Arctic Tundra Dynamics 08 Journals

I took my love, I took it downClimbed a mountain and I turned aroundAnd I saw my reflection in the snow covered hillstill the landslide brought me down Oh, mirror in the skyWhat is loveCan the child within my heart rise aboveCan I sail thru the changing ocean tidesCan I handle the seasons of my life Well, I’ve been afraid of changingcause I’ve built my life around youBut time makes you bolderChildren get olderI’m getting older too So, take my love, take it downClimb a mountain and turn aroundAnd If you see my reflection in the snow covered hillsWell the landslide will bring you down If you see my reflection in the snow covered hillsWell maybe the landslide will bring you down Thanks Fleetwood Mac   I cannot think of a better song for my reflection- a song that I have played on my...

Hello darkness, my old friend,I’ve come to talk with you again,Because a vision softly creeping,Left its seeds while I was sleeping,And the vision that was planted in my brainStill remainsWithin the sound of silence. Thank Simon and Garfunkel I am back in Lake Worth, Florida and reflecting on my whole experience. Although my brain is mulling over what I learned about carbon, global warming, Arctic birds and how I am going to teach all of this to my students, this moment I mostly think of my travels around Alaska. I will have plenty of time to process my increase of knowledge while in Barrow as I set pod casts and video’s into motion during this next week. We had a wonderful adventure with most of our days under the skies of amazing weather. We left Barrow and went to...

I'm still young, but I know my days are numbered1234567 and so onBut a time will come when these numbers have all endedAnd all I've ever seen will be forgotten Won't you comeTo my funeral when my days are doneLife's not longAnd so I hope when I am finally dead and goneThat you'll gather round when I am lowered into the ground When my coffin is sealed and I'm safely 6 feet underPerhaps my friends will see fit then to judge meOh when they pause to consider all my blundersI hope they won't be too quick to begrudge me Won't you comeTo my funeral when my days are doneLife's not longAnd so I hope when I am finally dead and goneThat you'll gather round when I am lowered into the ground If I should die before I wake upI pray that the Lord my soul will take butMy body, my body - that's your job...

Thanks Elton John and Bernie Taupin – you are both my all time favorite! Turn me loose from your handsLet me fly to distant landsOver green fields, trees and mountainsFlowers and forest fountainsHome along the lanes of the skyway… …For just a Skyline PigeonDreaming of the openWaiting for the dayHe can spread his wingsAnd fly away againFlyaway skyline pigeon flyTowards the dreamsYou've left so very far behind Just let me wake up in the morningTo the smell of new mown hayTo laugh and cry, to live and dieIn the brightness of my day… Wow 33 days. I am trying hard not to have any regrets, but if I did have any, (ha - I am sliding them in) it would have been that I took more time to watch birds and that I would have pressed flowers. But that’s pretty much it. Not too bad I suppose. My mom...

When can I see you again Can my heart beat again, baby When can I see you again And when can I breathe once again And when can I see, babe, again -----> thanks to Baby Face singing this song --- > thanks to 3 degrees for the lyrics Happy three years! Love You. Jose Luciani *********************************************************   The life of a research scientist. Jose is 21 years old and will spend his 3rd year anniversary of dating his beloved Gretel in Barrow while she is in Miami. Jose has been in Barrow for one month and will not be returning to Miami until mid to late August. Welcome to the life of a science researcher. True it seems that most of the people I have met are single, possibly over 80%. But there are many that aren’t and it IS hard on both ends. I...

The jungle drums are beatingWith the tales from late last nightcause stories bear repeatingFor everyones delight You can hear em on the coconut telegraph (telegraph)Cant keep nothin under their hatYou can hear em on the coconut telegraph (telegraph)Sayin who did dis and datDis and dat, dis and dat Now Im not one to deal in gossipBut was he that big a foolTo do a belly-buster high diveAnd miss the entire pool And what became of sweet melissaAnd the boy nobody knewDid ricardo ever find herI swear its just between me and you Chorus:But you can hear it on the coconut telegraph (telegraph)By now everybody knowsYou can hear it on the coconut telegraph (telegraph)Just who comes and goesComes and goes, comes and goes La, la la la, la la laLa, la la la, la la laLa, la la la, (la la la la la la la)...

Rollin down a backwoods Tennessee byway, one arm on the wheel, holdin myLover with the other: a sweet, soft, southern thrill.Worked hard all week; got a little jingle on a Tennessee Saturday night.Couldn’t feel better: I’m together with my Dixieland delight. Whitetail buck deer munchin on clover, redtail hawk settin on a limb, aChubby old groundhog, croakin bullfrog, free as the feelin in the wind.Home grown country girl gonna give me a whirl on a Tennessee Saturday night.Lucky as a seven livin in heaven with my Dixieland delight. Thanks Ronnie Rogers and Alabama Yeah Rob is here! After some delay – yes Rob is here! I arrived at the airport ready to see Rob after 3 weeks and then the announcement came that the plane had been circling and tried to land a couple of times. Unfortunately...

