Rejection, surgery, recovery.  It all seems so long ago now.

Changes afoot: I decided early on that being a professional arborist is not a career I especially enjoy, since working with people (especially city folk) and the environment is what enlivens me. A few weeks ago I saw an ad for an educator position at Bartram's Garden, and I applied, interviewed, and got the job. The tricky part is that it is a part-time/seasonal position, so I was super-excited to be doing the work that I enjoy but freaking out on the inside about finances. But when I finally talked to my current boss about returning to arborist work, I proposed coming back part-time so that I could still make enough money to keep our lil' ship afloat. He was fine with the idea, and so for the next few months I will be working every day. That's right: 7days a week. Ouch. But some work "days" are only a few hours long, so I think I'll be able to handle it.  I hope, anyway.  The work at Bartram's is fun, the people are amazing, and it mostly doesn't feel like work. But before I launch into my new occupation, here's what I've been doing with myself:

I went to Nashville for two weeks, during which I strolled around the Opryland Hotel Atrium with the fam.

Sharon and I came back to Philadelphia, where among other things we checked out the maple sugar festival at Fox Chase Farm. This horse was the best part.

We went across the mighty Delaware River into Jersey and explored a park. A park with a pipe.

I bought a really great watch that apparently is so reliable and easy to use that it has a steady fan base in the IED-making crowd. That's what Amazon said, anyway; I have no idea if it's true. Obviously.

I went on a Zoe-Strauss-billboard-viewing ride with Trophy Bikes.

I went to the Blueberry Capitol of the World (Hammonton, NJ) to get our lonely blueberry bush some friends. At $5 a piece, and a nice drive to boot, we're in.  

I walked around Bartram's Garden and familiarized myself with the plants.  Can't wait for this one!

I got a laser pointer to point out tree branches and such.

And last but not least, I got cleared from the doctor to go back to work.  Here goes!

The waiting game.

Well, since my last post sounded so dire, I felt that I should update what's going on with me. First off, luckily I am in very little pain (almost no pain) right now, for which I am very thankful. I do feel a little guilty being off work for an injury but not being in pain to the point that I can't carry on with my normal activities (though I'm sure if I was lifting 50lb-logs all day I would indeed be in a lot of pain). Next Tuesday I have outpatient surgery and then begin my 6-8 weeks of recovery. It's strange to think that I have yet to begin my recovery process, but that's just how it is.

So how have I been spending my time? Well, I've been hesitating to mention publicly that I applied to a graduate program last fall (for fear of not being accepted and everyone knowing, of course). This particular program runs its admission process somewhat differently than most: they invite the top 10 candidates to the school for a weekend of interviewing, meetings, get-to-know-you events and such. At the end of the weekend they decide which 5 to keep. Survivor weekend. So, that weekend is this weekend, and I'm stressing out about it. I need to prepare a 5-minute presentation and for an interview with the selection committee. I had to go shopping for clothes because I need to be in a jacket and tie for the entire weekend (um, some wardrobe gaps had to be filled). To be perfectly honest I hate jackets, mostly because I feel like a little kid wearing adult clothes. They're always too big even when they are "my size." The jackets at thrift stores are okay, but man -- is everyone that much bigger than I am? I guess so. Anyhow, here's the jacket that makes me feel all slim and trim:

 

Pretty great photo, huh?

While I've been out and about in the city, I've been going to free lectures at the Philadelphia library and Academy of Natural Sciences. One was on Haiti and environmental degradation; honestly, I was more informed about reforestation/deforestation than either of the presenters, but I just sat quietly and didn't say much. I was surprised that most of the photos were "borrowed" from this photographer. Granted, neither of the presenters work in reforestation (one was a sociologist and the other a herpetologist), but I still expected more. 

Afterward one attendee asked me why I was there, and told me that he goes to Haiti for 2 weeks every year and has done so for over 25 years. When he asked if I go back to Haiti regularly, I told him I had no plans to return. He asked why, and I said that to always stand out as a white/Westerner is not easy for someone like me. He replied that he felt very comfortable in Haiti and then walked away. This made me somewhat mad, as I spent two years in the Haitian countryside living and working through floods, earthquakes, etc., and this guy goes for two weeks a year with his supply of money and aid projects, where he is most likely treated like a movie star, and then he leaves. Why wouldn't he like Haiti?  Yes, apparently this is something of a raw nerve for me.  

