One thing about me is that I love to take pictures. I don’t have a professional camera or anything; I just enjoy pulling out my phone to capture moments that catch my eye. Which happens to be quite often.
Writing doesn’t come as naturally to me as taking photos, so for this post, I’ve decided to take you on an adventure through my camera roll from the month. I think it’s the best representation of how I spend my time here in Oregon.
On the first of the month, Ella and I did a driving test and filled out reimbursement forms. Very exciting day.
We joined the wildlife crew for the day to scout for pollinators and amphibians. We worked in beautiful areas and I had a great time catching bees (and the occasional unhappy hornet), frogs, and even a rubber boa. It was memorable, and I hope we get to work with the wildlife crew more often. The photo is my coworker Ash looking very professional and awesome, taken by Ella. I’m not sure where I was when this photo was taken, but I was probably frolicking nearby.
This was our first day scouting alone. Honestly, we weren’t very successful in finding seeds to collect. However, I did find this Uroctonus mordax, known as the western forest scorpion, which I think is pretty cool.
For the Fourth of July, we drove out to California. We watched the sunset and fireworks on Pebble Beach, and Ella built a campfire. Ash took this photo of the sunset.
We explored the Redwoods (little known fact: they’re big trees), a lagoon, and Fern Canyon.
Disaster struck. We went on one last walk (for less than an hour!) before heading back home, and my car got broken into. Ash’s backpack was stolen, but luckily there was nothing important in it besides their wallet, glasses, clothing, AirPods, sentimental items, and some other things. The police were dismissive, the insurance couldn’t hear me because of the cell service, AAA said they couldn’t help because we were far from an open repair shop, and the ranger on duty was unavailable. We covered the windows with hammocks, drove to Walmart, bought plastic wrap and tape, used a hammer to clear out the rest of the passenger window, covered it with wrap, and drove a very noisy and nauseous drive back to Oregon.
July 7th was dedicated to recovering and unhelpful phone calls.
My camera roll from this day is just filled with plants we were scouting. Can’t we just sit and appreciate this beauty for a moment?
Ash is the most dedicated and talented belly-flopper I know. It’s admirable and inspiring. This particular frame is from a rope swing under a suspension bridge near Detroit Ranger Station.
There was a forest-wide picnic and we dared to socialize… This photo was taken while Ella (in the light green shirt near the back of the line) was ominously texting Ash that she could see them. Ash (in the purple shirt near the front) was very confused because they couldn’t figure out where Ella was.
Hey! That’s my last name!
Several days before this, I made an appointment at Safelite, giving them all the details on my vehicle and which windows needed replacing. This was the day of the appointment. We drove over an hour to Keizer to get the job done (while listening to the plastic aggressively wave in the wind), and then they told us they accidentally ordered the wrong windows. The front desk lady was lighthearted and kindly informed us that they make this mistake all the time (why would you admit this to me, especially after I had to pay $550 to schedule the appointment). We rescheduled. At least Ella and I found a good sandwich place afterward before heading back home.
I was reading No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies and loved this page. I resonated with “As an activist on the ground, I have often suspected that it is harder for people to rush to the rescue of a world whose magic they have not encountered for themselves, have not seen, felt, touched, turned over in their own hands.” I know that the love I have for the Earth is both a direct cause and product of the time I spend interacting with it. When you don’t spend time with people, animals, plants, and environments you love, you don’t understand the dedication people have to protecting them. My activism all stems from love for the people, things, and places around me.
I decided that I needed to dye my hair, and Ella obliged. Don’t worry! You’ll get to see the results later in the blog.
While collecting data on native plant populations, we usually take a photo of the population. For this photo, I decided that Ash should be included with the Acmispon americanus.
Our first time pressing plants at Willamette! Very awesome!
Our cubicle now has name-tags (which have since been decorated with Squishmallow stickers).
I found this lichen while scouting for native plants. I believe it’s part of the Cladonia genus, but I’m not positive.
Ella and a GIANT thistle at The Oregon Garden. Today, we went to Safelite again and actually got the glass replaced this time!
We visited Portland and Multnomah Falls. I haven’t seen so many people in one place in a while, so it was a bit overwhelming. Multnomah Falls is Oregon’s tallest waterfall and the most-visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest. Big deal, I guess. Also, hey! Dyed hair!
We went to Barnes & Noble because if there’s anything I need more of, it’s books. I purchased All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks, How to Disappear: Notes on Invisibility in a Time of Transparency by Akiko Busch, and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.
We did sensitive plant monitoring on Bachelor Mountain. Pretty cool. Ash had a doctor’s appointment and didn’t come to work. Ella and I are still recovering from this betrayal.
That brings us to today. As I’m writing this blog, it’s the morning of Tuesday, July 23rd. We are going to head to a meadow today for more native plant scouting. I had a really good breakfast this morning and slept very well, so I’m feeling particularly chipper. I don’t think Ella and Ash relate. See you next month!
