ScienceOnline09 Conference Begins

Okay, so I flew out of St. Louis very early in the a.m. today headed to the long awaited science blogging conference - ScienceOnline09. The weather in St. Louis was cold. So cold in fact that the Rivers were frozen.

The plane to Raleigh-Durham was small, as you can see, but it was a direct flight, so that was great. It's always great to see the earth from above. It gives you perspective into the ecology of our neighborhoods.

The midwest is quite flat and has been converted into farms - the quilt -like patches. Historically the land was prairie grass land with some hardwood forests.

I also snagged some shots of these fluffy clouds. Are these cumulus, cirrus, nimbus or what? I learned about clouds in 6th grade science. I love it. The first science lesson I actually loved.

I was warned of cold weather when I arrived to NC that I was pleasantly surprised by the warmer weather - the 30s. I could shed my fleece. Unlike the waters in the midwest, the was not frozen and the abundance of pine trees gave the appearance of warmer weather. Very nice. Reminded me of how much I love forests of East Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia. But these are more mixed forests - with both decidious trees that lose their leaves and pine trees which are evergree. That's why there's so much green in the forest landscape despite being winter.

After resting and spending some time with my gracious host and cousin, I participated in the first ScienceOnline09 Activity - Early Bird Dinner at the Town Hall Grill. I had the Grilled Poblano Chiles stuffed with cheeses and served with tomato and corn salsa. Delish! And a super rich chocolate ganache cake. If you're inthe reearch triangle and want a nice dinner then come here. Mmm. Mmm.

I met lots of people and including several conference participants from the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. I met some people I've only ever known through email or from blog profile pictures andmade some new friends and learned alot about the English - the language and how very dynamic it is. I also listened in on a great conversation about the technical details of blogging, social networking and communicating via the internet. Tech talk is really new to me, so I just listened in...learning. So far, this conference is turning out to be more than science or blogging. That's great!

Okay, I'm sleepy now and must rest up for tomorrow's activities and prepare for my session on Saturday. But you can follow what's going on with the Science Blogging Conference - online.

Later!