Going West: The Trip of a Lifetime

Going West: The Trip of a Lifetime

November 12, 2008


This is my glossy recounting of a trip to the Grand Canyon with my terminally ill mother, my Aunt Bonnie, my husband and my daughter in a 30-foot RV. We set out from Mom's house in Buffalo, Kentucky on Monday, November 3, 2008.

The preparation for this expedition included Andrew and me picking up the rented RV from the place in Nashville on Saturday, after having gone trick-or-treating with Madison, Elizabeth, and Kayla for Halloween the previous night. Once we returned with RV, we got ready for and went to my 10-year class reunion in Bardstown, a thoroughly unexciting event. Sunday was devoted to packing and assembling the required equipment for the trip. Mom had been having a fever controlled by Tylenol since Thursday afternoon, so we were reluctant to actually begin packing the RV until we were certain the trip would be taking place. That decision rested with Aunt Bonnie, who arrived with her luggage on Monday morning and checked Mom out. It was her opinion that the fever was likely inconsequential and that we were safe to proceed. This pronouncement was followed by a flurry of activity as Andrew and I began loading all the assembled items onto the RV.

By about 2pm Monday afternoon, we were ready to begin getting Mom loaded into the RV. This involved dressing her, transferring her into a wheelchair, wheeling her out to the RV, then Aunt Bonnie lifting and pivoting her so she sat on a sheet on the steps of the RV. From there, Andrew and I lifted the back of the sheet and Aunt Bonnie lifted the front while Mom crossed her arms over her chest. This got her onto the floor of the RV. We slid Mom in the sheet to the back of the RV and then lifted the sheet to settle Mom on the large bed in the RV's master suite. This procedure went surprisingly smoothly, and we were optimistically hoping that this boded well for the rest of the trip.

We actually left at about 3pm, heading to Elizabethtown to get on Interstate 65 South to Nashville. Mom snoozed in the back until I pulled off of Briley Parkway in Nashville to show her the prison that looks like a castle. She was impressed, and we gassed up and continued down the road to Memphis. We'd intended to see Missy that night and boondock in her cul-de-sac. It was getting rather late by the time we got to Memphis, however, and we opted to boondock in front of our house. Vicki stopped by to give us a baby monitor and walkie-talkies for the RV. We also saw Ames and Linda. Madison, Andrew, and I slept inside with our pets while Mom and Aunt Bonnie slept on the RV.

Tuesday morning saw us getting moving fairly early. We stopped by Gibson's doughnuts to take care of breakfast then proceeded to Missy's. Missy came out to the RV to see Mom and to see us off on our voyage. From there, we got on Interstate 40 West. We drove until reaching El Reno, Oklahoma, where we stopped for the night at the KOA Kampground. There was a restaurant by the campground where we got dinner, then we got settled in at our campsite. After a relaxing walk with Andrew, we turned on the NPR coverage of the presidential election, which was sounding quite good for Obama. After hearing John McCain's concession speech and relaying the exciting results to Mom, Andrew and I ascended to the over-cab bunk. The accommodations were comfortable enough, although when Mom called for me in the night, I found that it was not such an easy prospect to descend from this bunk using the little ladder while half-asleep.

We got breakfast from the same restaurant that we'd gotten dinner from. Mom ate about 2 bites of her biscuit, but that was it. The night before, Madison had had the idea of moving Mom up to the dinette bed that she had slept in, so that Mom could be more participatory in the adventure and not stuck away in the back, bouncing in the bed behind the rear axle. This idea was put into action before leaving Oklahoma. Mom walked with Aunt Bonnie from the back to the front of the RV, which we all thought was great. Then we set out, heading west. We stopped for gas and lunch in Texas, but Mom only had a couple of bites of a chicken strip before requesting to be left to sleep. We gassed up at another spot in Texas where Aunt Bonnie and Madison picked some cotton. Andrew wasn't feeling well and slept in the back of the RV for a good part of the day. When he woke up, we discussed our evening's destination. We were in New Mexico by then, and, decided that the KOA Kampground in Grants, New Mexico sounded like the right place to go. We were guided there by God, I am sure.

As it turned out, unbeknownst to us, Mom was having a major crisis resulting from very low blood oxygen saturation at the increased altitude that we'd made it to during that day's driving. As we tried to get Mom to eat dinner, we found that her temperature was 94.6oF and blood pressure was around 80 over 50. We began asking her some basic questions, of which she wasn't getting enough correct to make us comfortable. I had looked up the location of the nearest hospital on the GPS navigator when Mom's temperature was so low. Thankfully, and not by mere coincidence I know, there was a hospital emergency room less than 3 miles from the campsite.

