apologies.)
I also found out that Wendy and I share a delight in what I affectionately call "trashy TV" and, as a result of this common decadence, I got to wallow in the Sci Fi series: Farscape! For the uninitiated, and from my perspective, Farscape is the Australian version of Blake's Seven, which is the British (anti)-version of Star Trek. -- I love looking at how the story/situations/characters/etc. change over the decades as they jump across the oceans! Wendy credits sci. fi. for getting her interested in science, and I know that my affection for the good stuff (and frustration with the bad stuff) has increased as I have learned more about science.
I survived! (Actually, I more than survived, I had a good time.) My mother and I went to visit my brother (Jon) and his fiancee (Vanessa) in San Diego for Thanksgiving. I have to admit that I was a little worried when my brother told me that there would be seven people (the four of us, Vanessa's mother, grandmother and brother), and two dogs (though very small dogs) in a two bedroom/one bathroom house. For a week! "Humm." I though,"I wonder how that will work? Where will they put us all? And for a week!" But, to be fair, we did basically the same thing last year at Christmas time, so I knew it would be OK. "And besides," I tried to reassure myself, "much of the rest of the world does this all the time!" And it worked out well. Every room in the house was filled with at least one bed, and there was very little room to move until the beds were put away for the day, but all in all it was good. There was a feeling of having a great big, on-going, sleep-over every morning. Everyone woke, or at least started moving around, at about the same time in the morning. Jon made coffee and we sat on the beds in our P.J.s and drank it, while cuddling with the dogs and generally being lazy. It took a while for everyone to get dressed and ready to start the day, what with having only one bathroom, but that just added to the sleepover feeling.
Most of our days were spent being very mellow and relaxed. Jon and Mom put together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and did a marvelous job doing it, even working around the limitations of an "apartment sized" ( i.e. one pan) oven. Vanessa picked the Turkey recipe and Jon and Mom spent hours making sure it came out golden and delicious! And then, a day or two later, Mom and I turned our Thanksgiving dinner (sans cranberries and sweet potatoes) into a wonderful pot pie! (I love, love, love pot pie -- I know that some people prefer mac and cheese as a comfort food (and it is one of mine, I admit), but for me, in the fall, winter, and spring (which is most of the time in Chicago), my comfort food is a turkey pot pie! Yum!)
We did have a couple of adventures. The most humorous, and also the saddest, was the Adventure of Leo's Tail (This is still a working title). Poor Leo was bitten by something. And, being a dog, kept "scratching it" with his teeth. So, after a while his tail became a bit messy (not too bad, but not getting any better either). The day after Thanksgiving, Jon and Vanessa took him to the vet. They were still gone about two hours later -- the rest of us were wondering what had happened to them -- the vet was only a 10 minute drive away. When they finally showed up, the poor puppy had a big plastic cone on his head! He looked so silly! And so pathetic. And he knew it. He milked it for all it was worth, though, getting sympathy love from seven different people!
We dispersed a bit on Monday -- the boys going to the University (one to teach, the other to observe) and the girls going to Coronado Island and then on a chilly, but beautiful, quest for "the lighthouse." We finally made it just as the sun was setting.
On Tuesday everyone left. And by everyone I really mean Mom, Danny and me. But we were 3/5 of the guest population, so that counts for a lot. After taking Mom and Danny to the airport, and watching another movie, Vanessa's mother, grandmother and I wandered around the San Diego Natural History Museum. It is very small, and does not have very much exhibit space, but the paleontology/life in California exhibit is very good. There is a sense of whimsy in how it was put together that is delightful. It also does a good job of encouraging people to try to think scientifically by asking them to draw their own conclusions based on the evidence. For instance, one display showed a humerus from a mammal and asked the participant to decide if the animal had been a runner, swimmer, or climber, based on comparisons with living (well, now dead) animals that were runners, swimmers, and climbers. Very Cool! I also liked the way they depicted the dinosaurs. The skeleton was mounted inside a skin depicting what we think the dinosaurs looked like. It is interesting to see the relationship between the bones and the skin. It makes the bones more accessible.
