SOULING INTO PLANTHOOD: A WAY TO LIVE ONE'S LIFE AND HEAL THE EARTH

SOULING INTO PLANETHOOD.The SOUL is more a process, than a thing, so Jeffrey Kiehl calls this process "SOULING." (Art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for the SOUL and for all of us SOULS healing the EARTH! But what exactly is a SOUL and what is it in relation to a cure for global warming resulting in droughts, flooding, disease, and famine? Jeffrey Kiehl, a professor of atmospheric science and a Jungian analyst, has answers to both questions!

He believes that first we humans need to do some "SOULING," and in this way we get in touch with the nature or animal in ourselves. By being in touch with our inner animal, we would do everything within our human power to preserve life--ALL OF LIFE!

Listening to Dr. Kiehl lecture last night (April 28, 2012) at the Jung Society of Atlanta on the topic, "Sustaining Earth, Sustaining Soul," I learned a new way of talking about the SOUL. And Dr. Kiehl's words resonated with what I already know:

THE SOUL or SOULING is...

• a way of seeing deeply
• a direct experience of one's interiority
• an embracing of feelings and intuition
• and a recognition of interdependence

SEEING ONE'S OWN PLANETHOOD YET RECOGNIZING INTERDEPENDENCE.  I have been playing with ways to deeply experience my feelings and intuition in that deep place of "interiority." As I celebrate my own independent "planethood," it is an interesting challenge to live my life in respectful relation to ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF LIFE. 

So PILGRIMS, the more we LIVE, truly live, embracing our total selves--not just our material needs, but our immaterial needs, the more we feel connected the EARTH. We resonate with the EARTH when we experience the leaf that touches our arm as we brush by a plant near a sidewalk. We resonate with the EARTH when we listen to the sound of a bird call out our office windows. We resonate with the EARTH when we feel the freshness of the early morning air on our faces as we walk to our cars. It is that mysterious resonance between our SOULS and NATURE, if we allow ourselves to feel it that will HEAL the EARTH. This resonance falls into the realm of what I call SPIRIT. Or we can now call it SOULING. Once we are SOULING with the EARTH, we will surely have to become HER caretaker because in doing so we will be taking care of OURSELVES.


That's Coffee with Hallelujah. What SOULING will you do today PILGRIMS? Soul Blog with me!

SOULING WITH NATURE AT KNOWLEDGE CREEK, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 2009 (photo by Chiboogamoo,  Ichnologist and Husband Extraordinaire)

UPON FINISHING A SOUL TASK: WHO AM I NOW AFTER ILLUSTRATING THE (MIS)ADVENTURES OF MARIA THE HUTIA?

HOME AT LAST! Maria the Hutia returns home after a tumultuous journey at sea and being LOST. During the period of being separated from her home and all that is familiar, she makes new friends and engages their help to find her home--a pristine island where animals can live without intervention from humans. (art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for the JOURNEY OF THE SOUL! The SOUL of Hallelujah Truth has pilgrimaged along with her Chiboogamoo's in the past 11 years and in doing so has grown volumes--up and down and sideways! As an artist befriending a scientist, I wanted to learn how to be with Chiboogamoo in his ichnological endeavors and still be HALLELUJAH. Becoming an illustrator for a children's story about an endangered animal in a threatened environment was one of the GREAT CHALLENGES I confronted along my way! Let me explain!

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE FINGER PAINTER! When Sandy Voegeli asked me to illustrate Ron Shaklee's story about the young lost hutia, I was a finger painting, acrylic wielding visionary artist painting from my gut. This was the first image/painting I produced about Maria the Hutia's journey. It was done so that the children of San Salvador, Bahamas, who were participating in the first science field camp on the Gerace Research Centre could have t-shirts celebrating the story!

SCIENCE CAMP FOR THE CHILDREN OF SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS.  Ron Shaklee's Maria the Hutia was featured on the first science camp t-shirt in the form of RuthTruth's artwork. See me (now Hallelujah Truth) on the right, third row from the front, first person (I'm clapping my hands.) Sandy Voegeli, mastermind in the creation and realization of science camp is directly behind me. Sandy, having lived on the island for a total of eight years, knew that the children of San Salvador needed an opportunity to learn about the ocean and coral reefs that surround their island. The science camp on the Gerace Research Centre allowed the San Sal children to ride on the large field station vehicles  that they had grown up seeing going around their island. In addition, they used field station equipment to snorkel, studied about their precious environment in the classroom facilities, ate in the field station cafeteria, and when I was there, they painted a scene or animal from their surroundings on a canvas! In this photo, we are all proudly wearing the t-shirt with the colorful Maria the Hutia painting that is posted above. My images of Maria the Hutia evolved from there.

GENESIS OF THE ILLUSTRATOR, HALLELUJAH TRUTH


In the beginning was RUTHTRUTH, self-acclaimed Georgia visionary artist. She became the companion of a scientist who travelled the world in the company of other scientists. Initially, while much fun was to be had out in NATURE and during meals after FIELD WORK, I felt separate from the scientists. I did not possess their knowledge. Nor did I have a GOAL for being in the specified location. Therefore, I felt like an EXTRA on a movie set, drifting on the periphery, performing only when summoned, and of not much value.

FRIEND CELEBRATE OUR JOURNEY! 

BUT, then it occurred to me to BE THE ARTIST amongst the scientists even when not engaged in my artmaking--to WEAR the SOUL of RUTHTRUTH proudly and loudly. I would engage anyone I spoke with in a discussion of their CREATIVE SOUL...and I would SPEAK of mine. 


MAGIC HAPPENED. As it turned out, most scientists have large expansive minds; in fact, many are artists or intensive admirers of art. Geologists, paleontologists, biologists, botanists, geographers, etc. truly understand that ART informs their science and their SPIRITS (whatever spirit may be to a scientist). I STRUCK GOLD in BEING ME--my AUTHENTIC SELF!


TIME PROGRESSED and I went farther and further in my JOURNEY as an ARTIST. I determined that I needed to draw and set about drawing three images every day in micron pens. No mistakes were allowed. No erasing. I accepted every line my archival pen made. I made each drawing a success. I meditated during these drawings. I concentrated on the outer perimeter of my consciousness. I DREW and GREW. The JOURNEY of Maria the Hutia demanded it!

GREETINGS! When Maria arrives home, her parents run down to the shore to great her. Nothing like returning home. But remember Pilgrims, everything has been changed after the journey!

