Journal Entry - Rocks & ILA Regional

Rock Show (Pocatello) April 4th

Every year the local gem and mineral club hosts a rock show at the county fairgrounds and every year we go. This year I found three lovely pieces of red coral that I had to take home to use for future necklaces.


ILA Regional in Soda Springs April 30th

I went as Academic Vice Chair to the regional conference in Soda Springs http://www.sodaspringsid.com/. I drove Spencer & Regina down with me. Unfortunately we arrived a little late and missed the first bit of the Keynote speaker John Brown, writer of Servant of a Dark God http://johndbrown.com/. He spoke about his experiences being a writer. It was delightful. Spencer went to the Kindle session and he brought us back a wealth of information about using them in the library. We used this info to inform our own decisions and policies when we purchased three for ISU in July. I sat out and talked with librarians and vendors. I believe the networking and vendor schmoozing pays off. I attended Nick's session on his work in Soda Springs. He did a great job, very interesting. I must say that the food provided for this regional conference was the best conference food I've ever had. It truly was outstanding and the range of sessions was solid even though I only attended two.

Teton Dam, December 2008

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Originally uploaded by J Semenza

In 1976 the Teton Dam broke open and flooded the Snake River Plain. I remember dad trenching around the houses on the ten acres with a backhoe. I remember planting trees in the morning. I remember listening to the news on the radio as the water headed south. I remember the news programs of sandbags being filled and placed on the Snake River in Idaho Falls (near where we lived). I remember dad talking about how they decided not to allow the diversion of water into the small canals but to keep it in the main river. This meant our house wasn't flooded.

I had been to the site before, but this time I went with Evelee. We went looking for interesting rocks. The Teton river is fed by Bitch Creek. This runs through a mountain range that has a layer of nephrite jade. The hope is always to find a chunk or pebble of the gorgeous dark green jade. I was not so lucky this time. It was cold and windy and beautiful.

The start to the day began with being pulled over by the cops in Rexburg for speeding. Evelee forgot to change her cruise control. The nice young man took pity on us and let us go with a warning. After all we do not look like we're up to trouble. - bummer that.

The end of the day was a fabulous dinner at Jakers restaurant in Idaho Falls.

I so love being outside.