The other talk I attended was about the race to the south pole in the early 1900s.  It was somewhat interesting, but it really make me realize how different our world is today. These guys spent years preparing for the trip, years on the trip, and then many died in the process. Today people fly down in helicopters and go to Antarctica on cruises.

I've also been trying to find small gardens in Philadelphia to explore, and I found a nice little historic garden at the Pennsylvania Hospital. It's a "Physic" garden, and while not in its prime right now, it looks like a nice place to come back and check on again in the spring or summer:

It's mostly an herb garden, which is nice, as I have been admiring small herb/kitchen gardens for a little while and definitely like finding them in the city. There is something very nice about the interaction of city life and plants that I just don't see in the suburbs or in rural areas. The persistence of plants growing in urban areas is always encouraging to me. When I see a similar plant growing in the suburbs without a care in the world, (besides being tended too much by an overzealous gardener), I want to take it on a field trip to see how its city cousins are doing.  Cities + plants = happy me.

I will hear back from the program selection committee shortly after the interview weekend, so by this time next week I should know about the program -- and be a few days into my actual recovery process. Wish me luck!

Who would have thought.

I always remind myself (and Sharon) that everything can change in 24 hours. We may hear back from a job or graduate school application sending us (or just one of us) to another city, an earthquake may change the course of our lives and thousands of others, and the triumphs or struggles of friends and family may shift our worldviews irrevocably.

And unfortunately health concerns have their place.  Last Monday at work I started feeling a slight pain in my abdomen in the morning, and as I tried to continue working the pain increased. The pain also made my stomach upset, so overall I was feeling bad. I sat down and tried to breathe slowly and figure out what the problem was. I made a few phone calls, and Danny (in nursing school now) asked me how it felt if I put pressure on it. I stood up and felt a shock of pain and put my hand on my abdomen and felt a lump. Great. I put my palm on it and pressed lightly, and I could feel the lump decrease. So -- a hernia, great. My coworker saw me in pain and and we got everything together to go back to the shop. I called my doctor and made an appointment for that night. She confirmed my suspicion of a hernia and scheduled a CT scan for the next day, which confirmed the diagnosis.

So here I am, injured and going down a road I never thought I would be on.Workers' compensation will kick in, fortunately, because I can't work until I heal (there is not much I can do at work that is not strenuous). My next few weeks include surgery to repair the hernia and some recovery time. This past Sunday when I was not looking forward to a week of manual labor in the cold I would never have thought that I would be lying on a table for a CT scan two days later, but here I am with my life taking a change of course that I hadn't planned on - and all the questions that come with it.

Over the shoulder.

Contrary to rumor, our blog is not dead but has been in hibernation mode. We've been busy finishing an incredibly hectic semester (I submitted seven PhD applications!), traveling to Paraguay for field research (more on that soon), working at least two jobs apiece, and trying to spend time with friends and family (when not eating or sleeping: see above).

Over the past year we did manage to blog about some of the highlights of 2011, including my day trip to Memphis:

the ongoing improvements in the sideyard and our adventures in gardening:

 

 
 and my youngest brother's wedding  (hooray!).

 

We did not find time to blog about our around-town adventures:

  

 That's Bryan at an art show, contributing to a  zine about handwriting.

Our picking/harvesting/foraging/collecting/eating:

 

We may have mentioned food a time or two, but just look at that! Nothing

makes you miss July on a 20-degree day like gallons of fresh blueberries... 

 many good times with family:

the miles and miles of [uphill] biking we've done:

or the fermentation workshop with Sandor Katz (!) I attended in November.

 Yes, it was amazing! And I scored a Nashville kambucha starter

along with my portion of that vat of fermenting vegetables...

2012 will be equally full as there are many changes on the horizon - most exciting, the chance that we might live together again! We'll keep you posted, I promise.

Well beyond my turn.

We're supposed to keep this 50% Nash and 50% Adelphia, and by those rules it appears that I've been slacking. Sharon just left this morning to go back to Nashville and I of course remain behind in Philadelphia keeping the home fires (homefries) burning. I confess too that I did not document the weekend well with photos. Actually I only took one:

That's one of my parents' dogs coming out of the water at Lums Pond, DE, where they were participating in a dog agility trial. I recommend going to one if you ever have the chance. 

