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.

Full on field season

Yesterday, my tech (Stephen) and I headed out for full on field season. We got a few days of groceries, checked into our hotel room, and then went out to fog and pitfall the first stand. It was a long, long, humid, 4 hours in which I ran out of water at the end point, but the toughest of the stands are done! 

This morning we could have possibly got 3 surveys in, but the rest of the week is rife with 50-60% chance of rain, so I didn't want to do any of the stands we could possibly do of it rains and the other stands had been surveyed not that long ago, so we came back early. However once we got changed and were about to head to get breakfast I couldn't find my phone anywhere. I have never lost my phone and being this far from everyone put me in panic mode. I checked everything and decided to head back to our last stand where I knew I had it last. I didn't want to change back into my wet clothes so I went in my shorts and flip flops; big mistake.  

We searched and searched the road where I checked the time on my phone before we went back to Newton. Didn't find it. So I decided I was going to trek back to the last point in my flip flops and shorts. There's a decent bunny trail to it so I figured I would be ok, though I kept thinking I was gonna get bit by something. Still didn't find it. So we went back to the truck and moved everything around. I moved the seat back and lo and behold, there it was. I felt awful and scratched up like I got in a fight with a bobcat. So I got is some ice cream from the DG in Merryville cause ice cream makes everything better. 

We get back to Newton and I'm feeling a little better (see ice cream worked!) and start helping hang our clothes back on the tailgate to dry and I step in the ONLY ant bed in the whole freaking parking lot! So not only are my feet scratched up from briars, but now I have ant bites! I'm thinking fuck this day, so I put rinse off my feet in alcohol (holy mother of jeebus!) and put on my bathing suit to get in the pool. As soon as I get settled in the pool and used to the cold water, it starts thundering in the distance. Seriously!? So I get one lap in and get my head wet before I get out. 

A few hours pass and it's time to doors fogging and pitfalling and its raining! I can't fog in the wet, it won't work, so we turn around and head back, again. I hope the rest of the week gets better. Stupid El Niño year during my field season! In sure we will get it done though, it's just gonna be a struggle. 

The curly girl method is working wonders for my hair! 

One of my favorite pictures of Buddy. 

Ugh. 

Luna turned 4!!!

Hair products have lied!

I had said I would post more often. Little did I know I would post so soon.

So, those of you that know me know I have unruly, frizzy, humidity hating curly hair. I usually wear it up in a bun because it is so unmanageable. Today I started a new hair regimen that is going to change my hair for the better.

It all started 2 weeks ago when a fellow curly told me she didn't use shampoo in her hair because it stripped the moisture out. I had recently purchased the Herbal Essences naked moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo really cleaned my hair! For the first time in forever I could get out of the shower with out gunk still being in my hair; however it was drier than normal. I figured product would help, but it didn't. So when My fellow curly told me she didn't use shampoo, it really made me start thinking. 

Then a few days later I saw something on Facebook about hair plopping. It's where you put your wet hair in a tee-shirt on top of your head and let it dry. So I started down a YouTube journey that lead me to something called the curly girl method of hair care. I knew there were different types of curly hair, but had no clue someone had made a chart to catogorize them so you knew how to better take care of it. Apparently I'm a 3a. Weather affects my hair greatly and I have several different types of curl in my hair. I also have low porosity meaning it's hard for my hair to hold moisture. And do you know what frizz really means? It means you need more moisture! 

Also, do you know what is in your shampoo and conditioners? I do now. Most shampoos have sulfate a which is a cleansing agent also found in dish detergents. It's what causes all the suds. Do you know what sulfate a do? Strip your hair of moisture! So why do MOISTURIZING shampoos have sulfates? So you'll use more conditioner. BUT most conditioners have silicones in them. Do you know what silicones do to your hair? They coat the strands to make it shiny and healthy but prevent them from retaining moisture! After a day these silicones weigh down your hair and cause major buildup; that gunk that was always in my hair. So it's a freaking vicious cycle! Strip your hair of all the gunk silicones are leaving by using sulfates then adding more gunk which you think is moisturizing by using silicones!! I'm furious that al these products I have used for over 20 years have been doing the exact opposite of what I have thought they were and what they claimed to do! Even this "naked" brand of Herbal Essences CLAIMS to be paraben and silicone free. The shampoo is silicone free but sulfate is the second infgredient after water! The conditioner that goes with the shampoo is not silicone free. 

So for the last few days I've been researching this curly girl method which was invented by the lady that started deva curl products. These are super expensive but they work (I was given some to try before)! First you have to rid your hair of silicones which means just one more time you have to use sulfates in your hair. That's the only way to get them out. Then you deep condition like mad. Your next washes include either a sulfate free shampoo, which I found a whopping total of 3 at Walmart, or wash with a light conditioner like Suave or V05 that doesn't have silicones. For the shampoo I found one by Loreal for curly hair, one by Not Your Mothers for straight hair, and one my Shea Moisture that's in the ethnic hair section. My hair is so freaking damaged I sprang for the Shea Moisture that's about $10. Plus I don't plan on using it often once field season is over and I can start trying co-shampooing (conditioner shampooing). I also bought a conditioning balm from Sally's that is the Generic brand and had no silicones and hair gel. 

I haven't used hair gel since high school because it was always so crunchy and heavy, but from all the YouTube'ing I've done I suspect it was the silicones fault. So I stripped my hair of all the silicones by using my sulfate shampoo one last time. I wish it would work like it says since it really smells so good, but alas, it's a bottle of LIES! I deep conditioned with my conditioning balm. I used a tee-shirt instead of a terry cloth towel to dry my hair a tiny bit and then lathered it with gel while it was still saturated. My inner teen was yelling at myself for using so much because it was going to be crunchy, but lo and behold when I took my hair out of a plop half an hour later, no crunch and beautiful curls! I still have no clue what to do with my bangs, but I'll figure it out.