Comedor

A long slow day with plenty of goofing around. Started it off a lot earlier than most everyone else. Took off for LEP with Tinny & Dr. Chazdon some time around 8:00am. Some of the best morning weather of my entire stay. Got really excited seeing really tall crowns really well. Biked down to the end of STR before going into the plot. Great plantation and open areas out there. Saw a 80-90 centimeter Boa on the trail on the way into LEP.

Three people working in the field was really efficient; Dr. Chazdon hunted down all the trees and Tinny caught up with the reflector. Interesting areas of the plot. Leaf cutter ant devastation, lots of pentaclethra seedlings, less canopy palms. Measured 32 trees in roughly two hours, called it a day and biked on back for lunch.

After lunch, set up a meeting with Dr. Chazdon to go over fun research stuff. That went excellent as do most meetings with Dr. Chazdon. Talked about current research issues, and more interestingly future projects for University Scholar. Maybe something with wood density (drilling holes in trees, yay!) and specific leaf area. Looking for something pretty cool with some more fieldwork…

Finished that meeting up sometime before 3:00pm and porched it. Debated going into town, debated fixing our bikes, debated walking in the rain. Put off decisions and finally decided on some ice cream and iced coffee. Paid a whopping 500 colones for a “Choco Bigger;” not in the same league as the Eskimo Churchill (still craving, no PV trip today).

Hung out with Debra at the dining hall for the two hours or so before dinner. Had dinner with the great Connecticut contingent. Soon to dwindle with Dr. Chazdon on her way out tomorrow morning and Pablo leaving later this week.

Whole bunch of nothing after dinner. Sat on the porch for a little while. Six in a row for the Yankees, postseason settling into the crosshairs, finally. I haven’t watched a drop of sports in six days, that’s taxing on the brain. A few people went floating down the river and saw a big croc. I’m going to start leading a night expedition called “Big Game: Cats & Crocs.” Hopefully Discovery Channel will pick it up.

A closing quote: “I’m Tommy Jones from Jones, Oklahoma; I go to Oklahoma City University.” –Debra’s new speedy REU seedling buddy Tommy Jones (boy’s got nice style).

BP