A less digital December

The four weeks of Advent seemed never-ending to me as a child. Christmas was made so much more magical by the fact that I had to wait forever for it to arrive. (Obviously, I mean literally forever here.) Now the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to evaporate like so much fog as the sun rises. A lot of that has to do with AGU, a huge conference, being in the middle of the month. But a lot of it is just the rush of whatever seems important when you're an adult. And okay, a lot of it really is important- like bills and groceries and exercise and work.

And then other times it's emails and games on the phone and things that might be nice but aren't as important by far as sitting don with friends and family and genuinely spending time with them. In November, before Thanksgiving, I decided to log off email on my phone and give up digital games until Christmas. At the time, I thought I would get so much time back in my life and I was sure that going "digital-light" would uncomplicate my December.

The good news, I guess, is that it didn't complicate it more. The month still seemed to fly by though and I'm not sure I ever had so much more time to do those things that are more important. I still felt rushed and stressed and out of time. So, while I'm not very much for New Year's resolutions, this year I might make one to be more conscious of how I'm spending my time and more mindful of the things that really matter.

My prediction for how long this resolution will last? Maybe a month?

Surprise Good Things

This week was the Fall 2016 AGU meeting in San Francisco, CA. For anyone not familiar, it's the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union and it's attended by over 20,000 scientists annually (24k last year). Just about every topic in the very broad Earth Science umbrella is covered and there is no way to see all of it. This year, a conversation that I had months ago with a friend has been on my mind as I move between meetings, talks, and poster sessions. I won't get into the longer conversation we had but, in response to a comment I made, my friend suggested that female role models were less important to me because I had always had them.

Though it took me by surprise, it was an incredibly true assessment. Throughout my growing up, I was surrounded by women (and men) doing awesome things. I was never told (at least, not by my parents) that there was anything that I could not be. Other people suggested it but I was always encouraged to shrug off their comments. Luckily, I am just contrary enough (it's an ingrained personality trait) that the suggestion that I cannot do something will usually spur me on to prove that I can, regardless of wanting to or not. It gets me into trouble sometimes.

On Monday evening, I met a fellow scientist, helicopter and fixed wing pilot. It's an unusual thing and even more unusual that both of us were women. Like all pilots when meeting, we were quickly off an talking. It was surprising and it was exciting. You have to understand the odds here. Women account for only about 5% of all pilots in the United States. Based on FAA statistics, only about 1.3% of all pilots in the US (both men and women) are dual fixed wing and rotorcraft certified. Even if that 1.3% applies to women (it's probably lower), the odds of happening to bump into another female PhD (roughly 1.5% of the population of the US), who is also a pilot with a dual certification were pretty low. We were both incredibly excited. ;-) It mattered in a way that is difficult to describe but deeply exciting.

Our meeting didn't change my belief in my own ability to do science or to fly an airplane or a helicopter but it was still powerful and unique to find someone that I shared so much in common with.

Christmas in Texas

You can take the girl out of the North but it's hard to take the North out of the girl. There are so many things I love about living in Southern states. Okay, mostly Georgia. Whether I'm in Georgia or Texas or Florida though, I still find it hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it's 70 degrees F outside. While "Christmas is still Christmas after all" (name that movie anyone?), I always find myself yearning for snow and for temperatures cold enough for hot cider and hot chocolate and warm clothes.

The day after Thanksgiving, I dutifully put on jeans, sneakers, and a long sleeve shirt, as if it were cool enough to warrant it. A whole group of us headed out to pick trees and drink cider and it was wonderful. As soon as we arrived home though, I swapped out my long sleeve for a t-shirt and my sneakers for flip flops. The house was starting to look Christmas-y and our cat was definitely in the holiday spirit but it still didn't feel quite like Christmas.

Last weekend we headed to San Antonio with close friends for a quick weekend getaway. It was raining and in the 40's or 50's all weekend. I think we were all drenched at one point or another. And it was brilliant. Rain isn't snow but it was cool enough to bundle up as we toured around. Warm beverages were no problem and neither was hot soup. The lights along the river walk were magical as we wandered along. Mass at the cathedral was great (and a well timed Saturday night coincidence), though I've never been to Mass with a mariachi band before. Somewhere between the chill and the friends and the lights and a beautiful Mass, I found a little more Christmas spirit. Even if it was 70 again today.