From Caroline

Hi All,

Well, I know I'm rarely a participant in group emails,
not for lack of interest (I often seem to find myself
in places with few cyber possibilities!). Great to
hear about what everyone is doing these days--it's
hard to believe we all dispersed more than 2 years
ago. I must say it makes me feel a bit old!

But, to preserve my youth and challenge my sanity, I,
too, have decided to return to grad school. This time
I'll be pursuing a PhD in biology, looking at beak
deformities in Alaskan birds. There seems to be an
ever-growing cluster of more than 30 species of mostly
resident birds with gross deformities (pic
attached--it's not digitally altered, really) in
Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Those of you who
venture from the confines of the too-often windowless
offices where grad students are housed, keep an eye
out for strange beaks, especially in crows, as they
seem to be particularly susceptible (Rose, tell John
and his bird-nerd friends!).

As usual, I've decided to pursue the degree in as
unconventional of a manner as possible, hopefully
largely based from the remote cabin Pat and I are
building outside of Haines, AK. The work is hugely
labor-intensive, but moving along decently. The logs
are all stacked, loft completed, purlins set, and we
started running roof sheathing yesterday. Hopefully
we'll have it roofed if not completely closed in
before heading back to Anchorage at the end of the
month. Next year we might even get a solar panel so
we'd have power (anyone know anything about satellite
internet?). I just boated in this morning and hence
have a few minutes of email connection.

I'm still writing, though not as much as I'd like. A
few thesis and non-thesis essays were published this
year, but I've been slow about submitting recently. On
a very non-literary note, there's an article coming
out in Birding magazine next month in case you want to
learn more about the "freak-a-dees" of the north!

Hope everyone is doing well and give us a shout if
you're in the neighborhood (or even anywhere near
AK!). Thanks for the updates!

Caroline