March Showers

The plants that didn't drown in our recent storms are enjoying the sun.

Steve's columnar apple tree:

Steve Travel Update #6

Steve was home for the weekend, but I dropped him off at 3 am this morning on campus to catch his shuttle to the airport. He's off to the U.S. Virgin Islands and will return very late Sunday night.

At least the weather in Santa Cruz has taken a turn for the better. Beautiful and sunny days ahead make it a little less depressing to be doing taxes instead of diving in the tropics.

Steve Travel Update #5

Steve is home safely. Yay!

Steve Travel Update #4

Steve e-mailed me from Singapore this morning and then followed it up with an e-mail that he should be able to call me via Skype tonight from Seoul (where they have an eleven-hour layover). He should arrive back in San Francisco tomorrow around lunch time. I have to say my excitement at his return is somewhat tempered by the knowledge that he's leaving again next Tuesday... but at least it's only for a week this time.

The sky is falling... and the rivers are rising to meet it...

Steve's trip began just before the earthquake in Japan and in addition to our own little tsunami that created havoc in the local small craft harbor, after a relatively peaceful winter, we have gotten what seems like an entire season's worth of rain and storms in the two weeks or so he's been away. Today, howling winds and driving rain took out the power at my work. It was restored later this afternoon (thank goodness, we wouldn't want to take too long a break from taxes after all) but is still out in downtown and parts of the eastside of Santa Cruz. There are flash flood warnings up for two of our local rivers. The large river (the San Lorenzo) near my work was at the highest I'd ever seen it, with the water flirting with the bike path along its edge.

Talking with my boss about the potential flooding, he asked "were you in Santa Cruz in '82?" Before I could stop myself, I said "I wasn't born yet." He laughed and proceeded to tell me about the disastrous flooding that carried redwood trees downstream and lead to the replacement of two major bridges.

I felt really good coming away from that exchange. My age doesn't even register with my boss. I often worry about people taking me seriously with my baby face. At least one person does, it would seem.

Steve Travel Update #3

I talked with Steve yesterday before he boarded his final flight to take him to rendezvous with the dive boat. He and his team members were able to do some diving and sightseeing during their stopover in Manado. He sent along a few pictures:




Apparently the trip is going all right so far, and I think he was looking forward to getting on the boat and doing some real "work."

Garden Update

Spring is coming...

Steve Travel Update #2

Steve was able to video call me via Skype in just the past hour. They landed successfully in Manado and are in their hotel. It was already 7 on Sunday morning there, so they headed off to breakfast. Their next flight (which will take them to Sorong to meet up with their boat) will be tomorrow afternoon. I am relieved to hear everything has gone well so far.

Tsunami!

I woke up this morning to news that Santa Cruz was under a tsunami warning. Apparently evacuations were even ordered in low-lying areas, and a few roads were closed. But the surge ended up being mild here. The local news channel had some footage of the surge coming into the harbor. It's a testament to the power of water that it didn't look like much, but managed to damage the boats and docks so much.

I was freaking out about the possibility of a tsunami where Steve is traveling, since warnings went up in Indonesia. However, the waves were apparently pretty insignificant there.

A pretty strange day.

Steve Travel Update

Steve was able to e-mail me from the airport in Singapore around noon our time today (somewhere around 4 am there). So far so good.

Far, far away...

I dropped Steve off on campus this morning, where he then boarded a shuttle to San Francisco International Airport, where he then boarded a plane to Singapore, where he will then board a plane to Manado (Indonesia), where he will then board a plane to Sorong (Indonesia), where he will then board a live-aboard dive boat.

He is off with the lab again, on another expedition to collect and survey sea sponges. Spending 10 days diving in what he informed me is one of the best places in the world to dive sounds like a chore, but somebody's got to do it I suppose.

He e-mailed me after boarding the plane at SFO, so I know he's on his way. He'll return March 26, around lunch time.

Now I just have to entertain myself for the next two weeks until he comes home. Of course, he'll only be home for three days before he jets off to the U.S. Virgin Islands for a week of more diving for the lab.

Meanwhile, I'll be working extra hours doing taxes. I really chose the wrong profession.