Landed Status and Gratitude

The last few weeks and months have had friends and family, including me, a bit on the edge of their seats. It was not a blogworthy topic, as applying for jobs in my field is a delicate and difficult matter with lots of confidentiality and customs of what is and what is not appropriate to mention during the process. It has been a struggle to keep mum about it, because I love sharing minutia, and especially travel-related minutia, with both of my devoted blog readers (my mom and Ottke). But the moment of truth unfolded this past week and what was originally a temporary perch here in Portland is now going to be (I hope!) long-term: I accepted an offer to join the faculty at Reed College. Of course there is much to tell and discuss and explore about what this means career-wise and I am just as eager as anyone else to see how it unfolds (Reed is a fantastic and unique place, if you want to read more about it go here or here....) Personally, it is pretty simple though-- it means I get to continue being spitting distance from my family which I love and the mountains and rivers of Oregon will continue to be my playground when I am not hanging out with them or in the lab. I am so happy about this life and this work, it is impossible not to get completely engulfed in the cyclone of gratitude I have felt all weekend (part of which was spent cross country skiing yesterday at the base of Mt Hood, only about an hour away!) Between Volcano Jim showing me the routes up all the nearby mountains (pictured here on Dog Mtn after a particularly snowy ascent), my wonderful neighbors with whom I am about to make some undoubtedly delicious homemade pizza, and many of the other generous souls I have met so far in the area, I already feel spoiled rotten. As always, come visit! But now you can come visit anytime...