Good night heron

Where is... and who is... Waldo anyway?

6 parts. Keys in a cubby; The archive detective; The student frenzy; Look heron, look thereon; Other Katie tricks; Binoculars?

Part 1: Keys in a cubby

The other day I got to PT and there was only one other person there. 7:40 am. Officially they don’t open until 8 so we’re the early bird appointments. I went to put my bag in a cubby. There were two cubbies with clothes and then I saw that in the seemingly empty cubby above mine there were some keys lodged in the back. Like, jammed in there.

Now, being a middle school teacher, I am used to finding things in weird places that you would never expect anyone to lose or forget. Lunches, water bottles, one shoe… you never know. So naturally, I grabbed the keys and turned them into an employee. “They were wedged into the back of the cubby.” “Okay, just set them there.” and I did.

My mistake was forgetting that the rest of the world is not middle school. Turns out the keys belonged to the older lady that was there before me and she had just hucked them into the cubby. She got a little snippy (rightly so) “How could anyone leave without their keys?” she asked. “Of course they belong to me, no one could leave without them!” Well yeah. There is that. And she said it a few times to different people. Okay. Okay. I get it. Sorry!!! I did apologize, btw. Sincerely! Really. Sigh. Just my middle school teacher brain wreaking havoc. Really, I’ve seen people forget or lose weird things and I was just trying to be helpful.

So two days later and I’m the first one in. I put my stuff in my favorite cubby and start warming up. The same lady comes in a few minutes later but our paths never cross until I’m about to leave. I grab my stuff and smile at her, “I was afraid you’d move my stuff on me!” and we both laugh and move on. Phew. Life can be traumatic.

Part 2. The archive detective

When I went to the University of Washington I got a job working in Manuscripts and Archives. I started as the van driver. I got to drive to different University departments and pick up all their old files. I spent a lot of time in the UW Medical Centers (getting lost!) and got to know where every department in the whole school was located. Sometimes someone important to the University would die and the family would donate the materials to the Manuscripts section. I would get to drive out to the house (usually a pretty fancy house) pick up all the materials and bring them back for archiving. Pretty cool.

Eventually they realized I could do more than pick up boxes and parallel park an extendo van (that’s hard, btw) and I got to work on organizing the papers, retrieve materials for patrons and then reshelve the materials when they were done. I LOVED being a gopher. The manuscripts and archives stacks extended down in to the sub basements of the University of Washington. The shelves were huge and the basement went on and on. It was not too dissimilar from what they show at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark when they show the ark crated up and stored in a big dark warehouse. It was fun to go down there alone and be surrounded by all the boxes and materials. But with all this space sometimes things got put in the wrong place. Over the years a massive, single spaced, 2 page list of known lost materials had been created. At some point not only had the items been requested and then misfiled, but then someone else had requested it again and it was not where it was supposed to be. It is after all, hard to list things as missing when you don’t yet know they are missing.

Oh, the drama. The missing list was a big deal. Can’t go losing manuscripts or archives. They aren’t supposed to leave the library. Ever.

As I worked being a gopher I found a few of the missing items just by keeping my eyes open when I retrieved other things. Sometimes they just got shifted over a section or were scooted too far back on the shelf. Basic things. Apparently, my finding things was unusual because my boss eventually set aside time for me to just look for missing materials. So… I would look at the list and the item location for where it was supposed to be located and I would play Sherlock. If it was supposed to be in E132 I might check F132, E123, E321, etc. I would just look in places where it might accidentally end up. The labels they used were just written by hand so things like a 5 might look like an S… over time I got the 2 page single spaced list down to a handful of items. To me, the key was to get into the headspace of the person that had filed it. They surely didn’t misfile it on purpose, so there was something they did that seemed logical to them at the time. You just have to recreate that moment. Maybe they read a letter wrong, or maybe they scooted the item to the side as they grabbed something else. Often, the items weren’t too far from where they should be, but when you’re looking through thousands of identical acid free file boxes it may as well be a mile away. Eye for detail. Headspace.

Part 3 – The student frenzy

I run a tech lab with 18 student computers. Nearly every student in the school comes through the lab. They work on a lot of different things and use a lot of different apps. Each app has its own weirdness. I try to teach the students to get in the habit of really paying attention to how and where they save things. They each have their own space.. but when the music plays at the end of class and they haven’t saved anything yet they get sloppy and they just save and they don’t look where and they don’t name their file. Sigh. And then they return the next class and exclaim in dismay, “My work is gone! Oh no! I have to do it again! Oh no!” Tears. Sadness. Frustration.

And so there I am again. Getting into their headspace. Recreating the steps from the previous week. Searching for specific time frames. I talk them through my thought process as I look hoping maybe it will sink in. First we’ll look in the recent list. If it’s not there we’ll open the app and try saving a blank file and see where the default save to is… And so we find files saved to classmate’s folders. Find files saved to really odd locations. That’s what I do. That’s my real skill, apparently. The finder. I should get a tv show.

