Big excitement!

FAMILY!
Remember the tree outside of Stearns that has eluded me the last two years? When I reluctantly dismissed it as a simple spruce but in a drunken state was convinced it was a magnificent and noble Douglas fir? Well score one for pseudotsuga manziesii (and drunk me)! As I walked by it this morning I noticed the tell tail (pun intended) sign of a Douglas fir cone. I inspected a cone from a spruce tree just to make sure and I am convinced now that the tree is in fact a Douglas fir. I am sure many of you are aware of the story of the mouse and the Douglas fir cone so I will not recount it here (notice how there is the hind legs and tail sticking out from beneath each scale).


So yeah... pretty exciting.
In other news, last week was awesomeness. My experiments were working really well and we went to see Harry Potter at midnight! It was epic. Over the weekend Matt visited and we mostly napped outside and ate lots of good food and ice cream and explored Northampton. This week my experiments have not been quite as exciting. One thing I have learned for sure this summer is that science doesn't work a lot of the time. But it's super fun and I am really enjoying it.

I haven't written in a while, but the holiday weekend way back when was very eventful. I got to see all the Cifonellis and learn about my Italian heritage in Utica, NY. Though it was a sad event, it was nice to see the whole family together. I also had one hell of a travel day, all I am going to say is that is took me 12 hours and 4 different airports to go 180 miles (a two and a half hour drive from Amherst to Albany). Luckily, my parents and I drove back to Amherst afterwards so I avoided a second mess. The parents were in rare form being out east, as our small town folksiness met the east coast attitude. They made a big impression on the bus boy at the Lone Wolf with phrases such as "we're not from around here, we like water" and "don't be a stranger" in response to his offering refills on water and coffee. We then headed to Boston so my parents could catch their flights and meet Matt. During our outing in the big city, my mother would frequently use "we're not from around here," as an excuse for acting silly. My dad was really out of his element, but proved to handle the pressure well. I even managed to get him on the subway which was an adventure. And he didn't scare Matt too much I don't think. And I got to see the lovely Boston fireworks and hang with the McClellans.


And that's about it. Not too much excitement recently (minus the tree thing). Time for a run!

Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.

~Anna