I'm not dead!!

I've been meaning to blog again for the last 2 months, but it always seems like either something came up, we were going somewhere, or I was just too damn tired to do so.

So - quick recap of the last few months:

The last time I blogged I was optimistic about the rain finally quitting and me finishing my last season of field work. Well, it didn't really happen that way. The day after that blog post I woke up an hour before my alarms to thunder. Another 2-3 inches fell and there was absolutely nothing I could do. My tech needed to pay bills and such on the first, so we went home for a long 5 day weekend to let everything dry. The pitfalls that were in the ground already would just have to be reset when we got back.

You know it's bad when this is how the guys who check on the local oil and gas rigs have to get to their work sites.

After our 5 day weekend we went back balls to the wall. Some of the roads were not as dry as I would have hoped, but we were able to get 3 surveys in a day and all of the pitfalls and fogging completed. There was a mix up at the hotel with our room and we went back for one last weekend to come back and finish three more days of surveys. However, my tech had a major family emergency and was not able to come back with me after the weekend. Buddy didn't want me to go out alone, (I really didn't want to either) but I really needed someone who knew their bird calls or could navigate for me. With such short notice I didn't think I would be able to find anyone. Buddy went with me one day and found out how difficult these stands are to navigate. I went by myself the next day and other than getting turned around in one stand, I was fine. However, tropical storm Bill was on my tail and we had to leave out that day. So, more rain.

Once again, I gave the ground some time to dry and then headed back to the motel by myself. I left early on Father's Day so I could get there and do some surveys before the motel opened. When I got near my sites all I could see in the younger stands was water. There was so much more rain than the weather people had forecasted. I made several attempts to get to stands that desperately needed more surveys, but ended up turning around because I didn't trust the roads. I headed to the two stands I knew I should be able to get to because they are very well maintained. As I pulled on the road a salt water tanker was coming from the other direction, so I pulled over what I thought was a little bit. Nope. Into the mud I went and there was no backing or pulling forward out of it.

The tanker guy stopped, but didn't have a chain. I tried my roadside assistance with my insurance company. A cop had pulled someone over on the main road so I walked out there to talk to the cop but left my cards in the truck. While walking back to the truck to get my cards the cop left, so I had to recall roadside assistance who couldn't help because I was more than 30 feet from a "well used road". I called tow trucks who couldn't help because they only took cash. I finally found one tow guy (who was a douche the first time I talked to him) who would take me to an ATM so I could get him the cash (SFA would reimburse me for the tow so I wasn't too worried about it). After I hung up with the tow guy, a fella that runs the salt water tankers came by, told me to call the tow and cancel, and that he would run up the road, borrow a chain and pull me out. Thank the heavens for country folk!!

I finished the remainder of my surveys alone (with no more rain!), didn't get stuck again, and I have
now finished my insect identification portion and my data entry. Now I'm organizing the data getting it ready for analysis and come Monday I'll be doing my first edit on my proposal. After tropical storm Bill, it rained maybe twice a week for a few more weeks and now it has only rained once since July started! We have had the hottest temperatures ever this year and with a car with no AC it's insane.

Since I've been back I restarted C25K. It's been so hot and humid though I basically did week 1 until I didn't feel like I was going to die. Yesterday was the first day of week 2 and the humidity was so awful outside I couldn't finish all the prompts. I've met some new friends (Hi Ben and Kasy) though Buddy and his roleplaying groups and Kasy runs with me every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At first I didn't think I would like it. Running by myself affords me the quiet to pay attention to my breathing and pace. However, it's nice to have that accountability. I have to get up and go because Kasy will be there and I don't want to let her down. It's also nice to talk with someone who shares interests with you outside of your work. I think Luna likes it too cause I'm less of a hard ass.

Since mine and Buddy's birthdays are two weeks apart, we usually do something together for our birthdays. In the last 8 years it hasn't been anything other than dinner since we are poor, but this year I had extra money saved cause I thought I would have to take 6 hours this summer when I only needed 3. So we splurged ALOT and went to Dallas for a day. We rented a car because it's hot as hell, tried out some Dallas barbeque (still not as good as barbeque back home), toured the Perot museum of natural history, Pioneer Park, Dealy Plaza, and finally went to Midieval Times!! It was soo much fun! Very crowded, but fun.