I LIVED on ISLAND TIME. In fact, I discovered a jacket that proclaimed this sentiment in a St. Simons Island gift shop along the Georgia coast, and every morning, I donned that jacket to create my three drawings. I was developing MY PRACTICE. It was my WAY to the DEEPER SENSE of SELF that I think is the purpose or meaning of LIFE.

LIVING ON ISLAND TIME. photo taken by Chiboogamoo on Jekyll Island 2011

The JOURNEY of drawing 27 images in micron pens and india ink has not been easy. I have suffered from doubt, quit several times, and felt inadequate. However, now "I've got peace like an ocean in my soul" (Elizabeth Mitchell, folk singer), because I allowed myself to fail and flounder but not indefinitely!


Instead, I gave birth to a new ME--HALLELUJAH TRUTH. The old ME, RuthTruth, still inhabits this new SELF. She is inside the TRUTH, just compartmentalized. The old me, like my name, RUTH TRUTH, is a little didactic and resisted the JOURNEY into not knowing. Yet, I desired a new way of BEING...something that only a multisyllabic name could honor. I tried on Arabella, Isabella, Hosanna, Hannah, and other "ah" sounding names until discovering HALLELUJAH!


My RENAMING solidified this JOURNEY of drawing, going deeper into the self, and recognizing the ME of now without restricting the ME of the FUTURE.

Listen to Elizabeth Mitchell sing, "I've Got Peace Like a River." The second stanza is "I've got peace like an ocean in my soul." We are all unique and meant to live this one life that is uniquely ours. My JOURNEY to self has been deeply informed by taking on the task of illustrating this children's story about Maria the Hutia. Thank you Ron and Sandy! How will you ALL travel along your PATH to GREATER KNOWING? Soul Blog with me at Coffee with Hallelujah!

ON BEING A SELF TAUGHT ILLUSTRATOR FOR THE LOVE OF THE ENVIRONMENT OF SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BAHAMIAN HUTIAS GONE? (art by Hallelujah Truth) 

Hallelujah PILGRIMS! For the love of this beautiful EARTH which we inhabit, I have taught myself to draw images to illustrate Ron Shaklee's story, The (Mis)Adventures of Maria the Hutia. It is about the JOURNEY of a young Bahamian hutia who gets swept away from her safe home on a pristine island. She finds her rescue team in the form of caged animals at the Nassau zoo. With the promise that her precious undeveloped island could be a new home for them, she engages them in helping her find her way back to her family. But she must first educate them as to what a hutia is! 

When asked by the various Bahamian animals she meets along her JOURNEY, she responds with the following refrain:

 “We’re small, brown, furry rodents. We were once found all over the islands.”

 Each animal invariably asks,“What happened?”

Maria answers, “Man came. He hunted us with his animals. He destroyed our habitat. Now we’re only found on two small islands where no one ever goes.”

As an artist who was going to illustrate this story, I too had to find out what a hutia is! I learned that there is an abundance of Cuban hutias and that they are not endangered like the Bahamian ones. I found various images of Bahamian hutias on the internet and also thought Cuban ones would serve well as models. I would love for a scientist to tell me the distinct differences between the Bahamian and Cuban hutias. For me, I associated the hutia with an animal I had seen before--the groundhog!

The years have passed by rapidly since I was asked by Sandy Voegeli, who at the time was playing a major role to establish a nonprofit organization to preserve the natural life of San Salvador, Bahamas, to illustrate Ron Shaklee's story. I have been working on these images since 2008, and now, the time is coming to publish the story and the images must be finished. 


In the last three years, I have taken a CREATIVE JOURNEY along with Maria the Hutia! I have gone from painting acrylics on board directed only by an inner vision to drawing 27 black and white images of Maria's story on paper using micron pens and india ink--as well as visual references!


During this time, I have learned vast amounts about Bahamian natural life. I have travelled to the Bahamas, to the Gerace Research Centre to SEE the iguanas, tropic birds, coral reefs, and vastness of ocean and sky. I have scoured pages of the three volume Reef Set by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach. Sandy, a master diver, provided me with numerous photos of sea turtles, dolphins, spotted eagle rays, squid, corals, and many more profoundly beautiful sea images. My friend, Jacq Marie Jack, an artist, geologist, and world traveler, has been my angel mentor supplying ideas, references, and guidance. My husband, Chiboogamoo, has assisted me with his considerable artistic skills, and his mother Veronica informed me that it was God's will for me to illustrate this book!


FELLOW SOJOURNERS! The vast and glorious UNIVERSE has brought me to this place of discovery right here, right now. I am an ARTIST with CREATIVE FRIENDS. We TRAVEL together as we do our individual work. With great mystery our lives intertwine and expand beyond our wildest IMAGININGS.


Ron Shaklee has encouraged me that we can get The (Mis)Adventures of Maria the Hutia published by mid-summer! Wish us luck my FELLOW SOJOURNERS. Wishing you JOY on your JOURNEY. Soul Blog with me at Coffee with Halllelujah!

View this video to hear Ron Shaklee's very catchy song about Maria the Hutia's journey! It was recorded by children from the island of San Salvador and played all over the Bahamas on the Bahamian radio. I promise  you will be humming this song for days to come if you give it a listen!

ADDRESSING THE STRUGGLE THAT EXISTS WITHIN: THE RETELLING OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AS RUA/WULF

RUA/WULF. A retelling of Little Red Riding Hood by Marium Khalid. (art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah PILGRIMS…have you seen the BIG BAD WOLF out of the corner of your eyes recently? Is it possible that he just rode by rapidly on a bicycle, or crept around the periphery of your yard, or peered in your window last night? What exists in YOUR SHADOWS?

BIG BAD WOLF. Is it possible you are being watched by something DARK and perhaps THREATENING?

Last night I JOURNEYED into a well-known story, one many of us had read to us when we were children—Little Red Riding Hood. But this adapted tale of Red Riding Hood, “RUA/WULF,” written and directed by Marium Khalid is NOT for children. Oh no! It addresses the STRUGGLE that EXISTS WITHIN and the resulting DARKNESS from the CONFUSION of a myriad of questions:

What desire should I follow?

What actions should I take to fulfill my desire?

What do I understand from the actions I took?

Are there multiple perspectives?

Are there options for other actions and understanding?

Is there a right way?

Who is right?

PILGRIMS is it possible that this CONFUSION expressed by both Rua (Red Riding Hood played by AC Smallwood) and Hemming (the Wolf played by Tim Batten) is JUST the GRIT of LIFE? The BRILLIANCE in the construction of this modern day fairy tale is that it allows us to travel in multiple directions (at one point the audience is divided into separate groups to witness the differing viewpoints of Rua and Hemming). Its characters ask multiple questions and finally leave us to conclude that our actions CANNOT BE REDUCED into the black and white simplicity of RIGHT AND WRONG.

