Lagging Baggage

As we are in the midst of prepping for our great Panamanian adventure (for a taster check out Barbara and Michael's blog), I recently purchased some airline tickets for domestic (Panamanian) travel. Recognizing that the planes would be tiny, I had to investigate the baggage policy to make sure we knew our weight limits. The translation just cracked me up, and so, for a good laugh, I'm posting it here...and I assure you, my ability to translate the intent of such a message from English to Spanish would have been no better, seeing as how I've already confused some nouns and probably requested goats instead of transportation--still it's good for a laugh:

International flights Lost Baggage

First and foremost we apologize for any inconvenience caused.

If you are seeing this page is because his luggage was lost.

You should have submitted a claim by that baggage, which for some reason is lagging in some airport or was mistakenly delivered to another passenger.

The airline tells you to fill out the form, which was the procedure, however if you have any suggestions or questions you do about your baggage please send email to: XXXXXX with the number of claims, which 'll taste immediate response on the investigations.

Summer Highlights

As I sit celebrating the equinox, the official end of summer (even though the fashion police would have you thinking Labor Day was it, when you officially stored your white shoes and seersucker suit), I couldn't help but revisit some of the finer moments of the summer by getting back on the blogwagon.

Major summer endeavors included: our bourgeoning garden, field work for both halves (MN's was much more "adventure on the high seas" than mine, but I got to sleep in my own bed every night), maintaining a comfortable yet inexpensive temperature in the house, playing and watching lots of tennis, and a little travel here and a little travel there. All in all, we didn't die of heat stroke and we managed plenty of weekend adventure despite our geographic location.

The garden turned out pretty well, with much success in our first attempt to grow warm-climate crops like peppers. We had great success with the cayennes, but I think my favorite was the Italian sweet Corno di toro pepper--delicious.

The tomatoes started off with a bang and grew, and grew, and grew. Unfortunately, they grew huge but didn't exactly become laden with fruit as we had hoped. We did get a few delicious Cherokee Purples, which were similar to a Brandywine but I think even more flavorful. They are a keeper and will make the cut next year. We also had a bumper crop of basil, with staggered planting so as to keep us in the money all summer long. The combination of the tomatoes and basil led to many an Insalata Caprese. We did lose our parsley to a family of swallowtail butterfly caterpillars--an early crushing of one, led to amnesty for the rest and one decimated parsley plant! These guys seemingly eat their weight in a day!


In other critter news, we did have a Wild Kingdom moment--Marlin Perkins wasn't there to narrate, but I was, and I could hardly contain myself when I saw the snake I had been watching go for broke after a toad clear across the yard. Snake 1, Toad 0.


Our furry 4-legged critter didn't dig the heat and humidity much and on more than one occasion I found myself adjusting the thermostat downward on her behalf--she is spoiled. In the end I figured the cost of the AC was minimal compared to a trip to the vet to patch up all her bare spots! Perhaps she'll get shorn next summer to make the Virginia heat a little easier to bear. She did find some solace in beach-going--the water seemed to suit her as well as the Pacific, though she was a bit confused when her people got in it too.

As for the travels, I had high hopes for the girls' backpacking trip to the Bigelow Range--sadly, the weather made for not such a great outdoor experience and the end-of-trip Geary's were consumed a bit short of their planned date. The moose didn't seem to mind the rain and cold though, so our trip wasn't without one good wildlife sighting. I'm pretty sure next year a desert trip is in order--or at least something in an arid climate!

Even in the desert southwest it rains though. We made it to CO for a short trip to see some pals and explore a bit. Highlights from that adventure included a biking brewery tour of Fort Collins, many breakfasts at Lucile's, and a nice (but partly rainy) hike up to Emerald Lake and a view of Tyndall Glacier (or what was left of it). The air is thin at 10,500' but we must have been in better shape than we thought or the adrenaline took over, because it didn't seem all that bad!

And, lest we neglect our "home" state, we did manage a recent weekend camping trip to the wilds of western VA. We passed through Staunton on our way to the George Washington National Forest and I think I'd like to go back there some time--very cute town with sort of an artsy vibe to it. The camping was okay but the company was great. We did some chillaxin' and had some fun with zen campfire cooking and smores-making.