Aunt Bonnie got me out of the RV and into the campground bathroom where she explained that Mom was about to die, that her condition was classic for a body shutting down. She was frank that I needed to make a decision quickly, as we couldn't on since Mom would likely die in the night. I decided it was time to go to the hospital, where people can get help for medical crises.

Andrew drove the RV to the hospital's emergency entrance. Aunt Bonnie ran in and told them that we had an emergency. She returned with several nurses, who, after getting a quick overview of Mom's issues, helped us in getting her unloaded out of the RV and into a wheelchair. Then we rushed into the emergency room, where they put Mom on a bed and began evaluating her condition.

When they took her blood oxygen saturation, it was 48%. It's supposed to be near 100%, and a friend of the family that's a doctor said that he's seen better oxygen saturation on a dead person. So, once they put her on oxygen, her blood saturation steadily increased to about 80%, which is about as good as she's going to get with the lung cancer and all.

After a little while, Mom was started perking up and being more alert. Soon she was making jokes and snide comments and was generally feeling better. The doctor came in and explained that they see this phenomenon frequently there, so near to the Continental Divide. When we explained that we'd left the middle of Oklahoma that morning and driven to that location, the doctor pointed out that we'd gone from about 2,000 feet in elevation to about 6,500 feet in that period. This change in elevation and its concomitant reduction in the ambient oxygen concentration can be physically stressful on people that don't have a respiratory disease, and, for Mom, it was very nearly fatal. When the doctor made this point, it seemed so incredibly obvious that I couldn't believe that I'd overlooked it, along with all the medical professionals with whom the trip was planned.

The doctor decided to admit her for the night to ensure that her condition stabilized. The folks at the Cibola General Hospital were so great. They took excellent care of Mom, and, once she was settled into her room for the night, the rest of us went back to the campground to sleep. It was really cold that night, and we had stuffed the area under the dinette bed with shoes and bags to store them out of the way. Turns out that that wasn't a storage area but was instead the main heater vent. We didn't make that mistake again. After a shivery and not-so-restful night, we headed up to the hospital. Mom was eating breakfast and was doing quite well.

A man came in to get us set up with oxygen for the remainder of our trip. He had Mom practice using an oxygen tank with a conserver valve. This valve allowed the tanks to last for about 10 hours each by only providing oxygen to Mom when she took breaths through her nose. Without the conserver valve, the tank would run out in about 30 minutes using continuous flow. While Mom was getting used to the conserver, the man got us hooked up with a concentrator in the RV. This piece of equipment allowed for continuous flow of oxygen, which it produced by concentrating oxygen from the surrounding air. He also gave us 6 portable tanks to take along, as well as a list of the nationwide providers where we could exchange the tanks along the way, if needed.

Once that crucial piece of the puzzle was in place, Mom was ready to be discharged. With oxygen, IV fluids, and a little tweaking a few of her medications based on the findings of her blood work, Mom was doing better than she had been before we left Kentucky.

By early afternoon of Thursday, we got her sprung from the hospital and back on the RV with our new oxygen equipment, and soon we were hitting the highway bound for the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. This part of the trip was my favorite because Mom was feeling her best. She was able to sit up and look out of the RV windows as we drove along. She was very impressed with the Painted Desert and took some of her own pictures. It made me so happy to be able to share something so incredibly special and beautiful with her, especially after so nearly losing her the night before. After the sun set on the Painted Desert, we got back on the interstate toward the Grand Canyon.

Mom wanted some authentic Mexican food for dinner, so we pulled off in Winslow, Arizona and stopped at the gas station off the highway. I went in and asked the guy working there where we should go for the best Mexican in town. He gave me the name of a restaurant, and I went back to the RV to find it using the GPS navigator. It wasn't too far away, so we made our way there. I ran in and got some take out menus. We called our order in and hung out in the RV waiting for it to be prepared. We saw a skunk in the parking lot, which made me very happy. We ate a delicious dinner before getting back on the interstate and pulling to the Grand Canyon Railway RV park in Williams.

