Spring is in the air

The temperature has been fluctuating, but the dogwoods know what time of year it is. Before their leaves flush out, the bare branches of the dogwood trees are speckled with clumps of small white delicate flowers. After a winter of bare tree branches, the white flowers suspended in layers, like they are elevated, are reminiscent of snow, but the warmer temperatures tell otherwise.


The simplicity of nature's beauty continues to baffle me. The small white dogwood flowers are so simple, yet beautiful. Spring is in the air and warmth is on the way!

Dangerous Beauty

Agave Plant

Holiday weekends!

With this past weekend being a holiday weekend, I decided to head inland for some backpacking/camping. Since daylight is sinking earlier and earlier each day, I headed to Greenville Friday night, after work, and visited w/ JH. After seeing his new apartment and a little visit to the Wine Bar and Christy's later, I quickly fell into sleeping slumbers and groggily awoke the next morning only ready to sleep some more.

Regardless, I continued heading west and arrived at Eno River State Park late in the afternoon, after making a few stops. Luckily, I was able to get the second to last campsite. Eagerly, I headed over to the park and geared up for the 1+ mile hike into the park to find the campsite, equipped w/ a fire ring and pit toilet nearby.

The trails were short [~1-2 mile loops], with part of the trail running inland and the other half running along the river. Surprisingly, there were some steep climbs, although very short, it reminded me of a mix b/t a trail over near Hot Springs mixed w/ an area along the AT [I hiked w/ a few friends in the spring].

Although it was peacefully pleasant and very pretty, the water did not look inviting, and so I kept to the rocks. Apparently, in the spring, went there are more rains, the river is high enough to paddle, but as it was when I visited, one would be portaging more than paddling.

Sunday, K and I slept in and lounged around the campsite. We headed down to Bobbit Hole, not far from the campsite, followed by a short nap, and some reading on a rock up-river. That afternoon we set out on some hiking and explored the other Cole Mill trails. The evening was relaxing w/ some reading while K napped and we went to bed shortly after the sun went down.

I hope to explore the Fews Ford area of the park. Surprisingly, the 3.5 hour drive wasn't that bad and I would definitely like to do it again!

Wilmington Weekend

Friday evening, I headed down to Wilmington, NC. I camped at Carolina Beach State Park, which turned out to be a really nice campground. Although it was car camping, the campground was relatively empty, making it a pleasantly peaceful place to spend the night. The plan was to rise early and meet Ari and Matthew at the Cape Fear Marina and load up for a day of paddling. All went well with some added thunder and lightening storms. Karza and I rose early and made our way to the marina. After getting thoroughly confused and driving over the Cape Fear River, where I could clearly see the marina, we finally made it there. After loading the kayaks onto one vehicle we made our way to a launch site, i.e. an overpass, and set out on Smith Creek.

It was a nice paddle. For the first 1/3 of the paddle it was quiet, natural, and a narrow part of the creek. However, the airport and multiple bridges took away some of the remoteness. Regardless it was a nice afternoon and the sun eventually came out and warmed the day. We made our way to Cape Fear River and to the marina, where pups and Ari's parents were awaiting our arrival.

Saturday evening was spent leisurely spent enjoying the warm summer weather on the catamaran and then after dinner, we set out to Wilmington to see what the downtown area had to offer. After wandering around the boardwalk, we made walked up front street and enjoyed a beer at Wilmington's only brewery, Front Street Brewery. Unfortunately, their Organic Hefeweizen was not available, but I gladly enjoyed a Kolsch instead.

It was a pleasant way to spend the weekend and I hope to make it back to the Wilmington area to explore again soon.

The fog of reality

Sails and sunshine

Lunar eclipse

This week was the third total lunar eclipse within the past year and I was excited to be able to observe it. AFter picking up a few beers from the local beer shop, conveniently located around the corner from my place, I headed over to a friends place to sit outside in the freezing cold and watch the partial, full, and partial eclipsing of the moon. Unfortunatley, the clouds swooped in during the first partial but cleared just after reaching full eclipse. It was beautiful to see the receeding partial eclipse, as the light slowly filled the shadowed moon... making me think of how easily people could have interpreted such an event as an act of the gods or a punishment.

Note: Photograph taken by Ben

Site of perfection

Roanoke Rapids

In part of completing the coursework requirements for the current degree I am pursuing, The faculty decided I had to sit in on a field methods class. The class was not difficult, although I did not understand everything. The last assignment for the course is a big mapping project that takes place in Hot Springs, NC, but the weekend on which the field excursion occurred, I could not attend. So I arranged to do something closer and accomplishable within a day, at least the field component. However, since I did/do not know how to map geology, I coerced a few fellow grad students to accompany me.