RUA or RED RIDING HOOD HAS HER OWN DARKNESS TO DEAL WITH!

How delightful it is that both characters, Rua and Hemming, are equally good and bad and the entire spectrum inbetween—just like all of us PILGRIMS. It is the additional presence of a BIGGER DARKER WOLF lurking around the edges of the performance that expresses an even deeper TRUTH about our humanity. This alarming phantom reminds us of the DARKNESS that inhabits our psyches, which produces an abundant steady flow of fear and uncertainty that we must learn to manage.

WHAT DO I WANT? Rua, a burgeoning adolescent, knows it is time to venture out into the DARKNESS of her NEEDS and DESIRES no matter how FRIGHTENING it is!

We are all called at certain times in our lives to confront the BIGGER DARKER WOLF’s eerie persistent presence in order to STRETCH ourselves. Each of us, if we are brave enough, wages war with the UNKNOWN and as we make our choices and take action, we DEFINE ourselves.

Oddly, the Rua/Wulf billet and promotional video has the quotation:


 “No man is a wolf until he is made into one.” 


I would challenge the grammar or meaning of that statement. Written in passive voice, it is assigning the blame of  “becoming” a wolf to SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE SELF, whether it be another individual, a negative experience, or the machinery of society at large.

WE BECOME WHAT WE MAKE OF OURSELVES. It is our responsibility to make choices, make mistakes, learn, and continue living, no matter what.

PILGRIMS, I would charge that we “become” what we make of ourselves. We have the responsibility to craft the one unique life that becomes our destiny. This performance, Rua/Wulf is precisely about that FULFILLMENT OF MEETING OUR DESTINY and all of its frightening spectors in the guise of dark woods, wolves (human and phantom), adolscence, a life unlived, and the messiness of enacting decisions….How splendid is this LIFE! How frightening too! It is the GRIT in the JOURNEY that makes the PEARL!

That’s Coffee with Hallelujah! Soul Blog with me and share with me the grit that is making your pearl!

INTRODUCING MY NEW ART ASSISTANT--TAO! Help comes in all forms on the JOURNEY. Here my beloved feline inspects my painting of Rua and the Wulf!

AFTER NOTES

THE RUA/WULF JOURNEY TAKES PLACE AT THE GOAT FARM ARTS CENTER

While living in the burgeoning metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia, we PILGRIMS can disappear into another reality by going to THE GOAT FARM ART CENTER. The audience of Rua/Wulf traverse 12 acres of a Victorian era industrial complex to see the updated version of Little Red Riding Hood. To view good representative photos  of The Goat Farm, visit this blog. The performance begins at dusk, and with the extinguishing of the sun, the audience becomes participants or players in the DARKNESS.

MAGICAL SET DESIGN AND COSTUMES
Multiple artists collaborated to make the costumes and set designs for Rua/Wulf. So well-suited to the environment of The Goat Farm and and the Little Red Riding Hood story, these aspects of the production succeed in creating a unique experience that seems improbable to be repeated elsewhere with the same magic.


GloATL
While moving from site to site of Rua/Wulf on The Goat Farm for three hours, I had the opportunity to meet Lauri Stallings, dancemaker, and mastermind behind a beloved Atlanta dance company called GloATL, whose home is located on the 12-acre complex of The Goat Farm. Apparently, the performance concept of GloATL is similar to that of Rua/Wulf in that the dance performers interact with the audience and creatively respond to the interactions. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: I would like to thank Lesly Fredman and Jesse Merle Bathrick for being the forerunners in attending the performance of Rua/Wulf at The Goat Farm and alerting all of us members of the Artist Conference Network to attend! Special thanks go to my Judith Barber, who introduced me to The Goat Farm and its enchanting grounds and buildings before the performance and discussed this morality tale with me afterwards. The ideas you read above resulted from our lively reflection over a glass of wine at the cafe of The Goat Farm. 

CREATING WITH THE FORCE OF YOUTHFUL FREEDOM: INVENTIVELY SPEAKING!

HALLELUJAH TRUTH EYES AND EARS. I see and hear you. If you see and hear me, tell me your story. I am telling you mine. So it is the way we are meant to live, sharing our stories around the fire of our hearts, now the internet in this soul blogging world. (art by me, Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah PILGRIMS! "Enjoy the decade you are in now," says my love, one of my beloved mentors, the one who at this very moment is holding my ear and whispering TRUTHS to me--Clarissa Pinkola Estes. I am in LOVE once again. How grand it is to listen to someone speak and know that you are meant to learn what they have to give you! How glorious it is to KNOW, TRULY KNOW that we have a SOUL COMMUNITY out there, out here in the ethersphere of the internet. 


On April 16th, 2012, only a few days ago, a Russian blogger featured some of my art on her blog. How mysterious and odd and strange and wonderful is the blogger, dressed like a gypsy holding a pink rose or poppy all aglow would find my work, go through multiple old blog entries to choose the ones she liked! She has given me a gift of "attention"! I feel as though my SOUL has been witnessed from afar. HOW DID SHE FIND ME? In this huge, magnificent WORLD? Ah the mysterious ways of the SOUL! Are we truly destined to meet certain others in our lives? I would love to hear back from this Russian blogger!

I AM HERE! This is my universe and I am seeking like minded souls as I look into what this LIFE has to offer. 

This morning when I coached with my Artist Conference Network partner, I took a stand to create with the freedom of boys playing with bottle rockets on the American Fourth of July! I draw with the ambition of exploding neurons and popping synapses and colliding with YOU, DEAR SOUL PILGRIM in a fantastical dance celebrating the universe! 

BETWEEN BOUNDARIES.  As I draw and imagine myself in relation to you and to another aspect of myself, I envision transversing boundaries. I am eternally youthful, not regretting any "gathering of years" as Clarissa Pinkola Estes speaks of aging.

May all of you, DEAR PILGRIMS create, recreate, and celebrate whatever age you are now...our LIVES are so precious! That's Coffee with Hallelujah! 

WHOOSH!

15 MINUTES OF CREATIVITY AT A MINIMUM BUT ALWAYS MORE...ALWAYS MORE AND MORE!

ESSENCE OF WATER. (art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for 15 minutes of CREATIVITY every day...at a minimum! Dear Fellow Pilgrims, there is always more CREATIVITY flowing from that 15 minutes. Once one begins the JOURNEY of AUTHENTICITY, it becomes an abundantly flowing river.


