Well, I will be leaving this happy land in 9 days now, and it occurred to me tonight as I walked across the quad to deposit my mail that there is one little thing about this place that I will miss.
The hardwoods.
On our quad there are just these incredible old white oaks, willow oaks, and American beeches (I will not bore you with scientific names but suffice it to say that the family Fagaceae makes some awesome trees). I'd say the average DBH out there is about 30 in or so, not including the behemoth willow oak in the parking lot or the legacy bur oak up by the Hendrix. I do love some Douglas-fir (not a true fir!) but there is something about a white oak in the spring, with its big leaves looking like hands, or in the fall, when it turns orange and red and drops smooth acorns, that just makes me really happy that I'm a forester. I am sure that the elf-forest up in OR is a million times this beautiful. But I am sure occasionally I will think about the hardwoods nostalgically.
(on a side note, I may also miss pumping my own gas, but I can always go to California for that... and I have this sneaking suspicion I will spend a good bit of time in Cali, anyway).
Today another student here (a junior male) asked about OSU. He wants to leave the south and try something else out. Apparently the department head is glad that I am heading out of here (note that she is also not from here, although she did undergrad here), and suggested it to him. I was really excited about this... sometimes I think the reason why so many people stay here (can you tell I muse on this subject A LOT?) is that they just don't realize that it's possible to go. I certainly didn't. I am going to do what I can to help stay in contact with this student-- he's active in SAF and CFO, so maybe if I go... and he goes... more students here will see that they can also have the chance to get out of the area and see the rest of the country... world... whatever.
I hope this happens for him... in the meantime, I have SAS to work and papers to grade. Did you know you should discuss the lab in your discussion? Shocker.
That is always heartening, to find someone else who is trying to escape! I know I felt that way, before my happy departure from the South -- any deviation from the standard "I just love the South ever so much, why would you ever live anywhere else? I want to stay here my whole life!" mantra just made my day.
ReplyDeleteAnd although I do prefer to pump my own gas, I have to admit, if I could get a significant discount for having someone else do it...well, that would be okay with me! California's finances...I mean, c'mon...WTF?