Giving thanks

Today is [the Canadian] Thanksgiving. It’s a strange holiday for a Canadian living in the U.S., because although Thanksgiving is also celebrated here, the two nations recognize the holiday on days that are over a month and a half apart, and few Americans realize that today is special for us. I think this is the first day that I have felt really far away from home. It doesn’t help that Keith is over 2000 miles away at a wedding, making it a holiday that no other adult nearby is celebrating. All I could muster the energy to make for dinner for myself and Kai was spaghetti and garlic bread, and the dinner conversation wasn’t that fantastic:

Kai: I want more cheese.

Me: no Kai, you’ve got enough cheese.

Kai: I want more WHITE cheese… I want MORE cheese… I want more CHEESE.

Me: I said no.

Kai: I want JUICE.

Me: (pours juice and hands it over) Here you go.

Kai: I want more cheese. I want MORE CHEEEEEEESE!

Me: I said no.

Kai: I want more cheese!

Me: (silence)

Kai: I want… THAT (indicating plate containing the banana muffin bits that he had rejected minutes earlier, and upon receiving it, dumping it, crumbs and all, into his bowl of spaghetti).

And so on…

confession time: I’ve never cooked a turkey. Maybe this year will be the year I learn how. Of course, Keith and I have often scoffed at the whole turkey thing. Is it really necessary to consume one every Christmas and Thanksgiving? Having three sets of parents, plus good friends who have often graciously invited us to their family functions, we frequently get turkeyed-out during the holidays. And I can’t say I enjoy big turkey dinners any more than a nice roast chicken, fresh bread and a salad. A few years ago Keith and I thought that perhaps we’d make lasagna for Christmas dinner if anyone ever comes to our place. Of course, now they likely won’t come. But I do make a pretty decent lasagna, or so I’ve been told.

Having had a lot of time to myself this weekend, I’ve spent some time thinking about some of the things I’m thankful for: of course, Keith and Kai, and our families. I’m thankful that Keith was able to be there for Mark this weekend as he starts a new part of his life with Chandra. I know it meant a lot for him to go. Even though we are both too far away from Ontario to go home, I’m thankful that all our parents are with one of their children this weekend. I’m thankful for the opportunity that we had to come to Boulder, and that we are able to explore and experience so many new places. I’m thankful for our good health. I’m thankful for old friends who have always been there for us – I miss you. I’m thankful for new friends, including the ones who invited Kai and me over for lunch this afternoon, making my first Thanksgiving away that much more bearable. I’m thankful for mountains, and for new meaning to the song How Great Thou Art. I’m thankful that God has provided for us over the past year, and continues to provide for us, and I'm thankful for the many ways He has taught us to trust in Him since we moved. Above all, I’m thankful that I have hope in my Lord and Saviour, and that I can trust in Him to take care of us.

So happy thanksgiving to all of you, Americans and Canadians alike. May you all have something to be thankful for this year.

there's no place like home, there's no place like home

while that is true, it is also true that there is no place like a party. and so tomorrow morning i am headed to boston for a party. more like a wedding really. mark abraham's wedding to be exact. i fly into boston and there mark is picking me up and we are heading back to freeport maine for the weekend. becky and kai will be staying in boulder and i'm sure they will have a great weekend together.

i have to remember to take my pocket knife off of my key chain as i pack for the flight, i don't want to end up being searched.......

it will certainly be a different kind of trip for me. the longest i have ever been away from kai is two nights, so four days and three nights should be an experience.

Another gloomy day

Today is another gloomy day, made more gloomy by the contrast to the very nice weather we've had for the last few days. I suppose it's good to have gloomy days so that we can appreciate the nice ones that much more. I've heard the same said for cold, snowy weather, but I think I've seen enough snow in my lifetime to be able to appreciate warm weather even if I never saw snow again.

Even Jake is mopey:

still an alien, but now i can be a working alien

friday afternoon was a lazy day, a sunny day, just another day of going to the mailbox and not finding my work permit. as i came back into the house i decided to check the homeland security webpage that contains information about my file. the last time i checked the webpage it said the office had received the information that they had requested and now i would have to wait. so as i logged into my file i expected to see a statement to the effect of "our decision has been mailed to you". but lo and behold the statement said "this case has been approved, your card was mailed to you on september 22, if you do not receive it within 14 days contact our office." i was so happy i nearly jumped out of my skin. i immediately called becky but she wasn't answering her phone. she walked into the house 5 minutes later while i was talking to my mom.

and so now i need to go to the social security office tomorrow at 9 am and apply for a card. i can apply for any job i want, i just have to tell them that i have a work permit and that my social security card is on its way. hopefully and prayerfully within a couple of weeks i will have a job.