The non-photo-documented parts ofthe weekend included celebrating Courtney's birthday at the house where the fire department came, like clockwork, about 20 minutes after we lit a fire in the outdoor fireplace. The neighbors hate fires, but (as usual) the fire dept. has no problem with our setup. We also went to a soccer game at Villanova, went to a great chili and cornbread dinner party in West Philly, and met up with some of the old Morris interns to catch up with each other. The weekend went way too fast, but it was a lot of fun and worth every moment.

In other news:

- I'm still stressing out about applying to the Longwood Garden graduate program, but proceeding nonetheless.

- I'm feeling slightly strange about my standing in the US economy, and a blog I read regularly expressed how I feel really well:

This is a huge topic to tackle within the confines of this site, and I don't for a second take for granted the many good fortunes that I have, but at some points in my day I reflect on just how nice it would be to someday not go through life treading water financially. I think about how this is the only industrialized nation in the world whose residents can put themselves into a bottomless debt just paying for basic health care and education, and how I literally fist pump the air in celebration every time I get.... (the smallest bit of money)

I agree, and am a little tired of people telling me how "lucky" I should feel to be doing manual labor with no vacation/sick time and/or benefits of any sort. Really? I do feel fortunate to not be among the masses of the unemployed, but I don't really feel "lucky" either. Anyhow, enough of that.

- In other news, I just found two amazing jackets. Behold:

I like to call this my party sweater because it is that amazing.

- Lastly, on a day last week when I was searching for the silver lining to the gray cloud hanging over my head, I pedaled my way to Center City to ask Apple to somehow fix my ailing iPhone, which suddenly and inexplicably stopped working. After about 45 min of them telling me that my phone was pretty much just an iPod at that point, they decided to give me a new phone. Yes, for free. What? Hello silver lining, welcome home.

Betwixt.

Last weekend Bryan was in Nashville! See, look:

- Except that that's a picture of him in Louisville, KY. Did you know that the state line is a mere half-hour away by car? Oh, the places a rental car (even the tiniest Fiat) will take you...

 

 

It absolutely does not look like it from these photos, but Louisville is actually a city and a pretty great little city at that. We found it quite walkable, with commendable food diversity, neighborhoods, public art, thrift stores, and parks. The only real drawback is the name: as a friend pointed out, to say it correctly ("Louovul"?) feels a little like vomiting in your mouth.

This weekend I am back to the grind, eagerly awaiting my trip to Philadelphia (!) first thing Thursday morning. Yes indeed, Fall Break 2011 is upon us already. That means I'm scrambling to meet all of my routine academic obligations while casting an eye toward final papers -- and of course, interpreting the world through the lens of my PhD program application Statement of Purpose.

I did carve out an hour yesterday to swing by a handmade book fair at Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film yesterday. I attended a talk on "writing words worth preserving" and bumped into a few folks from the indigo-dying workshop I attended last fall. 

Here are a few of my favorites from the art show (and forgive the sloppy reportage; I didn't note the names of the artists...):

  

Magnetic Fields tribute, anyone?

  

 

  Nothing, but nothing, beats a harmonica-shaped book!

Okay, back to it...

Books of the week: 

Fearlessness, Imre Kertesz

In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.

Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind, Belenky et al. 

On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent, Gustavo Gutierrez

Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, Giorgio Agamben 

Films of the week:

A Serious Man

Sankofa

Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Beloved

Carnival of Souls

The Spirit of the Beehive

Life in brief.

What, you may ask, has been keeping me from this ole blog? A little of this and a little of that:

- I'm currently taking 4 classes, wrapping up work from my summer reading course, and auditing 1 class that meets 5 times a week. Two of these classes are film courses (i.e., homework involves reading plus watching movies), one is a class on the Book of Job held at our local maximum-security prison (i.e., half the students are from Vanderbilt and the other half are from Riverbend), and one is a class on women, psychology, and religion (we're clipping along at about a book/week). Lots and lots of coffee-drinking in these parts.

 - When do I find time to earn my keep? Not only do I work at the library two nights each week...

I picked up a morning gig at the Robert Penn Warren Center. I will confess that I have a weakness for working in historic homes previously occupied by wealthy families, and that, combined with the Warren Center's amazing programming lineup, pretty much convinced me it would be unwise to not work there. Finger on the pulse, folks.

