A now, a word about our backyard July 27, 2008

We used to have a lovely, deep, in ground pool.  In the winter, it looked like this.  Then we got rid of it which was a lot of work for us and took 2 years.  But it came together, see here, here, and here.   In the meantime, I discovered gardening.  Which is sort of funny…for years people would show me around their gardens and I always thought “eh”.  Then, all of a sudden, I got hooked.  I think it was due in part to my boss, a plant geek, because as we traveled around the state he was always pointing out nifty plants, and that got me interested.  Additionally, one nice thing about working where I do is that I am surrounded by native plant experts who are always wanting to share either plants on information about them.

Fast forward, and the back yard looks pretty good (I need to go get a photo).  Last year we had quite a drought, which was unfortunate for many reasons, one of which being that had I bought all sorts of plants with some wedding money last May and then many of them did not survive.  I learned the hard way that in NC its best to plant in the fall! Some things hung on, and combined with things already in there it looks pretty good. Currently blooming:  Black and Blue Salvia,  Swamp Hibiscus,  some variety of Black-eyed Susan, Joe-Pye Weed, and New York Ironweed.

I really prefer using native plants, for one they are adapted to the soil and the climate.  Secondly, they tend to be very useful to bees, butterflies and birds.  Yesterday a Ruby-throated Hummingbird came to the salvia while Chris and I were standing there!  I recently read an article in Audubon Magazine about native bees so I am on a kick to make some bee houses.  (We have bird houses already, of course)!  I have tried veggies….last summer my sister in law and I grew vegetables together at her house (she has an all-sun yard) but the drought did a number on them, plus it turned out to be a lot of work.  Not necessary when we have so many farmer’s markets in the area!  Annuals don’t do much for me; I think its too much work.  Perennials, however, I do love.  And vines.  In fact, I think I may have a vine problem!  Thank goodness we have so much chain link fence left over from the pool days.  The vines can climb around all they need.

I already have a list together of plants to buy this fall, now that the backyard is doing well I am focusing my attention on the front yard, which is a weedy mess.  I have a few things in there, but the soil is just so crappy!  I hope to glean from my coworkers a list of NC natives that LOVE red clay.  I can hardly wait for the fall plant sales.  Chris, you better lock up our credit cards!!

Final Swamp Dispatch July 21, 2008

Well, its done. Field season is over!  Now I get to work in the office and resume the daily game of trying to find a parking space in Raleigh.  I just lost the space I have been using for the last year, and I haven’t gotten my new bus pass yet.

Not much to say about the swamp last week:  we had lovely weather,  extremely pretty full moon nights, and our boss took us out for a fancy dinner, even.  The bird work was dull (currently our birds are just chilling out, eating and feeding babies before migration) and we spent a lot of time packing gear.  Moving day, and just in time.  I really thought parts of our trailer floor was going to give way from rot at any moment. It sagged like a hammock!

This weekend was a big celebration, a rowdy night of drinking on Friday at Landmark with a lot of pals (thanks, ya’ll for coming!) and Saturday a nice dinner at J. Betskis with Carter and Chris.   It is good to be back.  I really like August because for me its a nice break between the chaos of constant field season travel and the chaos of the school year routine of managing interns, part timers, and students.   August for me is a time to get ready for big fall projects (and I have a lot this year, thanks to the meetings in Oklahoma this spring) and reflect on what I want to accomplish at the museum.   Also on the agenda is cleaning my office, which (and this comes as no surprise to those of you who have seen my house or car) looks like a tornado went through it.

There are also a lot of really fun things to do in Raleigh this summer, and I haven’t gotten to take advantage of most of them yet.  Outdoor movies at the art museum, the Raleigh paddle trail, doing lots of mountain biking which is my new favorite thing, and going to a Bulls or Railhawks game.  Plus, cooking in my own kitchen!  Its going to be a great month.  Y’all should come visit!

Mainely in Maine July 13, 2008

Just returned from a too brief summer visit to my folks, who live in Maine. If you have never been to Maine, it is truly a special place, particularly in the summer. Not hot (at least to me, Ms. South Carolina Swamp) and it really is lovely there. A bonus is that when I visit my parents (even though I am squarely in my mid 30s) they spoil me rotten; including doing things like making my favorite foods. Like lobster, which I ate twice. Below are a list of nifty things to do in mid coast Maine.

• The Coastal Maine Botanical Garden is really a lovely place. Its brand new and located in Boothbay Harbor. The story is that 5 women put up there homes as collateral for a bank loan to purchase the land, which was for sale as new home lots. After they bought the land they began quietly fund raising, and what they have created is an amazing, enormous, plant gallery. There are some neat sculptures, nice trails to walk, really awesome stonework and a great view of a fork of the Sheepscot River (we saw a Bald Eagle).
• It seems like every Maine resident has about 1000 skills and is artistically gifted! I met one of my parent’s neighbors, who is about my age and makes nifty sand dollar jewelry sold by boutiques in Maine. This is in addition to lobstering (she has about 100 traps), having 3 children under 10, and being very active in local civic activities. Everyone up there like this! Maybe its the long winters that get those creative juices flowing. Anyway, Maine crafts are really amazing, so many talented folks! Check this out! And if they are not making lovely pottery, tiling, building furniture or sewing, they are really great artists. This is my parent’s favorite gallery. My favorite artist they carry is Andrea Peters, but I like Kevin Beers too; particularly the paintings of the house with the red roof.
• My parents live near Bath, home of the ship builder Bath Iron Works and consequently a long, long history of shipbuilding. The Maine Maritime Museum documents all this, and is fun to visit. This time, though, we went on a museum trip to Burnt Island, and island in Boothbay Harbor I gazed at every summer as a child but never visited.
• The birds, of course, are so great. My last morning I was awakened by a the sound of a Turkey gobbling and when I looked out the window there was the bird feasting on my parent’s blueberries. My parents were nonchalant about it (“oh, is that where the berries are going?”) but I thought it was cool. Other pretty birds: Blackburnian Warbler, Arctic Tern, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler. And lots and lots of Ospreys.

Of course it helps that my parents are fun people that I get along well with. They are big believers in two of my favorite pastimes: nap time and cocktail hour. They make me wish I was retired!!

Introduction to Modern Dance July 3, 2008

Last night one of my coworkers invited me to go with her to the American Dance Festival. I had never seen modern dance before, and jumped at the chance. The ADF occurs in Durham every summer, and it seems like all the cool people I attend a show or two, or in the case of my coworker, a whole bunch.

Now I must admit, I had some ideas about what Modern Dance would be like. Kinda weird, right? With some bizarre soundscape playing? I was not expecting it to be either A) hilarious, or B) featuring Donna Summer and Billy Idol (among others). But it was both of those things! I really enjoyed the performances.

The first part of the show was Larry Keigwin and Company who did two pieces, Air and Water.  Water was so humorously irreverent,  it was “about” taking a shower.  The dancers wore towels!  The dancing was amazing, too.  The second part of the show was Battleworks who did  a piece inspired by the extremely awkward square dance lessons the choreographer took as a child.  Not as funny, but it really got the point across (social dancing in 6th grade is frightening!).    Another Battleworks piece was called “Ella” and a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.  The dancing in that was similar to Ella’s scatting style and really quite intense.

Anyway, it was a great night, and a wonderful introduction to modern dance.  Thanks, Trish for indroducing me to a great art form.

Uh, then, last night Chris and I watched Heavy Metal Parking Lot.  Which is another kind of art, really….