It was our intention to ride the train the following morning, but Mom had a very restless night. So, Friday morning, I changed the reservation to the next day. Andrew, Madison, and I ate breakfast at the on-site buffet restaurant, Max & Thelma's. It was really pleasant to have a little chill family time together. On our way out, we got a bunch of food to-go for Mom and Aunt Bonnie. We checked out the train for handicapped accessibility and spent a little while looking in the gift shop before heading back to the RV. When we got back, everyone showered and prepared to drive up to the Grand Canyon so Mom could go ahead and get to see it.

We set out for the park, which is a pretty long drive from Williams where the RV park is located. We passed through one area in the Kaibab National Forest where smoke from a prescribed burn was carried across the roadway, with signs notifying motorists of the practice. I found this quite cool.

Once arriving at the park, Andrew read the maps and accessibility guide that we'd picked up at the entrance station. Unfortunately, I was stubbornly stuck on trying to get Mom to the view that I (incorrectly) remembered was located at the (actually inaccessible) visitor's center. So, in my refusal to acknowledge that Andrew's idea to do the Desert View drive along the rim was really what we needed to do, I managed to drive through the crowded area around the lodges and the burro stables about 3 times.

Once I finally decided to go on the Desert View drive, it was awesome. There were many pull-offs, and Mom was able to see some really nice views of the canyon. Aunt Bonnie and Andrew got out and took pictures at most of them. At one place, there were a few juvenile elk eating leaves from some low tree branches that were impassive to the people jumping out of vehicles to photograph them. Mom was happy to see it all, and I got a little teary-eyed about helping Mom fulfill a lifelong dream. After we did the Desert View drive, Mom was ready to head back to the RV park. She didn't want to get out anywhere and wanted steak for dinner.

Andrew used the GPS Navigator to find Doc Watson's Steakhouse, which turned out to be in the Holiday Inn just across the way from the RV park. This convenience suggested to me an opportunity to have a little cocktail while our order was prepared. So, I got some menus, everyone told me their orders, and Andrew and I went in to place the orders and have a drink at the bar. It was very pleasant to chill after the emotionally charged Grand Canyon experience.

After our drink, we headed back to the RV with the food. Everyone enjoyed an exceptionally good meal. The steaks were excellent and really hit the spot. Then we headed over to the RV park, where Andrew and I got together the laundry and took advantage of the well-equipped and relatively inexpensive laundry room. We were able to knock out 5 loads before bed.

After seeing the Grand Canyon, Mom decided that she probably wasn't up to doing the train expedition the next day. When we woke up on Saturday morning, we got gas in Williams and got on Interstate 40 East. Mom's request for the day was to find some authentic Native American jewelry. Knowing that there were numerous places along the way, we didn't have a particular destination in mind.

Before getting out of Arizona, we pulled off the interstate to try to check out the Meteor Crater that is located near Winslow. It was interesting to see the ground near the site as we drove in from the highway. It was evident that something had happened there, as the ground looked sort of wavy and undulating. There were also little random rock formations here and there. It was disappointing then that we couldn't view the crater itself without getting out of the RV. Mom wanted to save herself for her shopping expedition, so we just turned around and left. Maybe next time. As we headed back to the interstate, we saw a ruined stone building sitting off the side of the road. We stopped at the gas station for gas, and I went in to inquire about the ruin. It turned out to be the previous home for the Meteor Crater museum and is now home to a family of ravens. It was very photogenic anyway.

Back on the interstate, I read the signs for the various Indian trading posts until I saw one advertising museum-quality Native jewelry. This sounded like it may have potential, so I pulled off there and went inside to scope the place. They did indeed have extremely beautiful jewelry with plenty of selection. I went back to the RV, and we did our little routine of getting Mom out of the RV, by setting her on the RV's floor, scooting her along the floor on a sheet, then setting her down, step by step, until Aunt Bonnie stood her up and pivoted her into the wheelchair. We maneuvered into and through the store so that Mom could look into the showcases and appreciate the wares. She asked to look at several pieces, and the lady helping us was nice and extremely knowledgeable, explaining the origin of the pieces and their symbolism within the cultures from which they originated.

In the middle of the shopping, Mom got too warm and had a major coughing fit. The clerk got her some water, and we wheeled her outside to cool off. After a bit, she was able to continue. We went back in and wrapped up the shopping. Mom decided on an awesome sterling turtle pendant inlaid with onyx, tiger's eye, and jasper. It is truly lovely and is representative of healing. She also got a small bear pin, which represents strength and courage, and a nice turquoise bracelet. She was very pleased with her purchases, and we made our way back out to the RV.

