ain't no mountain high enough

last week was so much fun! jason and aryanna, ward's grad student and his girlfriend, came to visit. wednesday ward was supposed to take us out to catch some butterflies and see some cool sites, but he wasn't feeling well, so the three of us went for a hike instead. we walked the 45 minutes to the trailhead of bellview mountain (the twin peaks you see in the background of many of my photos) and proceeded to climb the 3.5 hour up hike. (it only took us a couple of hours to come down.) it was really neat! i have been wanting to climb a peak all summer, but haven't had anyone to hike with. i really enjoyed their company - it was just so neat to have some people to spend time with. the next day ary cooked us a delicious breakfast of cheese, egg, and tomato on bread, accompanied by a peach - yum! i haven't had a breakfast that fancy all summer! then we met up with ward, who was feeling better, and went on our site seeing adventure! we drove 2.5 hours on 4-wheel drive dirt paths till we finally got to treeline. it was gorgeous! we climbed up from there, catching butterflies as we went. i caught a couple of colias so we could show jason and ary what we work on. jason works on their biochemistry, but he had never seen a whole one :)

this week has been fun too. lauren is working on her electrophoresis stuff, so she and carol have been keeping me company in the lab. they have to work in ward's lab because he has all of the necessary equipment - i learned that his lab is the most expensive one here! working here is just so much more fun with other people around, even though i'm doing the exact same thing i have been all summer. our caterpillars are getting bigger and soon they will hopefully pupate!

heather is leaving on thursday, then lauren on saturday. then it will be my turn! just 9 more days till i go home - i can't wait! i already have so many exciting plans: celebrating kat's birthday, going to monterey with mom, helping em with bio, going to the city with a couple of friends, seeing a concert with jen, then starting school - with dad in my last class on the first day!

i was talking with carol and ward today about my honors thesis. i'm beginning to brainstorm - there's no rush, but i would like to start writing up my proposal so that i can submit it before i go to spain in january. i don't want to have to worry about it there. i told them both, and they were fine with this, that i want to either work on campus or at hopkins next summer so i can be closer to home. it's great here, but it's just too far away from the people i love :)

ward suggested a couple of projects i could work on in his lab - i could even get started this fall! that would be great because it would put a lot less pressure on me next summer, and it would probably make senior year a lot easier. the one i'm most interested has to do with a heterozygote advantage in the enzymes that produce the sugars that go into the male's spermatophores. the better the package, the more eggs their mates will lay. this has been tested but not that thoroughly, and has never been published, so it would be a cool project with a lot of potential.

i was kind of hoping to do something that related more to people, but when i mentioned that carol said i should have been a humbio major. i also would really like to spend some more time at hopkins, and the summer is really the only chance i would have to do that. but i'm not sure of a project or a professor i would want to work with there, so we'll see. if anyone has any suggestions let me know...

for now i'm just hanging out with the few staff members and ras that are still here. we had a potluck last night, but i skipped it for a quiet night with the house to myself. my roommates are nice, as are the boys across the way. it's fun that i'm starting to get to know some people, but i still can't wait to get back to school and see all my friends there! just a few more days...

i think i'm going to boston

since my last post i have mostly been pet sitting and gardening - that is feeding butterflies and preparing their habitats, letting them lay eggs and keeping track of the offspring as they hatch into caterpillars, and growing their host plat: hairy vetch. it's been pretty much an hour and a half of work with the rest of the day to sleep, read, and eat. i have been getting a lot of reading done though, so that's good. too bad i don't have harry potter with me because i always said i would read it when i had time, and now i finally have the time. i read a book by elizabeth gilbert (author of eat, pray, love - which is like my favorite book ever) and it was ok. it wasn't amazing, but it held my attention well enough. definitely not a page turner though. now i'm onto a mystery called simple genius by david baldacci. it's something i picked up in the airport because i was desperate for something to read while i waited for my delayed plane yesterday. it's turned out to be pretty good so far - very dan brown (davinci code) -esqu. i like it; in fact i'm almost halfway through already. it's a pretty quick read, which will soon present me with the problem of needing a new book. i have one that i'm trying to read in spanish, but that's much slower. their is also a copy of margaret atwood's the handmade's tale in our cabin, so maybe i will give that a try.

ward is back in palo alto right now taking care of his 94 year old mother who was not doing well, then had a stroke. the latest update is that she's under palliative care until she dies, which will probably be pretty soon. because she is so old and has been living with ward and carol for a few years, they are pretty prepared for this and have already said their goodbyes. it's still hard though. ward plans to be back thursday regardless of what happens. she wants her ashes interred in arlington with her husband, so that is something he can take care of after this summer. maybe the research assistants (lauren, heather, and i) can cook dinner for them one night this weekend.

in more exciting news, i had a great weekend! i got to go to boston to my aunt's wedding that included a family reunion for the entirety of my mom's family. it was great. the wedding was adorable and the reception was a ton of fun! it was really fancy with delicious food. and i got to trade in my hiking boots for a dress and some makeup, which was really fun for a change. i even got a manicure with my sisters! the next day we wandered the freedom trail of boston, brushing up on our us history with kat as our tour guide. we also had qdoba for lunch. i think that was the highlight of everyone's trip! it was so nice for me to just get to hang out with my family for a couple of days. i also got to get back to the real world for a second. i even got to watch the olympics. being in the city was fun, but it also reminded me why i like the mountains so much, so that was nice too.

if you ever get the stark contrast of isolated mountains one day and a big city the next, pay particular attention to the smells. i went from sniffing wildflowers and fresh air (albeit with a much lower partial pressure of oxygen) to smoke, smog, and fast food. good thing i got to come back!

i guess that's all i have for now. just 3.5 more weeks till i get to go home. i can't wait! but i will enjoy the rest of my time in the mountains too. pics from the wedding are on facebook at http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2140615&l=67070&id=220245