Windy in B'ham!

Yesterday and especially this morning it was particularly windy in Bellingham. My housemates and I woke up this morning to this site on our front sidewalk:

 

The branch had fallen from the middle of the tree!

New Classes!

So this quarter I am very excited that I am now only in classes that have to do with my major! I still have one or two more general credit requirements but I can do those any time. Two of my classes began today and two yesterday. Yesterday I had Introduction to Global Change and Environmental Education. Today was Oceanography and Environmental Interpretation.

Oceanography is being taught by the professor whose lab I worked in all last year and he is in judo. I am very motivated to do well in that class because if I do badly I can't hide in relative anonymity, I would have to see him at judo later. I would much rather go to judo knowing I did well and excited to see him than did bad and want to avoid eye contact.

Environmental Interpretation is being taught by a woman with a lot of experience working for the Park Service and the Forest Service. She is a graduate of Fairhaven College with a much more liberal view of teaching. She tried to convince Huxley College of the Environment to have all her classes be pass/fail but the college said no. Now much of her class is participation, we grade ourselves for part of it and instead of having a final in December we will be going to North Cascades National Park next weekend.

All of my classes look like they will be a lot of reading and projects but it will all be interesting things. None of them have busy work or even homework every day. I just have to make sure to stay on top of deadlines and what not.