Last week, Namiri caught a lizard and brought it inside the house, presumely as a gift to show appreciation to her loving mother. However; things took a turn when the lizard bit down on Namiri's paw causing her to yelp and cry, which is what brought the entire situation to my attention in the first place. After some difficulty removing its jaw-grip on her paw, and not knowing whether it was dead or alive, I put it in the garbage can outside. And forgot about it. Until today, when I was taking out the trash and saw the lizard when I lifted the lid, alive!!! Poor little thing had been trapped in there for nearly a week! And we've had multiple nights when the temperatures have been below freezing, so it's quite the miracle that it survived! All I can think is that it stayed warm enough in there and was able to feed on some bugs while trapped. It wasn't moving very fast so I lifted it out and put it on the lid in the sun to try and heat up its cold blood. Seeing that it was so lethargic, I tried to give it some berries. It wasn't interested. I was worried he was going to be too weak to get down on his own and might freeze in the night without shelter, so I brought out an insulated lunchbox for it to use as a potential shelter. My roommate suggested we make it a little terrarium inside and nurse it back to health. But then he crawled down into the leaves, so we thought it was better to let it be on its own. But man, that lizard is a SURVIVOR!!!
Turns out that it was a Green Anole (Anolis Carolinensis) which are native to this area according to this website and are sometimes confused with chameleons because they can change their color between shades of green and brown. The males have awesome pinkish red throat fans that they can puff out at predators/potential mates. I don't recall whether this one had the throat fan or not, but I am going to choose to remember this anole as a survivor, and thus, name it Beyonce. The End.
October 12, 2015 2:12am It's been a long time since I've posted (gosh...who knew graduate school was so time consuming?!) but as I can no longer study remote sensing tonight, I thought I'd make a quick post about the storm that devastated Columbia and much of South Carolina this week.
About two weeks ago, we were all keeping an eye on the news as Hurricane Joaquin was gaining momentum and predicted to wreak havoc upon the Carolinas. However; as it became clear the Joaquin was turning eastward and away from the U.S. coast, another serious storm was brewing that was predicted to cause record rainfall in South Carolina and indeed, it did. It was a 1-in-a-1000 year rain event, dropping the most water in the recorded history of Columbia, SC. Climatologist Peter Gleick tweeted on Oct. 7th that "South Carolina received as much water this week as California agriculture uses in a year".
The rain began on Friday night just as I was heading home after the usual Happy Hour at Jake's Bar and post-HH pizza in 5-Points. It rained all night and was still raining on Saturday, but thus far, there were no reports of flooding or advisories to stay off the roads. The rain continued through Saturday night, which is when I understand most of the devastating flooding occurred. Sunday morning is when I awoke to reports of flooding and Facebook and Twitter were buzzing with reports of record rainfall, tides, etc. I was constantly staying in touch with friends, making sure everyone was okay and also who had water and who didn't. Out water was cut around 3:30pm on Sunday and didn't come back on until the following morning.
My roommate and I were lucky in that our house was not flooded and was not located in a flood or evacuation zone at any point during the days of the storm. We lost water for about 16 hours, but always had power, and even without water for the better part of a day, did fine with the water I'd set aside that morning after rumors were bouncing around social media that the city may shut off the water. We also collected rainwater in buckets outside to use for flushing the toilet. (Although a bit muddy, I recommend this tip to anyone who happens to find themselves in a similar situation!) Even now, over a week after the water shut-off, we are still under a "boil advisory" so we don't have potable water. This is because the city's water supply was compromised when a reservoir wall was broken by floodwaters. But we've adjusted and have a large stock-pot in which to boil water for cooking and washing dishes. Overall we've been very, very lucky.
Because we were stuck in our house for days on end (the government was asking people not to go out on the roads unnecessarily and there were citywide curfews each night) we spent time with friends and cooked good food. One of my friends who came over to ride out the storm at our house happens to be studying hazards in our department at USC and brought her weather radio/ battery-charger/ emergency light contraption with her, as well as a bunch of candles and drinking water. I felt lucky to be with a "disaster preparedness expert" during the worst of it. It was certainly a strange feeling to see all the images and reports coming out about what was happening to our neighbors. Some of the worst flooding was just a mile or two away from our house. I could hear sirens and helicopters constantly going in the distance, but when looking out my front door, the street was eerily calm. I appreciate all of you who checked in with me or with my parents. It felt good to know you were thinking of me.
