CURIOUS GOATS ALONG GLACIER NATIONAL PARK'S HIGHLINE TRAILHello Again to all. I arrived here in Missoula six weeks ago and find myself wondering how the time has gone by so quickly. The answer is that I've been busy! Blessedly busy: between getting unpacked after the move, getting a grip on the start of my Masters degree, and taking advantage of the (prodigious) local outdoor recreational resources, I've had very little time. This is a mixed blessing: on the one hand, I always feel slightly behind. On the other, I have no time to worry about things that don't require worry, and though I'm busy I've been relaxed. This post will be divided up into subject headings because I need to go to bed and this is the most efficient way to get all y'all up to speed. Here we go!
TRIP WEST:
Many thanks to my trusty co-pilot for excellent conversation, for traveling to Albany from Maryland's eastern shore to accompanyme, for driving relief, and for general support during our trip across the country. Additionally, many thanks to all those friends of ours who gave us food, lodging, and fellowship during our journey: without y'all it would have been quite a dreary trip across the midwest, and with ya'll we managed to get all the way to Northwest Montana before having to pay for anything aside from gas and the occasional evening out. Word.
MONTANA LIVING:
Upon arriving in Missoula, I moved into my apartment where I completely furnished my room for under $200 thanks to the many thrift stores in town. It's sweet. The apartment is clean and outfitted with the bachelor basics: ESPN and a grill. I have two roommates who I get along well with.
I also got a bike for free at Free Cycles of Missoula, a great bike co-op/repair shop where people are interested in supporting sustainable transportation. I have about a twelve minute bike ride in to campus, most of which is on a bike trail. I have a milk crate on the rack on my bike and I can use it to get groceries, too. Biking is the best way to get to campus because parking there is a hassle, and also it's cheap and healthy for me and for the atmosphere. Between the exercise of riding in and the coffee with which I typically flood my system every AM, I am even usually awake for class. A lot of nights I find myself riding home from the geology department in the middle of the night. This requires that I bungee cord a flashlight to the front of my bike, and things generally go smoothly with the exception of the fact that Missoulians seem to time their lawn irrigation systems based on when I am commuting home (i.e., I ride through a lot of sprinklers on the bike trail).
GO PLAY OUTSIDE:
As noted above, I've been careful to get out once in a while. Western Montana is rich in scenery, wildlife, and places to hike. I had a solid soak in a hotspring a couple of weekends ago, where I was able to see a buck, a bull moose, and a bunch of naked old hippies. Like I said, wildlife. I also managed to head up to Glacier National Park for an afternoon with some of the other new grad students in the geology department.
Glacier is a strange and wonderful place where the ground and the sky sort of intertwine, no cameras have big enough viewfinders, and basically the best thing humans can do is try to sit still and look at it long enough that their minds quiet down and their eyes open up, and they feel like little children in a big world. For a pathetic attempt at capturing glacier's scenery using a camera, follow this link. There is this crazy thing there called the Going to the Sun Road, which winds through some of the scenic sections of the park. It is covered with cars and Harleys that go up and down it like ants all day long, and at the top of it is the Logan Pass visitor center where you can find a very crowded parking lot, a pisser, an overpriced gift shop, and lots of out-of-place looking Homo sapiens.
We hiked the highline trail north from Logan Pass with the "Garden Wall," along which the Continental Divide runs, on our right. Views were flat stunning, and we ran into a mountain goat kid and it's parent. Note: because they live in places where no predators can get to them, mountain goats have basically no need for a brain. They are incredibly stupid. The kid goat approached within five or ten feet of me while I took pictures, and then began eating a bush on the side of the trail. Every time it turned around and saw me again, it would jump as if startled, look curiously for a few seconds to ensure that I wasn't dangerous, and then get re-distracted by its bush. This happened four consecutive times.
We passed the goats and kept going until we got hungry enough to turn around. When we got back to the visitor's center, there were bighorn sheep in the parking lot. Everybody of course crowded around in an impromptu digital photography firing squad, which was find until the sheep started butting heads with each other and the ranger told us to back off a bit. Yeah, whatever, okay, okay.
