Wild, it's wild. My head is spinning and I can't concentrate. It's the beginning of a new year for me and another step forward in my life. I put in the application thinking it would be months before I heard anything and suddenly, out of the blue, yesterday afternoon, he called. California's State Soil Scientist, asking for an interview. Would now be ok? Sure, why not. Can't offer you the job without going through channels, but must say...you are a VERY STRONG candidate and we want someone with your etc.... Lots of gushy kudos in his conversation, so even though it isn't yet final, by next week it should be.Sonora, California. Gold Country. Highway 49, My survey area will include all of the Sierra Nevada Foothills and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Yosemite. Sequoia, Kings Canyon, The Mother Lode. All new to me, challenging and exciting. So I'm 60, and embarking one more time on one last soil survey adventure. I could have stayed here in Klamath, finished my career here as a simple project leader, doing one county. But no, I wanted bigger stuff, and bigger money, and more excitement. Well, I am going to get it, it seems.Life just keeps getting better and better, I think. March. I will be there by March, will go look at places to live in February. Will lay low, will finish up what I need to finish here and then wil be off. Warm. Oaks. Digger pines. New soils, new life, new landscapes, new everything to learn about the environment there, from a different perspective then when I first drove the Mother Lode in 1965 and dreamed of living there. Obviously, it's a different place now, more crowded, more people, more traffic. Even air pollution over Yosemite. Yosemite. In my back yard. An hour away. What an amazing concept, actually.Mo and I drove through there a year ago on our trip home from Southern California, and it was so lovely. No snow where I will be going, maybe a skiff now and then. Hopefully above the fog. Today in Klamath it's foggy and icy and cold, with frozen leftovers of the last snow lying around in wait, excited about the prospect of dumping me. Warmth. Sun. California food, California sensibilities. A whole different world. So many things to do before I go. Get my house ready, get Bel's stuff out of my basement worry about the cats, the house, the paint job, my car, where I will live, am I really smart enough to pull this off? to do this job? Sure. I was afraid when I came here, and I feel a little bit afraid when I think about the challenges of going there, but I ddi this job and did it well, and I know I can do that one too.Life just goes on.