Full reset

Right now, I am sitting at the kitchen table in Cas and Matt's apartment. The air conditioning and window covers isolate me from the Palauan sun. It's silent except for the low drum of a fan and single chirping bird outside. Each member of my team has a laptop screen in front of them. Some of us are analyzing data; some of us are working on papers; one of us is writing blog posts to procrastinate doing any "real" work. We had discussed visiting a museum later this afternoon, but there's no pressure. It's a slow day. 

How in the world could there be a day like this in the middle of a field trip, you ask? Good question. Honestly, it's because I designed our trip that way. I'm in my 30s; I'm on the tenure track; and I would like to think I've gained a little maturity over the past few years. Gone are the days when I work 18 hours straight for weeks on end, then utterly collapse as soon as I get home. I can't do that to myself forever; it's not healthy. This trip, I built in some days off. Our team needs it. 

The view from Long Island, a park in Koror.

We're in Palau for almost 2 months, so this trip has gone through a few distinct phases. First, there was the April spawn. That was pretty hectic. Between caring for our babies and monitoring adults for more gametes, we were working basically 9 am to midnight every day. I was showing up at the lab at 4 am to count coral larvae. We didn't even get a break right after the spawn because we had to start and maintain experiments with our baby corals. It was a lot of work packed into two weeks. 

Then we progressed into a post-spawn work mode, collecting samples, doing photo surveys, just checking on our experiments every two days. We had a more humane schedule but no days off for another two weeks. 

Team Porites at dinner with our friends.

And now, we are in a full reset. Guys, I got a massage. I literally called a spa, booked an appointment, and got an hour-long massage. This is a luxury that I only allow myself every few years, even at home, and it was phenomenal. Maikani got one with me. As we climbed into my car, two jelly people with no muscle tension left in our bodies, I asked her a critical question: "What now?" There's no way we could go back to computer work or even consider hanging out at the lab after that experience, so we went to a park and looked at the ocean for an hour. I felt rejuvenated. 

The other element that has made this week feel like a reset is that there's been turnover in the researchers at PICRC. The large ICONA group left, and a few days later, so did our friends from the UK and Hong Kong. We've overlapped with the UK group before in Palau and like them quite well. The group from Hong Kong clicked with us immediately this trip, and since they were also working on Porites, we ended up sharing a lot of information. My team is actually the only visiting researchers at PICRC right now, but I've heard rumor there's another group showing up tomorrow.

It's been several days of slow, no-schedule, laptop work, and it feels great to get caught up. I'm enjoying this full reset while I can, because things are going to get crazy again for the May spawn. Life is good, friends. Life is good.