Odds and Ends

Before leaving Ann Arbor, besides wrapping up as much research as possible and more or less packing up most of my belongings, I went for a few final adventures around town. I got to experience a last spring season and see the wild violets, bloodroot, dandelions, daffodils, tulips, trillium, wild geraniums, etc. bloom. Despite telling myself I wouldn’t, and that 250 mm (400 mm field of view full frame equivalent) isn’t that much zoom, I went bird watching with my camera to catch the spring migratory season, featuring red-winged blackbirds, robins, grackles, mourning doves, great blue herons, and more. There were also plenty of squirrels like always, plus rabbits (eastern cottontails), baby geese, a beaver, a painted turtle, and mating snapping turtles.

Clockwise from top left: wild violet, wild geranium, bloodroot, trillium

Clockwise from top left: snapping turtle, rabbit, painted turtle, baby geese

I baked cranberry orange scones, molasses cookies, and cranberry apple bread to use up ingredients in my freezer and pantry and celebrated warmer temperatures with courtyard lunches at the office. During my usual perambulations I discovered one weekend that Traver Creek had overflowed, flooded some of the trails, and washed out a wooden footbridge. In honor of Star Wars day, I put together a mini Lego Millennium Falcon that I added to an online order for free shipping. For the first time since Covid happened, I went to a library program, on how to birdwatch with the Washtenaw Audubon Society (sidenote – the first book I borrowed from AADL was Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven; the last: Star Wars: X-Wing: Wedge’s Gamble by Michael Stackpole).

Left: swollen Traver Creek (bottom) and flooded trails (top), right: same locations a few days later, with water levels slightly down (bottom) and the bridge replaced (top)

Millennium Falcon microfighter

My lab had a celebratory barbeque/game night party at our advisor’s house for a few of us who were going to leave Ann Arbor soon (we ended up holding four dissertation defenses in just over six months). I also tried to meet up with some friends that I hadn’t gotten to see much during the pandemic times. One of those meetings was when I saw the mating turtles. Another time a friend and I biked downtown to play arcade games (including both Star Trek and Star Wars pinball and skee-ball) at Pinball Pete’s and drink a quart of sangria at Casa Dominick’s. Finally, our lab plus friends met up at the best (and only) bar on North Campus for after work drinks one last time.

Right before I moved my parents and I spent a day downtown returning my office key for the $5 deposit, visiting U-M’s Museum of Natural History and Museum of Art, and spending my M-Den gift card. And that was some of my last months in Michigan. Until next time, Ann Arbor.

Pinball