Incredible email received from Point Blue Conservation Science

 

August 19th, 2020

I just wanted to share an update that has made me so happy and given me so much joy. On Monday, I received an email from the director of philanthropy at Point Blue Conservation Science that brought tears to my eyes and peace to my heart. It started as so.

Dear Derek and family,

Something very special happened last week. We began receiving donations in your honor from many of your college friends. They shared your blog post and the beautifully written tribute to Point Blue and Cornell which I shared with our Palomarin Field Station staff… By the end of the week Point Blue had received over $15,000  in gifts in your honor. With that we were able to create the attached internship in your name and a permanent outdoor space for family and friends to visit at the Palomarin Field Station. You may name the internship in any way you wish.

I was speechless, choked-up, couldn’t believe that response from friends and family to the donation. An internship in my name?! At one of my favorite organizations on the planet? A dream come true. Honestly. Hard to find the words for gratitude to everyone who donated. But I wanted to make sure people knew how much this has meant to me and how excited I am for Point Blue to receive these funds and put them into action. The generosity from my friends and family is overwhelming and I just wanted to say Thank You.

Another benefit here is the honored outdoor space. I don’t know whether I’m gonna pick a favorite part of my research plot, or have it be around the picnic table by the dorm rooms, but I know either way it will be a spot where friends and family can visit, reflect, and connect to my spirit. And as if you needed it, a space might give the nudge to make you go visit.

I’m excited for you guys to go visit the place! I hope visitors first check-in with the old Point Reyes Bird Observatory building. Nestled into the landscape, the observatory hosts offices for staff and is the location of the Bird Banding station for the last 50 years. Every day of the week, even on holidays, work begins at sunrise, as sleepy interns open the mist nests and begin to walk the trails. They collect the little birds that fly into, then get temporarily trapped in the nets. Interns bring these birds back to the lab where they do measurements and give them a unique leg band if they don’t already have one. Catching resident birds gives opportunity to study movement, growth, life-span, and plumage. Banding migrating birds gives insight into yearly population swings and migration routes. Visitors are welcome to hang around the banding station and watch them work, listening as interns and staff explain exactly why and what they are doing.

But a trip to Point Reyes, should also include time to wander around other parts of the National Seashore. A few of my favorite attractions include the long sandy Limotour beach, a historic lighthouse, old dusty towns, and the wondrous landscape of rolling green hills  This is all in a place so beautiful, so magical you can’t believe you're only 1 hour drive away from a metropolis. Driving around Pt. Reyes feels like traveling back to the old California. One-lane roads bisect green rolling hills where cows roam happy among Cypress patches. It feels so Californian to me, I wouldn’t have blinked if a jalopy rounded the corner and Steinbeck and his pals were on their way to catch frogs. Once it felt so old, I half-expected a brontosaurus head to rear-up on the horizon--Jurassic Park style.Then, if it’s a clear day, I love to look out to the east and a gaze at another California marvel (CA has so many, it’s unfair), the Farallon Islands.  The Farallons, a thrust of granitic crust, juts out of the Pacific. This small chain of islands are an essential breeding site for ashy storm petrel (half the population breed there), Cassin’s auklet, Rhino auklet, Murre, cormorants and thousands of Western Gull.  Whales and Great Sharks feed along its cliffs while elephant seals and sea lions hang on the beach and are counted and monitored to track population trends. It’s closed to the public but a partnership with US Fish and Wildlife allows for a few lucky Point Blue interns to stay and do research on a typical summer day: donning long johns and rain boots, windbreakers and wool hats to brave the cold.. It’s not what you think of when you think “California Island,” but it is a beautiful place in it’s own way. Is this brief summary of Pt. Reyes enough of a sell?

On the home front, I’m kicking along decently. The prednisone continues to work wonders on my mood, energy, and aches and the platelets bumps have been working. ! I’m going in MWF for platelets and getting a 10k bump/bag which is enough to get me through another 2 days before I come in again in the low teens. My plan is to continue coming in for now.The prednisone has given me an energy which I have missed, and allows me to focus, write, and manage the many tasks I need/want to accomplish before this is over.

I have received many letters, emails and texts of support and memories this last week and I thank you for sending those. I do feel loved and the outpouring of love to the family eases my pain of leaving Alpen and Briana behind. I know they will be well cared for by this magnificent community.

Electric boat ride outing on Lake Union

Soaking in a beautiful PNW August morning. Deep into a game of Wingspan, one of my favorite games, with three of my treasured friends: Louis, Petey, and Kevin

Oma and Alpen getting Jonathan's Birthday Cake ready (Aug 17) 

"Uncle J" and Alpen on candle duty. 

The Lovell's joined in on the cake action.

Alpen enjoying "foraging" for blackberries. Doing his part to reduce the seedrain caused by invasive Himalayan blackberry. Note: I developed the seedrain.org website using Weebly last fall since I could't be in the field. Check it out. It's a safesite if you get a warning.