Since then, I have spent the past long weekend visiting my Mother in TN. This trip, and time, are going to fast! I feel like I am rushing from place to place, never really being ready to move on to the next place. This happened again with Mom. Mostly I rested and visited. But on the last full day, Mom and I got to work! We burned the trash, we mowed the yard and chopped the leaves, and I even got up on the roof and cleaned out the gutters! I love being handy!
My two weeks in Chicago flew by. I thought I would have oceans of time, but somehow, and I'm really not sure how, the time flew by! I tried counting up my days, to figure out what I had done with my time and couldn't do it. Some of it I spent at the Field Museum volunteering: cleaning skeletons, both fossil and bone; making labels; giving tours to friends. Some of it I spent babysitting or cat sitting. A lot of it I spent visiting with friends. I want to take a minute here, to say thank you to Charlotte and Andy for letting me live in their house while I stayed in Chicago. I was wonderful to have a "home" in my home town.
Monmouth is a small, quiet town. It has a town square where we spent one art class chasing chickens that had fallen off a truck the night before. And streets with no curbs. I can't explain how profound I find that. It is a town that is large enough to have sidewalks and green ways between the walk and the road, but small enough that no one has ever bothered to put in curbs. Big cities have both, small towns have neither (or maybe just a sidewalk with a curb). But Monmouth is somewhere in the middle. It was interesting to go back, to see the town again. And see how much it has (or has not) changed. I'm not sure if it is related to the change or not, but I had large gaps in my memory of what the town was like. There were somethings that had clearly changed: the college, for example, has expanded and taken over much more of the town; the library, too, has expanded and taken over one whole section of the square; and the movie theatre is gone. Some things were very much the same: the bank, my old house, the High School, and the house I was so proud of drawing in art class (it actually looked three-dimensional: sun and shadow on different planes, and bushes that had depth and looked cool and dark at the bottom and bright green and leafy at the top). And then there were things I had no memory of: like the blocks between the school and the library. I know I walked them every day, but I had absolutely no memory of them. Have they changed that much? They don't look like they have. But how could I not remember them so completely?
I had a wonderful time visiting with Elke, Tim, Stella, and Hollis. Elke, Stella, Hollis and I had an adventure on my last day there. We went out to an apple orchard and walked along the country roads for a little while. On the road we came across a little garder (or is it garter?) snake, warming itself on the pavement. (I almost stepped on it, but Elke saved its life, but grabbing me back from its fangs!) I never knew that garder snakes had fangs and would attack if threatened. Logically, it makes sense, (there aren't any vegetarian snakes as far as I know) but who knew that tiny, "cute" garder snakes would hiss and attack?!
My other trip out of the city was to McNabb. It is an even tiny-er town (no curbs here either) that is the home of Clear Creak Friends Meeting and Illinois Yearly Meeting. They are a very warm and welcoming meeting that has meant a lot to me over the years. I am very happy to be part of the meeting, even if I am not there physically. They have done a lot of work on the grounds in the past few years and it looks wonderful! It, too, is an interesting juxtaposition of the past and the present/future.Memories of childhood balanced against the changes and growth towards the future.
This one I took driving on LSD. Not the best idea, I realize, but traffic was actually very slow and, having a digital camera, all I had to do was aim in the general direction and click the shutter.
This is a turnstile (obviously). I find myself fascinated by decay and creation. I love looking at buildings and such that are in the process of being torn down (or are falling down), or in the process of being rehabbed. It is fascinating to look at the internal structure -- the skeleton -- and see how it works within the skin of the structure. Or things like this, where the turnstile continues to function, despite the obvious wear. It is all part of the creative process -- the old breaking down and becoming something else. I'm still working on how to express this idea.
The lions are always wonderful! And iconic to Chicago. I actually fell off this one when I was in Jr. High. Oops. I'm sure that is part of why they don't want people climbing on them.
This is another view of LSD (also from a car). This is the intersection of LSD and 12th street. Hidden in the bank of fog to the left is the Field Museum. Believe it or not.