Back on land and Eastward ho

Alas, the drift gillnet season has come to an end for me this year. Some boats may still fish after the holiday, but the market price is terrible. Luckily for me, I wrapped up on a wonderful boat with a great captain (who rescued birds and blow-dried them so they could safely fly away) and crew (who I played Scrabble with ad naseum). To celebrate, I made swordfish cheesecake (sans fish extract of any type):

FYI, this isn't the final version...a major edit was required prior to me bringing it out. I didn't feel like a successful "observer" when I realized I had put 2 dorsal fins on a fish that only has one. There's an astute biologist for ya. Anyhow, I corrected it in time and saved face with the guys. Oh and I also must qualify, this cheesecake came out of the box and no baking was required...I don't do Betty Crocker on the high seas : )

The last week on the boat was amazing. The weather was great, and it was such a blessing to admire the historically full (http://living.oneindia.in/insync/2008/brightest-full-moon-2008-121208.html) moon out on the quiet and serene waters. I didn't know it at the time but I couldn't help but think I was witnessing something spectacular and awesome and beautiful. I just thought I hadn't been taking the time to notice before.

Along with the beautiful silver light, the full moon brings all sorts of interesting beasties up and out in the ocean. During our last haul, I saw worms and some other sort of "thingy" swarming in the water that was clear and leaf-shaped with a big pink dot at one end. By the time I had a bucket together to try and capture some, the sun had started to rise : ( This brought me back to my research days at the Salton Sea, when I would drive out on full moon nights to capture swarming nerieid worms to take back to the lab at school. Good times.

Yah, I DO think they're kinda cute

Thanksgiving came and went and I had a lovely time connecting with my extended family in Claremont, CA. Almost everyone flew out from Texas which was pretty neat. Hopefully the family doesn't mind being blogged on:

I especially had a good time connecting with my grandparents. And look how cute we all are:

Travel plans to Thailand are still on. I leave January 6th after a whirlwind tour of the parent's homes in AZ and TX (this is a surprise for my grandma so anyone reading...hush hush!). Juan, who I met in Kenya last year has already arrived and says the political situation is totally calmed down. I'll reunite with him and Laura at the IHF center in Chiang Rai, Thailand:

http://www.ihfonline.org/locations/thailand.php

It sounds like I'll have fairly regular internet access, so I'll try to keep the blog updated as much as I can. Love to all!