Paradero incierto.

So I decided to backpack the Leatherwood Wilderness over Thanksgiving break. I figured what better time to keep away from relatives and enjoy some good ol’ peace and quite, with only nature to keep me company? Yes indeed, the benevolent old Mother regularly beckons me to her buxom, and how can I resist her awe-inspiring, liberating pull?

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That’s right, I’m a huge fan of the host of Worldview. His soothing, measured voice emanates from my speakers, undulating like the speech of some comforting, rocking-chair gran’ pappy academic, if there ever were such a thing. Jerome’s question-and-answer approach is to give his interviewees as much space as possible to answer his always relevant, well-informed questions. If he weren’t married, god knows whether I’d still be heterosexual.

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Or behind, depending on how you see it. As it turns out, school started 2-3 weeks earlier this year, without any communique explicitly bringing this matter to students’ attention. I blame it on the nature of administration at IIT (read it sucks). So there I was trying my damnest at getting myself into a state of excitement about course registrations, when my quasi-fervor suddenly evaporated–I was nearly 3 weeks late in registration! After the sudden shock wore out, I set about to planning my week with the utmost attention and care. Why? Well, because I work full-time, had no broadband internet connection available at home, and dropped my only lifeline to the outside world (my modem-enabled cell phone) for a quick dip in the lake. (Surprisingly, the thing actually made it thru the acquatic stresses I inflicted upon it, though the screen itself is fried.) And despite these straits, I managed to squeeze in a total of 5 classes before Saturday eve. Huzzah!

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So I’m back from my visit to the Grand Canyon State where I helped a close friend of mine settle into a new home and academic career in Archaeology. While there I hiked the Sabino canyon (take a look here, here and here), hunted for wabbits, and encountered a couple of the state’s most infamous wildlife—namely a rattle (here and here) and coral snake which, despite being diminutive in size and appearance packs the second meanest venom in N. America, after the rattler, and is also related to the cobra. Additionally, I weathered the hottest season in S. Arizona and discovered that even an un-airconditioned house (sans carpeting) can be quite bearable at high noon.

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