A hike up Shenandoah Mountain and the history lesson that came with it left at least one member of our party tired--so tired she skipped the smores-fest and took herself to bed--right on two comfy sleeping bags, neither of which belonged to her.



And last but not least for the summer of 2009 was a typically fantastic return trip to the Emerald City. We saw friends, jumping salmon, wedded bliss, hangovers, and alas, "the mountain was out" almost the entire time we were there.

Catch of the Day!

Speckled Seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus (juv.)

Seems like forever ago when this site last saw some action related to the briny deep...and while I can't promise deep, I can promise briny (but for deep, check out the blog from the MAR-ECO cruise to the mid-Atlantic Ridge--some whacky stuff they are finding!). After straining my memorization skills and trying to master the art of prophesying exam questions over the last several months, I have finally been freed up to do what it is I was born to do: play in the water! Despite being surrounded by painful jellyfish (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) and pinch-like-hell blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus), I've been having a grand old time splashing around. And besides, if the crab is going to pinch me, I'm going to eat its brethren...only fair, eh?

Typically, this time of year, I have been up to my eyeballs in pollinating reed canary grass, surveying some mighty fine marshes (or at least they used to be, anyway) and wishing the sneezing and eye itching would stop. The rare instance would arise when I'd get to squeeze some fish, and it would be even rarer if they were of the salty type. So, wasn't I just in my glory when I got to pull up some trawls today and find a treasure-trove of sea critters awaiting my inspection! Trawling is kind of like Christmas morning--when the net comes in, it's full of surprises. Of course, this is less so on massive surveys where seeing one more arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) or pacific ocean perch (Sebastes alutus) might cause you to jump overboard (the salty dude can attest to this, as he's spent 3+ weeks trying to keep himself in the boat). But my trawl was a simple little device that worked well without being overwhelming. In addition, when you are new to a system, everything seems cool...well, okay, maybe not the spot (Leiostomus xanthurus).

Lined Seahorse, Hippocampus erectus

Of course, some things are truly remarkable and I have to put the Syngnathids up there. These fishes include seahorses and pipefish. Of course, I had seen seahorses in aquaria many times before, but despite considerable effort looking in tropical seagrass beds on every vacation opportunity, I had, until recently, failed to find one live and in its own environment. My recent role as helper scientist had me donning the mask and snorkel and as I meandered about I saw a seahorse and lots of his relatives, pipefish! And it seems they come up in trawls relatively frequently, if not in great abundance, so I was thrilled when we pulled a few in today and I got to take some photos! Fun! Their prehensile tail is pretty cool and I could see it being quite a useful adaptation when trying to cling to eelgrass blades.

The other surprise catch was what I thought was Chesapeake Bay's version of the spiny lumpsucker (Eumicrotremus orbis), the cutest fish of all time. But lo and behold, the lumpsucker is a cyclopterid (lumpfish, in the same group as lionfish, Pacific rockfish, and cottids: Scorpaeniformes). Our catch was identified as a spiny boxfish (or striped burrfish Chilomyclerus schoepfi), a Tetradontiform (pufferfish and triggerfish are also in this group). Whatever name you call him, he came out of the net all puffed up and we had to try awfully hard to get him to deflate to his normal size and bouyancy before letting him go. I do think my first photo, when he inadvertently rolled over, looks like something from Star Wars:

Upon righting him, his fins became apparent and he proved to be just another incarnation of the Actinopterygii.

Paean to the Firefly

It's been several weeks since the local fireflies began illuminating our yard with their pulsing glow. And, perhaps in the interim, I have become slightly obsessed with them. They are also a source of curiosity for the dog--what is this thing that lights up in front of my nose and then disappears? It seems like they have hit their stride in the last week, more abundant than in the weeks prior, the light show in the yard more showy. And so, when I saw the article in the NY Times tonight about researchers who actually study fireflies (how cool is that?), I figured I should finally put fingers to keyboard and punch out an ode to this amazing creature.

My previous post on the insidious insects in my garden notwithstanding, there are many insects I find fascinating: staphylinid beetles, luna moths, bees of any nature, chironomids (if only because I've looked at zillions in fish guts), lacewings. But the firefly has to be the most captivating of them all. I had kind of forgotten all about them until a few years ago when I was back in Maine at the right time. While the sight of the flashing yellow bug butts reminded me of my childhood, it was my best buddy's absolute amazement at them that really made me feel like a kid. See, the East Coast does have a few things that other Coast lacks...