Fishing should not go unmentioned: Montana lives up to its reputation, with even my extremely meager fly-fishing skills having produced a whole bunch of trout already. One was quite a large brown trout, almost certainly over twenty inches long and requiring both hands to handle. I had to fight the fish for ten minutes to get it to hand, and it was definitely the largest I've ever caught, of any species, in fresh water. The scenery along the rivers is often beautiful, and the best spot I have found so far is five minutes from my place by car. Sweet.
THAT GRAD SCHOOL THINGIE:
So what do I actually do out here? Well, whatever it is, it apparently takes priority over keeping my blog up to date judging by the amount of time this post sat as a mostly fished draft before I finished writing it (three weeks).
Well, I am a graduate student. It's very important to note the distinction between graduate school and college: at college I felt like I went to school every day, here I feel like I go to work every day. Graduate study is a professional endeavor. Especially in a masters program, I am here for a relatively short time and am working to achieve specific goals (gain necessary tools and identify and complete a thesis project in my area of study). I work a lot, finding myself in the geology building from 8AM to after midnight. I take a full coarseload and teach two sections of the Geology 101 lab (that's how I get money), and try to squeeze project work in between all of that. The first semester of a masters degree tends to be harrowing because there are often a lot of classes to be taken. Classes take a lot of time between scheduled meetings and not-always-completely-necessary busy work, and this gets in the way of more important things, which is frustrating.
While I am certainly behind on sleep, I seem to be coping relatively well with the stress of a full schedule. I have developed a substantial caffeine addiction and drink a full thermos of coffee by lunch every day (after dinner I start on diet coke, which I buy by the liter). While less than ideal, it gets the work done and keeps me attentive.
TRIP WEST:
Many thanks to my trusty co-pilot for excellent conversation, for traveling to Albany from Maryland's eastern shore to accompanyme, for driving relief, and for general support during our trip across the country. Additionally, many thanks to all those friends of ours who gave us food, lodging, and fellowship during our journey: without y'all it would have been quite a dreary trip across the midwest, and with ya'll we managed to get all the way to Northwest Montana before having to pay for anything aside from gas and the occasional evening out. Word.
MONTANA LIVING:
Upon arriving in Missoula, I moved into my apartment where I completely furnished my room for under $200 thanks to the many thrift stores in town. It's sweet. The apartment is clean and outfitted with the bachelor basics: ESPN and a grill. I have two roommates who I get along well with.
I also got a bike for free at Free Cycles of Missoula, a great bike co-op/repair shop where people are interested in supporting sustainable transportation. I have about a twelve minute bike ride in to campus, most of which is on a bike trail. I have a milk crate on the rack on my bike and I can use it to get groceries, too. Biking is the best way to get to campus because parking there is a hassle, and also it's cheap and healthy for me and for the atmosphere. Between the exercise of riding in and the coffee with which I typically flood my system every AM, I am even usually awake for class. A lot of nights I find myself riding home from the geology department in the middle of the night. This requires that I bungee cord a flashlight to the front of my bike, and things generally go smoothly with the exception of the fact that Missoulians seem to time their lawn irrigation systems based on when I am commuting home (i.e., I ride through a lot of sprinklers on the bike trail).
GO PLAY OUTSIDE:
As noted above, I've been careful to get out once in a while. Western Montana is rich in scenery, wildlife, and places to hike. I had a solid soak in a hotspring a couple of weekends ago, where I was able to see a buck, a bull moose, and a bunch of naked old hippies. Like I said, wildlife. I also managed to head up to Glacier National Park for an afternoon with some of the other new grad students in the geology department.