When you cant find the light,That got you through the cloudy days,When the stars aint shinin bright,You feel like you’ve lost you’re way,When those candle lights of home,Burn so very far away,Well you got to let your soul shine,Just like my daddy used to say. He used to say soushine,Its better than sunshine,It’s better than moonshine,Damn sure better than rain.Hey now people don’t mind,We all get this way sometime,Gotta to let your soul shine, shine till the break of day. Ahh I have loved this song for a long time – thanks Allman Brothers Band It won’t be very long until I get to see Rob! Sadly, Hooch will not be coming to Barrow with him! I am so excited for the 4th of July festivities. I am not sure what to expect, but know that we will have a float and if I can get Rob in time we will...

It's a world of laughterA world of tearsIt's a world of hopesAnd a world of fearsThere's so much that we shareThat it's time we're awareIt's a small world after all There is just one moonAnd one golden sunAnd a smile meansFriendship to ev'ryoneThough the mountains divideAnd the oceans are wideIt's a small world after all It's a small world after allIt's a small world after allIt's a small world after allIt's a small, small world   Thanks Sherman brothers for the great tune Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, wrote this song for Walt Disney back in the 60’s just to go with the Small World ride!   Santunu’s dinner was wonderful. We had some nice “hang out” time too.  I was telling the group about my NOAA Teacher at Sea adventure that I had last year. One comment led to another...

Goodnight baby, sleep tight my loveMay God watch over you from aboveTomorrow I'm workin' what would I doI'd be lost and lonely if not for you So close your eyes We're alright for now I've spent my life travelin'I've spent my life freeI could not repay allyou've done for me So sleep tight babyUnfurrow your browAnd know I love youWe're alright for now Gracias Tom Petty Today as I was taking Paulo to the field we saw an ambulance. Later this afternoon we found out that a 12-year-old boy was killed. He had gotten into an accident with his four-wheeler. So sad. He was with friends that rushed to get help, but to no avail. Flowers for the young man.   Every one cruises on four wheelers around here. It is a way of life.Please take a moment for this young guy. We worked in the field...

On this Friday nightWhen the feeling's alrightRockin rock steady groovesIn the middle of the nightEverything is heated upAnd nobody's standing stillWith my arm around my girlAnd a hundred dollar bill Thanks G-Love It is 9:12pm on a Friday night here at BARC. Some of the researchers told us to grab our coats because we were going into the -40 C freezer. Are you kidding? Is this the big excitement for a Friday night? Yep, - You got it! It wakes you up enough to keep you going for the next several to do what? Work or watch a movie…? UTEP University of Texas in El Paso, folks are watching Across the Universe. – I guess that fits!   Life with scientists! What are you doing on a Friday? – Hope it is more fun than suiting up to go into a -40C freezer. But at least it was something...

Pressure pushing down on me.... Mm ba ba deUm bum ba deUm bu bu bum da dePressure pushing down on mePressing down on you no man ask forUnder pressure - that burns a building downSplits a family in twoPuts people on streetsUm ba ba beUm ba ba beDe day da Thanks Queen *** Business – Germinators should be placing their soaked seeds outside today! I am pretty wiped out today. This is amazing to me because Paulo has been in the field since I was there at 10:30 am, but Paulo is still there and will be there until midnight. Meanwhile I have been back at “camp” since 4:30pm. So, when is the last time that you used something that wasn’t yours and it was extremely expensive? (Kids this may be easier for you to answer) When is the last time that you were doing something for someone and you knew...

I'm just carryin'on an old family tradition... ...I am very proudof my daddys name… If I'm down in a Honky-TonkSome ol' slicks tryin to give me correctionsI'll say leave me aloneI'm singin all night longit's a family tradition...              Thank you Hank Williams Nalukatuk It’s nothing but a lot of family traditions. Why do they gather several times during the summer? They are grateful for the gift of the whale so they share it with their entire community. This year the community harvested 9 whales and 2 were shared on June 21, 2008. They celebrate with a huge feast, serving fermented whale, raw whale, whale soup, cooked whale, pie, cupcakes, coffee and tea. There are no lines to wait in, because the whaling crewmembers serve their community. This was a great surprise and uncommon to...

  Qué onda guero?Qué onda Jose? See the vegetable manIn the vegetable vanWith a horn that's honkingLike a mariachi bandIn the middle of the streetPeople gather around… …Til the rooster crows ….Qué onda guero?Qué onda guero?Qué onda guero?Qué onda guero?       Thanks Beck   What’s Up? I am sure that is what you are wondering about now. In fact I am pleased to have some fans out there. Someone actually inquired about yesterday’s journal entry. Thank you for that and I will tell you "What’s Going On”. I had such a wonderful day yesterday at the Nalukatuk Festival that I decided to make a pod cast/ video for my journal. Hours later… well I guess you know it wasn’t finished. I will finish it today. Friday was a good day for learning. It was our first day of real data collecting...