So, a few weeks ago in my effort to get a closer look at the beautiful firefly, I grabbed some cake-sized tupperware from my parents' cupboard (I was there claiming free dinner), and scurried about the yard trying to capture a few--okay it was easy, they aren't good fliers...And thank goodness they aren't because when it got loose in the pristine environs of my mother's kitchen, I was quickly able to recapture it, although my hysterical laughing and insistence that everything was "just fine" was a dead give-away to the actual events that were unfolding. I got a good look at its bioluminescent abdomen and its striped elytra. Unfortunately, the camera/glass jar/cellophane photo-station my dad and I constructed was inferior for photographing insects, even the slow-moving, relatively photogenic ones. Even so, we had a good time constructing it, he trying to over-engineer it and me trying not to kill the little fellow (he did make a good point that it would be a lot easier if it was dead). I sort of felt like I was 10 again.

Birds, Bugs, Backyard Bonanza

Round about March when the days began lengthening and morning seemed appreciably earlier, we were amazed at the cacophony of birdsong outside our windows. Some of the calls I had heard before, but not since I had left New England for the West Coast. Some were new. All were delightful to listen to, reminding us of what a songbird-poor environment we had left! Now several months later, I'm beginning to see why so many songbirds can make a living here: bugs.

Gardening in the Northwest is great for a number of reasons: 1.) It never gets so hot that you don't feel like doing it; 2.) Everything grows; 3.) It's in the culture--some people need to buy new toasters or SUVs to keep up with the Joneses, others need a fantastic garden...and until now, I had failed to consider a 4th reason: a relatively pest-free environment. Sure, there were slugs and some cut worms (and many garden-reducing mammals), but nothing that would pepper an entire eggplant plant with bullet holes in one night, rendering its leaves photosynthetically useless (thank you flea beatles!). And there were so many aphids on our sweet peas this weekend, we think we lost the lot of them. Bummer.

I also have had more than one encounter with cockroaches, or in the local parlance, Palmetto Bugs, which just makes 'em sound as sweet as a peach pie! My first ever encounter with Periplaneta americana (or perhaps one of its relatives?) was when I had an apartment in Athens while studying abroad--they were gross and freaked me out--nasty sewer pests. They also were all over the place in Hawaii, but seemed slightly less threatening. Now that they are locally referred to as Palmetto Bugs, they seem even more benign. Admittedly, I do think of rural roaches as just one of the smorgasborgd of bugs, while urban ones have some sort of horribly fetid association. So, Palmetto Bugs it is.


At any rate, I have gone on several smooshing campaigns over the last few weeks, some being more successful than others--must keep up the fight! The bugs here are ruthless! Luckily, we do have some friends to help us out, namely all those birds and many frogs. One smart fellar has taken to sitting on the cross-member of our screen door where escaping light must provide an ample supply of phototactically inclined (or dazed) insects.

It's not all bad news in the garden either! I finished off the arugula harvest and started the basil and sugar snap pea harvest last night--combining the ingredients to make a delicious pesto for some homemade pasta! Yum! It was so green and fresh looking! I highly recommend the arugula/basil combination--the arugula gave the pesto a nice peppery spiciness to conteract the sweet basil!




After a rough start, Fygmalion, our Mission Fig, seems to be off on a blazing growth spurt. We had pretty much given him up for dead and labeled him DOA when the lemon tree we ordered at the same time flowered like mad and there was nothing but a stick of the fig. I guess we learned the lesson there: transplant shock doesn't mean death! Both trees seem to be doing well in their designated locations, the lemon filling the back deck with sweet smelling blossoms and Fygmalion leafing out in all directions.



The beans (green, lima, and scarlet runners) seem to be happy as well, as all are flowering, the scarlet runner beans already having set fruit.

The cucumbers (slicers and lemon cukes) have taken over more than their fair share of the garden space and are flowering like mad. Some of the flowers are even turning into spiky little cucumberlings already!

So, despite the bugs and torrential downpours, things in the garden seem happy and we are pleased to start eating the fruits of our labors. Save for the astronomical amount of hard earned cash we've spent on soil and soil amendments, the plentiful rain has kept our watering bill minimal and the ample sun has proven, once again, that "Through the miracles of photosynthesis, small plants will become large plants" (R.T. 2006).

