June 20: Today!

The countdown to Africa... three days away. Tonight we spent a grueling evening packing up all the stuff. It wouldn't have normally been a big deal but we are kinda excited about the whole thing (understatement is the key to being a "Strich"). So we thrashed about and argued unnecessarily and got it all begrudgingly into packs and bags and we are good to go for Saturday, departure day. What made it all worth it was the evening cup of tea. Nothing like some steepage to really calm down an evening. I can work on one of my many cover letters now... sweet. PS: Trying to save a .doc into a .pdf but I don't have the software. Can anyone local lend a hand or some advice?

May 16~22: Montana Part 2 (con Yellowstone 1 of 2)

Pictures don't do this park justice... nor does only spending one day.

The entry gate... "For the People"

Alan and I froze out butts off in mid May. but it was totally worth it.

One of many cool geologic formations.

Old Faithful. Went off after only five minutes. Lucky timing!

Yellowstone Lodge

Geology is inspiring indeed.

May 16~22: Montana Part 3 (con Yellowstone 2 of 2)

Alan at "Ear Spring"

Just AWESOME geologic formations and processes... Yellowstone Lodge in the background

Self-explanatory... Rocky Mountains split.

Yellowstone Lake is MUCH bigger than this picture can try to show.

A two-foot drop of extremely hot water... lots of rock coloration, bacterial growth and sulfur smells.

Deer. BIG Deer.

 GRIZZLY BEARS! Mama and her two cubs. It was awesome to see them foraging in the evening.

As we left the park, Pronghorn Antelope. The joke is, "what do you call an antelope with three legs?"
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"Cantaloupe."

May 16~22: Montana Part 1 (sans Yellowstone)

Getting right into it. I drove 2700 miles, including a big 300 mile day in Yellowstone, in a week to hang out in Big Sky Country with my cousin and a good friend. Don't go to Montana... there is nowhere to live. Plus I want a place, myself!

Forest Fires starting early this season... right off the side of I-90.

From outside of Helena... pretty mountains and forests.

With Cousin Jake. Think we look alike?

With Alan on a hike outside of Bozeman.

Alan and Bella... so cute.

She used to be a puppy!

Raw Montana... so gorgeous.

Don't know the name, but a really cool flower.

Alan leads us home.

Bella and Jack rest after a long day's hike!

May 4~6: WEDDING

A weekend of love and marriage indeed! Hannah, you are awesome and Scott you are an OK dude too! Great idea to have the wedding at a camp... lots of fun and just good form!

Welcome to Warwick, NY.

At the camp where they met... aww, so sweet.

Even the Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) turned out to set the mood. Being that Hannah is Canadian, I feel that this picture is appropriate on so many levels.

We got out of the car and Andrea chases after Jared and Cammy's son, Sampson. Another really cute kid!

Kess atop the alpine tower during our morning to explore and have fun at camp.

The Supernova in action. Matt, Andrea, Me, and Jared rock the Harker School every October. Best group of colleagues ever!

The wedding before we were asked to NOT take pictures. The ceremony was held in an open-air, covered area right on the lake... we sat in a circle... totally camp-style. It was a classy time, especially sitting on the camp benches!

Hora! and PARTY TIME...

Kess, Jared, and Cammy.

This was the sober table... hahaha, just kidding. All in all, a great time. Campfires late into the night. Lots of cross-cultural international relations and peace building between Canada and the United States, and many MANY bottles of beer, wine, and liquor found empty in the morning. When we left I even spotted a Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) to keep my summer of birding alive! Then we drove back into the city and parted ways... see y'all in October in Phoenix!

May 7~11: NEW YORK!

Took the red-eye into Newark and arrived early... so at 5am Eastern Standard Time (2am in California) I had to go somewhere... it was really good that Cousin Noah didn't mind me waking him up and bothering him! We hung out all morning, had proper New York bagels and just gross coffee. Leaving the Pacific Northwest means leaving a good-tasting-coffee stronghold! But the bagel was worth it. Noah and I also got drinks later in the week at Copia (Jordan's bar)

Soon after the morning with Noah, I met up with folks to head out to the wedding for the weekend. That blog will come later so I'll jump ahead to the rest of week: Monday~ Friday. Obviously pictures do NO justice to a week in New York City. But here is a sampling of what went down:

Alex, Jordan and I watching the Rangers come from behind and snatch a game in the second round of the playoffs. Great game and $20 for all you can drink beer and eat chicken wings and strips was like heaven on earth. Alex and I worked together in Japan and it was great to cross paths again. Jordan and I have been friends for well over a decade. Well, I think he is my friend. He thinks I am some bum Californian who calls him up to crash on his couch and throw his life into upheaval. Perhaps we are both right :) Thanks for letting me stay with you for so long this time around. Next decade it will be for FIVE nights! I could write more praise for Jordan but I'll hold off... I will say that we went out nearly every night that week except for when he came down with "Castro's Revenge," my creative way of referring to food poisoning from a Cuban restaurant we went to. Jordan is one of the owners of Copia... so get down there and spend some money so my man gets paid!

