News from Chris

Hello all, this is Chris, certified stranded alien, reporting from BC. I have been well, biding my time while the US immigration services process my documents. I have been living in North Vancouver, in the guest room of a friend of a friend's who graciously offered me to stay in exchange for some work on the house and the garden. I'm working on week-ends as a handy man to put some money away.

I've also been spending time learning about the local ecosystem, figuring out plant names, what plants were and are eating by local First Nations, the habits of animals and birds. I tasted licorice fern (wow!), encountered a mink in a canyon, and Rosemary and I came upon a bear scat full of mushroom remnants near Rice Lake, a short distance from the urban area. A pack of coyotes lives in the area, and I am determined to find out something about them too. I see bald eagles almost every day on their way to and from the port.

The crows are like a living clock, leaving their roost just after dawn and heading to it an hour before dusk. They come from all over the Vancouver area to roost together. Rosemary and I tried to follow them by car, but we didn't find their final destination, which is probably in the Burnaby area, just East of Vancouver.

Last week-end I went for a hike organized by the Ancient Forest Alliance to a group of old growth trees that escaped the felling during the early 20th c., called the "Temple of Time Grove of Giants" (!!), within walking distance of North Van. The size of these Douglas-Firs and Redcedars was pretty amazing (I think the tallest Douglas-Fir was 96 metres). My wonder was a little overshadowed by sadness though, because we had to walk for hours, go off the trail and up a steep hill, not get lost, to get to this "grove" of only a handful of uncut trees. Such lengths we must go to if we want to see what used to be everywhere!

Oh yeah, I've also started to work on publishing my thesis, which I left behind when I got my MSc a year and a half ago. Not that I really have a great interest in ground beetles, or want to pursue a career in academia at this point, but since I did all this research I don't want to let it rot in a drawer somewhere!

That's all for now. I'll make sure to post about anything exciting!