My roommate, very sadly, lost a friend of his in the flooding in Charleston. She was only 24 and also eight-months pregnant. He was quite devastated to learn about it and it brought the situation too close to home.
Tuesday was the first sunny day in over a week and I think it helped lift everyone's spirits a little. It was the first time I left my house in three days which felt good. It's crazy how quickly cabin fever sets in. I volunteered with a couple of my Geography colleagues to help pass out free bottled water with the National Guard at one of the stations the city government had set up to aid with flood relief. People who came by were so nice and grateful. I don't think I've ever been "blessed" that much in a two-hour period. We were happy to help even though it was in such a small way. The same friends and me and my roommate also volunteered on Saturday through a local church to bring supplies to those in need. The first neighborhood we went to (Garner's Ferry & Rosewood) had been hit hard by the flooding and there were piles of debris piled up in front of every house. Volunteers and locals were working at every house, gutting them, tearing out drywall and cabinets and carpet. The streets were lined with appliances, furniture and piles of brick/wood/drywall as people cleaned out their houses. It was actually hard to find people who needed water because there were so many various volunteer groups targeting that particular area.
My friend Alysha suggested that we try bringing some of the leftover water we had to some of the apartment complexes that housed refugees that she works with in St. Andrews (Northwest Columbia). We figured that because they are far away from the city center and not connected though family networks or churches/community groups as well as not being as mobile as other citizens that they were probably in need. Indeed, they were. There was another truck delivering water and relief supplies (toilet paper, food, etc.) when we arrived there and a crowd of people, mostly women and children, were swarming the car in a sea of colorful umbrellas (it was raining again). We drove further down into the complex and went door to door dropping off cases of bottled water. Some of the people there barely spoke English but would say "bless you" or "thank you" with such warm and genuine smiles; it was humbling. Today, Alysha and my roommate returned to that area to deliver more supplies to other refugee families. My roommate also volunteered with a group called "Operation Blessing" doing demolition work. They were lucky to have him because nobody else had a truck which could carry supplies and ever more than that, he went on two volunteer trips to New Orleans post-Katrina to assist with clean-up work there so he has a lot of experience in demolition cleanup.
Another key part of this experience is that classes were cancelled all of last week. Although having a week off from classes might sound to some like a great vacation, it was definitely tainted by what was happening around us. It was quite difficult to study and be productive when you knew you could be out volunteering or were distracted by weather reports and breaking news on social media. Tomorrow is the first day back to campus and I think everyone is feeling a bit dazed and confused.
Overall, I've been immensely impressed by how much everyone in this city has mobilized to help each other out. From neighbors helping neighbors, to the USC volunteer network that helped spread the word and mobilize students, to the relief efforts managed by the government, everyone here has been willing to lend a hand and do what needs to be done. The state motto of South Carolina never meant anything until me until this week: "Dum Spiro Spero" - While I breathe, I hope. -AMS Below are some photos I took this week to document what I could of the flooding, aftermath, and relief efforts.
Last weekend (August 15-16) was a two-day field excursion for the incoming USC Geography Department's graduate student cohort, organized and hosted by our wonderful Director of Graduate Studies, Caroline Nagel, as well as some of our seasoned graduate student colleagues. It was a whirlwind trip and we got to see a lot of really neat sites. I don't know of any other graduate program that offers something like this for their new students (share if yours did!) so it only further solidified my sentiment of this being an awesome program with dedicated faculty and students, and the right place for me! And if anyone loves a good field trip, it's a geographer!
Our first stop was a historic tour led by Mr. James Quint of the Historical Columbia Foundation of the geography of racial segregation in Columbia during the Jim Crow era. We visited dozens of sites around downtown Columbia and learned about the prominent Mann-Simmons family, whose matriarch was a slave in Charleston who bought her freedom and lived in Columbia before the Emancipation Proclamation. Her descendants lived on this site until the 1970s. The site is now a museum and historic landmark.
We also visited Artillery Hill, which was so named for the confederate artillery factory there, which is down the street from the present-day governor's mansion, itself a historic building which used to be the officer barracks of a military school. We saw the home of photographer Richard Samuel Roberts as well as a the "tourist home" next door, which was a home that was operated as a sort of bed & breakfast/ safe house and advertised as such in the black community so that people of color had a safe place to stay at while traveling through Columbia during the Jim Crow era.