The three of us + Karza headed up to a canal east of a damned river to look at outcrops. For those non-geologic folk reading, an outcrop is an exposure of rock or mineral deposit that can be seen on surface, i.e. that is not covered by soil or water.

Can anyone say outcrop?

All said and done, we had a good time blazing overgrown trails and looking at rocks, although I was somewhat preoccupied looking trying to i.d. the plants.

We always have fun in the field!
From left to right: Kat, Ari, Karza, and me

Sick in Savannah

This is the tale of one students excursion to a coveted vacation spot....


At the end of May, a group of geology grad students headed south to Savannah, Georgia for the Southeastern Geological Society of America (SEGSA) conference. Obligatorily, we created posters and prepared to present our work, our research, what we have been living and breathing for over a year now. Nervous for fear of ridicule and uncertain of events to unfold, we laboriously worked on our posters.

Finishing ahead of schedule, one student makes the last revisions and prepares to print the final version. However, at this same time, the printer has decided it does not want to print the poster correctly. Distraught and aggravated, she stays up until 3:30 a.m., with only a pixelated version of her crisp detailed poster. In a last effort, she send the file off to the mediacenter on campus, hoping their printer will be able to print it correctly.

Early the next morning, a day before they are to leave for Savannah, she wakes feeling horrible, only to progressively worsen during the day. With a fever growing, she retrieves the printed poster from the mediacenter in a delusional state. Somehow, the mediacenter was able to fix the issue and the poster looks crisp, clear, and ready to present. However, her feverish state is making her feel nauseous and riding in a van packed full of people for 6 hours does sound appealing, let alone presenting a poster. Not sure what to do, seeks out one of her advisers.

While he is trying to dismiss her, she informs him she is not well and may not be able to attend the conference. Trying to be responsible, she asks what she should do. Should she give her poster to one of the students ans ask them to hang it up for her? Should she find someone to stand by it and tell people that the presenter is ill? He tells her that he or her other advisor will present it, if she cannot make it and with that she leaves the poster in the hands of one of the other students and heads home to rest, hoping she will feel better after some additional sleep.

Later, much later that day, she wakes in a cold sweat, feeling somewhat better, having finally broken the fever. A kind friend brings her food and although she is not hungry, she eats and within a few hours is feeling much better. Even though she knows she is not well, she arranges to make the journey and attempt to follow through what she has started.

After a long night's sleep she loads herself into the van and with the other students, she heads south on I-95 to Savannah. Ah, Savannah... she has wanted to visit this place for many years now and has made multiple attempts and planned trips, all of which did not come to fruition. Now, she is finally going, but will she be able to enjoy it?

Surprisingly, the drive down was not bad. A fellow student and kind friend, comfortingly sat next to her on the drive, helping to create a buffer so as to keep the sickness from infecting others. Her constant coughing did nor seem to upset anyone but she was fading as they approached the hotel in Savannah. After checking in, the students headed out to explore the town, but she decided to stay in and rest. Her poster session was at 8 a.m. the next morning and she wanted to feel as good as possible. She did manage to make it out to grab dinner. The hotel was located next to River Street with a beautiful view. Walking to a restaurant, the air was chilly and slightly weighted with the warmth of humidity. The old facades and tourist feel of the town reminded her of her home town and how much she missed it. There were people out strolling along the uneven brick streets and live music drifting from the restaurants and bars.

Accompanied by a few other students, she resigned to the hotel room to rest before her poster presentation in the morning. She endured the deep dreamless sleep of sickness only interrupted by a inconsiderate drunken phone call. Regardless, she rose early and after yet another trip to a nearby drug store, she made it to the poster session on time. Although she couldn't really talk, because the cold had settled in her throat, she tried to interact and communicate with people perusing her poster. When her session was finished, she packed up her poster and rested the remainder of the afternoon.

The second day of the conference, she was not feeling much better, but the fever had seemed to cease. Trying to make the best of it, she headed out into the town to see how much she could explore. However, little effort exhausted her, so she spent most of the time, sitting by the river enjoying the warmth of the sun, wishing she was in better health and capable of exploring the town as she had wanted to for long. However, by the afternoon, the days effort caught up with her and she was ready to head home.

As they came, the students loaded into the department vans and headed north on I-95. Missing her dog and her comfortable bed, she wondered if she would make it back to Savannah another time. A time when she could enjoy the town and its southern beauty.

Coastal field trip winter 2006

Last winter, our coastal processes field trip headed over the the OBX and met up with a class from VIMS to discuss various processes and see erosional hot spots. Here are a few pix taken from during those very cold days on the windy beaches, courtesy of Mr. Hornsberger.....

ECU Geo girls posing for the camera.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse shining in all its glory.

Sunset on the marsh facing west into Pamlico Sound.