- I am still sans auto in Nashville, so I take my daily exercise up and down hill, with the breeze and in the sunshine. Fortunately there hasn't been an overabundance of sunshine during the last few weeks: given the hills, I prefer cool and rainy days to humidity and oppressive heat.

- PhD program application season is upon us, so when I'm not occupied with all of the above, I'm busy pulling together papers and essays and asking professors to write letters of recommendation. Basically I'm doing everything I can to make my dream life come true.


- This is not to say that it's been all work and no play. I've found time to participate in multiple potlucks, see a few non-class-related movies, and attend the National Folk Festival:

I'm trying to talk Bryan into getting matching Hawaiian 

shirts and straw hats for us. Wouldn't that be tres chic?

I also spotted my dream home:

And I scored some fresh tumeric (!) in the farmers' market. I know, I know, this is not local at all, but since I so rarely see this stuff I couldn't resist. 

 
And best of all, Bryan is coming tomorrow for a long weekend!  Hooray!

Oh, economy.

This is more of a thinking-out-loud exercise, so bear with me as I do this.

I recently left my job as an arborist with Preservation Tree. I liked the job but wasn't getting as many hours as I would have liked, and with the winter quickly approaching (read: slow pruning season) I felt the need to jump ship to get in as many 40-hour weeks as I could. So I am now with another tree care company, which is fine.

The hard part is that my previous employer is very safe and has very high standards for tree care, where my current employer has slightly lower standards for both -- but does have months' worth of 40-hour weeks scheduled. So here I am compromising my standards (and possible safety) for a more consistent paycheck. What has the world come to? Here I sit, as I'm sure many other people in the U.S. and around the world are right now, not totally happy with my job but needing a steady paycheck, and a lot of people don't even have that right now.

The Morris Arboretum where I was an intern last year found me pruning trees, taking tree-care classes, teaching tree care to volunteers and members, visiting other arboreta, etc. My brain was stimulated, my body was tired, and I got to commute by bike every day. Life was good. Ever since then, the commercial tree-care world is only making me tired every day, and all the other things are gone. The other sad thing for me as a potential arborist is that I mostly enjoy ornamental pruning and tree health analysis, and I don't have a whole lot of interest in the tree work that most people need/want (like removing huge dead trees that are hanging over a $500,000 home).

Anyhow, taking these cues that I'm not very interested in the adrenaline rush/risky tree care business and missing the academic/education side of tree care, I think I will follow that and keep my ears open for opportunities to return to the environmental education field. My 9 years at a nature center and 2 years in Haiti (which was mostly an education position) all have me wired to enjoy sharing my knowledge about the environment. So, until I find that opportunity I'll be hanging out with the trees, hoping the economy rebounds, and looking for greener pastures.

Thanks for letting me vent -- and feel free to let me know of any education positions open!

new fence, new job, new summer

So, biggest news first. Sharon is coming home in two days. She is in the middle of papers and exams as well as trying to get her room ready for the sub-letter and getting her stuff together to come back to Philadelphia. Can't wait for her to be home!

Second biggest news is that we finally finished the fence that we've been planning for the side yard since we started cleaning it up. As you can see, the fence has been built! We used 15-20 8' slabs from a sawmill in Fairview Village (Spacht Sawmill). These slabs are the first cuts made to logs to make them square, so they are pretty much useless scraps that they sell as firewood. We got all the wood for a little under $30. The people there are super friendly and specialize in fine woods, custom woodworkers, carvers, etc. Go check it out.


The yard rises, so with the old, short fence we would be basically eye-to-eye with sidewalk passersby and the neighbors across the street when we're hanging out on the deck in the back, so the new fence was much needed. This morning I put down all the stone (Schist), and hopefully we will be adding some plants soon to make it pretty.

On to other news. I have a new job which I will begin next week at Preservation Tree. It's a small company and the other guys are really cool. I'm definitely excited to climb some big trees and not be making intern pay anymore. It will be sad to leave the Arboretum, but we have to leave the nest sometime.

In the so-so news category, we are buying a car. I'm half excited to be among the folks out there that can go anywhere they please, no matter the weather or distance. At the same time I'm bumming that I will be back in the land of clutches, brakes, tires, oil changes, light bulbs, timing belts, squeaks, rattles, etc. We're getting a 2001 Honda Civic that gets 35mpg, which I am really excited about. Our last car got 24ish mpg and with $4-5 gas on the horizon, we couldn't go back to that.