Glacier is a strange and wonderful place where the ground and the sky sort of intertwine, no cameras have big enough viewfinders, and basically the best thing humans can do is try to sit still and look at it long enough that their minds quiet down and their eyes open up, and they feel like little children in a big world. For a pathetic attempt at capturing glacier's scenery using a camera, follow this link. There is this crazy thing there called the Going to the Sun Road, which winds through some of the scenic sections of the park. It is covered with cars and Harleys that go up and down it like ants all day long, and at the top of it is the Logan Pass visitor center where you can find a very crowded parking lot, a pisser, an overpriced gift shop, and lots of out-of-place looking Homo sapiens.
We hiked the highline trail north from Logan Pass with the "Garden Wall," along which the Continental Divide runs, on our right. Views were flat stunning, and we ran into a mountain goat kid and it's parent. Note: because they live in places where no predators can get to them, mountain goats have basically no need for a brain. They are incredibly stupid. The kid goat approached within five or ten feet of me while I took pictures, and then began eating a bush on the side of the trail. Every time it turned around and saw me again, it would jump as if startled, look curiously for a few seconds to ensure that I wasn't dangerous, and then get re-distracted by its bush. This happened four consecutive times.
We passed the goats and kept going until we got hungry enough to turn around. When we got back to the visitor's center, there were bighorn sheep in the parking lot. Everybody of course crowded around in an impromptu digital photography firing squad, which was find until the sheep started butting heads with each other and the ranger told us to back off a bit. Yeah, whatever, okay, okay.
Fishing should not go unmentioned: Montana lives up to its reputation, with even my extremely meager fly-fishing skills having produced a whole bunch of trout already. One was quite a large brown trout, almost certainly over twenty inches long and requiring both hands to handle. I had to fight the fish for ten minutes to get it to hand, and it was definitely the largest I've ever caught, of any species, in fresh water. The scenery along the rivers is often beautiful, and the best spot I have found so far is five minutes from my place by car. Sweet.
THAT GRAD SCHOOL THINGIE:
So what do I actually do out here? Well, whatever it is, it apparently takes priority over keeping my blog up to date judging by the amount of time this post sat as a mostly fished draft before I finished writing it (three weeks).
Well, I am a graduate student. It's very important to note the distinction between graduate school and college: at college I felt like I went to school every day, here I feel like I go to work every day. Graduate study is a professional endeavor. Especially in a masters program, I am here for a relatively short time and am working to achieve specific goals (gain necessary tools and identify and complete a thesis project in my area of study). I work a lot, finding myself in the geology building from 8AM to after midnight. I take a full coarseload and teach two sections of the Geology 101 lab (that's how I get money), and try to squeeze project work in between all of that. The first semester of a masters degree tends to be harrowing because there are often a lot of classes to be taken. Classes take a lot of time between scheduled meetings and not-always-completely-necessary busy work, and this gets in the way of more important things, which is frustrating.
While I am certainly behind on sleep, I seem to be coping relatively well with the stress of a full schedule. I have developed a substantial caffeine addiction and drink a full thermos of coffee by lunch every day (after dinner I start on diet coke, which I buy by the liter). While less than ideal, it gets the work done and keeps me attentive.
DR. WINSTON SQUINTS INTO THE WIND
A lot of weekends are field trips, which is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, field trips prevent me from using my weekends to catch up on sleep and personal chores, relax and have fun, or get ahead on work. On the other hand, field trips are often fun and relaxing in themsleves. Last weekend I was on a field trip and we camped on 
Clark Canyon Reservoir south of Dillon, MT. I spent the evenings drinking beer and listening to our emeritus faculty scream old drinking songs and play the banjo (what can I say, we have good emeritus faculty), and the mornings sipping strong fresh coffee and frying eggs while the sun rose over the reservoir.Days were spent watching and listening while our faculty, who have seen a lot of rocks and are true experts in the local geology, wave their arms at outcrops and explain their interpretations of the rocks. Or, as the case may be, wave their arms at outcrops and make stuff up and ask us if we agree (happens when we stop at a new place). A lot of time in vans with students leads to interesting conversations and hopefully the start of new friendships. I honestly just can't bring myself to complain.