Andrew had the idea of getting a family picture of us before getting back in the RV. He set up his tripod and walked around to the back of the RV. Next thing, he was coming back around with his hand over his forehead and blood seeping between his fingers. He'd hit his head on one of the storage area doors, leaving a nice but superficial gash on his forehead. The clerk who'd helped us in the store ran out with some band-aids for him. After this injury, he decided to abandon the picture idea. As we were loading Mom into the RV, Aunt Bonnie scraped her arm along the thin metal edge along the doorframe, which left a pretty painful little tear there. Shortly after getting back underway, we took Madison's temperature because she'd been feeling funky that day. She had a fever of 102.4! We gave her some Tylenol, and that brought the temperature down, but it was quite disconcerting that she had such a high fever.

So after some shopping, injuries, and illness, we pushed our way down the interstate until getting to Tucumcari, New Mexico, where we stopped for the night at the KOA there.

Sunday morning, we took advantage of the breakfast menu offered at the campground before getting on the road. That was a really nice convenience and helped set a pleasant tone for the day. Once on the interstate, we passed into Texas. I was driving and knew that just west of Amarillo was the Cadillac Ranch because we had passed it on the way out at speed on the interstate. When we stopped at a Bushland gas station for fuel, I inquired about the art installation's location. The clerk said that it was just 4 miles down the frontage road where we were. So, we drove along the unremarkable stretch of agricultural fields with vehicles streaking by us on the interstate to our left. Then we saw it: in the middle of a cornfield, 10 old Cadillacs, buried with their noses in the ground and leaning at about a 45o angle, set back about 300 feet from the road.

Andrew knew ahead of time that the public is invited to graffiti the cars and had brought several cans of spray paint so we could leave our mark. Andrew, Madison, and I got out and got in touch with our inner graffiti artists. I sprayed a nice heart on the pink hubcap of one car and "Hope & Love" on the front quarter panel on another car. Andrew sprayed Mom's initials and the year on the hood of one of the cars and wrote "Love & Mercy to You & Yours Tonight" on the hood of another. Madison had a lot of fun being allowed to spray whatever she wanted. It was really cool. We left our spray paint behind for the next visitors.

We got back on the interstate until we got to Weatherford, Oklahoma. In Weatherford, there are thousands of acres of wind farms visible from the interstate. I pulled off on a side road to show Mom the scope of the number of wind turbines in the area, although we were still a little ways away from being up close to them. Back on the interstate, Mom could see them towering over the road from her window. We got many great pictures of this renewable energy source, and Mom really enjoyed getting to see them. We stopped for the night in Checotah, Oklahoma at the KOA located on the shores of Lake Eufaula. Madison was impressed that this town was home to country singer Carrie Underwood.

Monday morning, we again got breakfast at the campground, which they kindly delivered to our site after we placed our order. We were hoping to make it Mom's that night, so we hit the interstate. We stopped in through Memphis, where Vicki brought barbeque over to our house for dinner. It was great to see her, and we really enjoyed the fortifying meal before embarking on the final leg of our journey.

We got to Mom's at 1am. We got her unloaded and settled into her own bed, which she said was immensely satisfying. Jessica had left Aunt Bonnie's car at Mom's earlier in the day, so she was able to head out after helping us get inside and collecting her belongings. It was about 3am before I finally laid my tired head down.

After 8 days on the road covering about 3,500 miles, with a few unexpected surprises thrown in the mix, we were back at Mom's, with one of her life's dreams fulfilled.

Since Christmas...

In the month after Christmas, Madison's basketball team had their league championship. Despite having had a bit of rocky season, their team, the Sharks, advanced to the final playoffs. They played really well during the championship, with Maddie coming out her shell and playing more aggressive defense and taking and making some shots. They didn't win their last game, but we were all very proud of the team. Madison got the coach's award for most improved player at the awards ceremony. For the team outing, we got court seats to watch the Lady Tigers play at the FedEx forum. Fun times!

For Madison's birthday party this year, she decided to forego the typical hoopla in lieu of an old-fashioned, at-home party. We had several friends over to Vicki's and played bunches of games, from charades and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey to a piñata and "gummy worm hide-and-seek". I hit the Dollar Tree for tons of prizes, and we played lots of rounds of each game so all the kiddos got lots of prizes. We had Maddie's favorite dinner, Andrew's lasagna, and a horse-shaped birthday cake of Andrew's creation. Then we went to our house for movies, and some friends spent the night and the others left. The next morning, I made a bunch of cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves, and several of them said that it was the best birthday party they'd ever attended. That's quite some praise from 10 and 11 year-olds!

