A Chronology of Edie's Life
1971 graduated from high school Select image to see more	My very first job away from the parental nest was in King's Valley, OR, where I fed a variety of pets and livestock, milked two cows, made cheese, cleaned house and fixed meals. After 6 months, I returned to CA and spent several months as an au pair for two different families. I began my equestrian career by feeding horses and cleaning stalls at a boarding stable in Mountain View, CA, during the spring & summer of 1973. I moved to Phoenix, AZ, for the school year of 1973-74, and taught riding to grade school children at Judson School.
1976 graduated from Lamar Community College Select image to see more	In 1974, I moved on to Colorado & spent two years in the southeast corner of the state at Lamar Community College getting a certificate in Horse Training & Management. I bought my first and only registered Quarter horse from Bud Konkel, while I was a student at LCC. For the next 5 years, I roamed around the west at various Quarter horse racetracks. I ponied and groomed for an assortment of trainers, as well as working as an assistant trainer at a couple of barns. I always went to Centennial Racetrack (now torn down; I understand a shopping center is in the track's place) in Denver, CO, for the fall and spring meets, where I worked for a vet; summers I went wherever it looked the most exciting-spent two summers in Montana on the fair circuit, one summer in Santa Fe, NM, and two summers on the Colorado fair circuit. I ended up working in El Paso, TX, for a few months before I finally quit the racehorse game. In 1978, between the Denver spring meet & one of the Colorado fair meet summers, I managed to spend a couple of months in Europe. I acquired my first goat in Montana, but I left my horse behind.
1980 started college at Cosumnes River College 1982 started college at UC Davis	I started college in 1980 (by this time I was 28) at Cosumnes River College in Elk Grove, CA, beginning in the Animal Health Technology program, switched to animal science and then to plant science. After two years at Cosumnes, I went to the University of California at Davis and studied viticulture for three years, graduating in 1990 with a BS in Plant Science (although I was largely done with my undergraduate work in 1986). I paid my rent for four years by working as a live-in groom for a small racehorse breeding farm in Elk Grove, as a student feeder at the beef and dairy barns at UCD and as a goat herd at Chimaree Farm in Davis. My last year at UCD I roomed with a vet student, helping with her herd of Nubian goats. I had several goats of my own during my time at school; they were good stress relievers at finals time! Summers I worked at a couple of different seed companies & a plant biotech company, which employed me full time for a short period from September 1986-February 1987.
1987 Moved to Alaska	After my position at the plant biotech firm was terminated, I knocked around, spending two months in San Francisco as a subject in a nutrition study and the summer in the Trinity Alps (northern CA), guiding trail rides and caring for the string of horses we used for the guests. I finished off the summer of 1987 by spending three weeks in a fire fighting camp, on the Bally-Weaver fire, handing out tools and equipment to the crews, where I acquired an Alaskan boyfriend. I spent a couple of months that fall working with my college roommate at the veterinary clinic that hired her after her graduation from vet school. I had left my last goat with my roommate, but she suffered some complications during kidding and had to be put down.
	I moved to Alaska, ostensibly to live with the boyfriend, in November, 1987, living in Delta Junction for awhile before going up to Fairbanks in the spring of 1988, when I found a job on the North Slope (Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse), working in a store. I LOVED the Slope! but I wasn't too thrilled with the job & I guess my lack of respect for my supervisor was a little too obvious... so I spent the winter in Fairbanks goofing off & taking that blankety-blank o-chem class I needed to graduate. In 1989 I got hired on at a soil & water quality lab, where I worked for a year. I was able to buy a car finally, and three Saanen goats. I quit that job to work out in Prince William Sound, as part of a research crew investigating what happened to the intertidal habitat after the 1989 oil spill.
