Crack the Sky

Today was a rainy, yucky day - perfect for spending time in the field! (not)

It was the first day of my Field Techniques class - 4 hours a day, every day, in the great outdoors. I was smart and took a change of socks in case my shoes got wet, but..... well, when your shoes are wet, your socks don't tend to stay dry for very long. Oh well, its the thought that counts. So I had wet pant-legs and feet most of the day. Class ended at noon but I ended up hanging out with Dr. C for a little while after class, and then went over to the elementary school and gave a little impromptu presentation about how cool the ocean is to a 3rd grade class. See what I mean about being Chief Slave to my advisor? His will is my command, but...truth be told, its always fun. ;)

Anyway, we finished up there around 2:30 and picked his kids up from school; I got my stuff out of his office, and then I waited around campus for my youngest sister to call me. Her high school Envirothon (basically Ecology Trivia) team came to campus to check out some bird specimens (practice identification - they're going to compete in states next week!) and soil samples. I hung out with them while they were looking at the birds, but by that time it was about 4:30 and I hadn't eaten anything all day...literally. I was actually feeling REALLY sick (my blood sugar gets really low if I don't eat about every 2 hours!) so I went home. Got home around 5:30, ate some dinner, and did homework until about an hour ago! Field Techniques is going to be an intense class - I expect to spend about 3-4 hours every day reading and preparing for the next day's class, on TOP of the 4 hours we spend in the field every day.

Anyway, no pictures to show today. Maybe tomorrow I'll take my camera out in the field and get some pictures of the site - its an old reservoir that was decommissioned about 5 years ago; its amazing how many trees and things have grown in only 5 years! Nature is fun.