Today I’m going on an “informational interview”, which is what they call it when I, the student, cold call or email an attorney out of nowhere and demand to know all the whys and hows of getting to their state of fabulous success. It’s good networking, good learning experience, etc. While I highly recommend doing this – it’s how I got my last internship – it’s terrifying. So, instead of dwelling on it, I’m going to write about last Friday:
First of all, I am completely sunburned. And peeling in the most unprofessional and lizardlike way. (this is not adding to my confidence for today’s interview) I did wear sunscreen. And a hat. And sunglasses. And I reapplied at lunch time. . .to no avail. Or, maybe there was some avail. I suppose it could be worse. But I am definitely cherry red and sporting some lines that two months of bike commuting couldn’t achieve.
Greenlaw went on the annual canoe float, and as an intern, I got to go. Riverkeepers are frequently involved in the litigation that we do, so Justine has a good relationship with them, and I have to say that today was even better than going up the ‘Hooch last month. Probably because there was actual swimming involved, and floating down shoals on your butt, and beer, and crawdads and splashing and all the other things that are important for a truly awesome day on the river.
We floated down the Etowah, putting in near Rome. Apparently there are some issues with the river – a dam upstream releases quantities of water at times that result in large changes in the water level daily, which has eliminated most of the critters that are supposed to live on the shoreline. Also, the dam releases water from the bottom of the reservoir, which causes the river to be colder than its supposed to be this time of year.
That last I definitely didn’t notice. As a creature of the Great (and cold) Northwest, I thought the water was unbelievably nice. Just right to play in on a 100 degree day in Georgia in Midsummer. And it was beautiful. Like something out of a movie – trees draping down over the flat, green water; egrets, herons and some very bold osprey, and turtles! I know that turtles are relatively common here, but I still get very excited about them, and they were everywhere along the shores of the river. They were all watching us very carefully too, skinny little heads stretched up querulously until we were safely past.