Another interesting stop on the tour was the Big Apple Dance Hall, which was originally a synagogue (Columbia has a historic Jewish community) which was sold in 1936 and turned into a music and dance hall where the dance which would be known as the "Big Apple" was born.
The Big Apple
From downtown Columbia myself and 6 colleagues, piled into the 15-passenger van which was not exactly road-worthy, which Caroline drove the best she could to the Congaree National Park, about 20 miles SE of Columbia. The Congaree is largely swampland, so we'd been warned to be prepared for the heat and the mosquitoes, neither of which ended up being as bad as anticipated.
Mosquito Meter at the Congaree Visitor's Center
I'd done some reading prior to the trip about the park and learned that it is "the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States"(1) and home to some state and national Champion Trees. Champion trees are simply put, giant trees. There is a formula for determining if a tree is a "champion" which measures its height, trunk circumference, and the average crown or canopy spread. The reason there are so many champion trees in Congaree (many thought to be "undiscovered") is due to the area not being logged due to its inaccessibility, combined with the moisture and nutrients supplied by the flooding of the Congaree.
Water gauge on Cedar Creek
Chris giving us an intro to the park
We were really lucky to get a mini-tour of the park from Geography Ph.D. candidate, Chris Kaase, who has been studying the fluvial sediment of the Congaree for the past 5-some years and knows the park intimately. We learned about the seasonal flooding of the park and how water is retained in a complex system of slews, guts, and lakes. We also learned about some of the flora and fauna of the park. The bald cypress tree, Taxodium distichum, is especially interesting with its "knees" that stick-up out of the mud like little posts. These are thought to provide support and stabilization for the tree, though their exact purpose remains unknown.
Bald cedar "knees"
Luckily we did not come across any of the three venomous snakes native to the swamp, the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), and the timber rattle snake (Crotalus horridus atricaudatus). Chris said he regularly sees cottonmouths and although he's never been bit, he keeps a venom kit in his pack as a precaution. Apparently feral pigs are a big problem in the park. They damage saplings and other fauna while rooting-up the forest floor looking for grubs and roots and reproduce so quickly that the population has become invasive and a nuisance, though the park service isn't doing anything to quell the situation at the moment. I hope to return to the park and explore via the creeks and river on a kayak. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll see some river otters! That would be a dream come true.
Sean gazing at a mighty cedar
Me at the bridge over Cedar Creek
End of the trail at Wise Lake
Cute little fungi
Whitish fishing spider (Dolomedes albineus) on the boardwalk - looked like a dead leaf until we looked closer!
Cooper's Country Store on Highway 521
A pit-stop on the way to our final destination of day-1 was unplanned but certainly interesting. It was the historic Cooper's Country Store, which was built as a grocery/gas station in 1937 by Theron Burrows. The store was taken over by his son-in-law upon his death in 1978 and renamed the Cooper's Country Store, which still provides much of the same products and services it did almost 80 years ago! It certainly had a rustic feel inside, like stepping back in time. The selection of pig parts was a bit smelly and I couldn't tell if the vintage can of possum meat by the cash register was a joke or not. One of my colleagues, Sean, treated me to a local Blenheim ginger ale which was spicy and delicious!
Just as evening rolled around we arrived at the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine & Coastal Sciences outside of Georgetown, SC, where we'd be staying the night. It's a research/educational complex co-owned by USC. Being in the pines combined with the smell of bug spray and sleeping on a bunk-bed really brought me back to nights spent on Mt. Lemmon at Camp Whispering Pines when I was a Girlscout back in the early 90s.
We had two cabins which were actually pretty comfortable. Can't beat air conditioning and toilets/showers! Some of the returning Geography graduate students came early to the institute and had made us tacos and had a cooler stocked full of a selection of delicious local beers - quite a nice way to end our busy day! (Thanks Alex, Erika, Aashka & Christy!)
Ol' Faithful a.k.a The Van that Almost Killed Us All
Pond at the Institute
Good beer
We chatted over dinner about the Department and the state of higher education in general, but once we'd all had a few of the local brewskies things weren't so serious and we had a some fun playing a few icebreaker games, one of which involved a rubber chicken.
More shenanigans and excursions awaited us on Day 2. Did I see a gator!?? Was there a shark attack?!! Check back soon for all the excitement of "Field Trip! Day 2" --- COMING SOON!!!
