Beautiful Winter Day

If anyone else in Manhattan is reading this post, if you have not gone outside today, please attempt to do so! The sky is technicolor blue and the temperature laughs in the face of the Siberian-style cold of late. This morning I actually caught two women sitting and chatting and laughing on their brownstone stoop, a behavior so characteristic of the spring/summer months.

This morning Alexander and I attended a talk at the River Foundation. The talk focused on the invasion of the zebra mussel, and its effect on local Hudson River species. Four species of organisms have been wiped out since the '90s due to the zebra mussel invasion. The investigator who spoke presented data analyses on Powerpoint that left Alexander searching more for definitions of simple terms than conceptual ideas. It was definitely not meant for 6th grade marine sci interns, but we nonetheless enjoyed the views from the 9th floor of the Foundation offices.

To sum up the talk, zebra mussels = bad for the Hudson River species which already inhabit the river, but we do not know yet how bad. Zebra mussels au vin for dinner, anyone?

After the talk, we - me, Alexander, and the two research intern coordinators - walked from Lower Manhattan along the Hudson, and briefly stopped at the Potato Famine memorial. The symbolic proximity of the memorial to the view of Ellis Island is rather obvious. We continued to walk to the research pier. Mr. Karate man at the river dojo was not out today. I hear he does karate outside the dojo nearly naked. The weather is really nice. Where are you, Mr. Karate man?

We also found a flock of Canada geese nibbling on grass. "I hate Canada geese," said the intern coordinator with the John Lennon button on her backpack. "Why?" I asked. "Because they eat all the grass," she mumbled.

Which reminds me to recommend this DVD: "Winged Migration." Do reserve some time to watch it. It is not a National Geographic- type documentary. Just watch it. You'll see. You will not think of Canada geese the same again. ; )