Randomness

I have the greatest dad in the world. Among other things, he helped me clean out my rented storage unit yesterday at 6am (when it was only 96 degrees). He is always willing to help, and never complains. I think, because I'm single, I rely upon him much more than my other siblings, and he offers his service with a smile. I am sooooooo grateful for him.

Speaking of cleaning out my crap...I think that I have finally reached the time where I can give-up my college stuff. I've been hanging on to hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of pounds of material related to my graduate work. I have binders and binders and files and books all with material related to Great Basin studies, subsistence strategies, mobility patterns, Freemont activities in southern Utah, and floral and faunal analysis of subterranean pits. I've just been unable to get rid of it, because it represents such a HUGE (emphasis on HUGE) portion of my life. I put blood, sweat, tears, and prayer in to the two years I spent working on my Master's degree. I just couldn't bear to part with any portion of it.

However, yesterday as I was lugging around the giant bins of school stuff, for the 4th time (I've had to move them 4 times since I graduated), I finally accepted that there was no earthly reason why I should continue to lug this stuff around. I'm pretty sure at this point in my life I'm not going to go back and get a phD. However, should this change, everything I'm dragging around with me can be found in a library, somewhere. None of it is original work.

SOOO, big epiphany time (drum roll please)...I will be dumping all my archaeology/grad school stuff. BUT WAIT, lest we get too carried away, I will be hanging on to all of my original research, and all of the books I bought -- I haven't received any blows to the head that would completely alter my personality. I am still a hoarder of books.

With this new edict, I should be able to purge at least 150 lbs of junk for my collection. Now I just have to tackle the mission stuff. Do you think 10 years is long enough?

Random Archaeology Pictures

Clovis artifacts from the Gault Site, TX. I worked at the Gualt site during my last year of undergraduate school.
Because of the clay in which all the materials were embedded, we had to wet screen all the soil removed from the excavation pits at the Gault site. Here my crew is taking their turn at the screen...Katie, Rob and our crew chief ??? I built up some serious arm muscles that summer from lifting the buckets filled with water and clay up on to the screens, not to mention some serious bruises on my thigh because the buckets had to make a pit stop there on the way up to the chest high screens.

During my final year of grad school I went back for a few weeks to work at Kay's Cabin, a site in Goshen Valley, UT where I had worked as an undergraduate. It was a Fremont site with two pit structures that we excavated. Here I am taking F1 Notes (a record of all activity on the site) and logging artifact bags.
My best-friend at BYU, Sarah Baer, and I went through the whole program together. Here, she and I are creating a profile map of the end of this vent shaft.I can say that I desperately miss archaeological field work -- the discovery, the attention to detail, and feeling of success and accomplishment that I had when I looked back to see what I had done. However, I don't miss working outside during the months of June, July and August, nor the black crickets, nor sleeping in a tent for months and only having two showers a week. :)