To help combat Jordan's poisoning, we picked up some kosher deli! Sandwiches and soups. I took this picture on my first day in the city, but it speaks volumes for my feelings about the power of a proper Matzo Ball soup.

In the part of Queens were Jordan and Keith live, there are many kosher opportunities. I didn't particularly care, but the shwarma was pretty good... and haven't had Israeli juice in a VERY long time. Too many disposable products in the city though... we environmental educators have a lot of work to do!

The new World Trade Tower... officially became the tallest building in the city about a week before I got there. Taken from the 9/11 Memorial

I travel to memorials in other countries, so I found it relevant to go to one in my own country. On of the 9/11 Memorial fountains.

I even convinced Keith to make the journey to the memorial. We both thought it was therapeutic to go. I recommend it still.

It's always possible to find the beauty that exists despite tragedy and suffering

Getting some lights and darks with Cousins Matthew and David (Katz) at McSorley's. Not the same as I remember, but exactly the same as I remember! GREAT to hang out with them. That night Matthew and I hung out with Keith and his brother at the Pourhouse too and watched Knicks and Rangers on dueling TVs... too bad that both teams lost, but hey the sliders were pretty good! Oh, and Congratulations Dad (David) who is the father of a four-day old son. What a great father's day present!

Keith and me in Central Park. I convinced him to come birding with me and to delve into Natural History... we went to the museum a little bit later. For sure, the best way to flirt in New York City is to walk around Central Park with a camera and ask hot girls to take pictures of you!

Said Museum.

These pictures don't describe the amount we went out, food we ate, drinks we enjoyed, etc. Also hung out with another Cousin David (Sandford) and got to meet his 3-year old son, Duncan. Duncan is far and away the CUTEST kid ever. Hands down. Had drinks with Lisa too after years of not seeing each other. Last time might have been when we were both in Toyko. I'm sure I'm forgetting to write down who else I hung out with, but it was good times in the city. Gotta visit there again sooner than five years from now.

April 28~ May 3: SoCal

Quick gallivanting about in Southern California... Grandma's birthday on the 28th in San Diego and the weekend with some family. Then took the train up the coast from Solana Beach to unwind in Orange County for a couple of days before the trip to New York.

April 9~27: Summit Academy

I was a substitute third grade teacher for three weeks. It was a lot of fun. but I have no pictures from the experience!
This is the school:
http://www.summit-ed.org/Summit.html

Really good community, students, and school. Kept me on my toes as I taught about Birds and Japanese. Feels like years ago that I was actually in the classroom!

April 1~5: Birding at Reifle Bird Refuge in Delta, British Colmbia, Canada & work at the Olympic Peninsula

This is short post to come from the "beginning" too. Graduated at the end of March and took a week to recover before going straight to work for a month. I don't have any pictures from my day with Elane and John at Reifle but it was awesome birding. We saw lots of common birds on a gorgeous day and even some more uncommon or hidden ones. Species include: Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus), Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis), Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), and plenty others. Notable events were the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) hunting some shore birds. That dance was incredible between the predator and the prey. The other cool thing was the Bald Eagle (Leucocephalus Haliaeetus) that went after a Mallard (Anus platyrhynchos) and nearly caught it. The Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) were loud about reporting it too!

 A symbolic bird picture, though taken at Semiahmoo Spit in Blaine, WA. A male Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) which I think it just beautiful.

And then I had four days of work on the Olympic Peninsula. We spent time with the Makah Nation in and around Neah Bay and the Olympic National Park. I caught the "plague" and woke up on day two feeling like death. I spent most of the trip driving kids from place to place and sleeping whenever I could find a corner and some time. Miserable for me, but it all worked out for the school. I don't think it was the best trip I have ever been a part of, but we came back with everyone we left with, so for that the trip was successful. And I got to see a cool part of Washington that I hadn't seen before.

Looking south from the northwest corner of the United States.

 Looking west with rare sunshine on the peninsula

A gorgeous sunset actually! We had decent weather for the three days of outdoor adventure. Sooo lucky!