ok ok ok, better late than never...........
i'm still in alaska working for the usgs. i'm an ecologist on the
biological resources division's sea otter project. we count otters
(from boats and airplanes), spy on their eating, diving, traveling,
and mating habits and find other ways to make general nuisances of
ourselves to the little sea weasels. when i'm not out harassing them
i'm in my cubicle writing reports about them, or scanning photos of
them, or reading what rumors other demented researchers are spreading
about them. (is this some sick obsession?)
within a a week we'll (me, mike and our cats) be moving into our
house, our very own place WITH running water and 2 indoor toilets! the
luxury of simply opening a door and sitting down instead of bundling
up, shoveling a path to the outhouse, going back to the house because
you forgot TP, to turn on the light, and to grab something warm to sit
on... you get the picture; this will be heaven! our friend is moving
into our dilapidated cabin so any visitors wanting the outhouse
experience can still be accomodated. we're moving to a little house
in town on the bike trails so we can quit driving twenty minutes to
work each day. (i know my cousins and friends back east drive 20
minutes just to get to their commuter train, but this is alaska not
nyc) we've decided to save the driving for trips to the mountains or
oceans......
mike has the rest of this school year to finish his bfa in
photography/printmaking so somehow we're buying this house on a single
low income. we'll feel like we're living high on the hog (moose?) once
we have 2 incomes. i'm halfway thru my training to become a legal
advocate for battered women. once i'm finished i'll mentor with an
experienced advocate and then take cases on my own. getting busted up
in fiji is now starting to produce some positive and helpful yields.
the domestic violence scene is scary and sinister, luckily my job is
180 degrees from stressful. we're heading east to erie PA for the
christmas holidays and will try yet again to get to buffalo, we are
going to springfield MA to visit mike's family so we'll hopefully run
into someone on our travels.
i'm attaching some new photos: halibut2 so you can see how we gov't
employees spend your tax dollars, bear2 so you can see why we earn
those tax dollars, and avclass to show how i spend my time in the
winter (taking avalanche safety classes so i'm too scared to go skiing
and thus don't get in any dangerous rescue-requiring situations!).
happy halloween, happy new fiscal year, happy snowy day,
smiles, kim