a Geographer's Place

I was trained to travel cheaply. Well, maybe “cheap” is the wrong word. Frugal is a better choice. Yes, I travel frugally, depending on my given budget. Preferring to crawl around odd sites and discover obscure views, I will give up a swanky hotel most anytime. When you think about it, while traveling, a hotel is simply a place to wash-up and lay your head for the evening. While Spartan accommodations can leave some people cold (pun intended), they can be beneficial. Take, for example, the place in this picture: This is an $8 room in Lima, Peru: just a place to lay your head and maybe write a post card. But what else do you need? You should be out and about exploring, right? Okay, okay…so once in a while it’s nice to stay in a five star palace and be taken care of (I have done that several times). However, if I had to choose between posh lodging or an extra destination, pyramid, cathedral, ruin, or museum (and I usually do), I’d pass on the feathery comforter, room service, and bell...

One of my hobbies is studying mythology. All peoples and cultures have myths, many of which are rooted in actual events. Myths are, in their simplest form, stories passed down generation to generation. Each one usually has a moral. Some are very exciting epics, others are tales of loneliness, still others are comedic, ALL are interesting. And for me, the similarities between myths are VERY alluring. Many decades ago, Joseph Campbell ( the authority on mythology) wrote a book called, “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” (1949), where he compared myths from many different cultures. Through the decades, he revised and updated the book to include “new” myths. (For Star Wars fans, George Lucas relied heavily on Joseph Campbell’s works when creating his epic battle of light vs. dark). THAT is what fascinates me about mythology. So many different peoples and cultures separated by thousands of miles of ominous terrain and dangerous oceans, yet many have common stories and, even more intriguing...

Next to dessert, breakfast is my favorite meal. A good, hearty breakfast always helps me feel charged and ready for the day. While I can eat cold cereal with the best of them, handle a simple toast-and-juice breakfast, and enjoy a “European” breakfast (muesli/granola, plain yogurt, juice, fruit, and cold cuts), it’s the hearty breakfasts that are my favorites. Now, while I enjoy cooking in general, I relish the chance to cook a breakfast, especially for other people. There are few things better than seeing folks with a satisfied tummy in the morning. I’ve been lucky to have some really great recipes handed down through my family: everything from Yorkshire Pudding (yes, we eat it for breakfast—apologies to my UK friends) to buckwheat pancakes. And I usually experiment a bit with the recipes until I discover a “secret ingredient” that enhances the breakfast and makes people say, “There’s something in there…I’m just having a hard time figuring it out…” Why do I like breakfast so much...

My fascination with clouds might stem from years ago when our family lived in Blue Creek. Sometimes, while the older kids were all gone to school, my mom and I used to go on “nature walks” and watch clouds. We looked for shapes in them. Even though I’m sure we looked at thousands of clouds, I can only remember seeing a rabbit, a pirate ship, and a dog. But since then, I always “look up and marvel” as the Cloud Appreciation Society says. There are literally hundreds of different types of clouds and scientists love to classify them. This jellyfish-like cloud, for example, is a type of cumulus. But the little “tendrils” are referred to as “virga”…precipitation that evaporates before it is able to hit the ground. Sexy.

We’ve been having a LOT of rain here in the Valley of the Sun. One of my study sites I’m monitoring has received almost 6 inches in the past week! That’s more than it’s received in all the months previous to now! I can’t wait to see how much the site has changed after this rain! All this rain has reminded me how much I enjoy the greening and clouds associated with precipitation…so that’s what I’m blogging about today. Although I do enjoy bright colors, gray is my favorite. In any shade. You know, that gray-ish blue tint the clouds sometimes get—almost a tungsten hue. And gray skies make me smile…because they’re pretty, because they bring rain, and because I know what (usually) comes after gray skies. But others fail to notice the beauty of gray. Or rain. I was having dinner with some friends last night. One of them said, “I don’t like the cold and wet. Cold is okay, but wet I can’t handle. And the gray skies. I need sun!” Another said, “Well, where I grew-up, there were always clou...

I LOVE being "in the field"! It was one of the things that drew me to Geography! My first experience with REAL field studies was at Weber State with Dr. Murphy. He is a great Geographer and really loves field work (and traveling!). His love of the field rubbed off on me. Even today I play in the field as much as I can. This picture was taken on a recent field excursion through the Sonora River Valley in Mexico. I was driving along, observing the landscape, when all of the sudden we see this road cut that has a volcanic dike shaped like Mexico! How cool! (That's me, squatting on what would be the Yucatan Peninsula...) Of course, we HAD to pull over and take pictures! (The word "MEXICO" had already been painted on the road cut). I love finding "Natural" features that represent everyday objects. And this was one of the coolest representations I've found!

Here it is: my 1983, four-door Mazda GLC. Why is it my favorite car ever? Maybe it’s my favorite because it was the first car I ever bought on my own. Although I did have to borrow the $300 from my gracious sister—whom I paid back way before the deadline we had set. Or maybe it was the fact that I could fit all I owned in it: I could actually live in the car. Or maybe it was the manual moon roof: flip down the crank handle and turn it (like a non-electric window, only on top of the car’s ceiling). Or maybe it was the fact that it easily topped 100mph…or that it was small enough to switch drivers over the hood while driving…that’s right: out the window, across the hood, and into the other window while speeding down the freeway. Ask Jared. He was there. Or maybe it was all the road tripping I did in it from 1993 to 1994. Or maybe it was the $250 Alpine stereo I installed myself…so loud the car almost bounced. Good thing I had sexy aluminum rims! When I think hard, it was my favorite ...