 The week after out birthday extravaganza I went to Norman, Oklahoma for the American and Cooper Ornithological Societies conference. I gave the first presentation for my project. There were so many presentations and biological studies that the first few days felt a little over my head and made me feel a little out of place. Yet my presentation went really well, got a few more ideas on my research,I met a few new people, marked some birds on my life list, and had a great time.  

So, what now? Business as usual I guess. My 33rd birthday is this coming Thursday, classes start at the end of the month, and the Society of American Forester's conference is in November in Baton Rouge. Once again I'm going to attempt to do better at this. I have lots of ideas in my head on what to write and I would like to get it out here and share.

Until next time, blessed be.

Rain, rain go away!!!

I think I can count the days that it hasn't rained on one hand alone and still have a finger or two to spare. This El Niño year is no freaking joke!

Just the other day I was counting how many surveys we have left and how long it should take us to do them. We were actually further along than I thought! I've been battling muddy roads, flooded roads, and down pours since the start. I almost got is stuck trying to reach an interior stand that desperately needed a second survey and we put pitfalls in to another interior stand a few days ago in the hopes that we would be able to reach them tomorrow. I'm glad we got that second survey in because if we don't get a few days with out rain I don't know when we will be able to survey it again. And the pitfalls that need to come out tomorrow? They may have to wait another day or more of it rains again. 

Last night we had almost 3 inches fall , were under a tornado watch till 2 am, and was under a tornado warning around 930-10 last night. When I woke this morning I checked the weather, saw how much fell, and saw that it was still raining and called off our surveys and pulling pitfalls. Later we went to check if we could make it out there tomorrow and to see how high the Sabine River was. There had been rumor that they might have to close the bridge. 

But, the river looked a little lower today and the road getting to the stands we needed to do today weren't flooded, so we can do them tomorrow. However, the road getting to the stands we were supposed to do tomorrow is flooded and to get to the stand itself we have to go down a dirt road that's probably not passable for my little work truck with no 4-wheel drive. 

We have been very fortunate that we aren't stuck in floods like Houston, Austin, and other cities have seen. As much as I have been complaining about the rain, it could be much much worse. 

That being said, we only have 6 more pitfalls and fogs to do and if we can continue doing 3 surveys a day then we will only have 2 more weeks left which would put us finishing up around the same time as last year. Holy hell! How?!? I'm working out asses off. That's how.  However, because of the dirt road conditions we may be only able to do 2 a day and that will extend is about a week to where I had previously had hoped we would finish. 

Field work is 35% hard work, 50% dealing with the conditions you are given and 15% making split and hopefully correct decisions on the conditions you are given. It is definitely NOT for the faint at heart and it will definitely make or break you at times. There have been so many times I just want to throw my hands up in the air and tell the weather that she's won. Then there are times, like when I almost got stuck, that I refuse to take no for an answer, punch the gas, hold on tight, and wait for the back tire to catch and pull me forward. Yet, I would have it no other way. There's a fine line between love and hate and I really love my job. 

Tree swallows at sunset. 

This is why I always carry my side arm in the woods. Fresh pig tracks. 

Fence lizard. 

I hate these. Bull nettle. 

The clouds looked like mountains blocking the sunrise. 

My favorite picture of the Sabine River bridge between Bon Weir, TX and Merryville, LA. 

I found this turtle carapace last year and again this year. I'm going to try and bleach some of the brown off the top and mod podge the entire carapace so it doesn't fall apart. 

Week 1 recap

So this field season has turned out to be interesting to say the least. In just one week we have had triumphs, struggles, and I've mentally thought "bless your heart" more times than I can count. But I'm trying to stay positive and I'll keep the horror/hilarious stories out of public knowlegde. 

It has rained just about every day since we started. In fact, the storm chances are so high in the afternoons, I have implemented drastic measures by packing a light lunch and doing work usually saved for shady afternoon hours right after surveys. If I said I wasn't exhausted I would be lying. We aren't quite 1/2 way through with surveys yet which was to be expected. I have a VERY green tech and we are just now getting into some what of a rythm. Today was the first day we have come back to the motel and weren't soaked from the waist down from dew and standing water and soaked from the waist up from sweat. My boots were more dry when we got back than they were when we left this morning. 

I'm really too tired to write anything more, so I'll update more later and leave you with some favorite moments from this week. 

Blessed be.