BZZZZZ

Alan and I have the privledge to live in close quarters with some creepy (and not so creepy) critters. Perhaps the most appealing housemate is the robin and two chicks that are nesting in our garage. Last week I was lucky enough to witness the chicks first flying lessons. One did quite well and the other sort-of ran into Alan's car...I hope it got away ok.

Our next house guest does a good job of keeping the mosquitoes at bay, but leaves a lot of little messes on my car...can you guess? BATS! The "garage" is more like a car port in that there is no door. The bats like to hang out in the rafters in the evening, but they must have another hiding place during the day.

Our third guest is definitely the one I struggle to enjoy. Many of you know that I am not fond of flying insects so the fact that we have a population of about 20 cicada killers living in our front lawn is not terrific in my book. As the old saying goes "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger", I am slowly desensitizing to these critters and although I will probably never LOVE flying insects, I at least have less anxiety about them. As the pictures below show they look like giant hornets, but they are actually pretty harmless. The males have false stingers and can't hurt you at all. Although the females do have stingers, they are not aggressive and I guess the sting doesn't feel like much. The females dig nests in the sand to lay their eggs, meanwhile the males are cruisin' around looking for a mate. As their name suggests they snack on cicadas which are rather loud insects, but not often seen because they would just rather be in the trees. So although there is nothing to be afraid of, I still scurry in and out of the house waving my arms about and probably giving the neighbors a few good laughs! I must give a big thanks to Alan for being brave and taking photos of our friends, the cicada killers.

Montana Adventure

Alan and I recently returned from two glorious weeks in Montana! We had a lovely time visiting family and seeing the beautiful scenery. Check out our adventures below.

Alan and I started our adventure at Canyon Ferry Lake just outside of Helena. The first night Alan was in town we went to the county fair to take in a rodeo...Alan's first!

View from the cabin.

Yee-Haw! The rodeo was great fun, but I think the livestock got the best of the cowboys.

Alan enjoying some sun at the beach with my cousin Trey in the background.

Alan, my mom, my step-dad, and I walked down to the creek that runs through the ranch owned by my mom's family. The creek is a great spot for fishing as the little brook trout are plentiful and the fishing pressure low. Montana received a ton of snowfall this past winter, some of which has not yet melted. All of this water contributed to the beautiful scenery and good water levels.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.

~Norman Maclean

Success!

Our next adventure took us to the Flathead Valley which includes a beautiful chain of lakes and the west entrance to Glacier National Park. We enjoyed beautiful scenery, many water falls, great hospitality thanks to our good friend Aaron, and great hiking. This was our second trip to Glacier, a place that is quickly becoming one of our very favorite places to go.

Morrell Falls

Glacier National Park

Whitewater Rafting! Alan and I experienced the thrill of whitewater rafting on the middle fork of the Flathead river which borders Glacier. We decided on the 10am float so that we had more time to play in Glacier. The only down side was that it was about 55F and overcast so it was a bit chilly to start out! Although we don't have pictures from the river check out Alan in his cold-weather water gear.

Beautiful Glacier

I love Montana!

Saddle up Partner!

My papa, Kerry, and step-mom, Ivy, treated Alan and I to a great horseback ride. My dad has been around horses most of his life, but Alan, Ivy and I were learning as we went along. Everyone had a great time and Alan looked like a natural!

Papa and Betsy, our guide, help to get Alan saddled.

Alan is saddled up and ready to ride on his trusty mare Flaxey.

Ivy's looking good on Tangles.

Papa, Amber, and Ivy riding the range.

Papa and Ivy with Jo, a friendly border collie.

Charade

I love, love, love Audrey Hepburn! Last night I watched the 1963 film Charade and it was marvelous. The film stars Audrey Heburn and Cary Grant along with a very young and skinny Walter Matthau. The film is the most wonderful who-done-it that keeps you guessing at every turn. And did I mention Audrey is in the film? What a wonderful woman she was! I personnally enjoy her acting and think she is beautiful, but am also in awe by all of her humanitarian efforts. Audrey's childrens fund is called "All Children In School" which raises money to educate children in developing nations. She also spent much of her later years working with UNICEF. If you want to check out more her family has created a nice website at http://www.audreyhepburn.com/ . Hats off to you Audrey!

