Puppies, Movies, Working for the Environment and Snowshoeing...just a few of my Favorite Things

Today I was lucky enough nay privileged to meet a future avalanche dog at Heavenly Ski Resort. Morgan, who works on the AmeriCorps program and is my co-worker, had to dog-sit today and brought the cutest puppy to work (his name is Jackson). Something on my down jacket must have tasted amazing because he gave it a thorough licking. It was a long day of conference calls, checking details, emailing and organizing but it was made almost painless by "puppy" breaks. Working in a dog friendly office definitely has its perks (dog farts would be on the downside).

Work is progressing well and I am feeling more confidant daily. My boss is already talking of getting funding so I can stay on the climate change program permanently after my AmeriCorps stint is over and that is very encouraging. I have had my share of mistakes, however, that I thought for sure they would not want me around like when I missed a mistake on the Table of Contents of our New Climate Change Toolkit and we had to re-print 5000 pages for a measly $2000. OOOps somehow didn't cover it. But other than that things have been going well. I am only nervous about giving my first public presentations to agencies (like the Dept. of Fish and Game and Inyo National Forest staff in Bishop) and organizations (like the Sierra Club Bishop chapter) on climate change and how we can adapt to these changes (both as individuals and resource planners). I have never been wholly at ease speaking in public so this should be very interesting.

We recently hosted the Patagonia Presents Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, which was a big success and I was also forced to face this fear of public speaking by making an announcement and asking the audience to take our Individual Climate Change Pledge to reduce their emissions. People were not so keen to waste paper especially after watching this great film about disposable coffee cups called "For The Price of a Cup of Coffee" (it will make you use your reusable mugs!!). Here is a link to the trailers for the films if you are interested in checking them out. Not all the films on the site were shown at our festival but check them all out anyway. I really enjoyed a film called "Oil and Water" about two kayakers who drove the Pan-American highway in a biodiesel fire truck, kayaking and teaching kids and anyone interested really about alternative fuels. Especially since they were in Chile at almost the same time I was!
Living in Lake Tahoe makes up for any of the faults I have mentioned or alluded to. I have a beautiful view of the sunset over snowcapped mountains every night. I am about 2 seconds away from a beautiful beach. I can't wait for summer...I am hoping to help my office win Bike to Work week although I have not ridden a bike in 2 years and I live about 8 miles from work. At this point, my enthusiasm continues to trump my obvious lack of physical ability.

Meeting people is a bit hard as so many people are tourists and I believe more than 75% of the homes in the Lake Tahoe Basin are second homes. I have started a knitting/crochet night or Stitch n Bitch at a local coffee house with friends from work. I go snowshoeing every weekend either by myself or with AmeriCorps friends. I plan on taking some classes at the local community college that will hopefully force me to be more sociable, although my roommate warned me to avoid the "crazy" people.

Well I guess I will leave you with some photos I have taken of the winter wonderland that surrounds me (and is melting as we speak...thanks global warming!). More to come soon!