Hold your CREATIVITY dearly, close to your HEART and allow it to flow out into the world and into other PILGRIM'S HEARTS! Today, I give you my morning drawing, my 15 minute PLUS of CREATIVE work made today. I am not finished but I proclaim, "not good, not bad, just is"!


BLESSINGS to you my Fellow Sojourners! May your unique self flow into the world and enliven us all! That's Coffee with Hallelujah!

COSMOLOGY OF A SOUL: HALLELUJAH TRUTH'S PILGRIMAGE THROUGH VISUAL TIME

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS A RED BALL...

FROM WHICH WAS BORN A CROCODILE...

FROM WHICH AROSE A TURTLE...

FROM WHICH SPRANG A DIADEM OF FLOWERS...

FROM WHICH MANIFESTED ME, HALLELUJAH...

FROM WHICH FLOWED WANDJINA, CREATION GOD

Hallelujah PILGRIMS! Happy FERTILITY DAY! The moon has cycled into fullness, the dogwood and azaleas have bloomed, and I have felt the call to return to my place of origin—that HOLY place of my SPIRIT!

My daily drawing is filled with MYSTERY. I play in the moments that I draw. I repeat without copying. I draw without judgment. I see without judgment. I write to you without judgment. 

My SPIRIT arose in the universe and bounced. It is bouncing STILL....Happy Easter 2012! (see my Easter Blog 2011)

TRYING A NEW MEDIUM: HALLELUJAH TRUTH GIVING BIRTH TO A MOVIE?

ENVISIONING A HALLELUJAH TRUTH ANIMATION, art by Hallelujah Truth

Hallelujah PILGRIMS! As a SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM, life offers turns in the road, new ideas, and possibilities! To share the JOURNEY with other artists, writers, performers--MAGICIANS--is electrifying! Spencer Moon, author of three books on film, including his memoir, Reel Talk, has walked the creative path with me in Artist Conference Network. Most recently, he has encouraged me to try something REALLY NEW for me....making a movie!


After going to the Pine Lake Art Salon, in Pine Lake, Georgia, to hear Spencer read from Reel Talk, I wrote a blog celebrating the event. In our dynamic exchanges around the Reel Talk blog entry, Spencer asked me: "Have you ever thought about making a movie using your images?" The answer was, "No." But his question started me thinking, "Why not?"


In ongoing communications with Spencer, he encouraged me, "You have a facility with words and images--that's what movies are about. Why not make a movie?" Hallelujah! I am a SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM on a JOURNEY. My character Hallelujah has been searching for an adventure...could I make an animation?


When I asked Spencer to tell me more of what he had in mind about me making a movie, he had a wonderful surprise for me--the first two lessons of ten about how to begin making a movie! Spencer was volunteering to MENTOR Hallelujah Truth! 


The first two lessons Spencer gave me include becoming familiar with the kind of animation I like and analyzing my reasons for liking it. Spencer had generously named several animations for me to study along with how to locate them on the internet. Then he told me to start identifying computer programs for animation and to start looking for animators to have conversations with.


Am I frightened about who I might be on this new JOURNEY? Can I walk this way and make an animation? A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step! Let's see where this SOJOURN with Spencer, writer, educator, and film-maker will take me.


That's Coffee with Halllelujah. Soul Blog with me and tell me where your JOURNEY is taking you. Hallelujah for the magic of friendship, sojourn, and creativity! Thank you Spencer Moon, Hallelujah Truth Mentor!

UNIVERSE UNFOLDING FROM HALLELUJAH. Brainstorming for an idea about a movie I would like to tell. From a drawing perspective, it would be FUN to begin with a dot, like a small ball of energy, and to have that energy explode into Hallelujah. A creation myth following the path of stars! Now, that is filled with exciting Hallelujah imagery!

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE WILLINGLY SACRIFICES HER WINTER HOLIDAY TO DEEPEN EMORY STUDENTS UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPTS OF UNIFORMITARIANISM ON SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS AT GERACE FIELD STATION

ONLY THE SUPERIOR GO TO THE INTERIOR. Paleontologist Barbie on San Salvador, Bahamas, in the interior of the island, which is filled with poisonous plants, sharp rocks, and annoying mosquitoes! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

Right after Christmas 2011, Paleontologist Barbie collected her snorkel, mask, fins, sun screen, and superlative knowledge about how to teach the concepts of uniformitarianism out in the field, and headed to the farthest island on the Bahamian platform—San Salvador. Working alongside my Chiboogabmoo (aka, Tony Martin) and Stephen Henderson, her esteemed paleontologist colleagues, Paleontologist Barbie herded 12 Emory students to their spartan accommodations—the Gerace Field Station (GRC). Adapted from a US Naval base more than 30 years ago, the GRC is the perfect place for recovering from a hot day out in the field. The Bahamian staff prepare excellent meals three times a day and keep the compound equipped with a library, classrooms, labs, auditorium, and rooms are pristinely clean. Perfect for 11 days and 10 nights of science education exploring modern and ancient environments!

Paleontologist Barbie agreed to be interviewed here in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, as winter turned into spring and she got a moment free from her paleontological explorations along the Georgia coast.

GERACE FIELD STATION VEHICLES. If you want to do field work on San Salvador, you have to use the field vehicles of the Gerace Research Centre to get around the island. Featuring natural air conditioning and absolutely no safety features, these vehicles give students and field veterans alike an experience they never forget. “I love doing field work!”, says Paleontologist Barbie as she clings precariously onto the back of the vehicle. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

BREAKDOWN OF FIELD STATION VEHICLE. Paleontologist Barbie was nowhere to be seen while Emory students and professors investigated an engine that wouldn't start. She was seen headed to the shore to do some ichnology. (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Why is San Salvador, Bahamas, an excellent destination to teach uniformitarianism using modern and ancient environments?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: San Salvador has sediments and rocks that are both made of calcium carbonate. And the calcium carbonate can cement really quickly. This means the sand they see today can become rock tomorrow. So the students get to find out how modern environments can become part of the rock record almost overnight, geologically speaking.

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Why is a field course like this so important for students to experience?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: For one thing, it gets them outside.  Much of their learning is in the confines of a college classroom. That's okay, but if they really want to learn paleontology and geology, we have to get them in the field. And in this class we're in the field every day.

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: What was the first thing you and your colleagues Chiboogamoo and Stephen Henderson did with the students after getting to the field station?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: We took a walk into the Precambrian. There is a lake on San Salvador, Storr’s Lake, that has such high salinity that nothing can live in it except bacteria, algae, and a few small snails and fish.