The North Mississippi All-Stars played in February at the New Daisy down on Beale Street. I had a tentative plan to meet up with a friend's sister at the show but didn't hear from her before heading in. After a great opening set by Alvin Youngblood Hart, I was standing in the crowd when Jennifer found me. That was cool! We rocked out to a great hometown set of the All-Stars, who always entertain, and that night was no exception. And, yes, Cody played the electric washboard (just for me?)!

The day after the show, I was on a plane with Sam, headed back to New Orleans to meet up with Dr. Yamamoto, Fumiko, and Yukihero. The gang was back together, staying out at the LSU Forestry Field Camp in Bogalusa, driving around the back roads along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, and exploring the swamps and bayous in search of mixed stands of bald cypress and water tupelos that had been specifically damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

We found a spot where we sampled tree cores near Laplace, by the junction of Interstates 55 and 10 over on the south-west shore side. On a side note, there's an excellent drive-thru daiquiri place in Laplace, if you ever get over that way… man, I love Louisiana. We sampled as teams, with me, Sam, and Fumiko working together, and Dr. Yamamoto and Yukihero working together. We had water tupelo (easier), and they had the cypress. It took two solid day of work in the mucky swamps, but we got all the cores they said they needed, like 40 of each species. The work was great, with no problems with weather, equipment, or any of the millions of other things that can go wrong with fieldwork. Although it was late February, spring was already beginning, with many trees budding out. One day we saw a little alligator in a bayou a bit down from where we were working, and another day a bald eagle flew over our sampling site.

Dr. Yamamoto's birthday happened mid-way through our visit, and we had an excellent celebration at the field station. On our way back from the field, Sam proved his worth as a Mississippi farm boy by demanding that we needed to find a backwoods gas station and buy 20 pounds of boiled crawfish. I thought that sounded like a recipe for food poisoning but, fortunately, I trusted him. It was awesome. We had a perfect Louisiana celebration for Dr. Yamamoto, with lots of Abita, 20 pounds of crawfish, all the fixin's, and even a supermarket sheet cake.

Our last two nights in Louisiana, we spent at a chain hotel (forget which one, but nice enough) just adjacent to the French Quarter over in the Central Business District where the rates were a little better – there was some oil company convention in town or something that weekend that was affecting hotel prices. Anyway, it was a good location, just off Canal Street.

We hooked up with Brandy and her entourage for dinner at Ralph and Kacoos. It was really, really great to see her. We had a pre-dinner walk along the river and then enjoyed a bunch of fresh oysters and fried alligator. They make a good Manhattan, too. Next, we trekked off to MRB, a great bar on St. Philip Street with chillest patio I can imagine. More of Brandy's friends met us here, our party now totaling like 12. We chilled and had a few beers, unbeknownst to us that Brandy was going to talk this entire crew to going over to the Whirling Dervish for, you guessed it, 80's dance night. I guess it's like a tradition now. It was awesome fun, and Brandy's friends were lots of fun. The Japanese chose only to observe the spectacle from the sidelines, and eventually they headed back to the hotel. Somehow, Brandy talked us all into going over to her place and hanging out and spending the night. It was all great fun, but just not at all what I expected to be doing that night.

The next morning, we parted with Brandy when she took us back to our hotel and set out to spend the day being tourists with Dr. Yamamoto and Fumiko (Yukihero had already left for Japan). We took the trolley down to the river and went to the aquarium. That was great fun. I've never been before and can't compare it to pre-Katrina impressiveness, but I thought it was great. Then we took the trolley to the majestic City Park to visit New Orleans Museum of Art. We stopped by (my favorite) the Besthoff Sculpture Garden adjacent to the museum. Everyone really seemed to think it was really cool too. The art museum was very grand, and there was a cool Rodrigue retrospective exhibit while we were there. I actually like some of his stuff that didn't have blue dogs in it. Unfortunately, the folks at the museum were having some event and had to scoot us out a bit sooner than we had expected, which left me a little miffed, but I got over it.

Instead of waiting for the return trolley to pick us up at the museum stop and take us back to the hotel, which supposedly came every 30 minutes or so, I had the brilliant idea of walking in the direction of our destination along the trolley route. This seemed like a winner: burn off some of that Cajun cuisine and feel like we're going somewhere. Along the way, we decided to rest and have a snack a Mediterranean place on the route. This was a great idea, because we were going to need the fuel, as it turned out.