thanks to becky, my parents and my lifegroup for your support
and thanks be to God. jeremiah 29:11

Bike Musings

I ride my bike to and from work on average about 4 days per week, 2 1/2 miles on the way to work and 6 miles home (I take a shuttle up the mountain to my lab and then I ride home the whole way). Biking is a good time to think about life and about things that matter. It's also a good time to think about inane things, because attention spans on bikes can be rather short. Lately, I've been mentally tallying up a list of things that occur to me while I ride, and I thought I'd share it with you:

1) There are a lot more bugs at 5:30 PM in September than there are at the same time in July.
2) Bugs hurt when they hit you in the face at 40 miles per hour.
3) Glasses are a good thing.
4) Somehow, roadkill always ends up in bike lanes.
5) Like the shoemaker, I have elves. Only, my elves don't make shoes for me at night - they loosen the strap on my bike helmet, so that every day I have to retighten it.
6) Sometimes the fastest way home isn't the best. A bike path beside a creek beats a bike lane on a street every time.
7) My hands hate the cold.

If you ride, feel free to add your own musings. The list is open.
If you don't ride, but wish you could, I say: just do it. It's very worthwhile.

imagine breathing 1/3 the amount of oxygen and then try climbing a mountain

yesterday i had the pleasure of meeting a man who joins a club of six other climbers (he is the first american) who have climbed the 14 highest peaks (8000 meters or 26,246 feet) on the planet without using supplemental oxygen. on may 12, 2005 ed viesturs reached the summit of annapurna, the tenth highest mountain in the world.

kai and i went to r.e.i. yesterday afternoon where ed was doing a meet and greet before his presentation at the boulder theater last night. he signed this poster for becky.



he told the story of his sixteen year quest to climb these mountains and he talked about his experience regarding the 1996 tragedy on everest. he talked about the impact that climbing at extreme altitudes has on the human body and of course about his sponsors who have supported him over his career. most importantly he talked about his wife who supported his decisions to climb and his climbing partners both past and present who shared in these adventures. his pictures and stories contained tales of caution and inspiration as it relates to safety and success on these high peaks. his mantra has always been - getting to the peak is optional, getting down is mandatory.

his autobiography is going to be released next year and i'm sure it will be just interesting and inspiring as his presentation was last night.

red tape

last week i filled out some job applications ... i got as far as the section that asks for proof of your eligibility to work in the usa. for the past couple of weeks i have waited anxiously for the mail truck to make the turn down our street. i have been expecting a letter from homeland security telling me if i do or do not have work authorization. each day i put kai down for his nap and then sit at the computer checking my email or looking at a variety of different web pages on climbing, mountaineering and other sports. from the desk i only have to lean over to look out the window when i hear a vehicle turning around on our dead end street. today is the last day that i am going to be held captive by this expected letter from uncle sam. i will continue to check the mail of course but i won't go looking for the mail truck.

Tourism at its best...

We were true tourists this past weekend. My three boys (Keith, Kai and Jake) and I went south on Friday afternoon to "the springs" (aka Colorado Springs, for you non-coloradans). We weren't very smart about choosing our route, and we soon found ourselves stuck very soundly in heavy Denver rush hour traffic heading down I-25. Note to self: avoid Denver on Friday afternoons. Scratch that. Avoid Denver.

Finally free of the traffic, and with a Red Roof Inn in Colorado Springs as our destination, we boldly went where MANY tourists have gone before.

Aside: I'm not sure how other people with 2 1/2-year-olds manage, but our kid WON'T sleep in a hotel room while we are awake.

Our destinations included a number of the "NOT TO BE MISSED" points of interests on our Colorado Springs Vacation Guide: Garden of the Gods (huge spires of rock that got lost on their voyage east and headed UP instead), the Pike's Peak Cog Railway (a highlight for Kai, who had to bring his Thomas the Tank Engine along for the show), the Manitou Cliff Dwellings (700+ year old apartments fashioned out of the side of a rocky cliff) and the Manitou Springs (naturally occuring lukewarm Perrier bubbling up from a mile below the surface - actually pretty neat, once you think about it.) We actually had a really good time, once we were able to ignore all the billboards advertising all of the above and other tourist spots.

I don't know that we'll go back to the springs again... but all good touristy places need to be experienced at least once.

Maybe next week we'll go hiking again.

Home again, home again...

