10.15.05
this school year finds me at the school for international and public affairs (sipa). i have started the mpa (master of public administration) portion of my dual degree program (the other part being social work).

here's an excerpt from the entry i was going to post on september 17th: "so i've been back in school for 2 weeks, and i've got to admit, i'm having a lot of fun... i even have fridays off!"

umm... here's the reality check.

every week since then has been a bit of a psychological roller coaster. one moment i'm standing atop the mountain called regression analysis and probability (statistics)... the next moment i'm being pummeled by a rogue wave of compensating and equivalent variation (economics)... fears that i will get another D in microeconomics surface (the D surfaces, not me because i'm still being pummeled by that wave, and yes, i got a D in micro the first time around - 10 years ago - and i'm taking it again? no, not by choice)

every week i question why i am doing this, and every week there's a tiny bubble of air that tells me i'm doing okay and will get through this and perhaps next semester will not be as intense and overwhelming...

in the midst of all this chaos, here's some things that are helping to keep me sane:

• yoga at the new neighborhood yoga studio *lucky lotus*

• cooking with a crockpot: labor light and yummy results! please share crockpot recipes with me if you have any!

• sottocenere (a.k.a. truffley cheese!!!)

• neighborhood restaurant maggie brown's: they seem to have perfected the art of *comfort food*. mac-n-cheese with bacon, peanut butter pie with chocolate sauce and caramel ice cream, and really good burgers!

• singer/songwriter feist from canada: first heard her on the radio in oregon and now i can't stop listening!

8.22.05
we have landed back in brooklyn! don't worry, there are more stories and pictures of our travels to come. but first, a story of return:

we were in a bar the other night, talking and laughing when a woman asked, "where are you from?" i asked her what she meant by that, and she said, "well, you don't seem like you live in new york! you're not jaded!"

while i was a bit weirded out by her candor, i also felt a little happy inside. had our travels been that good for us that a stranger could tell?!

further evidence that separation from everyday routine and environment is good:

i think this is the first time in years that i felt refreshed and excited when approaching new york.

i am liking the feeling of washing dishes by hand... i am notorious for saying things like, "i hate washing dishes" and "morgan likes washing dishes", the latter of which he tells me is not true... he just does them because i don't.

morgan's album came out while we were traveling... we sort of got caught up in the slowness of sunny days, cool nights, shooting stars... and i forgot to mention it was out in stores... oops!

early morning migration
morgan packard and ezekiel honig

listen/buy here


since i'm in school, being able to choose summer reading was very important... here's the first book i read this summer:

the colony of unrequited dreams by wayne johnston - a friend gave this to me when i got married, as it was about newfoundland (where morgan and i honeymooned). this book blew me away! the storytelling is so enjoyable. it is such a satisfying read. if you're looking for one last summer reading book, here it is!

7.26.05
it seems that we have reached the s-l-o-w chapter of our roadtrip. in the five days we have been on orcas island, rarely have we ventured from this cove (see photo above). it is lovely and picturesque. there is a dramatic tide that uncovers both pink and purple starfish - the purple ones are the color of grape popsicles!

we are visiting our friend jesse who has lived on orcas on and off for about five years. he lives in a sailboat. jesse, for those in the know, is the ringleader/mascot of the warner fall foliage festival float-building craziness! talk about a cool guy, jesse is helping build a spring-fed hydroelectric powerline that will provide electricity for 75 homes (sounds small, but remember, this is an island).

we have been blessed to meet so many wonderful people on orcas, as well as partaking in some pretty spectacular generosity... dungeoness crab feasting, borrowed kayaks, and of course, our camping spot...

long live the kings!
we are staying next to a non-profit salmon fish hatchery called long live the kings. please visit their website and read about this amazing organization that is helping to create ecologically appropriate hatcheries that will help restore wild salmon to the northwest. the glenwood springs hatchery is where we are at and the pictures on the site are all from there.

i've been requested to put up a picture of the van, so here he is: Poncho!