We followed the trolley route for almost an hour, including watching for it during our snack stop. Nothing. Why not just walk the whole way? We were all up for it and set out. We walked the 5 miles back to the Quarter and got to see some of New Orleans' neighborhoods up close. This apparently tuckered everyone out, so we ate an early dinner and returned to the hotel for a quiet last night in Louisiana.

We flew back to Memphis, and I helped get Dr. Yamamoto and Fumiko situated in their hotel. That night we went out for barbeque with Dr. Pezeshki at Central. Andrew had been planning to come with us, but he was suffering from a terrible stomach ailment/virus thing that had us going to the hospital the next day for testing to be sure he was alright.

Dr. Yamamoto headed back to Japan after a few days, and Fumiko stayed over at Sam's for the rest of the week before going back also.

So, Andrew recovered from his intestinal problems, and, soon after, I managed to majorly pull a muscle in my back when improperly lifting a 40 lb bag of kitty litter at the Petco. This action seemed rather inconsequential for about a week, but I began feeling worse and worse and had to go to the doctor.

Fortunately, the doctor, Kit, is a family friend and renowned for his contribution to the practice of pain management. Unfortunately, this injury occurred 2 weeks before we were leaving for Disneyworld. Kit had me take it easy to allow my back to heal, gave me some lidocaine patches to put on my back, and had the nurse give me a cortisone shot in my butt. I was taking 800 mg of ibuprofen every 4 hours around the clock and having trouble sitting for my classes that were 2 hours or longer. Kit had made it clear that I really needed to be careful at Disneyworld, otherwise the chance for re-injury was pretty high.

Still sore and slow, Andrew, Madison, Vicki, Kate, and I set out for Orlando. We were meeting Aunt Suzi, Uncle Danny, Daniel, Meghan, Thomas, Aunt Sally, Uncle Anthony, Christina, and, our benefactor, Grandma Marie. Grandma had recently sold her house and down-sized and decided to treat everyone to a trip to Disneyworld. Although it was the middle of the semester for both Madison and me, this simply was not an opportunity to be missed, and, of course, everything worked out great. We had an awesome vacation as our little family unit, and we had a great time hanging out with the whole family.

My back progressively improved while we were there, and I was unable to resist riding a few of the thrill rides when I was feeling up to it. Space Mountain was as cool as I had always imagined it would be. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was also an exceedingly awesome ride. Also, we had the amazing fortune of getting to use a "magic fastpass", an endless fastpass for up to 6 people. This pass was the coolest and allowed us to get more out of our trip that otherwise would have happened.

In a "News of the Weird" sort of twist, on our first day of arriving at Disneyworld, I said to Andrew that it wouldn't surprise me if I saw someone I knew there. On our last day, the cashier at the resort cafeteria where we were getting lunch was a dude from Hodgenville that Carter had played baseball with as little kids and who's sister gave Madison swimming lessons at the Hodgenville pool. It's a small world, after all.

When we got back to Memphis from Disneyworld, even I was swept up in March Madness. The Tigers were in the Sweet Sixteen, then the Elite Eight, then the Final Four, and finally the National Championship. I really thought I was immune to basketball fanaticism since I lived in Kentucky for 15 years without becoming infected – no small feat for an alum of the University of Louisville. But there was something about the Tigers and the hope they gave to the city of Memphis to finally be proud of something. It was something in the air; I can't explain it. But sure enough, I was rooting and carrying on with the best of 'em. And, of course, that championship was one for the history books. Oh! the ecstasy of victory apparent! But then… oh! the agony of defeat when victory seemed so assured! So, I guess I've gotten a bit of the basketball bug after all.

In between all this traveling and excitement, I did have an intense semester as a grad student. I took Soil Ecology with Drs. Pezeshki and Biernacki, Stats II with the sainted Dr. Bunty Ethington, a discussion class on experimental design with Dr. Franklin, and some research hours. I also audited Plant Systematics and Evolution with the department chair, Dr. Randy Bayer. Classes went really well. Soil Ecology was interesting and pertinent, usually. Thanks to Dr. Ethington, I made a complete turnaround in Stats. The experimental design class was helpful as well, since I was writing my research proposal and trying to figure all that stuff out this semester too. Auditing Plant Systematics was a great choice, despite the chaos doing so caused me at the beginning of the semester. I had to petition (denied) and appeal (granted) to overload my hours, a sticky bit of red tape that really had stressed me for the first few weeks of the semester.

