Finish line in sight

Tomorrow is an exciting day; we do final presentations in practicum. The papers themselves are due Monday, but we have a good chunk of ours written already. It's also the last class my cohort will ever take all together, and for two members it's their last class, ever. To celebrate we're having happy hour afterwards.

Next week the focus shifts from classes to work, since our first summer institute starts in less than two weeks.

Collins Gulf hike

Yesterday we hiked Collins Gulf in the Cumberlan Plateau. Everything in the Plateau is quite scenic and more dramatic than the pleasantly pretty Nashville area. The trail starts, like many of the hikes in area, by going downhill from the Plateau - this is what we did at Virgin Falls last weekend, too. We did a lot of boulder-hopping next to tall rock cliffs. The hike follows the Collins River at this end, and it hops over the river or creeks feeding into it. This picture at left shows a bridge over the river, which is probably necessary most of the time - but not on our visit. When it is wetter out, the water is much higher; the hike is recommended for spring because all the water also makes the waterfalls better. Eventually we passed out of the dramatic rocks and into more level forest. We were hiking through the woods at the top of a ridge, and along the way there were three scenic overlooks. All the hills have flat tops and are the same height; that's why it's called a plateau. At one overlook we had lunch; at another we found a rattlesnake. After almost six miles we start going gradually downhill on Stagecoach Road Trail, which is a real pain. There are rocks the sizes of oranges and grapefruit everywhere: too small to hop, too big not to walk on. This road is only 1.6 miles but it feels like forever.

Finally we hit the other end of the Colins Gulf trail. Not long after, we reached a side trail to Schwoon Spring. There is a small cave at the spring. We went in far enough that we couldn't see the entrance, but the cave doesn't go too much farther beyond that, I understand. The picture is of a nice little formation near the entrance.

After that point it's mostly uphill out. About two miles from the end, we reached Horsepound Falls. Horsepound Falls were pretty, despite the dryer weather. Not all the falls fared as well; a little bit later on, Suter Falls was only a thin trickle. I was really dragging on the way out. I know it was a long hike, but not that much longer than a hike I did not too long ago at Frozen Head, plus the elevation change was less than half of that hike. Part of it was the mid-80s temperature and humidity, part of it was that a couple of odd muscles were sore from yoga class the previous day, and part of it was that I let the other hiker set the pace. I tend to lollygag, and since he is very tall, he set a brisk pace - we were doing 2 miles per hour for the first 2/3 of the hike. Also, it was a long hike, period. Actually, today I'm stiff all over, but I am not experiencing any particular muscular soreness.

Meet the candidates

Nashville has a mayoral election coming up. When, I'm not exactly sure. Who the candidates are, I'm not sure. Oh, I know their names, but Karl Dean or David Briley don't mean anything to me. So I want to be an informed voter, and I head to the internet. After a lot of headache, I located the Tennessean's coverage. Their site is ugly and busy, making it a nightmare to find anything (the search tool? ha!).

I don't know that I like my choices. Clement would make every city employee read Good to Great. Karl Dean named his son Rascoe and one daughter Wallen. Buck Dozier doesn't sound like a name of the New South. Kenneth Eaton has no political experience, other than running for mayor once before.

Alright, maybe those aren't the soundest reasons to reject candidates, except for Mr. Eaton. Briley has the teacher's union endorsement and was against the baseball stadium. I don't have an opinion on the baseball stadium. If a candidate promises to move Titans stadium out of East Nashville, now that would get my vote. But ... thanks to the Tennessean, I still don't know when the election is. And their news? "Dean says his message is Nashville is a great city." What does that mean, and do I look down on Dean or on the Tennessean for such a platitudinarian message?

To the candidates' websites. David Briley has an alarmingly trendy logo I've seen around town. But he is in favor of green building standards, open-space acquisition, expanded recycling, alternative fuels, and trees. (He also is in favor of safer streets, which I'm sure really sets him apart from the pack.) Alright, I could get behind Briley.

Then again, Bob Clement wants to expand public transport. Hm. Still, there's that Good to Great thing.

Yes! Karl Dean's website explains why his signs have the Shelby bridge on them. I was wondering. But his stands on issues could be taken from any candidate's page in any U.S. city. Education, public safety, and economic growth. Maybe he's afraid that if he reveals his plans, we might disagree and vote for someone else. I'm going to have to blame him, not newspaper spin, for the "great city" message.

Oh my sweet ... wow. Buck Dozier's site is as retro as his name, except for the link to his myspace site. I have to give major props to his web designer, although style gets in the way of quick info access. Maybe he's taking a page from Dean but doing it much, much better.

Howard Gentry doesn't say anywhere that he's in favor of public safety. Uh oh. His info on the issues is sketchy, addressing only education, arts, and the music industry. I know music is important here, but it seems to be doing swell without his help, hardly a top three issue.

Kenneth Eaton's site is retro in a totally different way that Dozier's, as in, approximately 1999. He wants (among many other unrealistic things) professional soccer, basketball, and baseball teams to come to town. He does realize the mayor gets the keys to the city and not the magic wand, right?

Well, there you have it. Four white guys and a black guy. (We might get our first-ever female vice mayor, though. Aren't we progessive?) August 2, be sure to vote.

Break

Unlike the other Monday holidays, Vanderbilt does celebrate Memorial Day. Perhaps it's because for those of us still in classes in Maymester, we need time off for good behavior after nine months - even with the end of the semester only a week away. So I am getting out and having fun, although it's not a complete vacation. Hopefully I'll have pictures after. Happy Memorial Day everyone!

P.S. The dreams have stopped.

Near the end

Today was the last of our three-hour practicum presentations. We only have one day of class left, next Thursday, when we do conference-length (12 minute) presentations; in the meantime, we are supposed to be revising things that came up in our presentations. (Step 1: Get PowerPoint to work properly.)

Tonight, however, I am not working on practicum at all. I've had dreams about it the last couple of nights, and that has to stop.