Exploring Place

Blog Moving...

2009-09-18T10:15:00.001-06:00

Hello!

This blog has moved to the following address:

http://www.nancypatterson.org.

Hope you follow along!

Nancy

And So It Begins....

2009-09-03T07:33:00.002-06:00

I was sound asleep when the cries of a calf elk rang in my ears. "Oh great," I thought, "I know what I'm doing on rove: baby-sitting elk!" And then I heard it. A terrible, gutteral noise. The worse sound I have heard all summer (except for a little girl getting a splinter pulled out of her hand - yikes). The sound of.... could it be? A juvenile bull elk just trying to get his bugle on? Hm..... The sound was such a terrible bugle, I thought for sure it must only be a young bull just trying to call. I rolled over and out of bed and stumbled downstairs. Standing at the coffee maker, eyes half closed from sleep, I suddenly realized the terrible premonition, that horrid sound, was NOT a juvenile, but a full-fledged six-point MASSIVE BULL ELK! OH NO!

The bull had his head low to the ground, his antlers long and paralleled against his back. Any easy 800+ pound bull. He was chasing the cows and calves, attacking the poor spike bull, and acting like he owned the town. A bush stuck out from his antlers. With no one else to fight, what other choice did he have but to attack inanimate objects. He let out another rasping gutteral bugle. SERIOUSLY! UGH! What a TERRIBLE bugle! I could hear him panting as he trotted around rounding up his harem. What a disgrace... at least his rack was, well, pretty good, but the last point wasn't very pronounced.

Since then he's been acting like the head honcho of Mammoth, scaring the cows and calves into submission. What a bully. At least his bugle has gotten more dignified sounding. Just wait until the other bulls come to show him what a big old mean bull looks like. They'll put him to shame.

Founder's Day

2009-08-25T16:09:00.000-06:00

Happy 93rd birthday to the National Park Service!

Pretty Rangers

2009-08-18T08:27:00.002-06:00

A pot-bellied bus driver walked up to me yesterday on the pretense of discussing elk. After he told his story, he looked at me and said, "The Park Service sure is hiring pretty rangers these days. There sure are some pretty rangers here, easy to look at." I'm okay with that, I think. Maybe it helps people listen to me when I tell them not to approach the elk.

Snow on Washburn

2009-08-16T19:53:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we drove from Canyon across Dunraven Pass back to Mammoth. In Canyon it was 52 degrees. It dropped steadily as we rose up Dunraven Pass to 40 degrees and finally warmed up to a whopping 55 degrees in Mammoth. On the heights of Mt Washburn, I looked up and saw a fine dusting of snow. Last night it froze at 7,000 feet. It might freeze in Mammoth tonight! Welcome, fall.

Elk Alert!

2009-08-10T19:44:00.001-06:00

The elk were everywhere in Mammoth today! There were about 60 of them - a combination of cows, calves, and spikes. Holy elk! Just imagine in 2 weeks when the big old bulls roll into town! Jeebes! It's going to be nuts around here. I can't wait for the bugling though. That's always a good time.

Happy Birthday, Nancy!

2009-07-28T19:55:00.003-06:00

I had a really nice birthday dinner party last night! Leigh Anne made yellow fin tuna, cole slaw, and fruit salad, Shari brought a green salad, Heidi brought a cake covered in rose petals, Chris brought limeaide, and Matt brought himself! Yummy food and good company! It was lots of fun to visit and enjoy a pleasant birthday party! I even got a pretty sweet Smokey Bear happy birthday hat! Whoop!

Still Hot

2009-07-22T17:28:00.002-06:00

We could really use a thunderstorm here. It's freaking hot. And people still want to go soak in Boiling River. They're nuts. Everyone is a bit dazed, confused, and cranky (meaning the visitors, although some of the rangers are those adjectives as well. I'm mostly dazed and hot.) Maybe I'll go swimming in the Yellowstone.

Owlets Have Fledged!

2009-07-20T18:03:00.001-06:00

Like sentinals, the great grey owl parents monitored the progress of their owlets. The owlets lived near the visitor center. They quickly grew and before we knew it reached independence and fledged! They are off in the great wild expanses exploring the world around them! Best of luck owlets!

