There is so much I would like to write about, but I either A) completely forget or B) just haven't had the time to sit down and unload the words on the page.
I know I keep saying this month was crazy and I have all this stuff I need to get done, but Y'ALL, seriously. It's crazy. I actually argued with a girl in my Regression class that next week couldn't POSSIBLY be dead week. But it is! Seriously?! Where did this year go? It seems like just yesterday I was preparing for our trip back home. It's just been a whirl wind of one thing after another.
Let's see, I gave my first oral presentation on the first, finished my first draft of my proposal the following week, finished my poster presentation that I did not get to present due to impending field work, started field work that weekend, layed out my first set of pitfall traps Tuesday, presented my poster at the Bright Ideas Conference Wednesday, and tomorrow I go back out to Louisiana again for the weekend. Whew!
Poor Luna is already tired of me coming and going. She has decided she needs to sleep between the wall and my side of the bed so I can't sneak past her. Like I could if I wanted to anyway. Her "bed" is at the foot of the bed. Out of the way of my infant bladder that must pee every half hour until I fall asleep. But with her laying in her "new" spot, I trip over her every time I have to get up. No bueno. As if I needed help being even more clumsy. Even Serenity is back to snuggling with me at night. I know Buddy is also lonely.
So far field work is going slow, but it is to be expected since I haven't started putting out pitfalls or doing any insect stuff until this week. I wanted to keep around the same schedule as I had last year, but I'm having to work around not only my classes, but my tech's classes as well. Not to mention East Texas has gotten over 12 inches of rain this month and Merryville has gotten well over 9. All of my stands thus far have been flooded and some I haven't even been able to get to due to the shape of the roads.
Two more months of this and I'll be done with field work possibly forever....I really don't know yet. That's the million dollar question right now. What is next. I have no freaking clue. I don't know if I want to start job hunting or keep going with my education. I still have a little time to think about it.
So, I'm going to make my best effort to chronicle this field season while we are out there full time. No promises (like I have readers anyway), but I'm going to do my best to.
Happy Beltane and blessed be!
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| Copperhead I almost stepped on while trail running with Luna. |
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| Eastern Hognose found at Tucker woods |
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| Worm-eating Warbler mist netted at Tucker woods with Comer's Intro class lab |
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| Tent caterpillar. The favorite food of one of my favorite birds, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. |
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| Thunderstorms = 80 lb pansy dog trying to get as far in my lap as possible |
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| Poor picture, but Blue Grosbeak on a snag in a eucalyptus stand. |
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| This stand was just a little bit flooded.... |
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| Oh, rubus (aka blackberry) |
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| The blackberry is about shoulder high on me in some parts of this eucalyptus stand |
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| Crazy hail storm in Nacogdoches after my first weekend of field work. |
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| Sweet Serenity |
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| The eucs have put on about 2-3 feet of growth since I saw them last. That pink flagging is just about head height for my 5'5" self. |
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| Not getting down this road. |
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| Got down the road from above picture the following day only to find this. It was so deep those ripples were more like waves. |
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| These little guys were only about mid-calf to knee high last year and now they are person sized! |
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| A nice row between eucalyptus trees |
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| I'll come back to this stand when I have a machete. |