I only taught 2 sections this semester. It was generally unexceptional, except for when I discovered a student had cheated on a quiz and was automatically failed from the class. I made 2 forms for each quiz, with the same questions in a different order. They even say Form A and Form B at the top. But this girl copied Form A's answers from the guy next to her onto her Form B and turned it in. Then I found it when I was grading them. I had to report her to my supervisor, the lab coordinator, and he had to notify the registrar and the chair, and she was kicked out pretty lickety-split. What a mess! Sadly, I had even given out a review over what material would be on the quiz, so there really was no possible reason to cheat. At the time, it was rather morally-wrenching, but thankfully it wasn't my call though, because I felt pretty bad for the girl who would always have this on her record. But really, I think the consequences, while harsh, were entirely appropriate.

Just before Disneyworld, we learned that Andrew was going to be promoted from Sous Chef/ Supervisor to Executive Chef/ Manager. The transition is still occurring, as they train a new person for the supervisor position. Currently, Andrew is doing both jobs and working around 70 hours a week, 6 days a week. They actually hired a supervisor a month or so ago, but after about 3 days, she was scared off and no-call/ no-showed. Now he's got a new one in that seems more prepared to handle the position. It's really tricky to find the right person with the funky schedule that they work, the extremely stringent screening procedures associated with working at the airport, and the layers of bureaucracy that are just how it goes in a company with worldwide distribution, unions, etc. On the bright side, so far, he's gotten a raise, some profit sharing action, improved benefits, and a company phone. But the best part will be once he has the supervisor trained and then will work from 6am to 4pm, rather than the 12am to 1pm or so he's been working lately. We're all really the most excited about this aspect of his promotion, as it will make our family life quite a bit easier to coordinate and enjoy.

The Memphis in May MusicFest happened a few weekends ago. Andrew had to work, so I, being irrepressible, went down solo for 3 days to enjoy some really excellent music. Unfortunately, the first night was subjected to some pretty nasty weather and some of the music was cancelled.

I came down around 7pm or so and checked out Charlie Musselwhite in the Blues tent for a while. Then it was around the time Ben Folds was scheduled to be finishing up, and I wanted to get over there to get a good spot for The Roots, who were coming ... Once I got over there, though, Ben Folds hadn't even started because the weather was being too nasty to risk all the instruments and equipment. I stood bravely in the rain and the mud, by myself convinced it would let up and at least The Roots would be able to play, even if Ben Folds couldn't. After a spell, they finally started dismantling the Ben Folds equipment and hauling it off stage. The drunken, disappointed crowd let their displeasure known by chanting homophobic slurs, I think in an effort to charm him into playing after all. To no avail. Then, after standing in the rain and mud for over 3 hours, the guys from The Roots crew made the definitive slashing-across-the-throat motion, and guys started hustling equipment off the stage. Bummer. I headed back to my car and to my home, looking forward to the next day.

The following day was gorgeous. I arrived at the festival at the beginning of Buddy Guy's set, but, by the time I'd walked to the other end of the park, it was more like the middle of Buddy Guy's set, but man, was that set smokin'!! I danced and grinned like no one's business to some awesome guitar licks. He played with his teeth, behind his back, and burned down some signature licks from Hendrix and Clapton Buddy Guy-style. After his set, I made my way back to the other end of the park to catch a little of the John Butler Trio. It was jammy and pleasant. I boogied for awhile there before heading back to the other end of the park where Lou Reed was now playing. I rocked out to some of his rock songs and chatted with this guy from Bowling Green, Ky that was hanging out there too. It was a really great set, and, to add to the fun, up at one of the super-nice houses situated above the park on the bluffs, four shapely ladies were dancing in these floor-to-ceiling windows, enhancing the rock effect. Next Santana came out on the same stage to break out with some "Jingo ba ba!" Excellent! It was rocking until this singer guy came out and was singing some pretty cheesy 80's stuff. I took that as my cue to go check out Hasidic Jewish reggae phenomenon Matisyahu at the other end of the park. He was really impressive and delivered an energetic performance that included him pulling kids from out of the audience up onto the stage and dancing and jumping around with them. It was great fun, and, after the show was over, I heard many people using the word "awesome" to describe the set. Good stuff.