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: What is the lesson they learn there?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Storr’s Lake has stromatolites, and it is one of the few places in the world that has those. These are hard-layered colonies of bacteria and algae that form dome-like structures.  What’s really cool about these structures in Storr’s Lake is that they are very much like stromatolites from the fossil record going back more than 3 billion years ago.

STORR’S LAKE—GOING INTO THE PRECAMBRIAN. One of their first destinations is Storr’s Lake, a hypersaline lake that has almost double the salinity of normal sea water. This lake has modern stromatolites - layered structures made by photosynthetic bacteria and algae – which were commonly fossilized in rocks from more than 500 million years ago. Because this is one of the few places in the world where people can see modern stromatolites, Paleontologist Barbie is thrilled to be here. “Welcome to the Precambrian!” she says with Archean aplomb. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

PALEONTOLOGICAL COLLEGIALITY. The water is too deep for Paleontologist Barbie, though, so she gratefully accepts a ride into Storr’s Lake in Chiboogamoo’s shirt pocket. “Hey, look at me, I’m a pocket protector!” she shouts playfully. (photo by Hallelujah Truth, caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Why do you have students walk into Storr’s Lake?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: We want them to experience what it is like to be in the Precambrian before animals were ruling the earth. Instead, bacteria and algae are ruling Storr’s Lake. Isn’t that neat?

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Can you tell us more about stromatolites?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Sure, I love stromatolites! Sometimes they look like cabbages. Some times they look like cauliflowers or maybe a weird onion. They have layers on top of layers where the ones on the bottom are the oldest and are the remnants of bacterial and algal colonies. The layers on the top are living colonies, so this shows how they grow upwards towards the light because these bacteria and algae are photosynthetic. That is one of my favorite words—photosynthetic!

So let’s see the formula for photosynthesis is 6H₂O + 6CO₂ (sunlight) --> C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ (Paleonotolgist Barbie giggles as she sings the formula for photosynthesis out loud from memory!)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: At Pigeon Creek, where you give students the opportunity to snorkel, you also give a lesson about harvesting conchs.

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Pigeon Creek is a beautiful lagoon that empties into the Atlantic Ocean from a tidal creek. I always love going there, but I'm also made sad by the piles of dead conch shells on the shore. All of these conchs were killed by people for food. But people have taken so many of them that there aren’t very many left anymore. I tell students that conchs shouldn’t be harvested if they don’t have a lip, which means they’ve reached the maturity to reproduce.

CONCERN FOR CONCHS AT PIGEON CREEK. At their next location – Pigeon Creek, a lagoon on the south end of San Salvador – Paleontologist Barbie shows some concern for conservation of modern species native to the Bahamas. During the past few decades, the queen conch (Strombus gigas) has been overharvested in the Bahamas, leading to a huge decline in their numbers. One of the tell-tale signs of this overharvesting are piles of their shells, all bearing puncture marks from where people killed them. “Save the conchs!” says Paleontologist Barbie. As an effective science communicator, she knows that this is a much better rallying cry than, say, “Preserve the large endemic modern marine gastropods!”  (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

REVELING IN THE BEAUTY OF PIGEON CREEK. Aside from the piles of dead conchs, Pigeon Creek is a beautiful lagoon, ringed with mangroves and bearing white sand and mud on its bottom. On and in this sediment are lots of bivalves and abundant crustacean burrows. “Hmmm, I wonder if anything like this lagoon is preserved in the Pleistocene rocks here, with fossil bivalves and crustacean burrows,” she wonders. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: What else do you have students look for in Pigeon Creek?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE:  Because Pigeon Creek is a lagoon, it has lots of mud, burrowing shrimp, clams, and mangroves along its edges. Some of these get preserved in the fossil record, some don’t. We ask students, “What would you expect to see from this lagoon in the fossil record?”

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: I can see that this particular aspect of teaching in the field delights you. You can talk about this excitement?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: We get to use our minds and our bodies at the same time. If you are snorkeling over a reef, you are physically engaged but at the same time you are identifying the corals, examining the fish and their behavior, and figuring out how those whole ecosystems are working. I can’t think of anything more fun to do in the field--having fun while having deep thoughts.

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Do you give students maps of San Salvador? What do you want them to learn about navigation?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Yes, we do give them a map of San Salvador. Maps are really cool tools! We want them to learn how to use them. Every day we like to ask the students to point to north. The first day they're pretty bad at it. By the second or third day, they are starting to understand how the position of the Earth’s Sun—and I like to call it the Earth’s Sun because of my interest in astronomy—tells them which way is east, south, west, and north.

The maps help them too, because when we see a big lake or a lagoon or different cays that are offshore, those can also help the students understand where they are. So they then get what a lot of people call “a sense of place.”

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Yes, “a sense of place”—I like that idea! And it is also good to see how this “one place” or an island like San Salvador can be so different from one end to the other. Can you say something about these differences?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Excellent question! The southwestern end of the island is called Sandy Point, which is because it has the most sand-duh! But that is totally different from the northeastern end of the island that has a rocky coastline made from rocks formed about 5,000 years ago.

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: You use the terms, bioerosion, limestone, Pleistocene Epoch, trace fossils, can you give me a quick lesson here?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Sure. Bioerosion just means the process where animals and plants wear down rock. So some snails, for instance, are chowing down on algae that might be on coastal rocks. While they are scraping that algae, they are also breaking down the limestone. Parrotfish--those are my favorite bioeroders--they crunch on coral to get the algae. And I am embarrassed to say it, but what comes out the other end of the parrotfish is the sand that you end up lying on along the beach! Ewww!! (Paleontologist Barbie smiles devishly.) That’s right, most of that beautiful white sand on a beach in the Bahamas is parrotfish poop!

I guess I could write a dissertation on each of those topics, bioerosion, limestone, Pleistocene, and trace fossils. So I'll just summarize here: There are Pleistocene and Holocene rocks that have trace fossils on San Salvador. These trace fossils tell you what environments made the limestones.

POSSIBLE TRACES IN THIS LIMESTONE? At one San Salvador outcrop, Paleontologist Barbie becomes interested in the texture of the limestone, wondering if this was caused by tiny burrowing animals (like ants) or non-biological causes. “Wow, there’s so much more research that can be done here!” (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

WHOA, BIOERODERS! On the south end of San Salvador, Paleontologist Barbie is thrilled to see some examples of modern rocky intertidal gastropods, which graze on the algae on the coastal limestones by scraping down the rocks. “Whoa, bioerosion in action!”, she says. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

TRACES IN LIMESTONE. This same coastal limestone is from the Pleistocene Epoch, and is estimated as more than 100,000 years old. Thus Paleontologist Barbie is intrigued to see a possible fossil trails preserved in the limestone. “Well, it’s either from a gastropod, or a modern root trace,” she says, keeping in mind how every good scientist should consider alternative explanations for what they observe in the field.(photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: About trace fossils….How can a root make a trace? It doesn’t have behavior does it? I’m evoking my understanding of your and Chiboogamoo’s concept of The Holy Trinity of Ichnology: substrate, anatomy, and behavior.

