In what promises to be truly the "interesting times" of Chinese curses I leave you. Before I go, I'll show you where I've trampsed off to:
There is perfect, universal sunlight at 4 AM in this land. But I can feel storm clouds gathering. Only some of these clouds bring political omen. The alpha wolf of the local pack (formerly 10 in number) has gone missing... His fate will be revealed sooner or later. The guilty will brag.
For my part the bank blocked my credit card and demands a payment ASAP, my phone payment is past due. And I'm an unpaid volunteer mostly outside of civilization. I'm a student. I volunteer with two major natural resources and conservation organizations. Now, it's taken me away from civilization for the summer. Thanks to a late spring, wildflowers still bloom and tallgrasses still show lush green.
I spend my days as a Field Technician, monitoring plants like these:
I sleep in the remnants of old ranching homes in a sleeping bag, assist the botanist in IDing, assist the soil scientist, do surveys, enter data, work 10 hour days, and work with the public. My research with my fellow volunteers helps restore degraded farmland and remove invasive weeds (a serious problem here, as everywhere in the West).
There are resident elk and deer, although they also pass out of the territory. Evidence of wolves and bighorn sheep is recent. This tract is large, and growing. Hopefully one day it will be large enough to keep the big game mostly safe from outside disturbance.
In addition to the lupines, arnicas, yarrow, paintbrushes, phloxes and roses, there are small stands of aspen (being restored) and two species of pine in the canyons. This is one of the few prairies left, as native sagebrush has taken over most of the west after 150 years of cattle ranching.
On weekends I make the 40-minute ride to town. One of those surprisingly rare small towns that's not dying a lowly death, thanks to eco-tourism. The kind of town where people are still friendly with each other. And the kind of town where the whole of 10 (now 9) wolves get demonized in flyers as the "Canadian Gray Wolf" perpetuated by libruls as a "scientific fraud." There were a total of 14 wolves in the state.
I'm on a path towards oneday hopefully having a steady career. I'd like to work for BLM, Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy or another major organigation dealing with natural resources someday... not too far. Unemployment makes me very uneasy... it always has.
My organization is not political at all. It doesn't even have a stance on the wolves. It's good to take a break. In fact, there's no cell or internet service most of the week. So I'm leaving until August, more or less.
Have fun at Netroots Nation if you're going. I've always wanted to, even when it went by the other name.
Already I miss reading comments and diaries from beltane, corvo, mem from somerville, Dallasdoc, mahakali overdrive, Laughing Planet, Pris from LA, gjohnsit, jhutson, Land of Enchantment, Turkana, War on Error, jim bow, and many of you who have a seemingly random, unmemorable sequence of letters for your handles (kidding). Your comments and diaries are memorable.
[Thanks Aji and gchaucher2!]