Friday, August 2, 2024

Big Mom on Campus

Inspirational song: My Old School (Steely Dan)

Housemate number one has been working an internship sponsored by CU down in Boulder all summer. Their project focused on climatology, one of their particular interests, specifically on wind and ceiling conditions affecting air traffic at airports all over Alaska. The program ended today with presentations of their results to their peers and guests. We all (all the other humans in this house, plus Dice) went to show our support. I was blown away by how professional their presentation was, and the aura of confidence they gave off. If they were nervous speaking publicly, there was no sign of it. They knew the data and spoke well, and answered questions thoughtfully at the end. I'm not even their mom, but I felt as proud as if I were.

Being on campus was wild. There were a bunch of summer camps wrapping up, and I think there were easily six million boy scouts between the parking garage and the CIRES building where we needed to be. I thought about taking photos of campus, but honestly, so much has changed, it didn't feel like the same place anymore. It was as alien as it was the summer before freshman year when I first toured campus. That was the 80s, so there is very little that remains of my old school. Lots of the buildings have either been expanded or replaced. But somehow, the air felt the same. I need to sit with that thought for a while to understand what it means.

I don't have any fire updates today. The skies continued to be hazy. It's still hot and dry. By the time I got back from Boulder and ran an errand at my bank, I was overheated and I felt awful. I needed to lie down on my bed through the worst heat of the day. I think we have four or five more days like this before it really breaks. I need an all-overcast, all-rainy day to reset my humours, as it were.

Only photo worth sharing was a filter shot for the kiddos.

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