McAfee's Knob

What is crack - a - lackin' folks? Life slapped me in the face the past few days. It decided I wasn't busy enough how I was, so it added a semi's worth of work to get done. How cute. In 18 days, semester starts and I have about 45 days worth to get done in the meantime. Lucky me. But on the bright side, Aaron came to visit AND I got to touch some real rock. So being crazy busy is okay because I got a little break before I disappear into corn fields from sunrise to sunset. Oh, and I'm headed out to Seattle again for job tours / interviews and scoping out the area (and to see the one and only Aaron, of course)!

Maybe this is the Midwesterner in me coming out but seeing farm fields stretching out like arms of Nature is relaxing. Nothing but life, check and balance, biological interactions, and me underneath the great blue sky. Nothing but fresh air, leaves and tassels, critters talking, and me reaching towards the great blue sky. Nothing but plants, soil and roots, pathogens, and me underneath the great blue sky.

 Anyways, I learned extremely quickly that being a TA is going to suck the life out of me. The semester hasn't even started and I have bitten off more than I can possibly chew. As y'all know, I have a rather big appetite and have a bottomless pit for a stomach. But this is something completely different. My to-do list is up to my eyebrows and more is being added faster than I can get done. Some great words of advice from my fellow professors: "It wouldn't be graduate school if you weren't stressed and too busy. You just have to find small windows of time to get everything done on time if you want to succeed." Umm...what if I need to sleep between the hours of 1a and 4a? Or do MY research project when the sun is out? Oh that's right, there will be small windows of time for me to get everything. Don't worry guys, I'm a graduate student. I will not be able to breathe or talk unless I am elbow-deep in corn or grading papers. For the next 18 weeks, I will be paid very little to do very much. You know it's bad when I say something like "I rather not climb for a month than do what a graduate student does in a week." ...I thought slavery was abolished a few years back...maybe they need to rewrite the law to include graduate students who just want to sleep... Oh wait, that's called wishful thinking.

"Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness." -A Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington (1787)

But on a much happier side of the coin, Aaron came to visit last weekend! He flew in Friday morning so we had over two full days together. I know that doesn't sound like much to y'all but it is. Trust me. But it's a major tease. Oh you missed each other? Here! See each other for a few hours! Are you having a good time? Good! Now let me place you back in your respective time zones. Oh I'm sorry, you don't like that do you? It's okay, you'll see him after you flip a page or two on the calendar. **That was Life having a one-sided conversation directed at me in case you were wondering.**

Thank a farmer. They feed you at least 3 times a day.

So as I was saying, Aaron came to visit! I took him to TRC-NR on Friday and we did some bouldering. I hopped on some 4s and watched Aaron on some 7s. Can I quick mention how much fun it is to watch better climbers than yourself? A heel here, a compression there - it's a learning experience. But what doesn't make you feel better is when you are struggling on a climb and everybody can do it but you. I struggle. Rami climbs it easily. I struggle. Tyler makes it look like a 0. I struggle. Taylor flies through it. I struggle. Random little kid crushes it. YET I STILL STRUGGLE!! Okay, rant over. So we climbed for awhile, walked around the lake, ate some delicious food, and hung out. I don't care what we do, as long as I get to see him.

Rust. Plant pathogens are cool.

Saturday, we went to the expansion at Morrisville. I managed to get on some harder stuff without my elbow hurting! speaking of, I should do some push-ups to make sure it stays that way. So cool story here. Aaron was leading a 5.13. After a certain point, I couldn't see him because of the wall shape. However, there were a few people standing on the mezzanine watching him. I could tell by their faces if he was climbing, resting, or making a dicey move. Their mouths were big O's when he was climbing, talking when he was resting, or gripping the rail when it was a tough move. It was comical but helpful when I couldn't see him anymore. After eating, we went out to my research plots. He got to ride in my super duty F350 workhorse. I could haul a dump truck with that work truck if I needed to. Gosh, there is just something about a truck and corn fields that make me feel alive. Jason, you know what I'm talking about! Greadnad and Gma would be proud of their granddaughter for embracing her farmer-roots. When we were in my field, we found some cool disease including corn rust, corn smut, and maybe even anthracnose. Be patient, pictures are below. We met Alicia and Gabe for drinks later that night. Then soon our weekend together was over and I had to bring him back to the airport. Amazon is lucky I brought him back to the airport and didn't keep him in Raleigh!

SMUT!!

Other cool news is that I went bouldering at McAfee's Knob with David on Wednesday! I know this sounds dumb but the rock there is hard. Ask David; he is the one who mentioned it to me first. Plus, there are lots of crystals in the rock as well. My fingertips got a little tore up and all the dead skin was exfoliated as well. I learned the hard way not to wear shorts bouldering. Top-outs tended to scratch my legs and knees just a teensy bit. We started at the roadside boulder which is maybe 2 feet from the road. Mom, Dad, relax. We climbed on the other side of the boulder away from traffic. There was a sweet traverse problem where I learned a new method of topping out. This is also where I managed to bruise my knee pretty good and scrape up my legs. After a successful lesson in topping out, we hiked to the Mickey Mouse boulders. Unfortunately my elbow was acting up so I did another cool traverse two times and that was about it. The Mickey Mouse boulder had a stunning view from the top-out so we hung out a bit up there and enjoyed the scenery. As usual, I have no photo evidence that I was actually at McAfee's Knob. Although....David did make a video of me on my favorite climb of the day! Since I don't know the name of the climb, let's call it 'Megapocalypse' because it sounds cool.

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are made of dirt.

Yup, so now it's the weekend. I've put in many hours in the lab and editing these papers. Now all I need to do is perfect my speech for Field Day and get on top of my game before semester starts. Hopefully I totally rock my interviews when I'm in Seattle as well. Cross your fingers for me. In 10 months I will be graduated, finished with my thesis (hopefully), and getting myself a full time job before that! Anyways, I should get back to lab and finish my stuff before it gets dark.

To plant a field / garden is to believe in tomorrow.