7.19.05
two updates in one week! woo hoo!
we're in portland, oregon now - at a very nurturing and cozy cafe called the touchstone cafe. there's inspirational stuff everywhere. i just read my karma tarot cards.

we've been lazing about here for a few hours, while our van "poncho" (recently named) is in the shop (hans, the mechanic, is replacing the thermostat - we noticed some higher temperature readings recently, and are being responsible van borrowers).

across the street is a thrift yarn, fabric & notions shop --- knitting needles and crochet hooks for $1... balls of yarn for $1.50!!!

and further on down the street is a shop called "the bazaar of the bizarre". apparently, it's a toy shop!

oregon dunes
picture sloping round hills, dropping off sharply into a bowled valley... fascinating rippling patterns of lines snaking endlessly... all comprised of sand.

we hiked into a dune around 5pm, saw some dunes overlooking the ocean and said, "well, this is pretty cool. so these are the dunes!"

then we turned around, and saw a giant upslope of sand horizoning somewhere in the distance... "what's this?" we said, and hiked up to the top. at the top we found more hills and valleys these were the dunes. they were amazing. otherwordly. ethereal. time-stopping.

i am smitten with the patterns of lines and ripples the wind makes in the sand. we felt like lawrence of arabia.

7.17.05
not sure if it gets better than this. humbug mountain campground, near port orford, oregon, is nestled between two mountains with a short path leading to a beach cove where birds flock and nest and a river meets the ocean. and at night we watch the moon rise above the mountains.

when we arrived, we immediately said, "let's stay here for TWO nights!" this is the first place we've stayed for more than a night, the first place we've wanted to and have hiked , the first place we've gone out for dinner and the first place we've decided to return to on our southward journey. i think we're big fans of the southern oregon coast!

our volkswagon westfalia van
not technically "ours", but we have quickly grown to love our van. it's so compact yet spacious, practical and easy! i was sitting on the back drinking some tea when a little girl rode by on her bike, smiled at me and said, "cool van!" hee hee.

crazy norwegian's fish-n-chips
our treat to ourselves after our hike was that we could eat out. we chose the crazy norwegian, and couldn't have been happier! fresh fish and crab, blackberry pie, and wireless internet! in fact, we're back there for lunch today, which is where i'm doing this update from! ^_^ crab melt comin' right up!

7.11.05
we begin our roadtrip tomorrow morning! not sure what our first destination will be, but we're talking about trying to find a campground on the beach!

speaking of beginning driving, i just had a somewhat humbling experience... my first manual driving lesson. we'll be driving a volkswagon westvalia van for the next month, and right now morgan is the sole driver. i think we both hope i will be able to master this soon.

i must commend morgan for being an awfully patient instructor. he gave me some mime-like descriptions of how the clutch worked with the accelerator and he cheerfully patted my knee and kissed my shoulder when i burst into tears after a particularly stressful moment. i told morgan to remember this, as it may repeat in the future if he attempts to teach a future daughter how to drive stick-shift.

it was all rather tense yet amusing, and i now can accelerate on a hill about 70% of the time. go me!

we've been staying with morgan's grandparents for the past few days and there is a plethora of exciting flora and fauna

lemon heaven
morgan's grandparents grow two types of lemons: eureka (the conventional type you buy in the grocery store) and meyer (a milder type that can be eaten almost like an orange). i as i may have mentioned, i LOVE lemons! over the past few days i have had the true luxury of making and drinking fresh lemonade every day. ^_^

hummingbird
i'm not sure if i've ever seen a hummingbird drink out of anything besides a sugar water feeder. i've seen quite a few recently and yesterday, while while painting a "hens and chickens", a hummingbird appeared and began feeding on the blossoms. it went from one to another, slowly getting closer to me, when all of a sudden it saw me and darted to a foot in front of my face. it suspended itself for a good while and then slowly began to circle, checking me out from all sides. i felt partly excited and partly afraid that it was going to conclude that i was a flower worth sampling.