So the other day an incident occurred on the UBC campus. We first heard about it because since he's a student there, Spencer got some freaky university- and department-wide emails. The emails said that the bioscience building (which apparently is enormous) was under lockdown, and that everyone who was in the building should lock their office doors and stay inside until someone came by with the secret password, or for those not near the building, that they should stay away. The SWAT team was there. We know many people who work in that building, so it was a bit unnerving. Spencer contacted one friend, who turned out to be working from home that day, so that was good. The incident ended up passing without much action, and we eventually learned that a threat had been made via email earlier in the day against the people in the biosciences building. So the SWAT team arrived at that time to bust up the situation. Nothing came of it, other than stress, so that was good. All the same, I told Spencer that if I had been there and locked in my office not knowing what's going on for four hours, I would take the next day off of work.

You're probably wondering what the weather has been doing here. It snowed last night, and then froze, then got sunny this morning. Spencer and I went out to walk around, and it was funny and crunchy all over the place, with quite a bit of ice in the spots that never get any sunshine. The ice on the boardwalk was melting, and I had tons of fun kicking the sheets all over the place. The boardwalk is often icy and slippery, and I'm surprised that people aren't falling and breaking bones on it all the time.


This afternoon, since it was so nice out, I went with Max for a walk in the forest. We went down a trail I had been down partway before, but I wanted to see something new, so we went farther. For me, it's both comfy and scary to be in the forest. It depends on the kind of forest though-- it's less scary to me the farther I can see through or the less brushy it is. Where I walked today was all second or even third growth, with some pretty amazing huge-ass cedar stumps. They're close to the size of redwood stumps (though not the biggest redwoods) and often have multiple springboard notches left in their sides from when they were cut down many decades ago. Some of them contribute to the creepiness of the forest, particularly if they're super gnarly and burned. Part of the forest was darker than another part, and that made a difference to me too. And when the trail got bad and muddy I felt a little more nervous than when the trail was in good solid shape. There is a somewhat realistic concern for cougars here too. I'm fully aware that they can see me but I can't see them, they're absolutely soundless, and I'm not any bigger than a deer that might be their natural prey. I would not have walked there at dusk, but I was there in the middle of a nice sunny day today. Maybe it is a little paranoia, but I'd rather be aware than cougar food. On the other hand, it's not something to worry so much about that I don't go out to see things.

But being in the trees offers me comfort as well. I remember how it took me a while to get used to living in Rohnert Park, because there were fewer trees than anywhere else I had lived, and how I began to notice trees everywhere in Oregon when I went back to visit, and how cozy it felt to walk in a forest again from time to time. Now, of course, it's frustrating sometimes that the only place open enough for me to throw the ball for Max is the beach, and it's not even a very big beach! Anyhow, I like how forests make me feel like it's time to move slowly, and I like to walk slowly through the trees. I like how the ground is soft. The trail I was on today was part stream with water flowing down it, and I liked that too. I wished a little for some more things to look for, however, since there were very few birds or mushrooms, and there are no flowers right now.

Speaking of the supposed lack of wildlife, Spencer and I have been watching the Planet Earth BBC dvds. This mostly-terrestrial counterpart to the Blue Planet series has some equally awesome video footage in it, but we have noticed some disappointing characteristics of this series. First of all, there are polar bears or elephants in almost every episode, and they show plants not so often. It's the "charismatic megafauna" syndrome-- they're showing the things that most people find interesting, which are large mammals, even though there is so much more to the story. I don't mind seeing them (once), but we have seen those two critters over and over. I can't help but think they managed to film something else that also would have been interesting to see. The other major criticism that we have is that they repeatedly say that such-and-such place is barren or "virtually lifeless" (or something to that extent). They said this for the rainforest floor (!), the tundra, and some other places that I can't remember now. I think we've heard it about five times already. Saying this, they're completely ignoring the presence of PLANTS and INSECTS, and more cryptic things like FUNGUS. What they really mean is that there are no visible large mammals or flocks of birds, and it pains me, as a scientist, that people are being led into a misconception when they actually have an opportunity to learn something new instead. We've enjoyed the episodes the most that have showed us other types of life other than mammals, like the caves episode, and sortof the shallow seas episode. I thought the jungles episode was ok (but it showed elephants, just like the deserts episode and the great plains episode), mostly because they showed some really cool footage of mushrooms and slimemolds in time lapse, as well as the birds of paradise doing their mating dances, which are amazing as well. All bitching aside, though, I like the program and have much respect for the quality of the video that they made. There is lots of cool stuff to see on the dvds.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my thoughts. But I spilled my brain and now it's empty, so I'm going to go. I'll talk to you later!