VIEW FROM THE TENT COULD BE WORSE...One of the noteworthy things about grad study is that its whole attitude is one of preparation for things to come, whether its career or more school or what. As a young American in a mobile culture, I find myself spending more energy than is probably healthy thinking about who I am. I am not talking about just superficial appearance (a quick look at my wardrobe will tell you that I don't worry too much about that), I'm talking more about my idea of myself. Like, what kind of person am I going to be, what societal categories can I put myself in, and are they cool ones (i.e., am I going to be a counter-culture local organic screw-the-man hippie or a hard worker in a big corporation or a teacher of some sort, or what, and how do my faith and philosophy fit with all of this?). What will the world think of when they hear my name? What will I think of when I think of myself?
The geology department here is very good about connecting me to potential future directions (in fact I have already secured an internship with an oil company for the coming summer). While this is certainly a good thing, it puts a keen edge on the question of identity for me. This is exacerbated to some extent by the Missoula community, which appears to me to very image-focussed. I love the community here: people are passionate and proactive about all kinds of social causes which are very important (environmental, human rights, other social stuff, politics, etc.). But a part of the social energy here is certainly a bandwagon effect: it's cool to be counterculture in Missoula. The outdoorsy/alternative vibe is very loud, and while I sort of fit the bill in the first place, I sometimes catch myself making decisions based on vanity or peer pressure or materialism or image-ism rather than for the right reasons. I suspect this is also the truth for others.
I think it's good that I consider it important that my chosen path is consistent with my understanding of my faith and with my philosophy. It's also natural that I should feel that my career is an important part of what I show the world of myself: it will be what I spend most of my time actually doing. It will be the opus of my time on earth. I should pick a good one (I know, I know, it will probably change a bunch of times, just quiet down and read along so I can get to the point). At any rate, it's a constant exercise to keep a clear head about who I am in this environment. Gotta say, though, that I am glad for the abundance of good music and quality beer in town. Comes with the territory, I suppose.
The geology department here is very good about connecting me to potential future directions (in fact I have already secured an internship with an oil company for the coming summer). While this is certainly a good thing, it puts a keen edge on the question of identity for me. This is exacerbated to some extent by the Missoula community, which appears to me to very image-focussed. I love the community here: people are passionate and proactive about all kinds of social causes which are very important (environmental, human rights, other social stuff, politics, etc.). But a part of the social energy here is certainly a bandwagon effect: it's cool to be counterculture in Missoula. The outdoorsy/alternative vibe is very loud, and while I sort of fit the bill in the first place, I sometimes catch myself making decisions based on vanity or peer pressure or materialism or image-ism rather than for the right reasons. I suspect this is also the truth for others.
I think it's good that I consider it important that my chosen path is consistent with my understanding of my faith and with my philosophy. It's also natural that I should feel that my career is an important part of what I show the world of myself: it will be what I spend most of my time actually doing. It will be the opus of my time on earth. I should pick a good one (I know, I know, it will probably change a bunch of times, just quiet down and read along so I can get to the point). At any rate, it's a constant exercise to keep a clear head about who I am in this environment. Gotta say, though, that I am glad for the abundance of good music and quality beer in town. Comes with the territory, I suppose.
Overall, I really like being out here so far. As long as I take care of my body and don't agonize now about decisions that can't be made yet, I actually enjoy working hard and learning a lot. There are ample opportunities to take initiative and be rewarded for doing well (another big bullet for grad students to dodge is the narcissism, self-love, and, elitism that come with being told that you are smart and successful). And my work is interesting and the people are good and I am largely able to determine when I work on what and to do things at my own pace. I am glad to be here. Anyways, it's time to fight graduate stress and starvation, I am meeting some friends at their place: they have the food and I am supposed to bring the wine which I have earned the right to drink by pushing through three weeks without a day off (field trips last two weekends). This weekend I should be able to get some R&R and catch up on things a bit. Here's me hoping that actually happens!!
