Shrimp

Pepperonita shrimp made with shrimp from Walking Fish CSF. Yum!

Pocono Lakes

For some reason as I was preparing for sampling Falls Lake tomorrow I realized that it was NINE years ago this month that I first sampled Lake Lacawac and Lake Giles, two beautiful ecosystems in the Poconos of northeast PA. Wow, time sure flies. My Ph.D. was built on those lakes, as well as many friendships and memories. I actually miss midnight sampling runs, rowing against strong winds, bracing myself against April snow, and getting terribly sunburn as I study how zooplankton are affected by UV :)

Falls Lake is nice, but - dare I say it - the fieldwork is almost too easy with a motorized boat, milder climate, and less intensive research (which is of course my fault, despite my time constraints). Anyway, here are some photos I dug up of Lake Giles (first 4) and Lake Lacawac (last 2):

Flowering palm

Look at my beautiful flowering palm shrub! This is the first time it has grown stalks and flowered since I moved in. I wonder if all the rain triggered it or it's one of those exotics with a weird flowering schedule.







As I was snapping these pictures, look who dropped by to hang out for about 12 seconds: