Perspective

Today I am writing in a post-vacation conference whirlwind!  It's hard to believe it's already mid-August.  July flew by, for me at least.  I left sunny Southern California on July 21st and headed to the Pawnee County Fair in rural Nebraska.  It was a great time to connect with growing food, raising livestock, and crafting.  The 4-H'ers that I met were creative and caring, fun, serious and knowledgeable about their animals.  I got to hear the Governor of Nebraska speak about the importance of being a Livestock-Friendly county.  Nebraska is the number 1 feeder of cattle and is the number 5 state in production of popcorn!

I loved riding my bike down gravel roads, alongside tractors and horses, through small-town America.  I loved drinking $0.60 coffee at the Little Brown Jug and transporting salads from Subway to my sister's house by a bag thrown over my handlebars.  I loved the driving tour to see the buffalo and all the lakes for fishing in Pawnee county.  I loved spending time with family, including the 4-membered she-wolf pack of dog-cousins.  It was so relaxing to be there, and so fun to watch tractor pulls, rodeos, and mud volleyball.

My time in Omaha was also exciting.  We went to a botanical garden and the zoo.  We went for a nighttime ninja bike ride through the city.  We made "Cycling To Sanity" t-shirts with iron-on felt lettering.  We gathered supplies for a cotton/wool/silk dye-day.  We did a pre-sunrise bike ride along the Keystone Trail.  We dyed silk, tencel, and cotton skeins for my mom to weave her scarves.  We dyed bamboo socks.  We indigo dyed silk scarves.  All in all, it was an amazing time in Omaha.  I especially loved the day my whole (nuclear) family was there and we went out to dinner.

The days in Lincoln were no less awesome... I spent time with my grandparents at their domiciles.  My aunt and uncle joined us for dinners and lunches.  We went on a couple Hot Dog Runs (not literally running) eating outside, inside, and at a pub.  We ate on "O" street and downtown in the Haymarket.  We visited the sunken garden and places where we used to visit as kids.  I went on a solo bike ride along Billy Wolff trail that took me to the outskirts of the city and then back.  We went to Pioneers Park.  I loved honoring the heritage of our family, from the farm to the big city.  I loved hearing old stories about living without electricity and surviving the dust bowl.

All good things come to an end, just like my time in Nebraska.  I drove out here to San Francisco for the American Chemical Society national meeting.  It's been great hearing professors from Northridge give their oral presentations.  The Improvisation Training session was completely wonderful.  Running with the Younger Chemists Committee was a blast.  The SciMix poster session was very busy and I met some people I didn't expect to see, which made it more valuable than I could have planned.

This afternoon I am participating in the session "Communicating Science to the Public" which should be fun.  Tomorrow there are some session about chemistry education that I would like to attend.  Thursday there are two oral sessions that I may drop by called "Contaminants of Concern" and "Resistance Management" which are fitting considering that the theme of this meeting is "Chemistry & Global Stewardship."  Speaking of which, I had better get going.  I am LOVING riding my bike to and from the conference center.  It's 4 miles from where I'm staying so I'm getting my fill of riding in this bike-friendly city with its green lanes and totally rad bike culture.  It's like CicLAvia every day here, seriously.