I had been prepared to happily accept the Notre Dame position if it was offered, but they turned me down. They thought very highly of me, but the other candidate had interests and experience more in line with their research.
My hydrogeology class at Amherst College spent the weekend at Martha's Vineyard, taking sediment cores of a pond and sampling groundwater in surrounding wells. My classmates are a very goofy and off-color bunch of jocky girls and irreverant undergraduate males. Being from a different college, I've always felt somewhat outside their dynamic, but on this trip we all had an awesome time, and I finally learned all their names. I had the nostalgic delight of crossing the Bourne Bridge, and passing through the familiar Woods Hole Road. I brought some reading with me, but I hadn't had time to download lots of material the night before. So I ran out of homework.
On the ferry over, as I was standing by the railing with the wind whipping past my face and ballooning out my shirt and pants, at first I couldn't fully enjoy myself, thinking about all the work I'd left at school. But that didn't last too long. It was an overcast day, and the ocean's surface had large swells that slowly and continually roiled like the imagery in classic stories about the wrath of god.
As we drove to the Amherst alum's beach house where we were staying, and later on Saturday as we worked at Crystal Lake, I was kicking myself for not taking more pleasure at the time of my bike excursion on Martha's vineyard last semester. Similar to last semester, the trees had no leaves last weekend, but the forests on the roadside didn't look drab to me this time. Even though the views themselves weren't breathtakingly beautiful, just the concept and the experience of the landscape, with the ocean, coastal plants and creatures, and old buildings full of character so intimately integrated, were deeply satisfying.
During dinner at a local restaurant, the conversation at my table turned to tastes in seafood, the boy sitting next to me said, "Who has thumbs and likes fried clams? (pointing thumbs to himself) This guy!" I asked the boys at the table (I and the professors were the only girls at the table) if they knew the original joke, simultaneously saying that I couldn't tell it in front of my professor. Finally the professor's curiosity was piqued, and she insisted that I tell. So I said, "Who has two thumbs and likes blow jobs?" Pointing to myself with my thumbs, "This guy!" At this point I noticed that the conversation at the other table (all girls except for one) had stopped, and they were looking at me with those "uhhhh . . . " smiles. The professor appreciated it, and the boy next to me pointed out that it had been much better for me to tell it than him.
We had to monitor the water level in two wells throughout the night to determine the tidal influence; each student had to take two shifts. I took the 4:30 and 5:30 shifts so that someone else wouldn't have to. But it was fun--I didn't have trouble getting out of bed at 4:15, and I always feel very special, responsible, and capable when I get up in the sphincter of the night to accomplish some task. Breakfast the next morning was lovely--three lovely slabs of French toast with maple syrup and butter. Nothing quite like a heavy traditional breakfast at a Mom-and-Pop restaurant.
On the way back, with no homework to do, I simply enjoyed the company of the other students, the ferry ride back to Woods hole, the sunny afternoon landscapes outside the van window, and the mixed CDs that a fellow student played. I discovered that I like Dispatch. The title of this entry describes how I felt coming home from this trip.
I bought a $1.00 plastic travel mug with a picture of a famous pink "gingerbread house" in Oak Bluffs. I've been wanting a travel mug for a while, forgot to bring one back from home, and had been too cheap to buy my own, since they're usually 8 bucks at least. But now, no more ceramic or plastic cups stolen from the dining halls, and no more environmentally yucky paper cups : D
Also, a shout-out to my new laptop battery. $140, but it holds a charge for several hours rather than 15 minutes, which means I can do homework when I travel. It's the simplest thing, but it makes me so happy
XD
As for travel, I'm taking the bus to the Cape again on Thursday afternoon, and returning on Saturday. On Friday I'm presenting my research from last semester at a symposium. If I were to do it over again, I would've presented at the student symposium here at school, rather than this time-sucking right-before-finals symposium. But it'll be cool to disseminate the idea that I explored last semester.
Also, I got an interview request from the Oklahoma Dep't of Agriculture, for a concentrated-animal-feeding-operation environmental inspector position in the south-central part of the state. Interviews are May 4 and 5, so I plan to fly home next week. My final papers for both Environmental Sociology and Water Policy are due May 6, but both professors gave me extensions. I'm waiting for the go-ahead from my hydrogeo professor whose lab I'll be missing, but I'm sure she'll give it to me.