Stories

  • Mexico, Auroras, and other June Fun

    I’m a bit late getting some updates out, so I’m going to condense about 3 posts in to one in the hopes that I can get caught up. So let’s start with my trip to Mexico. If it wasn’t obvious from my last post, I went down to the Mayan Riviera with Erin and the rest of my family to celebrate the marriage of my sister and now brother-in-law. We all stayed at an all inclusive resort on the beach in Playa del Carmen, which sounds like a great idea, but in practice, I don’t think I’ll ever do it…

  • Flight Paths

    [map style=”width: auto; height:400px; margin:20px 0px 20px 0px; border: 1px solid black;” maptype=”ROADMAP” gpx=”http://www.mineral2.com/wp-content/uploads/Flights.GPX”] If you don’t already know me, I have a thing for maps and geography. It’s an absolute delight to see the landscape from the air. I’ve been bringing my GPS with me when I fly, mostly to keep track of flight progress and to identify what I’m seeing out the window. But it’s also interesting to see how the FAA routes flights. Spoiler Alert: it’s not a direct path between cities. The two tracks above show the flight path between Phoenix and Cancun in both directions….

  • What might the native prairie have looked like?

    It’s hard to imagine what America’s prairies looked like when they were unspoiled. Today, more than 95% of our prairies and grasslands have been repurposed for agriculture. The last remnants are so highly fragmented that it’s a fight to keep non-native invasive species from taking over. Prairies and grasslands were once thought to be ecological wastelands, a monoculture of grass with not much productivity. From a distance, the prairie might seem like a boring place. But up close, prairies have the capacity to harbor more diversity than some forests. To really appreciate all that these grasslands have to offer, it’s…

  • |

    Evo-WIBO and the Olympic Peninsula

    I’m two weeks on this post, but forgive me because the last two weeks of the semester have been insane. The bi-annual northwest evolution conference, Evo-WIBO, occurred the last weekend of April. If you don’t remember, I attended the last meeting two years ago and presented a talk on the results of our selection experiment. This year, I presented a poster (my first) on the use of function-value trait analysis to analyze video tracking data. In short, we can use functions to describe behaviors over time and use more details in the data than if we were to simply distill…

  • Scenic Drives and Cemeteries

    I really enjoy the small historic cemeteries that dot the Palouse. They’re tucked away on obscure roads or in the middle of farm fields in places where you wouldn’t think to go. They’re incredibly peaceful and scenic and full of local history. So, I decided to visit a few local to my house along one of my favorite drives (See the map above). This loop takes you into some remote corners of the Palouse region with some awesome scenery. If you have a free day with some nice weather, consider this for your day out. Texas Ridge Road The first…

  • Asotin Creek

    It’s funny that only two weeks ago, I was clearing snow from my driveway, and now there’s hardly any sign of winter left on the Palouse. Instead of snow, it rained for nearly a week straight. So when we caught a break in the weather on Saturday, I was quite happy to take advantage and begin my spring hiking season. I chose to go to Asotin Creek. The town of Asotin is located five miles south of Clarkston, Washington. It is here that Asotin Creek empties its water into the Snake River. But the hiking begins about 20 miles upstream…

  • Palouse Photography: Waiting for the right light

    This post will demonstrate just how fast light can change, especially during sunrise and sunset. These three images, taken in the same location on the same day within a half-hour window, demonstrate just how quickly light can change. Therefore, it is often necessary to scout out locations before setting up your desired image so that you can be ready to capture the scene when the light is perfect. Of course, perfect light is a subjective quality. All three of these images are wonderful, which means all three lighting scenarios are desirable. I spent as much time as I could at…

  • |

    A President’s Weekend in McCall

    I can’t believe February is almost over an I haven’t made any posts yet. I’ve been plugging along with classes and research and laying fairly low for financial reasons. I’m not skiing this year, which helps out in keeping my costs down. I have been snowshoeing more this winter than in the past, and that’s helping to keep me in shape, but it’s not quite as often as I’d like. In part, it’s due to time constraints, and in part it’s due to the weird weather we’ve been having this winter. We’ve had less snow than in winters past, and…

  • 2013: A Retrospective

    For all intents and purposes, 2013 was a shitty year. Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, something else would go wrong. And, so the trend continued until the final months. The year started out pretty good. Though we’ve been struggling financially since Erin lost her nursing job in 2011, by the fall of 2012, she had a job and had enrolled at the University of Idaho to finally earn a bachelor’s degree to get her into a new career field.  With snowshoes and a new (to me) pair of skis I acquired from the WSU swap in…

  • 2013: A Year in Photographs

    This year, I have fallen behind in my photography pursuits. It’s in part due to the events in February, and part due to not having the funds or time to get out as much as I’d have liked. I’ve been looking through some stats tracking the number of photos I’ve taken over the past few years, though a better metric is to look at the number of “good” photos that have made it onto my flickr page. Here’s a short breakdown: Year Number of photos 2006 335 2007 310 2008 396 2009 629 2010 341 2011 421 2012 314 2013…