The final day started for me with Jerry Lee Lewis. I did walk kinda slow past Michael Franti & Spearhead on my way down to the other stage, but I knew I'd better hurry up and see the Killer while I still could. Given his age and lifestyle, he still played a mean piano, and I loved boogie-woogie-ing to some way classic tunes. Next was Her Majesty, The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin! Wow! She's still got it, y'all. Her voice was great, and I was loving every minute of it. When Aretha finished, I headed down to the stage the Black Crowes were playing on in a bit, to get a good spot. This was the first show with Luther Dickinson (of the North Mississippi All-Stars) played with the Crowes, and they really let him shine bright that night. It was an awesome show with a good mix of old favorites and stuff from the new album. It was the perfect end to another great Memphis in May.

Setting up our field experiment in Jonesboro, Arkansas at the Arkansas State University Ag-Research Center was another major event. We had collected a bunch of our experimental plant, rice cutgrass, from a site where Ole Miss had some research happening near Oxford, Mississippi. We had potted individual plants into pepper pots and had been letting the get established at our greenhouse over on the roof of the Life Sciences building. The time had come to take our little plants and some big empty pots and move it all up to Jonesboro. We had to fill the buckets with soil, then move them into place in the greenhouse, then transplant a little plant into each one, then top-off the soil levels in the buckets. Since we transplanted about 400 plants and each soil-filled bucket weighed about 60 – 80 lbs each, this was quite a taxing day of labor. We had the good fortune of getting a guy with a Bobcat to load about a ton of soil onto our truck for us to take back to Memphis, so we could use it in future experiments.

After a rainy day passed, we unloaded the soil from the truck. This was in no way a simple feat. First, the truck tailgate did not lower. Second, there was no working wheelbarrow to use to transport the soil. Third, there was no freight elevator for use. Fourth, once we got up to the greenhouse on the roof, we had to carry everything through the door to unload it because of a huge metal lip at the door jamb that our borrowed carts couldn't/shouldn't handle. But we managed. Since there were 3 of us and two carts, we were able to get a bit of system going where Sam was always filling buckets and Melissa and I were always unloading them.

The next day, it was back to Jonesboro to move our pots into the experimental ditches. This required one person (me) to use a dolly to pick up the pots out of the greenhouse and bring them down to the truck. The next person (Sam) lifted the pot off the dolly onto the tailgate and the next person (Melissa) scooted the pot from the tailgate to the back of the truck. Once we loaded 30 pots, then we drove down to the ditch. Melissa scooted the pots to the end of the tailgate, I lifted the pot off the tailgate and passed it to Sam, who was standing in the ditch and then set the pot in place. 244 pots and about 8 laborious hours later, we had 28 pots in all 8 ditches. Then next day, a major storm, a supercell even, swept through Jonesboro. We are going to check out the effects on the ditches tomorrow.

With the field experiment set up, our lab went to the annual meeting of the Mid-South Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicologists and Chemists (SETAC). The meeting was held at the US Army Corps Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi, a huge research facility employing over 1,000 scientists and engineers. Sam and Mizuki from Dr. Parris' lab each did presentations and won first and second place, respectively, for their talks. It was a great meeting and a very strong showing for our small UofM contingent. We got to see Lili, a recent graduate from Dr. Pezeshki's lab who is now employed as a research scientist in Vicksburg. She gave a tour of the part of facility that she works in, the Wetlands and Coastal Ecology branch of the Ecosystem Evaluation and Engineering Division. It was great to see what Lili was up to down there and see her doing well after graduation.

After the conference, we headed back to Memphis by way of the Vicksburg National Military Park, where we did a driving tour, saw a salvaged ironclad warship, visited the Vicksburg National Cemetery on the river, went through a tunnel made by Union forces, and saw a gigantic Gingko tree and lots of pretty songbirds. From there, we decided to ride back to Memphis on Highway 61 to see the Delta a little more up close and personal. We went through the town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi where Muddy Waters was born, but there wasn't any sort of acknowledgment of him that I could find. Still cool though.

On the weekend before Madison last week of elementary school, the neighborhood association had the annual the Normal Station Neighborhood Picnic. It was the prettiest spring day you can imagine. Madison helped with the supervision of kiddos on the moon bounce while I circulated, chatting with folks I knew and meeting a few new ones. Sam, Katie, and Iris came down and hung for awhile. They had tons of food and a pretty big turn-out. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. Little did I know then, but my life was about to change dramatically in the next couple of days after that.

More to follow soon...


Originally posted at www.myspace.com/wannabedutch on 06/04/08.