Family & Friends,
That was definitely the longest I have gone without a blog! So, because it has been so long and SO MUCH has happened, this blog will be an attempt at a condensed version (If you truly know me, you know that this will be a difficult task for me to do :) Because everything will be condensed, if there is a story/experience that you'd like me to elaborate on, write it in the comments section and I will do my best to write some more about it!
So, without further a due, here it goes!
To begin, life has been treating me well. The fall semester is now complete and classes have come to a end. To jog your memory, my semester started early in August and is now complete with the arrival of Thanksgiving. I spent the past 14 weeks learning about our forests and natural systems in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. My last blog was about half way through the semester, so a lot more has occurred!
Picking up where I left off, many more field trips ensued. The field trips continued to take us to magnificent places, including Little Mountain, Limestone Mountain, as well as a full circle tour of the Keweenaw Peninsula, where we stopped at Cliff Drive, Brockway Mountain, Copper Harbor, and along the east shore near Lac LaBelle. One fun memory was calling into a radio station and having them play for us the Edmund Fitgerald and giving our class a shoutout...fun times in GeoVeg class :)
My Insect Ecology and LM-GPS classes occurred mainly in the first half of the semester, and were complete by about week seven. Taking finals in the middle of the semester sure makes the semester go fast!
A large part of what we do is forest inventory, or assessing the forest to see what is there. This involves lots of sampling in the field, followed by lots of time analyzing the data in the computer lab. We then discuss what is best for the forest and what we want to the future conditions of that forest to be. Once this is done management plans can be written to work from what we have to what we want. Management plans involve discussing how we are going to go from A to B as well as the impacts of doing so. That sums up a LOT of what we do :) So, with a team, I was assigned 40 acres of land to assess, analyze, and write a management plan for. This involved two days of field work and countless hours in the computer lab. This report ended at about ten pages and was sort of considered to be our "mid-term."
Now for the story that has a bit more (unintended) excitement with it. As I have said many times before, my friends and I like to adventure whenever we have free time, which doesn't happen too often. One afternoon my friends Evan, Joel, and I explored the almost non-existent town of Herman, MI. A speck on the map and quieter than a ghost town, there's nothing really there. We met a nice lady (after a small trespassing mishap) and she gave us directions to a great set of waterfalls. Taking her advice we headed that way, passing a nice yooper couple on the way there, giving us further (confusing) directions to the falls. We finally parked the car, and explored the cool rock outcrops and large rock faces emerging in the forest. The fall colors were bursting and the autumn weather was great. We finally found the river and eventually the cascading waterfalls. After much exploring we found ourselves continuing our adventures on the other side of the river, exploring more rock faces and cool niches in the forest. As we were hiking, Joel went to go use a rock face for support and a huge boulder (about the size of a full school backpack) came loose and fell, knocking the wind out of him and eventually crushing his right foot. After some choice words by all, we remained calm and began to hike out. Joel hobbled on one foot while being supported by Evan. Sometimes I forget how "in the wilderness" I really am. After descending the cliff, crossing the river, ascending the cliff on the other side and over an hour of slow walking, we made it back to the car, with another 25 minutes down back roads to get to the ER. Long story short, Joel was out of commission, having crushed and sheered off three of his toes. He went on to Marquette for surgery and then went home for a few weeks with more surgeries following.
If in a pinch for time when reading this, now would be a good time for a break :)
So, after such an adventurous adventure I decided to take it easy for a little while. The following day some other friends and I went to the Sturgeon River Gorge and stayed on the easy access trails :)
Other adventures of the second half of the semester included a trip to Mount Arvon, Michigan's highest point as well as Silver Falls and Ogemaw falls. Pictures of all of these adventures can be found in the photos albums!
The second weekend of October my friend Anna and I went downstate Michigan for the wedding of our friends Dave and Jen. We left a day early, taking our time to enjoy the beautiful fall colors, and stopped by Joel's house to see how he was doing. We camped at Rifle River Recreation Area and the following day we explored the surrounding area and the AuSable river corridor (lots of great pics!). After a quick change in a rest stop bathroom, we went to the wedding, which was wonderful and a great celebration. Between to wedding and the reception we took a quick trip to the shores of Lake Huron. The reception was fun and we had a great time celebrating such a great couple. The trip included many 'firsts' for me, including first time across the renowned Mackinaw Bridge connecting the upper and lower peninsulas, first time on the shores of Lake Huron, and first time spending any significant time in downstate Michigan at all!
