An Ambitious Schedule

On May 29th, we officially began our field season. An atypical crew, “The Boys From the South” were functioning like a well-oiled machine and ready to get down to business. However, the next three weeks were assumed to be the hardest of the whole summer. An ambitious schedule is how I described it. Honestly, I had my doubts whether it could be done. Our fledgling crew was about to be tested. Would we sink or swim in that vast sea of mountain laurel?

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The Boys from the South

If I wasn’t kicking back cold brews with my crew, I was searching the ground for little green shit (LGS) to indulge my plant nerdery. Although we were on our second week of training, it felt like a mini-vacation to me. That’s what you get the third time around. At this point, I was refreshed and well versed with the nuances of the job. I was functioning as a co-trainer with a heavy emphasis on team building.

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The Crew Assembles

As the old characters and new players converged, I looked forward to reprising my role in a slightly different way. Each rendition of this story always brought its own nuances and I was curious how it would play out this time. These next two weeks would certainly preface the rest of the summer. We would come to understand what we had to do and how we had to do it. More importantly, I would begin to define my “why.”

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Getting up to Speed

The afternoon of May 8th, I was driving west on that familiar stretch of I-80 towards State College. Deep inside my head, most of the travel was a blur. Luckily, I only had a hundred and four miles to my destination — a short distance by today’s standards. I was only home for two weeks and I was leaving again. Somewhere between excitement and sadness, I was opening a new chapter. In some respects, I was familiar with the plot. In other regards, it was a whole new experience. I wondered what I would get out of this opportunity. In the end, I discovered that it wasn’t so much about me.

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Full Circle

My first real job of this newfound career was with the Deer-Forest Study. I was a Penn State undergrad when I was hired as a field forest technician to roam the woods of Rothrock and Bald Eagle state forests in search of all things green. Two years later and thousands of miles behind me, I return to the very same place. Have I come full circle? Continue reading “Full Circle”

Is it Criminal?

In darkness, the truck lumbers up the windy road. A car follows about fifty yards behind. They were sent on a job this odd hour. They were told that it wouldn’t take long. Unbeknownst to them, a meeting was scheduled with a corpse. Continue reading “Is it Criminal?”

Seasons Change

Snow was on the ground when I arrived in Yellowstone. Before I left, snow fell and winter began her embrace on the landscape. The summer concluded abruptly and although I was forewarned, my tenure at Yellowstone had done the same. Now I have the pleasure of looking back upon my time. I was here long enough to see the seasons change. Continue reading “Seasons Change”

As Summer Ends

Less than a month remains of my summer in Yellowstone, about three weeks. I’ve been thinking about this summer quite often. Surely more so, I’ve been thinking ahead. I’m pondering what I will do next. Continue reading “As Summer Ends”

Highs and Lows

Chasing Bats at Congaree – Episode 5

Throughout the week or even a day for that matter, we all experience highs and lows. My time in Congaree is no exception. This episode shares some of the highlights of this week and includes a little dash of humor – well, maybe more than a dash!

During my days afield this week, I shot some video while prowling the park. The topics were so different that I struggled to incorporate them in this week’s video. By the end of the week, I still hadn’t settled on a theme for this episode; I managed, however, to toss together the hodgepodge of clips and smooth it out with a heavy dose of humor.