I'm home... Perhaps some of you didn't know I was gone? Well then - let me fill you in:

Last week I had the incredible privilege of being picked to be a part of ACCESS VIII and the GRC, which respectively stand for "Atmospheric Chemistry Colloquium of Emerging Senior Scientists" and "Gordon Research Conference". The former is an opportunity for recent and soon-to-be recent PhD graduates in atmospheric chemistry-related fields to meet together, discuss our research, socialize and schmooze with a number of US agency reps (read: NASA, NSF, DoE and NOAA big-spenders) for three days prior to the Atmospheric Chemistry GRC, which happens immediately following ACCESS. These happen every two years, with the last two GRC meetings (2003 and 2005) taking place at Big Sky in Montana, and ACCESS in Yellowstone Park (Wyoming). For the record, I owe a huge thank you to my good friend Alex Thompson, who attended both ACCESS and the GRC two years ago and basically insisted that I apply this year. Cheers, Alex!

I've never been to either Montana or Wyoming, and I was absolutely in awe... Yellowstone is beautiful (all three photos shown here are from Yellowstone Park), and has an incredible number of stunning and amazing sights and wildlife. I really can't do them justice to describe them, but if you're interested, you can check out the rest of my pictures on the Shoppers site (along with some lengthy descriptions.) A warning - there are a LOT of pictures... my apologies to those of you with slow internet access.

The truth is, I don't know which was more exciting - ACCESS and Yellowstone or the GRC part of the week. The format of a GRC meeting is such that I not only got to listen to some of the best and brightest in our field during the morning and evening sessions, but because we are a relatively small group (conference-wise, at ~160 people), eating, sleeping and living in an environment not unlike a high school youth retreat, there were numerous opportunities for interaction with more established scientists throughout the week. As members of ACCESS, we were like the "new elite", and thus we garnered almost as much attention as those giving talks. The conversations over dinner often broke out into scientific discussions of the state of the world (and our futures), sometimes even in the absence of "current" senior scientists...

It occurred to me today while I was reading my friend Rhian's blog that many of you probably don't really know what it is that I and other atmospheric chemists actually do with our time. She explains it much more eloquently than I can, but essentially, we study the gas-phase and aerosol (gas-liquid and gas-solid) chemistry that occurs in the complex mixture of the atmosphere.

There are two major foci for current research: climate change and air quality. The first talk of this year's GRC contrasted the issue of climate change to the Antarctic ozone hole. Unlike the relatively straightforward job of assessing the causes and establishing a workable solution to the ozone hole issue, the difficulty of interpreting and reporting on climate change is that it isn't as easy to identify direct causes, model anthropogenic v. natural impacts, and develop a reasonable plan for what we can do to stop the impact we as humans are having on our world. Climate change is more than just the greenhouse effect. It involves such a vast array of factors that are barely understood (if at all) and much more difficult to model than the ozone issue ever was. Is it happening? Definitely... Why? Well... on a basic level, it has to do with what we (humans) are doing to our atmosphere that is causing our climate to change at an seemingly unprecedented pace. What can we do to stop it? Hard to say. I think it's even harder to implement. Just ask the people in charge of Kyoto.

As for air quality, atmospheric scientists are mostly concerned with the increasing number of megacities (> 10 million people) - only 4 in 1975, currently 16, and 20+ by 2015, mostly in less-developed nations. Problems such as ozone (near the surface, ozone is bad, in the ozone layer in the stratosphere, ozone is good - I know, it's complicated), fine particulate matter and NOx are some of the the bigger issues in urban air - typically related to adverse health effects. This is the focus of my current research, as I prepare for a field study that will look at impact of the urban outflow (polluted air) of Mexico City as it is transported into the surrounding regions. As chemists, we are looking at the major factors involved in the chemistry of this polluted air mass, to determine the impact it has downwind of Mexico City. Perhaps someday this work will help us to better understand the complex chemistry of urban air in such a way that it will enable policy makers to do their jobs more confidently.

It certainly is an interesting ride. We don't have all the answers. If we did, I wouldn't have a job. For now, I'll keep toiling away in my corner of the field, feeling a little more confident that what I'm doing can fit into the big picture and maybe someday make a difference.

my brothers birthday

today my brother christian turns 30. happy birthday my dearly loved little brother.

i'm not sure if it was the day he was born or shortly after but i remember seeing him and my mom from their hospital window in lindsay, ontario those many years ago. i remember my dad standing with tyler and i on the grass of the hospital and i think our mom threw us some candy out the window. i don't have a lot of memories of christian as a baby but i do remember one incident when he was a toddler, he fell off of the couch and split his chin open. he had to get some stitches of course and i thought that was the most amazing thing in the world.

needless to say that was not the only accident that he would have over the next 20 or so years.

so if you can, raise a glass to my little brother tonight and let him know he is loved.

cheers buddy.