The phone hummed, buzzing on the book next to Cooper’s mattress. An electric guitar cried out the tune of “Up Around The Bend.” Cooper awoke with a start, frantic to subdue the noise before it woke up his housemate down the hall. Without a second thought about the dream he was having about biking through the woods of an old-growth forest, Cooper sat up on the side of his bed, feet planted firmly on the wooden floor.

Another day was unfolding before Cooper, another day that, even though he had a comfort and routine with his work as a CLM intern at the Four Rivers Field Office in Boise, would more than likely bring about something unexpected. Omelette with toast for breakfast, carrot sticks, trail mix, and rice and beans in his pack for lunch, Cooper slipped out into the cool early morning.

The sun illuminated the sky like a mother watching her son grow. More and more the sun would rise but only until you looked away would it become evident how quickly it was changing, how quickly it was rising to warm the earth below it. Cooper loved this moment of the day. He especially loved the days in the field that would have already begun well before sunrise, so that he could walk through the grasses and feel more than see the sunrise.

Today was no such day. Today Cooper arrived at the office to hear that both he and his co-explorer, Prairie, would be seated upon their thrones in the great hall that was their cubicle. The posters hung, woven from the finest fibers, the text books rested, breathing slowly with their old age, and the two computers blinked, waking from their slumber. A fresh stack of DIMA-data sat upon their desk, letting off a sweet aroma of printer ink and pencil lead. With the click of the mouse and the tap of the keys on their keyboards, they were off. Soaring through plant codes, ground cover types, and sagebrush heights, the two interns sat stoically perched upon their computer chairs. This data would be reported throughout all the lands, both public and private. It was of the utmost importance that it be entered with diligence and care. Cooper and Prairie had grown to love each plant code as their own, subspecies after subspecies, each more cherished than the last.

And so this glorious DIMA-data entry day came and went. A beautiful reminder of the things and places we hold dear, the moments of the day we look forward to, and the joys of what being a CLM intern brings.

*The character names in this piece were inspired by a couple of raptor friends that we were privileged to get to meet and see this past week. Thanks for letting me get a little prose-y. Thought it would be fun to re-imagine the office days that are sometimes harder to love than the field days. Hope all is well with everyone!

p.s. I apologize for the tardiness.

Banding a Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) near Snowbank Mountain, Idaho.

Top of a switchback along Alice Lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness Area.

Campsite at Toxaway Lake for our weekend hike in the Sawtooth Range.