The days are flying by on the west side of the country. Working ten-hour days in the hot sun make the weeks jet past, while the weekends fill up with their own time-crushing diversions.

July started off with a bang for me at the High Sierra Music Festival, and a hang gliding flight. I followed that up with a trip back home to South Dakota the next weekend. After so much traveling I was excited to spend some quality time in the field and in my trailer.

At work seed collecting season is in full swing. The pressure is on to meet the ARRA collection requirements of the internship because most of the species on our target list mature within the same three weeks. This is no time for slacking. Calluses have begun forming between the pointer fingers and thumbs on my hands, and I’m running out of music to listen to on my iPod, but a feeling of satisfaction comes after each collection is complete. Although stripping seeds from plants might not be the most exciting activity of the internship, it makes me feel productive to know restoration work will be the direct results from my actions. It has also given me the opportunity to really explore the large Lakeview BLM resource area. The diversity of landscapes in southern Oregon continues to amaze me.

As July comes to an end, I find myself wishing summer would slow down (well, maybe not between the hours of seven to five).

The lengths I'll go to collect seeds!