It seems like for the time being, our field office has come to a hump-like stand-still. We are straddled between two flowering periods. In Farmington, the late spring/early summer season brought a hoard of ripening seeds; in fact the week after we came back from the CLM workshop we made five collections. Now we have very little to find except a few species ending their flowering stages. We are waiting for the hump to ride smooth and give us more prospects with the start of the monsoon rains.

It was interesting coming back to the Four Corners after experiencing the workshop in Chicago. In almost every way I can imagine, the two places are exact contrasts of each other. Being able to meet the other interns and be with people my age and experience, visually digesting the intensity of green vegetation and walking through what seemed like a constant shower of humidity all reinforced the idea that I love constantly moving through changing environments. Even as I write this, we are experiencing thunderstorms that will make the average Seattleite quiver, and skies that even Monet might envy (so I’d like to think).

Basically, the last month for me has been in a constant flux in every way. Work, weather, friends and hobbies. What’s nice about this mid-point hump in work is that we have been able to take time away from SOS and aid other biologists with their projects. We were able to assist with a riparian assessment, conduct surveys for fuel loads associated with prescribed burnings and search for bird’s nests in sagebrush. For me this really is the mid-point of my internship; it has been three months, and I still have three more to go. The latter half I can tell already will bring prospects of all types. Until next time.

Anthony Wenke