Wildlife Watching

2009-07-14T15:28:00.002-06:00

I audited a wildlife watching tour this morning. We left Mammoth at 6 am and drove out to Lamar Valley. What a tour! We saw beautiful sandhill cranes and many mammals, including two grizzly bears, one black bear, seven mountain goats, two coyotes, and lots of bison. One of the grizzlies forded the Lamar River as we watched. The coyotes took chunks out of a carcass and then played with each other. They ran and leaped all over the place! The mountain goats were perched high on a cliff side - three babies! Wow! What fun!

National Anthem

2009-07-13T19:54:00.002-06:00

At the end of the Fort Walk, as we lowered the flag and folded it, one of the people on my tour started belting the National Anthem. It was quite patriotic.

Hot!

2009-07-12T19:44:00.003-06:00

It was the first truly hot day today - over 80 degrees. Oh boy! It's a good day for limeaide and tonic. Yesterday we had a good hike up Sepulcher Mountain. It's a 3600 ft elevation gain from Mammoth to the Summit. Great views of the Tetons, Mt. Sheridan, Mt. Washburn, and the Absaroka mountains.

Coyote and Big Horns

2009-07-08T15:48:00.002-06:00

A coyote trotted along the stone wall by Roosevelt Arch, then hopped behind it into the park. It move quickly and quietly before disappearing. Big Horn sheep perched on the Gardner Canyon walls. It's amazing how steep of slopes they can climb. The mama and its baby acted casually as they hung out on the steep face.

Flowers Blooming

2009-07-06T18:01:00.001-06:00

Lots of flowers are blooming in Mammoth. The spring flowers are dying and summer flowers taking over. Bitterroot, that beautiful plant, is blooming. Lupine, heartleafed arnica, and prickly pear are all blooming too. Pretty!

Graduation Day!

2009-05-15T10:57:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is the big day! I will officially complete my M.S. degree and cruise across the UI graduation stage! Yay! This week has been full of packing, cleaning, and.... oddly enough... relaxing! I've had little school stuff to do, so I've been able to enjoy life in Moscow. What joy!

Master of Science

2009-04-26T17:16:00.002-06:00

I passed my thesis defense and am now a Master of Science of Conservation Social Sciences with an emphasis in environmental communication. Graduation is in three weeks!

Sun!

2009-04-06T13:05:00.001-06:00

Several days of sun have just the right power to cheer everyone up. This weekend we had two beautiful days of warm, sunny weather. It was perfect for taking Ms. Muffet out on a walk, checking out the crocuses in bloom, and enjoying a refreshing beverage outside. I can't wait for summer (and graduation!!) when I'll be able to hang out in beautiful Yellowstone and enjoy the fine weather.

Snow and Crocuses

2009-04-02T12:33:00.001-06:00

The crocuses have been coming up and the snow has been falling down. I guess our new mantra should be "April snow showers hopefully bring May flowers." I've mostly been chanting,"This is good for the water table, water table, water table!"

Progress?

2009-03-23T16:15:00.003-06:00

Well, I have turned in a complete draft of the thesis. It's edits from here on out. Only one more month to go until the defense date and seven weeks until Yellowstone!

The End of the K Bar As We Know It

2009-03-07T10:52:00.003-07:00

Thursday was a momentous day, a day for mourning, a day for hope. It was the last day the K Bar, in Gardiner, Montana, was open in the state it has been in for at least 20 years. All places need a face lift at some point, but the K Bar was such a classic Gardiner pizza parlor/bar that it is sad to think of it changing.

Its rustic, western decor of beer sign mirrors, low lighting, loud jukebox, and prominent pool table, bar, and pizza oven are going (or getting hidden). The K Bar is becoming tourist friendly, apparently. Does that mean no more river rats and interp rangers allowed to buy pitchers and pizza? I hope not. Does it mean brighter lighting, cleaner bathrooms, and lower jukebox music? Maybe. The cleaner bathroom would be nice. Does it mean the same rustic, comforting feel as the original bar? Probably not.