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Plants behave! You’ve seen a Venus fly trap? Lots of other plants react to their environments or change them by behaving. So this behavior changes any sand or substrate that might be around them. And with roots being part of a plant’s anatomy that makes root traces an example of the holy trinity of ichnology—substrate, anatomy, and behavior—Amen! (Barbie puts her hands together in a prayerful look.)

ROOT TRACES—PLANTS DO BEHAVE! Also in this limestone are some fossil root traces, indicating that the former environment was on land. The root traces were also in a former dune deposit, and probably formed during a sea-level low in the Pleistocene. “Root trace fossils are awesome paleoenvironmental indicators!” she states emphatically. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: What do you want students to understand about modern coastal dunes?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Most of the rocks on San Sal are fossilized dunes from the Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs. These dunes have gorgeous cross-bedding, root trace fossils, insect burrows, and other evidence of environments formed when sea level was low. When students look at modern dunes, we want them to see how those can be related to what they are seeing in the geologic record. Most of the same things are there, and all they have to do is look carefully to see them.

NEOICHNOLOGY IN THE DUNES. This quick look at a Pleistocene dune deposit encourages Paleontologist Barbie to look at some modern dunes on San Salvador, which are on the southwestern end of the island at Sandy Point. Here she observes the tracks of a yellow-crowned night heron (in front), the trackway of a giant purple land hermit crab (behind her), and some sea grapes (also behind her), which no doubt are making some modern root traces. “Looks like we got some neoichnology going on here,” she says gleefully. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

TRACKING IN MODERN COASTAL DUNES. At some point, Paleontologist Barbie follows the tracks of the yellow-crowned night heron to see where it started. She is soon rewarded by the sight of two parallel tracks, in which the rear toe on each track dragged in the sand as the heron landed. “Wow, wouldn’t it be cool to find something like this in the fossil record!” she muses. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

DETECTING HERMIT CRAB TRACKWAY. Even more impressive than the heron tracks, though, are the numerous long trackways of giant purple land hermit crabs. The shell dragmark can be seen in the middle of the trackway, and the tracks were made by the hermit crab’s four walking legs. “Keep in mind that hermit crabs are not true crabs,” she explains helpfully to the students, reminding them to pay proper attention to taxonomy. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

CONSIDERING EVIDENCE. Another view of Paleontologist Barbie studying the trackway, in which she also notes the long stem of a bay geranium behind here. “So horizontal vine traces and hermit crab tracks preserved in the rock record would be convincing evidence for a former dune environment,” she says confidently. She is, of course, correct.  (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: So San Salvador really provides an excellent outdoor classroom to teach the concept of uniformitarianism! I know that you were excited about showing the students the holotype of a ghost crab burrow after they saw numerous modern ghost crab burrows on Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA. Could you explain what a holotype is and why this one made by a ghost crab is so thrilling?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Wow! That was the most exciting part of the trip, to see the holotypes for two trace fossils in the field!  The ghost crab burrow, Psilonichnus, was only one of them. A holotype is a specimen that paleontologists use to compare to all other fossils that might be like it. Usually, holotypes are in museums. The holotype of Psilonichnus is in a limestone outcrop and could not be collected, so there it is almost 30 years after it was first named as a holotype still there in the outcrop!

I feel like I am a part paleontological history every time I go to San Salvador and visit Psilonichnus! I absolutely adore ghost crabs. They are such complicated animals. Did you know that they have little gills and little lungs? That means they can live part of the time on the land, but they have to go to the water to wet their gills. They are perfect examples of what evolutionary biologists call transitional animals! And you know I love evolution!

PSILONICHNUS. San Salvador’s rocks is the renowned home of a very special and well-loved holotype specimen, called Psilonichnus. This is a Y-shaped burrow that was likely made by a ghost crab, in which each of two entrances at the top of the burrow formed the upper part of the “Y.” Seeing it requires a rugged hike along a rocky coast, but Paleontologist Barbie was up for the challenge. Here she points to the “Y” while also admiring the well-defined cross-bedding in the limestone. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Wasn’t it physically challenging for the students to get to the site of this Psilonichnus? Rocks that cut if you fall and an encroaching tide?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Oh yeah! That was part of the adventure. And I’m all about adventure--leading by example is the best way for students to figure out how they are going to get through tough conditions in the field. Sometimes I have been nicknamed "the honey badger of paleontologists." I don’t deny it. I want the students to be inspired–plow through those environments with me.

HALLELUJAH TRUTH: You mentioned another holotype located on San Salvador?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE:  Oh, thanks for reminding me. It’s the only fossil hermit crab trackway known in the world, Coenobichnus. One of my heroes in paleontology, Dr. Sally Walker, described and named this trace fossil holotype, which is on North Point on San Salvador not far from the field station.

COENOBICHNUS! Imagine the excitement felt by Paleontologist Barbie when she saw the only known fossil hermit crab trackway in the world, which is also on San Salvador. Reported by Dr. Sally Walker and two other paleontologists in 2000, this trackway was named Coenobichnus, and it is the type specimen to which any similar trace fossil would be compared. “Dr. Walker is my hero!” she exclaims. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

COENOBICHNUS CLOSE UP.  Paleontologist Barbie has learned that to truly see a trace, one should get as many different perspectives as possible. (photo by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: I know one of the most exciting sites for students is seeing the fossil coral reef on San Salvador! I would love for you to explain their “wow”!

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Wow is the right reaction! By the time we go to the fossil coral reef, the students have already snorkeled several times along modern fossil reefs. This fossil coral reef is from about 130,000 years ago and because it is now on land, it shows the students that sea level was much higher way back then. What’s also amazing for the students to see is how the same species of corals they can see in a modern reef are preserved as fossils in this reef. They can make the comparison between the modern and fossil reefs with almost no effort at all—that is, can you spell it?—U, N, I, F, O, R, M, I, T, A, R, I, A, N, I, S, M!

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Do you have a favorite fossil coral?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE:  Great question! If I had to narrow down my favorite fossil coral to one, I’d have to say those huge fossil brain corals of the genus Diploria. They make fantastic complicated patterns that just bring out the artist in me!