An Alternative Approach

This week I had my third acupuncture appointment and I think I am finally convinced that there really is something to Eastern medical treatments. After over two years of consulting Western medical practitioners about my neck and back pain I was left with a lot of pain, but the reassurance that I am structurally sound. I am thankful that there are not structural problems, but the pain is really starting to get to me. My whole experience with acupuncture has been very pleasant. The practitioner has a broad understanding of the human body, interactions with the environment, as well as Western medical practices and medications. She determined that my liver chi (energy) was stagnant (YIKES!) and that my yang was increased and overcoming my yin (never good). The first session was a bit of a blur as I was trying to keep straight my yin and yang while experiencing the sensation of approximately 30 needles in my body. The needles don't hurt at all going in or leaving. After all the needles are in place you get to just sit, or lay in my case, and relax for about 30 minutes. All in all it is very enjoyable. There are some sensations of tingling or tensing and releasing but nothing thus far has been uncomfortable. The session this week was amazing. After 30 minutes I felt deeply relaxed, similar to the feeling after receiving a massage. I feel like my pain over the past couple days has also decreased...thank goodness!

I wanted to share this experience to say, that in some cases other ways of looking at our bodies and ways to help are bodies are very important alternatives. Prior to this experience I was pretty neutral about alternative therapies, but in my case it has made all the difference.

Peace.

Lightning Bug Storm Trackers

Since yesterday the humidity levels have been going up and up. We work up to rain then the sun came out increasing the humidity until the storms finally came in around 7:30pm. Alan and I enjoyed watching the storm front come in complete with lots of cloud rotation. Thankfully other tornado conditions were not present so we were not in harm's way.

While Alan was tracking the cloud movement I was tracking the only bug I have ever come to enjoy...Lightning bugs! I still remember the first time I saw lightning bugs, which are not native to Montana. During high school I traveled to Chicago for a summer program and had my first encounter. My new found friend Coralee and myself were walking outside around 4th of July. All of a sudden I saw "sparks" on the ground and thought they were parts of a firework. Coralee just laughed and laughed and said "Girl, those are lightning bugs." She went on to catch one and show me up close how it lights up. Ever since them I have been enamored with them. Below is a video that is not great, but if you watch carefully you will see the sparks of light.

A Midsummer's Night Dream

Last weekend Alan and I joined our friends Lara, Chad, and Kim for a lovely evening at the American Players Theater in Spring Green, WI. The play company specializes in Shakespeare and performs in an outdoor amphitheater. We saw the classic A Midsummer Night's Dream, but the company took a few artistic liberties and set the whole show in modern day. The result was a hilarious story containing multiple love triangles, faeries, and even a goblin or two.

Before the play many people gather for picnics on the theater campus. Alan and Chad grilled up some tasty meats while the Lara, her sister Kim, and I enjoyed a glass of wine before dinner.

"Sisters, sisters, never were there such devoted sisters...."

It's a Small World After All

Alan and I just returned from a lovely vacation in Walt Disney World to celebrate his parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary. A fun time was had by all! Enjoy the photos below.

Our journey began in Animal Kingdom, home to both Asia and Africa. Pictured above is a view of Mt. Everest and a look through the Asian jungles. One of the most amazing parts of Disney World is the ambiance that allows you to forget that you are in central Florida...and with a little imagination feel like you are in the Himalayas.

In the middle of the Animal Kingdom you will find a beautiful hand-carved tree featuring all of the animals you can imagine. The tree is titled the "Tree of Life Garden" and it was great fun trying to look for all of the different animals.

No trip to Walt Disney World would be complete without a trip to the Magic Kingdom and a look at Cinderella's castle. Although the park does not look busy in this photo, later in the day you could barely move around as the crowds were so large.

Both Alan and I really enjoyed Epcot. We found out it EPCOT stands for "Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow" and just as the name suggests there are many displays of what the future may be like. Above is shown a magical eggplant tree...ok, so it is not magical, rather it was bred to grow like a tree to keep the fruits off the ground and increase production. We went on a ride called "The Land" that highlighted the innovations Disney World is using to grow fruits, vegetables, and fish. Many of the plant technologies include breeding for growth of plants in sandy soils or salty conditions as well as hydroponics (growth in water) and aeroponics (growth in air). The whole family enjoyed seeing these novel ways to grow plants, but I must admit it was the geeky plant scientists that were shouting the "ooohs" and "aaahs".

The other side of EPCOT includes a trip around the world to 11 different countries. Each country highlighted foods and customs from the area. A trip to the Netherlands found Amber in the arms of a troll. Although she doesn't look in distress, that troll was pretty big... Good thing her knight in shining armor came to her rescue!

In the words of Jiminy Cricket...

When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are,

Anything your heart desires will come to you

First Blog

Today is the day I move into the future of information sharing. After throughly enjoying friend's blog sites (Great work Stein family!) I have decided to create a blog about the ever-exciting lives of a graduate student, yours truely, and post-doc (Dr. Smith) and their adventures in Madison, WI and beyond. Look forward to pics from our latest outings, random thoughts, and probably a few rants as this very important election year continues on.
Peace out!