Since the majority of what we’ve been doing is office work that is not terribly exciting to write (or read) about, I am devoting this blog post to our field day today. I am also devoting this blog to my fellow intern/life friend Lillie, and the title is in reference to her favorite song/catchphrase.
The sweet sounds of Drake’s “Views” played in our ears for the millionth time (Pennington, 2016). We drove out to the site that would be our last FRGE site revisit. Our mission: to determine the tree and shrub cover and plant association at said site. Today was supposed to be cooler, in the 80s, unlike most of the ninety-something degree days we’ve been having. We parked off the site of the road, slathered on sunscreen, and set off. The route we were taking put us close to private land at times, and at one point early on, some folks nearby were absolutely blasting Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. Somewhat bizarre, but very appreciated.
As we bushwhacked through buckbrush and manzanita, we stopped to smell the spicy celery aroma of Lomatium triternatum seeds.
The ground has turned mostly brown, the madrone bark is peeling to reveal its true colors, and the poison oak is starting to turn shades of red, yellow, or pink.
The hike to the site feels familiar (we have indeed done it not too long ago), but not so familiar that we aren’t constantly checking our GPSs. Midway through the hike, we came across a very visible deer blind that any deer would surely notice. Further on we found some scattered lawn chairs.
Even further on, what looked like an abandoned truck on BLM land that had the registration on the front seat.
Sometimes we find weird stuff. Sometimes we do weird stuff with the normal stuff we find. Like what Lillie did to this poor bunch of Ponderosa pine needles.
At the site itself we found the skeletons of FRGE past, with seeds inside that likely would not create more FRGE (since it’s more of an asexual reproducer).
Going back to an old FRGE site gave us nostalgia for hiking around in an area we have only come to know in the past few months. Every field day is looked back upon with sentimentality. Even the most challenging days hold treasured memories.
After hiking back to the truck, two sheepish doggies greeted us and let us give them pets. We drove back to the office with the realization that days like today would not happen again this field season. But at least we’ll be in Fort Lauderdale for the ESA Conference next week (!!!).
Kiki, Grants Pass Interagency Office