Welcome!

The climbfish have now evolved to cover my life in the US - including very exiting life in downtown Baltimore (aka the wire) and ocean research expeditions with NOAA. I don't promise frequent updates but I will try and cover the most and least exiting times here. Enjoy!
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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Far well ice cream Thursday and commuting 3h/day, hello Caribbean ocean!

Lunch restaurant with a view
Anna finally found some time to lift her nose from her thesis and we went hiking last weekend.  Aside from poring rain that decided to enrich most of the weekend, while the work week had perfect sunshine, it was pretty sweet to hang out with our friends Austin and Laura deep in the George Washington National Forest, Virginia. While the girls crawled up in the back of the car and drank wine me and Austin did the cooking in the rain (nothing to do with gender inequality). The next morning we found a prefect rain shelter with a fire pit and picnic tables and finally got to dry out by the fire during a long brunch. hello Caribbean ocean!
The hiking trail tended to turn into creeks...

Laura fascinated by the salamanders that were out and about  in the rain
When he gets big enough he will be spitting fire!
...but for now he need he need some tendering 
One of many river crossings
One of many ways to cross
Just another tree moose
Time sure is flying and I'm leaving for Puerto Rico tomorrow. It's going to be tough to leave my sheltered office environment and major events like ice cream Thursdays and long lunches in the sun with colleges. To easy myself into the idea of Caribbean fieldwork I have been following a live broadcast form the bottom of the Mexican Gulf where my NOAA colleagues from OER Okeanos Explorer are collecting ROV (remotely operated vehicle) data. At the moment they are investigating deep water wrecks and deep water corals sites and in a few weeks they will start a second expedition were they will investigate the biologically rich cold seep sites around the Deep Water Horizon wreck where I was mapping last fall. It's pretty amazing and highly addictive to watch, so I recommend to check it out.

No more fermented herring, I decided to treat my colleages
with homemade Swedish fat tuesday buns, aka Semlor.
Doing my best to fit in...
Another tough ice cream Thursday work day
I have to warn sensitive viewers that the next blog might contain some highly contagious pictures of palm trees and crystal clear waters. Don't worry,  in the end I will still spend most of the time in a dark computer room, a dark rocking computer room...
The essentials for work trip packed: tent, fins, snorkel, fishing rod, that should be all!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Blooming cherries and melting icecream

Summer ends when you put your feet in the water,  but it looks delicious nevertheless
Spring is here. Well actually no, I think we just skipped spring and went straight to summer. In mid march. It was 27 degrees C outside last week and today me and Anna have been frolicking in shorts at Baltimore waterfront. Last year they had snow here about this time of the year.. Even my colleges at NOAA seems confused judged by the conversations in the elevator.
Picnic today at Baltimore waterfront in perfect Swedish summer weather, if
only Baltimore could stay like this instead of turning into a boiling inferno in summer.... 
In two weeks time go to the Caribbean with NOAA so make sure to check in then and I will try and cover the fun. To get you warmed up I have a video for you that National Geographic recorded of my colleagues when they where down last year doing the same kind of cruise:

National Geographics clip from last years Caribbean cruise with my NOAA Biogeography colleagues

 Some photo highlights from last few weeks life in Baltimore. Enjoy!

Some changes, new wife and a kid.
Early Cherry Blossom bloom at Tidal Basin, DC
Anna and my friend Joanne, visiting from Portland, enjoying DC summerspring
You better watch out!
One year old and already the coolest kid on the block!
Two men, two beards, two hats
Flowers in bloom outside NOAA in early March.
My cube is somewhere up there, well hidden from any distracting view... 
Mexican after work with colleges from Biogeography, a good crowd!
I shouldn't need to clarify this. Clearly you see that this is a map of Scandinavia
with Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and our neighbors Germany, Poland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Mother Russia. All with their own tortilla chip!
Finally I could enlighten my colleges about homeland ocean geography.  
Even Hopkins people get out sometimes, this time
lured by the local winery at Sugerloaf mountain.
Many has woken up from winter slumber
Tripper at Gunpowder river, falling for peer pressure!
Beautiful sunny day at Gunpowder, but the water...
....is really cold still!
It looks so nice to float down the rapids
Next time we might have to go kayaking too..
Pretty boy dam and a new born fly fishermen
In the afternoon the trouts started to warm up and we had some action

Tripper did well learning how to flyfish, looking like a pro!
The biggest ones got away...