Part 4 Look heron look thereon

Saturday we had a wee little running group of three. After coffee we ran the rec (wreck?) trail back to PG. Along the way there is this weird Sister City park with a few trees in it. I think they are all Monterey Pine. Often there are Night Heron in the trees (I know this because of Katie). We use it as a mini rest break and look for the birds. They’re hard to see. It’s a bit like a Where’s Waldo game. Sometimes you’ll stand in one position and not see any, then shift ½ a step and see three. It’s kind of amazing. Saturday we saw 2.

Monday there was no school due to a power outage. I took the opportunity to go on a long walk and went in to Monterey along the rec trail. I stopped at the park at around 2 pm and once again saw 2 night heron. Can you find them?

A little ways further there was this fellow.

Fairly unperturbed by all the people exercising. Yes – A Great Blue Heron. I wonder if they name themselves. “yes, I’m great. I’m blue. Admire me”.

On my way home at about 5 I checked out some Monterey Pines near the harbor. There was one just hanging out a few feat above the heads of tourists in a small pine. “Watch out! She might have good aim!” Then I went to my favorite viewing tree and I think there were 5 in there. It’s hard to tell though because you can only see 2 at a time and then you move and you see 2 again but you’re not sure which 2 are which because the angle has changed and your perception is wonky and you’re looking up and you’re maybe a little dizzy. But they sure are cute. Can you find them?

I am very fond of night herons. I like how they rest in the trees all squinched up so that they have almost no neck. When they go out and about they stretch out and they’re necks are actually quite long. First time Katie and I saw one that wasn’t squinched up in a tree we had no idea what in the heck it was. We were grunion greeting at about 10:30 pm on the beach and there was this weird bird standing in the waves waiting for grunion (just like us – but she was going to eat them, we were just going to count them). On future grunion greeting adventures we always took it as a good sign when there was a night heron, or 2 or 3, there. They only show up if there was actually something to eat.

So what am I on about here? Well. Before Katie pointed out this particular tree I had no idea to even look. I’d been by that tree hundreds of times oblivious to the cute little birdies hanging out. But once I knew I would check every time and there they are. Frequently hanging out. And now that I understand they like to be near the water, but not right on it and like Monterey Pines I am always looking up into the branches of those trees. I’ve found quite a few in a variety of spots along the coast.

Even the Great Blue Heron this afternoon went largely unnoticed. People just go on by and don’t even see it. Why should they expect to see something so cool so close to a main people path? Why look? The people behind me got all excited because they saw me walk over to the heron and take its picture. OH LOOK!

Part 5: Other Katie tricks.

Katie also taught me some other tricks. She was a talented entomologist and enjoyed going out looking for butterflies. But they’re tricky. Monarchs are easy. They get PARKS with their name on the park and you just go there and presto bango, “Monarchs”. But other butterflies like the little blues and silvers and sulphers and sisters… those are trickier. Katie would research what they ate and where they liked to lay their eggs and then seek out those plants. Once she found the plants she would just hang out in those areas and wait. And wait. And sometimes wait a really long time, but she would almost always be successful. I got to go with her a few times. One of my favorite things was going to Pinnacles. I don’t know what kind of butterfly we were looking for but there is one that likes to hang out in juniper branches. Katie would just start hucking things into the trees as we passed. She was trying to stir them up. I’m sure it looked quite weird to those that passed by. “Why is that grown couple throwing branches and rocks into that tree? And look! Now they’re vigorously shaking its branches!”.

She also had a trick which she never shared with me… but she was able to get butterflies to land on her finger. Yeah. I don’t know how. Not once… not twice… like… all the time.

So yeah. Looking for things and keeping your eyes open are good. But if you really want to find something it pays to consider what it is you’re looking for and then, with your brain keyed in on how it functions, then go looking. You might be surprised at what you find.

Part 6. Binoculars?

My sister visited this weekend. On our run we started talking about relationships and things. Her husband is currently battling some liver nasties. He’s hanging on but the writing is on the wall. It’s just not clear how long the story will be that is being written. For now - appreciate the days. She seems to find it easy to imagine herself single and maybe just having a solid circle of friends. Cool. Interesting. But she is open and knows that sometimes life just happens.

Me? Well, the year of no big decisions is nearly up. I think… I know… I’m not happy just being on my own every evening. While I like and appreciate occasional hugs from friends that just won’t cut it. I need good solid prolonged cuddling and presence. Don’t worry. I’m not in a hurry, but I want that someone that knows what’s what and is comfortable to be with and hold and support and trust and listen to and talk to. But I’m picky. I’m weird. And I want her to be picky too. My brain is sometimes very fast… and then other times I just don’t get it. Whoever it is will have to deal with that and hopefully be able to fill the gaps. So the trick… and the problem… how? I remember the years before Katie staring into the same abyss and feeling so, so lost and then she magically appeared. I don’t think magic works the same way twice.

So now, standing at the door to the abyss… What is it I’m looking for? Really? … what do I need/want at this point? Where is my focus? It is not the same as it was 20 years ago… Nope. Which Junipers shall I shake? Which misplaced file am I seeking? Which Monterey Pine holds a sleepy night heron?