Greetings fellow interns,

I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday season filled with friends, family and all things pleasant.  Being a California transplant, I joined my family in Iowa remotely via Skype, which was definitely a first for me, and was able to participate in their festivities.  It was wonderful to be able to connect with them despite the distance.  Technology is great when it works.  I have been here in California for a few years now as a CLM intern in what was originally a 5 month internship.  What a great experience it has been!  Although I might like to stay here forever, the position I was hired to fill was only temporary, and I have always known that eventually it would be time for me to leave.  Well, it seems the California vacation is finally coming to an end.  I have recently accepted a full time position back in Iowa and will be leaving the Preserve on February 27, 2015 (please hold you coat, hat and glove donations- I will eventually re-acclimate).

When I first came to the Cosumnes River Preserve in May of 2012, I was living at a facility on site known as the farm center.  If you are not familiar with this facility, it is an old farm house nestled in the rice fields of the Preserve.  It is not a fancy place by any means, but for me it was perfect.  I was living and working on the Preserve, which might burn some people out, but I couldn’t get enough.  I would do land management tasks and various repairs all day, and then at night I would watch the wildlife and enjoy the evening tranquility.  One morning I sat on the front steps and watched a bald eagle dive-bombing a flock of terrified coots for 30 minutes as I drank coffee before work.  Where else can you do that?   I was quite surprised to find a nature preserve teaming with wildlife in such close proximity to the capital city of California.  That has been one of my favorite aspects of the Preserve that I am going to miss when I am gone.  Visitors can drive twenty minutes from the hustle and bustle of the city and find themselves lost in the serenity (amplified serenity when the geese are present in numbers) of nature.

I have greatly enjoyed meeting and working with other CLM interns occasionally throughout my time here.  It would have been nice to have another CLM intern here at my field station (Cosumnes River Preserve) full time.  I hope to be able to visit the Preserve again as a non-employee after I leave.  If you are ever near Sacramento, CA, I highly recommend you make it a point to swing by and check it out.  Winter season (October-May) is the best time to visit; the Preserve is wintering habitat for 50,000+ birds.  I know everything will keep on functioning just fine here without me, but I sure will miss this place.