Tuesday, October 11, 2005

coats and coasts

So this weekend was the fateful oceanography field trip. (Fateful? I don’t know where that came from. Maybe too much Dickens?)

Seriously, we had so much fun. I really liked getting to know a bunch of people outside my major—nothing against English majors, but it’s great to see a group get psyched about rocks. (I tend to think: “they’re rocks. So what. What do you think about Shakespeare?” But there are a lot of geology majors in that class who know what they’re talking about, and can say more about a rock than “it’s grey.” Fun conversations. Anyway.)

We left in vans Friday morning, getting to the Au Sable Institute around three. The drive was beautiful: in between chapters of David Copperfield, I watched the trees get brighter the farther north we went. (I’ll try to post pictures later this week.) We got to Au Sable, and it was cold. At least, cold compared to weather last week. I was really glad I brought a coat. (And scarf. And gloves.)

We toured Au Sable, which would be a neat place to study if I were a biology or environmental studies major. (As it is, I thought it would be an awesome place to camp out and write. Could be like Thoreau or Annie Dillard.) Then we settled into our rooms—I shared a room in the Birch cabin, I think, with three other girls. We loved the decor—full on seventies. Again… hopefully there will be pictures. The carpet is not to be missed.

The girls and I took an hour hike around Au Sable property—out to a pond, and then to a bog, poking around ferns and kicking up leaves. It felt like the essence of an autumn afternoon—cool and clear, full of falling leaves and distant white birches, shocking with their white bark.

After we got back, the class piled into vans again, and went out for pizza. We came back to digest (there was a lot of food…) and relax in the lodge at Au Sable. They got a fire going in the fireplace, and a group started playing Euchre. I was feeling sleepy, so I grabbed David Copperfield again, and kept a classmate company by the fire until I was too tired to read.

The next morning we stumbled into the dining hall around 6:40 a.m., which felt far too early to eat cereal. But after breakfast, we packed up and left around seven. The rest of the day was full of driving to our stops, then getting out and taking notes—observing, discussing, and exploring. Our first stop was windy and freezing cold; fortunately it warmed up after that.

We got to see all kinds of important coastal features—breakwaters, evidence of longshore drift, spits, groynes, wave-cut benches, and dunes. In between lectures, we had time to explore towns, shop for fudge and bread, climb dunes, and admire scenery. I came back with red-pepper-pesto focaccia and a demi-baguette from a local bakery; a mocha from one of the best coffeehouses in town (according to my professor); and fudge for my apartment and friends. (Who knew that culinary delight and oceanography walk hand-in-hand along Lake Michigan?)

I also had a blast visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes. My family and I visited those dunes when I was about ten. I remember laughing at the sign that said something like: “Warning: 450 foot drop. Return climb extremely exhausting. Do not run. Do not throw rocks.” I remember skating down all 450 feet, and I remember sobbing with exhaustion on the way back up. It was a long day for a kid. You know how things seem larger than life when you’re little? And when you see them later, you understand how small they really were? Not so in this case. Sleeping Bear is huge, and nearly vertical. I could not believe we had climbed down and back!

On the trip we did get to climb a smaller, less-steep dune, overlooking Glen Lake. It wasn’t as crazy a climb as Sleeping Bear would have been, but it was challenging enough. The views from the top were beautiful, though.

We got back Saturday night around 9:30. I was so tired—slept for ten hours that night!

It was a fun break from routine—good to see Lake Michigan again, good to get to know the rest of the class. But now I’m back in my week, and looking ahead to the next wave of deadlines, suddenly amazed to be in mid-October… —jl

Posted by Jenn Langefeld on 10/11 at 03:56 PM
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