Looking ahead, I start my job on the 9th, Sharon starts her summer job on the 16th, we have a Nowak family wedding on the 21st in VA (which should be fun) and then a whole summer of fun ahead of us. On a small side note, Sharon was fortunate enough to receive some funding to do research in Paraguay, so we are starting to plan for a trip to the middle of S. America. Travel, you long lost friend, we are coming back!

Me in a tree

Part of my internship involves putting together a project, and I decided to focus on visitor education. Specifically, education about how and what arborists do. Below is a photo of me  moving around in a tree when the rope is tied-in in a high central location.  I'm trying to illustrate how placing the rope in a high, central position gives a lot of flexibility for moving around in the tree. (Enjoy the image -- it took me a while to get the basics of Photoshop down so go easy on my editing.)

Acquisitions

First things first, to the far right in the photo below you will see the latest addition to our string art collection: a string art golfer. Actually, it's copper wire so maybe I can't call it string art. If you were able to look a bit more closely you would see that a golf tee sits in each corner of the frame. Ah-May-Zing! The only piece of string art that can top a golfer is an owl. I've only ever heard stories of this mythical beast and hope to one day own this elusive creature.

Next is a book I stumbled across in a Nashville thrift store. I won't say much but it caught my eye as I'm currently in job search mode, so the words 'profit' and 'how to' just jumped out to me.

As far as personal life, job prospects include profiting from the rapture, trimming trees, teaching in Philadelphia public schools, and/or scheming a job at the Arboretum. Hopefully one of these prospects works out.

From one library to another

I ran across this box the other day at work. During my year and a half of working at the Library Company of Philadelphia, I always said it sounds like a place to buy shelving units and other library supplies (though, of course, it's not). Lo and behold, someone else thought so too.

Workity work work work

So, you may remember that I am an intern at the Arboretum, and with such titles they tend to make it a learning experience. With that "learning experience" goal, they ask us to do intern projects. For my project, I'm working on educating folks about what arborists do. This phase is geared at future arborists and potential interns, so the other day I brought my camera and tripod and shot a ton of photos to make a time-lapse video of a tree removal. The guy in the tree is Brian from Schectman Tree Care, one of our contractors, and the acting chief arborist Andrew pops in a few times and then makes the final cuts on the trunk. I am absent as I am pressing the shutter button. Enjoy.

The day job.

I know – you’re sick and tired of looking at that bepollened bee! Why haven’t we been posting on this blog, you ask? For one thing, it turns out that actual 40-hour-per-week jobs take up a lot of time. Then there’s commuting, and spending time with friends, and chores, and…

Faithful readers will remember that I am working this summer at Art-Reach, a nonprofit dedicated to making the arts accessible for people with disabilities or economic disadvantages. Aside from the fact that I am on the phone more than I ever thought I would be, it’s been a great job so far. Not only does Art-Reach advocate on behalf of people in need to get reduced-rate admissions to a couple hundred cultural venues throughout the area, they also organize pretty great community events. A couple weeks ago Art-Reach collaborated with the Walnut Street Theater to present a fully-accessible performance of Fiddler on the Roof, complete with audio description, ASL interpretation, and a sensory tour before the performance.

Since there were a few extra headsets, I checked out the audio description during the play. The speaker described what was happening on stage (“curtain rises;” “they shake hands”), although I found that he provided more details as the show progressed (“the dancers are moving faster now, left legs extended, bottles balanced on their heads”).

The pre-show sensory tour allowed patrons with visual impairments to check out props before the show started. Two actors presented their costumes and then passed around the wig used in the show’s dream sequence, several hats, and of course a fiddle. I loved that the male actor also presented his beard as an element of his costume, although people were cracking up at feeling his face:

And a few weeks before that event, Art-Reach partnered with the Philadelphia Museum of Art to present audio-described tours in the collections and touchable tours in a gallery of work by artists who have visual impairments. Sighted patrons were given the option to don blindfolds as well (I couldn’t because I had to take flashless photos, sigh).

A docent described two paintings in the early American gallery, but I sort of preferred the work of the contemporary artists with visual impairments:

 

The bright colors, geometric shapes, and incorporation of found objects reminded me a lot of Haitian art, so it was fun to see. I’m not sure how much longer this exhibit will be up, so if you’re in Philadelphia definitely head over and check it out.