FOSSIL CORAL REEF! But Paleontologist Barbie did not come to San Salvador just to see trace fossils: she wanted to have it all, and check out some body fossils, too. Fortunately, an excellent exposure of a fossil reef is on the west side of the island. This reef, which formed about 130,000 years ago when sea level was about 6 meters (20 feet) higher than today, has many examples of fossil corals. “Hey, that looks like a species of Meandrina, a brain coral!”  Yes, indeed it is. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

FOSSIL CLUB-FINGERED CORALS. At this same fossil reef, Paleontologist Barbie also encounters a dense accumulation of club-fingered corals, with the repetitive species name Porites porites. “I wonder if this species was ever mentioned on the TV show ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman’,” she jokes, a generational reference that was completely lost on the students. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

OMG! IT’S OPHIMORPHA. In between all of these coral body fossils was an exposure of the trace fossil Ophiomorpha. These fossil burrows were likely made by burrowing shrimp in the sandy areas around the reef, and are easily identified as a series of tubes (similar to The Internet). These burrows also have knobby walls where the shrimp pasted pellets into the sides of the burrows to reinforce them. “We’ve seen modern examples of these on Sapelo Island, too” she reminded the students, who dutifully took notes on everything she said. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

AGAIN OMG! CORALLITES! Potentially confused with these burrows are staghorn corals (Acropora cervicornis). “Nice corallites!”, she observes. Corallites are the places where the individual animals in the coral colony lived, which can be seen here as the pointed holes on each colony. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

FOSSIL EVIDENCE OF PREDATORY GASTROPODS! A great two-for-one special, paleontologically speaking, are two fossil bivalves with trace fossils in them: drillholes made by predatory gastropods that killed these bivalves more than 125,000 years ago. “Hey, I have one of those, too!” she says with amusement at the hole in her hand, where she used to wear a ring (which was very impractical in the field, though). Regardless, she thinks of another paleontologist hero of hers, Dr. Patricia (Trish) Kelley, who studies these trace fossils and figures out how they reflect the evolutionary history of predatory gastropods. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: You were on San Salvador for 11 days and 10 nights, what was the most exciting geological phenomenon for you?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Two things--one which is occurring very slowly and the other which is happening dramatically. The slow one is bioerosion. When you see millions of snails and chitons scraping the coastal rocks, you see how rocks can get worn down day by day over time. The dramatic one is waves. These waves are smashing persistently against the same rocks being worn down by bioeroders. The rocks don’t stand a chance against these two things!

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: While you are witnessing all these dramatic and fantastical aspects of geology on San Salvador, you must need sustenance, what can you say about the Gerace Research Center's food?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: I love it! Every morning, we had a hardy breakfast of pancakes, French toast, or scrambled eggs. For lunch, we either had sandwiches with homemade bread in the field or a hot three-course meal at the field station. Then dinner was always delicious in its abundance of meat and vegetarian dishes. Meals were very satisfying. The Bahamian field station cooks really know what they are doing. I felt like applauding them every night, and I did!

FIELD STATION SUSTENANCE. At the start of each day, the cafeteria at the Gerace Research Centre serves a delicious and hearty breakfast to the students, professors, and researchers, which helps to fuel them for fieldwork. Normally Paleontologist Barbie is a vegetarian, but here she makes an exception when they give her some bacon to go with her pancakes. “If only this bacon were made from feral hogs, then I wouldn’t feel so guilty about eating meat,” she laments. (photo by Hallelujah Truth caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Now Paleontologist Barbie, I know that you are first and foremost interested in non-human research, but you did take the students to some archaeological sites. Why? 

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: San Salvador has a unique place in human history. This is where Christopher Columbus probably landed. I don’t have to give you any more details to let you know how important this island is to the rest of the world.

IT’S NOT PALEONTOLOGY, BUT…On January 1, Paleontologist Barbie and the students study the human history of San Salvador, which goes back about 1,000 years, starting with the Lucayan people, which was followed by Columbus landing in 1492, then British plantations in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. Although Paleontologist Barbie strongly dislikes being confused with archaeologists, she still enjoys learning about this plantation ruin at the south end of the island. (photo by Hallelujah Truth and caption by Anthony Martin)

WOW! A FOSSIL IN ALL THAT ARCHAEOLOGY. Not deterred from doing paleontology at this site, though, Paleontologist Barbie discovers a fossil gastropod in one of the rocks placed in a plantation-building wall. “Why, I think that’s Cerion, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod and of the same genus studied by Stephen Jay Gould when he devised punctuated equilibrium as an evolutionary hypothesis,” she says matter-of-factly, impressing the students with her scientific knowledge. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: One of the geologists, Larry Davis, who has been researching fresh water on San Salvador for close to 30 years, has a saying, “Only the superior go into the interior.” What does this mean and why do you and my Chiboogamoo take your students to the interior of San Salvador away from the beautiful turquoise water and white sandy beaches?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Hey! If you are going to be a REAL PALEONTOLOGIST or a REAL GEOLOGIST, you have to go into tough places. The interior of San Salvador has pointy and poisonous plants, sharp limestone underfoot, lots of parasitic insects, and can be just plain miserable. I LOVE it!

We go there to see some of the Pleistocene rocks that have fossils showing how that part of the island was once a lagoon, just like the modern one we saw in Pigeon Creek! So if we didn’t go to the interior, the students would never make that connection. Repeat after me: U, N, I, F, O, R, M, I, T, A, R, I, A, N, I, S, M!

INTO THE INTERIOR.  Paleontologist Barbie LOVES leading the students into the interior of San Salvador to observe the modern environments and outcrops there. One of the stops is at an inland lake, but one different from Storrs Lake. “Looks like normal marine salinity to me,” she astutely discerns. (photo by Hallelujah Truth and caption by Anthony Martin)

AN ENTHUSIASTIC BOTANIST. While on the trail, Paleontologist Barbie indulges in some botany by getting into a large bromeliad, also known as an “air plant” because it lives above the ground and derives much of its nutrients from the air. “I’ve heard of ‘air heads,’ but not ‘air plants,’”, she giggles, followed by a detailed explanation of the evolutionary history of the Bromeliaceae. (photo by Hallelujah Truth and caption by Anthony Martin)

TAKING RISKS TO LEARN. Paleontologist Barbie is very excited to get up close and personal with a giant purple land hermit crab, a terrestrial hermit crab that uses the shell of a marine gastropod (West Indian top shell) as its mobile home, and the same species that made the long trackway she saw several days before. “Hey Sigourney Weaver, check this out!” she says, in an obvious reference to the “Alien” movies. (photo by Hallelujah Truth and caption by Anthony Martin)

