The second week in the field yielded a very interesting week full of lessons. We began this week of field work at 6:30 am. It was a very windy morning, there was a haze being created in the distance as a result. As we started to drive to the field site the amount of cloud cover began to increase and before we knew it had begun to rain. I found it delightful because I love rain. I love the smell, sound, and the refreshing crisp air that it provides. Well, it WAS wonderful until we reached the field site and I realized that I was in no way prepared for the cold rain. I had packed no rain pants. I quickly thought that it would all be okay, I would just tough it out. I soon realized  that my soaked field pants provided no protection against the biting wind.
I am not entirely sure why I did not pack my rain gear, I may have thought… ” Well, I know it rains in the desert but there is no way that it will rain on me.” False

Lesson one: always pack your rain gear

As the week progressed the rains diminished but the cloud cover remained. My hands got chilled every time I took them out to pluck more plants from a plot. I would have loved a pair of gloves to keep my hands warm or hand warmers so that I could hold something warm periodically. Both of these things are normally in my pack even in the summer. For some reason I took them out of my bag and forgot to place them back in.

Lesson two: Always make sure you have something to warm your hands.

As the clouds began to leave and the sun began to warm the earth, all of our spirits began to brighten until we all realized that no one had packed the group food bag… we were all running out of food. We had no bread, peanut butter, Nutella, rice and all the other staples that supply carbs for continuing field work. Thankfully, I had packed my normal “just in case food” and I knew that I was not going to go hungry. I feared that the others were not as well off as I was.

Lesson three: Always make sure someone actually  packs the communal food bag before leaving.

All of these were lessons that I learned this week. All of these are lessons that I had no desire to learn about, that  is why I usually over prepare and over pack. Now that I know how horrible it is to be unprepared I will do my best to not get caught out in the rain without my pants again.

In the rain and cold