Supposedly there will still be pizza, and other "tourist friendly" food. Hopefully there will still be Alaskan on tap, pool to play, locals to talk to, and quarters to put in the jukebox. I've been waiting all winter to play "Chattahoochee" on the K Bar jukebox, darn it!

But, all this is speculation. Matthew worked on closing night when the lights went dim in the K Bar. Until the return to Yellowstone in May, we'll have to rely on his updates about the end of the K Bar as we know it.

Binoculars and a 10X Zoom

2009-03-06T09:58:00.003-07:00

This year we really got hooked up with the Jazz Fest. Kami gave us tickets to Latin Grooves on Wednesday, and Erik gave us 6th row tickets to the Big Band night on Saturday! Both shows were amazing and full of energy. It was great to have close seats and watch the musicians. They were so stoked to jam with each other and play awesome jazz!

Other people also liked watching the artists, namely Mr. Binoculars and Mr. 10x Zoom.

On Wednesday night, a "big band" Latin band played some pretty pumping salsa music. And, as a special treat for the audience (the theme was "everybody dance" for the Jazz Fest...), the band brought along two dancers to show us how to move it, move it, to the Latin Grooves. Out walked the dancers in full spangled glory! The male dancer was fully dressed in a gold shirt and beige pants. But the woman, oh my, she was dressed in tight, tight, gold hot pants and a gold spangled halter top with no back. She had gold leggings on and gold heels. WOW! As soon as those two got on stage and started shaking their booties, the crowd went wild.

Just in front of us sat an older couple. The woman looked very refined and professional. The man looked pretty refined and had a big, grey beard. But he had some powerful binoculars with him (even though we were in row 17 or something. As soon as that female dancer started shaking her gold spangled body, he slowly raised the binoculars up to his eyes. It was like slow motion but like he was thinking, "Oh my goodness, hot young babe shaking her booty, I gotta check this out!" And his wife just went on watching....

On Saturday night, Gretchen Parlato, an amazing, beautiful, etherial vocalist sang. She was really beautiful, dressed in an elegant, playful black dress and pumps - a look straight out of New York City. Well, she started singing, and Brian poked me in the side saying, "This guy doesn't have binoculars, but he has a 10x zoom on his camera!" And sure enough, another older couple sitting in front of us (row 6 this time) were watching the concert. The man was very excited about capturing shots of the whole show, but whenever Gretchen Parlato was on stage, that 10x zoom shot up in front of his eyes and he was snapping away.

I think Mr. Binocular and Mr. 10x Zoom really enjoyed Jazz Fest this year.

Culture

2009-02-27T10:43:00.004-07:00

Oh, what a wonderful place Moscow is! This week is the week of jazz in Moscow with the Lionel Hampton Jazz Fest - 4 days of big name jazz artists, high school students coming to toot their horns, and college students learning to kick back and improvise. There's always a thrill of excitement in Moscow during jazz fest. People walking around, filling the coffee shops, music floating out of everywhere! What joy! It brings a little culture to town in both musical melodies and artistic displays.

Brian is a "downtown rat," which doesn't mean he's a rat, but means he's always downtown, working at the bike shop. So, he knows all the events happening downtown. This week, in celebration of the Jazz Fest, there was an art opening at the "Above the Rim" Gallery, which is in Paradise Creek Bicycles where Brian works. And when there is an opening at the Gallery, there is an opening at the Prichard Art Gallery across the street!

So, we had an impromptu date! We went to the Prichard to check out their new display and eat their yummy hors d'oeurves. And, wow! What a display! There were two featured artists, but I immediately fell in love with Lanny Bergner's art. He makes scuptures from wire and fills them with balls, wire, colors, shapes.... I walked and felt surrounded by the physical transformation of energy incaptured in his artwork! Little balls of light and energy everywhere. It made me so HAPPY to be in that environment. Wow kazow! A jazz band played in the background and beautiful people were everywhere hobnobbing and enjoying the art. And of course, the food was
amazing! I was blown away by the bacon wrapped scallops - a delicious combo of salty-squishy deliciousness! And pineapple! And sushi! And beef kebobs! And coffee! YUM!

