This past summer was awesome. I don't want to get all nostalgic trying to compare it to the summer before, when I was doing research at Denison (which was also awesome). They were different experiences, and I'd prefer not to get all Denison nostalgic right before bed. But the Smokies I shall discuss.
I miss the simplicity of the lifestyle a lot. I lived in a cabin, with people who were mostly around my own age. Typical day: I'd get up, and get ready for work. I was usually the first of the guys to get up, which made bathroom access nice (especially living with 5 guys! The early bird gets the...toilet I guess, lol). Fortunately I didn't shower in the morning, so it was a nice system for all (except when my poison ivy was bad, in which case I would heat treat it in the shower in the morning). I'd walk over to the pesticide building, and my schedule was laid out for the week, with the days tasks on the whiteboard and who's doing what, etc. I miss the trucks!!! Dear lord, do I miss those trucks. I like how they had names. Optimus was awesome, except for the lack of radio. Though sometimes if you pounded the dash you could get it to work. I hated riding in the backseat of Skeeter. Skeeter was the small truck, and even though it was new, it was VERY uncomfortable for anyone in the back. Fortunately we usually only took Skeeter if there were only two people in the truck. And then there was Nemo, Exo Six, and why can't I remember other truck names off the top of my head? Oh well, that's 4 of them, and the 4 we used most frequently. Then there was the drive to the site. I liked when it was a long drive, because napping in the truck was something that I got very good at. I also liked when we passed a store, because I would often get a muffin on the way.
Depending on the day, it was either spray exotics and get exposed to poison ivy (I hated that at the time), treat hemlocks, or occasionally do monitoring or some other random task(s). It was simple work, and VERY low stress. Sometimes it would wear on me, but I think that was partially the timing (going to the park almost right after graduation). That definitely got worse toward the end of my internship, when I knew that it was almost over. Anyways, the drive back to HQ was always nice (more napping, usually). Then it was back to the cabin. If it was hot, we might head over to the swimming hole before dinner. Sometimes we would get a fire going and cook food outside. We'd sometimes slackline, or play 4 square, or watch Scrubs. And of course, on Thursdays (for 4 day weeks) and Fridays (for 5 day weeks) we would inevitably go to the Brewery. I REALLY MISS THE BREWERY! I'd usually get a tall Porter or Cherokee (sometimes two, sometimes a tall and a pint). Either way, it was almost always the perfect amount of beer to get me relaxed, and it was made even better if I was feeling spendy enough to get dinner there (a philly or a white pizza, both were so delicious that I rarely got anything else).
Weekends were awesome, though I would always think that our 2 day weekends weren't quite long enough. How I loved the weeks when we had 3 day weekends! I'd get up early; way before anyone on the guy's side of the cabin and often before anyone on the girl's side. I tried to go birding regularly, or looking for salamanders. I'd make chocolate chip pancakes most weekends, and I usually went hiking at least one day. And I would read (more than I've been doing here, actually). And since Gatlinburg was 2 miles away, and the library was only open when I was free two days a week, I had very little computer access. And given my signal, I'd have to walk the two miles even to get cell phone reception!!!! That is, until I found the sweet spot at the bridge behind my cabin. The lack of electronics definitely contributed to the experience. Of course we had Paul's computer that we would use to watch DVDs (from the library or Alex's collection), but I generally didn't watch as much as other people (so I unfortunately missed a good chunk of episodes from seasons 1-3 of Scrubs).
And it was easy to hang out with people there. Not that I was super close to anyone (3 months is far too short a time to get very close), but I enjoyed the community. I was at ease there (like I said, very stress-free lifestyle!). I'm not sure I realized quite how good I had it. I loved living in the park, and I miss that, especially now that I'm living in Everett. For all of the outdoorsy hype surrounding the Pacific Northwest, I sure don't feel very connected to wilderness here. I'm doing great work, but always on a private landowner's property, or a small park (not tiny, but nothing more than a few miles wide).
And the mountains out west have been somewhat of a disappointment to me. Perhaps that will change when I've spent more time exploring them (during the road trip AFTER this position, it should be noted). Pictures just don't capture the essence of a place, and I guess my best interpretation of the "hidden essence" from pictures was off. The agricultural areas here look pleasant enough, but they don't hold a candle to midwestern ag land (the kind with patches of forest, and rolling landscapes with small farms; I'm certainly not referring to huge commercial monocultures that stretch for miles...). The fall foliage was unimpressive, and the lack of snow in the winter was quite depressing. If it's going to be cold, I at least want snow. Even if it wasn't raining here, there was often just a "wet" look to everything. And now that it's spring, I'm sure the days without rain will become fewer and fewer.
I guess I can't even begin to describe the sense I get from the land here. The disappointment is part aesthetic, and part emotional. Part of it is because I feel very detached from the land, and it's not just the geographic distance from my home state. It's a sort of uncomfortableness that the alders, and the cedars, and the sword ferns exude. The lush green looks great in pictures, but in person it's a wet, dismal green, and there's a lot of "dead" yellows and browns (at least this time of year). Overall, most of the winter it felt like those late winter days in Ohio (or midwinter warm snaps) where the snow is mostly melted and the ground is slushy and wet, but it's still cold. Only warm enough to expose the dead and dormant plant material that has been festering underneath the snow for weeks, and to turn the once frozen soil into near-frozen mud. Though I'm sure that this isn't an intrinsic aspect of the landscape, as it
hasn't been lying under snow (at least not in the lowlands). Just the association that I have from snowless days in Ohio. But then again, even those who live here don't find it pleasant (they simply go on and on about the summers here, which from what I hear are very short--the "prime" can be as short as a week or two!!).
And people here joke about how the Appalachians "aren't really mountains." HA!!! I LOVE Appalachian landscapes! Their aesthetic and richness surpasses anything I've experienced here thus far! And yet, I'm glad that I'm not longer drawn to something that isn't what I thought it was (the Pacific Northwest). I will never live here. Now, I feel compelled to visit other places that I aspire to go someday, to see if they live up to expectations or if they fall short. Alaska (I suspect it won't impress me, though the tundra in midsummer would probably be worth it, and perhaps a winter aurora show...), Yellowstone, the Sierra Nevada, the Rockies, the Boreal forest, Banff, Maine, etc. And I hope that when I go backpacking in Olympic and North Cascades, Washington will be partially "redeemed."
Not that everything here is terrible. Just happens to be a night that I'm feeling nostalgic for the Smokies, and Denison, and the comparison is not in favor of my current situation. But this is good work experience here. I definitely don't regret doing this, but I am glad that it's not long term :)
Bed time!
A lamprey! This was the 4th one found over 2 days, and the second one caught. I caught a larger one (5-6 inches?) on 4/20, and James caught this one (it's on a meter tape, so maybe 2 1/2 - 3 inches?) on 4/21. He didn't grab it like I did because he was afraid it would latch on.
Rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa)!!! I stressed her out trying to get good pictures, but not enough to make her exude toxin (and a good thing too, because they're one of, if not the, most toxic amphibians in the world and this was before lunch).
There she is at an interesting camera angle.
The one on top is the female (pictured before), who is quite possibly gravid here, and the one on the bottom is the male in breeding condition (adult newts go through a second metamorphosis during breeding season, whereby they become more aquatic; the tail is laterally compressed and the skin becomes smoother). As with Ambystomid salamanders, you can sex males during breeding season by noting the swollen cloaca.
Looking upstream the Skykomish River, from the inlet of Tychman Slough. The trees lining the right bank (which is the bank that's on the left in this picture) are Black Cottonwood. Yay, they're leafing out so it's officially spring!
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