EPILITHIC. On the shore of one of the inland lakes, Paleontologist Barbie notes the presence of thin-shelled mussels that attach to the limestone there. “Epilithic!” she shouts instead of “Epic!”. That’s Paleontologist Barbie for you: getting all multisyllabic on us. (photo Hallelujah Truth and caption by Anthony Martin)

MOONROCK? Sometimes the limestone bedrock in the interior of San Salvador gets eroded so that it makes lots of holes on the top surface, a feature called “epikarst.” So Paleontologist Barbie takes full advantage of it, doing a little bit of spelunking on her own while on the shore of Moonrock Pond. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

DEPOSITS FROM A FORMER LAGOON? Because Paleontologist Barbie always has her eyes close to the ground, looking for fossils, she easily spots some bivalve fragments in rocks along the trail. “Say, isn’t that Codakia, the bivalve we saw in Pigeon Creek, that lagoon we swam in the other day?” she asks. She’s right, it is, so this might be a former lagoon deposit from the Pleistocene Epoch. But how to further test this hypothesis? (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

“CRUSTACEAN TRACE FOSSILS – YES!” Paleontologist Barbie shouts excitedly.  Just a little further down the trail, she correctly identifies some fossil burrows that were likely made by burrowing shrimp of the same species that burrow today in Pigeon Creek. This is how science is done, folks. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

MICROMORPHIC MOLLUSCANS. Near one of the inland lakes but in the forest is a deposit of small gastropods and bivalves that must have come from the lake. This is a storm deposit from Hurricane Floyd, which hit San Salvador in 1999 and caused high waves in the lakes, which carried these shells into the nearby woods. “I admire micromorphic molluscans!” she says alliteratively. (photo by Hallelujah Truth and caption by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Did you and the students have any leisure time during the 11 days you were on San Salvador?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Well, not much during the day. There was no time to lie on the beach and get a tan. But at night, sometimes we walked the mile-and-a-half to the nearest bar, called The Short Stop. This is a long time tradition for geologists, paleontologists, and biologists to go to the Short Stop and talk about what we learned during our time in the field while quenching our thirst. We also spent New Year’s Eve there, so the students got to experience a little bit of Junkanoo, which is the Bahamian New Year’s festivities.

A GEOLOGIST’S TRADITION. After a hard day of fieldwork, it’s time to relax and discuss geology and paleontology the way it’s traditionally done, which is at a local bar. About a 25-minute walk from the Gerace Research Centre is The Short Stop, a Bahamian bar where many professors and students have conducted earnest debates about their scientific findings that day while quenching their thirst. Here Paleontologist Barbie joins in, and orders a Kalik, a Bahamian beer. “This is as big as the beers in Australia!” she says, thoroughly impressed. (photo and caption by Anthony Martin)

SHORTSTOP WALL ART. (photos by Anthony Martin)

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Yes Paleontologist Barbie, I know you enjoyed your Kalik and the ART on the walls of the Shortstop.  I always like to discuss ART with you since you see a natural connection between science and art. What did you think of the sculptures made by San Salvador’s master woodcarver, Kenny Whitfield?

KENNY WHITFIELD, MASTER WOOD CARVER, SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS. To learn more about Kenny Whitfield and his ideas about his art, see Hallelujah Truth's interview with him. (photo by Anthony Martin)

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: I thought his carvings were brilliant! It was amazing to watch him work so quickly but so precisely. He would take a hunk of wood and instantly transform it into a sea turtle, a sea star, or a grouper!

HALLEUJAH TRUTH: Let’s wrap this interview up! You have been to San Salvador many times, but I know you always look with fresh new eyes. What did you discover on this visit that you hadn’t seen before?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: You’re right! I always try to really look for something new because I know nature is always changing. This time I was especially attentive when we went to Sandy Point. I had a blast looking at all the tracks there! I also imagined how those tracks might get preserved in the fossil record! Who knows? Some day, tracks just like those of the hermit crabs and herons might be found in the rocks of San Salvador.

WE THREE IN STORR'S LAKE, SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS. Chiboogamoo, Paleontologist Barbie, and Hallelujah Truth posed for this photo after the lecture on stromatolites. Life couldn't be more real and rewarding! (photo by Kathryn Langmyer Henderson)

MANGROVES ARE SO IMPORTANT. Paleontologist Barbie stops to admire Buttonwood, a kind of mangrove, along a saline lake in the interior of San Salvador, Bahamas. She knows that mangroves are an essential part of the ecosystem. (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

 Read previous Hallelujah Truth Interviews with Paleontologist Barbie:

Paleontologist Barbie Pursues Professional Development at 2011 Society of Vertebrate Paleontologist (SVP) Meeting in Las Vegas, Utah, USA. 

Paleontologist Barbie sees exciting tracks and a really cool dinosaur sitting trace in addition to exchanging knowledge with fellow colleague paleontologists. "Professional development is more important than Halloween parties," Paleontologist Barbie was heard saying out in the Utah desert.

Paleontologist Barbie's Passion for Modern and Ancient Traces

Paleontologist Barbie goes to St. Catherines Island to examine reptile burrows.

Paleontologist Barbie's Gleeful Discussion of Evolution, Darwin, and Science-Related Art

Paleontologist Barbie explains her understanding of evolution by looking at the "Selections" art exhibit at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, Georgia. Specifically, she provides her interpretation of the importance of art done by Chiboogamoo and Hallelujah Truth.

Paleontologist Barbie's Raison D'etre: Scientific Investigation and a Passion for Art!

This is the first interview with Paleontologist Barbie! It is a must read!

THE HEART AND SOUL OF PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE. Chiboogamoo adores observing the world through the lens of Paleontologist Barbie and teaching what she sees! And, yes, I adore my Chiboogamoo, Paleontologist Barbie, and the HUGE BEAUTIFUL WORLD out there! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Big thanks to the Gerace Research Centre, San Salvador, Bahamas, to Dr. Thomas A. Rothfus for his assistance and maintaining a well run and clean field station, and to his Bahamian staff that provide hot meals with smiles and rooms free of sandy floors. It was a pleasure sharing many a meal with Dr. Kari Benson, from Lynchburg College, and her three sons and husband. She gave great lectures on fish of the coral reef! I especially want to thank Chiboogamoo's group of students who embraced Paleontologist Barbie into their fold.

EMORY UNIVERSITY, SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS, 2012.  Standing on a fossil coral reef. Notice that Chiboogamoo has Paleontologist Barbie in his left hand! (photo by Hallelujah Truth)