A couple of years ago, I found this course. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Home Study Course in Bird Biology. I was VERY interested. At that point however, I couldn't afford it, so I tried to put it out of my mind. :/ A few weeks back, a fellow bird brain posted a link to the course page. I exclaimed that I had looked into it previously, and she asked if I wanted to take it with her...
Ummm, YES!!!
I started squealing with excitement.
After a bit though, we hit a snag. The textbook the course requires is out of print. Drat! The course site suggested looking for used copies. My friend found one for the bargain price of $300 dollars, which was $100 more than the cost of the whole course. I found one for a steal at $625. It wasn't encouraging... But, low and behold, on her birthday, she found the book delivered to her!
Last night, after much anxious anticipation, we got together. We both logged on, paid for and ordered the course materials, and started learning!
This textbook is only 10 chapters long, with a short introduction. It adds up to over 1200 pages. We spent four happy hours, reading through and taking notes on, the short introduction, ie the history of Ornithology. Yep, you read that right, four hours. :) We spent a lot of time giggling in glee and "Ooh"ing and "Aah"ing over all the information and nifty diagrams/pictures. We totally geeked out. It's fortunate that nobody was around to witness it. hahaha :)
It was an exceptionally happy evening. I got to drench myself in new information on one of my favorite topics, spend time with a good friend, and laugh my head off while snacking on some delicious smoked Gouda. What more could a girl ask for?
It was as I was driving home, still crazy hyper with joy, that it hit me... I knew from the time that I made the decision, that staying in Bellingham was the right decision, but driving home last night, I found an absolute confirmation. The step of faith I took in deciding to stay, was SO the right one. I felt SO much joy and SO much peace... I feel that life has finally begun...
(To go off this rather serious topic, I had THE MOST bizarre dreams last night! Both were related in some way to what we studied. I wish I could describe them here, but there just isn't time. ;)
2 comments:
Oh dear, did they involve Evan and Reed and a lekking dance?! o.O
There WAS a lekking dance, but fortunately it wasn't Reed and Evan... Remind me to tell them to you, they were hilariously nutty!
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