Taking in the view

The view from the hotel room

Around this time every year I disappear off to the annual meeting of my discipline to go mix with a whole host of different people. Last year I made my way back from field work via this conference and it was a bit daunting, but a good way to hit the ground running on my dissertation upon my return.

This year it was necessary for me to be there to present work from the dissertation, but I find that being at these meetings is a roller coaster of ego boosts and bruises. What I mostly looked forward to was connecting with my colleagues who I hadn't seen since last year, and possibly drinking in some better weather (not quite literally, but I did enjoy a couple of cold ones at that little green gazebo thing which was conveniently between the convention center and the hotel).  After snow and leaving in freezing weather, Portland (where I made my flight connection) seemed balmy and basically anything that followed became tropical.

It was really quite lovely while we were in Florida and though I am usually a diligent attendee at these conferences, I did find one morning to sneak away...









We had a few perks from holding our meeting at the convention center, which included free trolley rides up and down the main stretch and discounted tickets to local spots. I took advantage of the reduced price of aquarium tickets. It was me and another colleague and about a million school groups, but it was lovely.

As seen in the exhibit hall

Cruise

Trolley to the aquarium

 

The obligatory duck photo for a UO duck

Can you spot the flamingo?

Not exactly sure what this guy was doing in a aquarium...

I love these guys because they always look like they're smiling

Swimming with the sharks

Flamingos again

It was pretty incredible to watch these flamingos take flight and swoop around the enclosure. We also were delighted by the scuba divers (above) swimming with the sharks. The gal in the tank had a microphone and was answering the questions from the kids on the other side of the glass, all the while sharks were swimming around.

Quite possibly my favorite to watch.

Lego surroundings

In case you missed it in the last photo.

Dory amongst the clown fish

total fail.

How I feel after being at the conference

No joke.

This was my first real winter with snow on the west coast (plenty of east coast winters). Last year by the time I returned home from the field (almost May) the tulips and daffodils had already put in their appearance.

04.01.2014 - 6:30am

As a result, I don't have an institutional memory for whether or not snow in April is usual. I was excited for snow having spent the last holiday in a hammock. But it has snowed every day for the past week and somehow, it unnerves me to see the first spring blooms bearing the weight of an inch or more of snow.

03.30.2014 - 4:30pm

Of course it does this overnight and in the early morning and my best guess is that today, per usual, the sun will come out --"fooled you"-- and it will all melt away before midday.

***Update***
3 inches later, I can't help but think to myself that this is a very elaborate joke...

04.01.2014 - 12:00pm