1991 Bought the cabin	I bought a small (under 500 square feet) cabin with an attached garage on 1.5 acres. It was perfect for me and the goats. I worked as a secretary for two years at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, in the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, before I finally couldn't handle the desk any longer. After putting my last goat to sleep (she had a terminal illness) in the fall of 1994, I went to work at a University of California agricultural research station in Santa Clara, CA. I did that for almost a year, driving a tractor and playing with irrigation pipe. I went back and forth between Alaska & California several times before I finally came south with all of my gear in February 1996.
1996 Moved to California	After returning to the lower 48, I held several part-time positions. I put together the research portion of the web pages for the California Pear Advisory Board and ran an entomology lab at UC Davis for awhile (working on the role that elderly animals play in survival of the species-very interesting but no field work, just the library); when those ended, I found two more positions that meshed fairly well. I worked part-time with the Department of Nematology at UC Davis and also with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Plant Pest & Disease Division.
1998 Moved to Corvallis, Oregon	In January 1998 I moved to Oregon to be closer to my parents, who lived in Grants Pass, about a three hour drive south of Corvallis. Corvallis is a pretty little town, at the junction of the valley floor and the coast range, about 15 miles from King's Valley. I did a little nostalgic touring, but never bothered to visit the farm I'd worked on so many years earlier. I worked full-time at Oregon State University, in the College of Forestry, and enjoyed biking or walking to work daily. I could see the MacDonald-Dunn Research Forest from Peavy Hall, where I worked as a department secretary, which to my surprise, I liked very much.
2001 Returned to Alaska	Although I really enjoyed my job in the Department of Forest Resources, I didn't like living down south, I missed Alaska, and I finally had the resources to return home. I drove home in January and went to work for the Fairbanks school district as a secretary in the Curriculum Department. In July I worked in the kitchen at the Toolik Lake Research Facility until I made enough money to cover my bills for a few months. I had started a web design business while working for the school district and continued with that when I returned to Fairbanks. I worked at the University of Alaska Fairbanks this spring and summer, in two different temporary positions. If you're really curious about my work history, you can look at my online resume for more information.
Home	I met my partner, Mel Ridlington, shortly before going up to Toolik Lake, and when I returned to Fairbanks, I moved in with him. In August we moved a 70 foot mobile home to our property on Chena Hot Springs Road, and Mel is busy buttoning the house down in preparation for winter. He's adding an arctic entry to the front of the house, getting two wood stoves set up, one to warm the small garage between the cabin and the trailer, and one in the arctic entry to help warm the house. During the summer, he spent several weekends on the tractor clearing ground to open up the yard. I hope we'll be able to grade the yard this coming year, in preparation for a lawn and a small vegetable garden. Mel's 17 year old son lives with us. JR has been a big help with the work on the house.
Hunting and fishing	Mel has a big riverboat, and normally we spend most of our weekends and the occasional weeknight on the Tanana River or sometimes the Chena River. Going to Chitina to dipnet salmon, moosehunting in September, icefishing in the spring, is what Mel lives for. I love going with him, and I jump right in and help gut and skin the moose. My birthday present last year was a rifle suitable for caribou hunting, and we're planning a trip to the Brooks Range next year to hunt caribou.
The dogs	We have two dogs; Trixie is an American Staffordshire Bulldog, and Gizmo II is a purebred Labrador Retriever. They are as much fun as they are work! Both love to chase balls, sticks and frisbees; Gizmo retrieves and Trixie chews them up or plays keepaway from Gizmo. When I find time, I like to take them and a camera out to the pipeline for long walks.
For fun	My major non-work interest is the small art quilts I put together. I've been sewing since I was a little girl, starting with doll clothes, and moving on to embroidery and quilts in my teens. After moving to Alaska, I discovered small quilts to hang on the wall. To expand my art skills, I took a print making class at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and began printing on fabric. I work mostly with linoleum and wood blocks, and enjoy mono printing as well. I've sold several of my quilts and donated a few to various arts auctions. A couple of years ago I started teaching crazy quilting through the Fairbanks Community Schools program, which I found to be very rewarding. You can see my quilts at my crazy quilt site.
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