The following weekend Dad and Angela came up for the weekend to visit. We had a fun time sightseeing and I enjoyed showing them around the quaint village of Alberta and where I was living.
The following weekend we took a big field trip to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. I had lots of fun at Lake of Clouds and the chain of waterfalls. It was great to revisit these sites, as I hadn't been there in a few years. It should be noted that this was the first day we had significant snowfall :) No accumulation yet, but it was a fun drive nonetheless :s
The next big task was the 80 acre final project. Similar to the 40 acre project, we were placed in teams, assessed 80 acres of land, analyzed the data, and then proceeded to write a management plan exceeding 60 pages! This occurred over a few weeks, with data collection, analysis, and report writing all happening at separate times. This project was the culmination of what we had learned, from forest health, to wildlife, to silvicultural practices. Though there is not a lot to write about this topic, believe me, this project and report consumed a majority of my time in the final weeks of the semester.
The second weekend of November was my Grandma and Grandpa Widenstrom's 50th wedding anniversary. I surprised the whole family by going home for the celebration! I had been wanting to make a surprise visit home since going off to college and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. It was so much fun to be home and see lots of family. While home I was also able to see my sister Angela perform in the Wizard of Oz at Ashland Productions.
Once the 80 acre final project report was turned in the semester came to an anticlimactic ending. The last week was focused on the final presentation. Yet another component of the final project was giving a 25 minute presentation on the assessment, analysis, and management plan. These presentations occurred back on campus so the public and professors alike could come, watch, and critique. The presentations were the true culmination of the semester, as we had to speak about the project and know our facts inside and out. The presentations occurred the Friday before Thanksgiving, so following the presentations the semester was over!
It is hard to believe it has come to an end. Though I may not have been super excited about the experience prior to the semester, it was a lot of fun and a lot of good/crazy/weird/fun/bizarre/un-explainable memories were made :) ....like that time Sam and I heard lady sasquatch in the woods...or the time we caught the porcupines on trail cam.....our many times playing hackysack....spilling superglue....pinning insects for our collections.....Kyle Miles.....jumping in Lake Superior....getting the van stuck on day two.....the time the power went out.....Dave on Halloween.....coring trees (haha...)....the party palace....solamonders.... Conserve School.....ah, the list of memories goes on.....
So with that the semester was over, I put stuff in storage and packed up. We said our goodbyes and I headed home for Thanksgiving!
This past week was spent at home. It was nice to be home, as I haven't been home for any significant amount of time in a long time. I got to spent lots of time with my family :) The week also included haircut and dentist appointments. Thanksgiving was at Grandma and Grandpa Widenstrom's, as usual. We had a fantastic meal and a relaxing afternoon. Black Friday was spent preparing to head north (keep reading), over at the Logans, and then back to Grandma and Grandpa's for the annual tradition of eating the Thanksgiving a second time on Friday. The week home also included lunch at Yarusso Bros. restaurant with the family, a trip to the Mall of America, and buying myself a new winter coat.
This fall I agreed to accept a winter position at Northern Tier working as the Assistant to the Registrar. This is the same place I have worked the past two summers. I will be working in the office helping with the pre-Okpik work. Okpik is Northern Tier's winter program, where we offer snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and dog-sledding treks. I traveled up to Ely, MN to the Charles L. Sommers Base yesterday, as I start tomorrow! I am excited to be up here in the winter time! I will be here until January 8th, with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. I'm looking forward to a fun, fulfilling, and yet relaxing couple of weeks!
Phew! And to think that what I just wrote is the 'condensed' version......
Well, I hope you feel caught up on all that has happened in my life over the past 9 weeks! The snow is falling, the semester is over, and a new phase of my life is ahead! My spring semester is still up in the air, as are my plans for this coming summer, as is the direction of my career path. Taking one day at a time, I know that the Lord's plan will pan out :)
Wishing you all a very joyous December and remember to keep Christ in Christmas!
