Today, I joined Evan and Sean (looks like Ben from Parks and Rec), “bird people,” in the forest. Our task was to record the bearings of species that are part of the “pulse,” which is coming up next week. The “pulse” happens in one day, and, as I understand it, it is a forest-wide leaf-turning count. Confused? Yep, me too. Anyway, so we went walking around the forest at sites, looking for hemlocks, huckleberries, vine maples, and something else I can’t remember... We took bearings on all of the plants to make the pulse next week much easier.
Ok, picture yourself on a treadmill. You are walking on the 6 speed--now increase your inclination to 15ish. So the treadmill should be about perpendicular to the ground. Now, imagine that there are laser beams in your basement workout room that you have to crawl around, above, and below (like a spy) to avoid death. Also, it is raining and there are slippery surfaces, and you are trying so hard not to break your ankle. That was my day today. I was trying to keep up with Evan and Sean, who were like two monkey/mountain goats (fast in precarious, steep places). Another sort of humorous thing was that when I was tagging plants, my hands were so cold that I essentially lost all of my dexterous abilities. It was kind of funny watching my hands move so slowly...but not that funny because they were soooo cold.
Also, rain jackets and pants are only waterproof to a certain point. Did you know that? Well, now you do.
One of the “bird people” is also named Sarah, so, of course, we have to be distinguished in some way from each other...Here are some of my nicknames so far:
- other Sarah
- new Sarah
- little Sarah
- bug Sarah
- Sarah bug
- greenhorn
- our Sarah
- their Sarah
And, since it rained all day long today, I have no photos of anything in the forest to show you. I did see a few rough-skinned newts in puddles, and there is a nasty plant out there called a Devil’s Club. Eeek!
Ari is quite the chef. She made peanut butter pie yesterday, and it is soooo delicious! We made pizza tonight, and Jay came over to our (Ari, Cristiana, and I) apartment. It had tomato sauce, cheese (I’m pretty sure the lactose intolerance is over...), asparagus, red pepper, mushrooms, and olives. YUM. And I just made my first bread!! I used the special pan Mami and Papi gave me, and it turned out wonderfully! I can’t wait to eat it!
No comments:
Post a Comment