After we had our fill of art and food, we went back to the Above the Rim Gallery to check out their display of local women artists' work of the Palouse. Beautiful home! But the real treat was that Kami gave us two free tickets to the Jazz Fest concert that evening, Latin Rhythms meet Dizzy Gillespie. So, we went home, got spiffed up, and went to the Kibbie to enjoy some Latin Jazz. What a show! It was so fun! Jackie Ryan sang amazingly beautiful versions of songs like Red Top and Besame Mucho. So gorgeous was her voice that chills went down my spine. An All Star Trumpet Group jammed to Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton tunes. They had amazing solos where each blended into the other perfectly. A quartet, including Benny Green, jammed out to latin jazz beats. And finally, Jose Rizo's "Jazz on the Latin Side All Star Band" played great Latin Jazz fusion. We got to salsa! Oh, what fun and joy to live in a little community with so much culture! Thank you, Moscow!

In Sink Erator Part II

2009-02-18T18:47:00.001-07:00

Well, the following morning the "In Sink Erator" still had the stomach bug. When Brian tried to wash the dishes the sink backed up. He proceeded to plunge it to no avail.... So, we called Mr. Fixit the Maintenance Man. And low and behold! The "In Sink Erator" is feeling oh so much better now that Mr. Fixit fixed it!

If Only....

2009-02-17T11:10:00.002-07:00

Imagine if this had been assigned reading way back during the Big 3, Fall Semester 2006:

"We...urge researchers to carefully estimate the time, expense, and complexity involved in using coded interviews before making a commitment to this research method. Because of the tremendous investment required, we advocate exploring other options before undertaking an interview study" (Bartholomew, Henderson, & Marcia, 2000).

Bartholomew, K., Henderson, A. J. Z., & Marcia, J. E. (2000). Coded semi-structured interviews in social psychological research. In H. T. Reis & C. M. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (pp. 286-312). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

In Sink Erator Spit Up

2009-02-16T21:01:00.004-07:00

Our apartment came equipped with an "In Sink Erator" that grinds up and distributes food particles into the gray water system in the drains. I always imagine that little bits of potato peels and egg shells go whizzing away to Moscow's waste water treatment plant where some minion has the depressing job of sieving the minuscule particles out of the water. A noble job for imagine the commotion if someone turned on their tap and out came "In Sink Erator" scuzz! Ugh.

Well, today, I was thinking about the minion while doing the dishes and little particles of onion, garlic, and carrot were floating around in the dish water. When I was finished, I pulled the plug and watched the gray-particle-food-sudsy water sink down the drain. Except that, unlike normal when the drain just sucks down the dirty water, this time the water just kind of acted like a swamp and sat there. I could picture the breeding ground for mosquitos in the sludgey water.

Sometimes, when the "In Sink Erator" is full, it needs to be "burbed" so the water will properly go down the drain. Thinking this was the problem and cause of the sludge-water swamp, I casually turned on the faucet and fliped the "In Sink Erator" switch. Oh my goodness! The "In Sink Erator" didn't just need to be burbed! It positively had the FLU! Grey Water came voming out of the drain, swooshing up onto the clean dishes and spewed all over me! Yuck! I turned off the switch before the device could continue up-chucking. But, the swamp water still remained! What to do!?

Well, I did what all brave men and women must do at some point in their lives. I flipped the switch and awaited the purge. Again, the grey water swilled out of the drain, swished around the sink, and spit up spectacularly on the counter! I turned off the switch and watched as the water slowly circled round the drain. It was a half-inch less this time! So, I did it again. And out came the gray water throwing up its "In Sink Erator" contents all over the sink. Little bits of carrot, onion, and potato floated around in the In Sink Erator spit up.

But, there was some success. The water was slowly sinking down the drain and out of sight. Had the "In Sink Erator" finally de-bugged? I decided to leave it at that and hope (and pray!) that all the peels, shells, and vegetable gunk had successfully decided to float down the tunnel and off to the land of the gray water treatment plant. But, the real test will come tomorrow. Will there be another episode? Will the "In Sink Erator" be feeling like its normal garbage gut self? Will the flu persist? I sincerely hope so. And I will be there watching its every burping move.