Schools out for Summer… School belongs to teachers No more pencilsNo more booksNo more teacher's dirty looks,,, Schools out for summer… School belongs to teachers.. Much gratitude to Alice Cooper Well that song works great for kids, but not so great for me. Don’t get me wrong I am grateful to be learning about such wonderful cutting edge science in the arctic. The OTC = Open Top Chamber, but of course what else would it be?     Some of the plots have the OTC placed around it. It looks much like a green house with out the top, right? So we can all assume that it will heat the plot area a little. Put on your science goggles and lab coat – Why would we want to do this? In other words, what do you think would be so interesting about doing this? *...

The sun comes shining as I was strollingThe wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rollingThe fog was lifting a voice come chantingThis land was made for you and me… Thanks Woody Guthrie Recalling my last journal entry regarding the big dilemma of sand bags - how do we move 60+/- pound sand bags to our site, when we have to walk at least one mile (in some cases more) to the damn? I did hear a great suggestion from PolarTREC teacher Jillian Worssam (http://www.polartrec.com/bering-ecosystem-study-08). She suggested that we use sand from an area near our site. That would be a great idea if there were sand close by and if we didn’t mind trashing the tundra. Thanks for reading and replying! What they do is helicopter the sand in....

I need to laugh, and when the sun is outI've got something I can laugh aboutI feel good, in a special wayI'm in love and it's a sunny day Good day sunshineGood day sunshineGood day sunshine... Thank you Beatles! WHERE IS THE SCIENCE? ARE YOU ON VACATION? I am sure some of you are asking that by now, but have no fear it is coming. We are still waiting for all of the snow to melt. It could happen any day now. We went to the site today to have a look around. It is truly amazing to see how much of the snow has melted just since I first saw the site on Wednesday. Ironically, most of the snow that remains is due to the "man-made boardwalks" acting much like snow fences do, creating piles of snow build up. One thing about science and research is that you never can fully plan the...

“Sunny day...sweepin' the clouds away,on my way to where the air is sweet...” This time I thank Sesame street, are you noticing a theme yet? Wow, today is absolutely gorgeous! Chilly and windy but beautiful. If I look outside of the window I see what looks like Florida Skies. But the only weird thing is the sun’s location all day. It does NOT make it’s way across the sky yet around it. Notice the height in the picture above. It is about 4:pm right now and the sun is at the basic same height that I have noticed it to be since noon. But now it is in the western part of the sky whereas at noon it was sort of in the south east, which is when I shot the photo above.  Last night when I left the lab at ~ 11:45pm the sun was in the northern part of the sky and a tad bit lower but not much....

I’m on the top of the world looking down on creation… I have to thank the Carpenters (yes, middle school students they are musicians) for that one. I am on the top of the world, spiritually, mentally and physically! I hope you are too. Last night, I had a great dinner at the world famous, most northern Mexican restaurants called Pepe’s. Fran is the charming owner who gives all newbie’s a Pepe’s calendar and a certificate of being a Life Time Member of Crossing the Arctic Circle. She is so right - I am official now and nothing can change that. I am in the Arctic Circle.   Steve- Dr. Oberbauer, my PI – principal investigator, Paulo Olivas and Jose Luciani, an undergrad at FIU showed me around last night and introduced me to so many people. I slept great, even though the sun was...

  While delayed in the New Orleans Airport, I reflect back to my airport surprise when leaving Fairbanks after the PolarTREC Orientation in March. I look around and wonder if I will see the Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal milling about and waiting to catch a flight. Doubtful since most Governors travel via private aircraft at least around their own state. Governor Jindal cruises Louisiana in a three million dollar state police helicopter. This is not the case for Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin. There were several of us PolarTRECers waiting in the Fairbanks, AK airport to catch our planes home. We were chatting about all we had learned when Kristen Timm, ARCUS administrator said “ Look, there is the Hottest Governor in the United States” as she has been publicly deemed by media and...

Orientation is great. We are very busy learning how to build our web pages. We are also getting the benefit of listening to many past "TRECers" and research scientists. It is all very interesting and very well planned out for us. But on Tuesday afternoon when we got an early release at 4pm – what do you think we did? What would you do? But of course, SHOP TIL U DROP. We hit the streets of Fairbanks and went shopping. The shopping is really different here. Although there are many touristy sorts of things there are also many, many, many native things that you could only find in Alaska. The first shop that we went into was a fossil shop – ok laugh if you want – yes we are science nerds, but hey “us” nerds are going to the poles! At the fossil shop we found mammoths tusks that...