April and Pollen

The last couple of days have been pretty nice. We had two days with no rain at all and a good amount of sun. Campus certainly does come alive when the sun is out, then again, so do most places.

I had a meeting with a visiting professor from The University in Tromsø, Dr. Henning Wærp. He came and gave a speech for one of my classes on Knut Hamsun. I then had lunch with Dr. Wærp, a couple of other faculty members, and some students at a cafe here in Parkland. Later in the evening I attended his lecture of the Arctic and some of the literature around Arctic life particularly pertaining to how environment affects an individual.

I went out to the north end of Lake Tapps. I had been to the south end years ago but did not remember much. I ended up hanging out at the beach for awhile, hiking, then driving around the lake. Not so many people, just the way I like it.

One of the muck/glacial silt coves from walking around

Nazi Film canisters at work

I would like to point out that yesterday the 9th of April 1940 was the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Norway. We currently have the exhibition up about the Jews in Denmark. Lately we have had films screened about the Danish resistance. 

The field yesterday

I hope you like pollen lately...

Business as usual on the school front. Tests, quizzes, lectures, presentations, group work, papers, meetings. The never ending.
Work continues. The Sami Exhibition has been extended through the 15th of April but we have a changeover starting to take effect on the 16th where the lavvu will come down. The next exhibition will be on immigration in the Northwest with an emphasis on the PLU collection. I have started the process by completing a showcase of Bjug Harstad (1848-1933), first president and founder of Pacific Lutheran College. Central to the case are his Mukluks with grass inserts (the real deal, Athabaskan!) he used on his attempt to find gold in Alaska. This gold hunting expedition was an attempt to fund the college that proved unsuccessful.