Coastal Adventure

With the weekend suddenly freed up by a canceled class, we loaded up the rig and set our sites on points east, hoping to find some beaches to walk and a place to swim in some saltier water. We crossed the epic Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, saw lots of nesting osprey on the other side, and decided to check in at Kiptopeke State Park before venturing forth up the DelMarVa peninsula to explore various off-the-beaten path towns. With overcast skies and temperatures in the low 70s, there didn't seem to be a lot of pressure on the park--add to that the astronomical bridge/tunnel toll and the even more astronomical campsite fee (what ever happened to the 10 bucks to pitch a tent...and no, I don't need cable TV?) and we probably could have flown back to Seattle...okay, that's an exaggeration, but one night on the Eastern Shore quickly became spendy, even with the spartan accommodations of the aging (and leaking) EMS Isolation Hut!

After choosing out campsite (least of the evils: fewest full sized pick-ups and blue tarps next door), we ate some Farmer's Market grub acquired before leaving 'Billsburg while sitting on the beach and telling the pup she wasn't allowed to run free. After attracting every no-see-um on the beach, adding to my already pock-marked feet and ankles, we called it quits and got on with our adventure. We hit Cape Charles, Exmore, Wachapreague, and Onancock before getting out to Chincoteague. 

Well, not so fast. As it turns out, the DelMarVa Peninsula is about the most dog-unfriendly spot we've ever been to! Our four-legged buddy was not pleased--promises of long walks on the beach and salty furs, were quickly turning into too much time in the cargo-hold trying not to step in her water bowl or overheat. It seemed, as we approached Chincoteague (after passing the NASA alien-listening devices), that the island was much more God-friendly than Dog-friendly, judging by the numerous Jesus-oriented billboards on the way over the marsh (perhaps it should have been a sign?). But we wandered through town and made our way to the Chincoteague/Assateague gateway. 

So, you see, not only are dogs not allowed on the beach at Chincoteague, they aren't even allowed in cars in the parking lot on the USFWS Refuge! Good thing we drove all the way there! They can take their stinkin' ponies (there's more than a little irony there, as the ponies the US Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to protect are no more native than the grazing cows destroying the refuge I used to use as a field site--or our car-bound canine, for that matter!). Certainly I understand the need to protect wildlife, which would be fine, if the Refuge system actually focused on native species. But it just seems a bit contrived, this whole "protecting the ponies" thing and all. Good grief. Anyway, there was a whole heckuva lot of very nice salt marsh...so we'll remember that and go back to bird watch another time. 

And we did find a great beach closer to home with no tent site or expensive toll needed, so we'll be returning there to turn ourselves into lobsters once again.  The water is warm enough to swim--and had it been warmer and sunnier (well, okay the sun obviously was strong enough to do some damage), it would have been very refreshing! G did not like her 'peeps frolicking about in the water--she would try to swim to us and then get freaked out and go back to shore anxiously awaiting our return. She did like rolling in the sand and then brushing her soaking, sandy body on me and my beach towel to dry off--it resulted in a big mess and a lot of laughs. In the end, we all had fun, even the furry beast, who consumed more than her share of sea water....ooopsies.

Why Did the Turtle Cross the Road?

Photo from Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife

...I don't know, but he was headed toward the Montessori school, so I'm sure they would have given him several options to choose from. Yes, the turtle really was headed toward the school, but happened to be smack dab in the middle of the two yellow lines on a busy roadway when another driver and I stopped to rescue him. Not sure why he was headed to school, as he was coming from the direction of a perfectly good wetland, but perhaps he sensed some higher calling-it happens to the best of us.

My turtle identification leaves a little bit to be desired, and as it turns out, there are lots of options for these parts. I narrowed it down to a few possibilities and after figuring he/she wasn't a snapping turtle, it seemed a Northern Red-Bellied Cooter (Pseudemys rubriventris) was the next best thing, since not much else gets to the size of this one (~12" from stem to stern, of the shell, that is). Since these guys take 15-20 years to reach maturity, I would guess this one was pretty old. Also, as it turns out, this species is listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act--hopefully safe passage to school will yield fitter offspring, but I'm not really sure it works that way in the turtle world.

At any rate, it was a good wildlife sighting--especially on the way to work!

And, once I again, "I like turtles!"