Although this week was off to a significantly rocky start, my internship has finally began to pick up momentum. Due to the fact that my advisor had been out of town for the week preceding the start of my internship, he had to make up a lot of work...meaning he had to find a ridiculous amount of odds and ends chores for me to do around the visitor's center. Needless to say, I spent my first day down in the basement blasting The Cure and Depeche Mode, cleaning approximately 500 slides for the Park's slide show............ intriguing!
Yesterday, though, I got to do several school pre-visits with my advisor; pretty much, we toured around to several local elementary schools that are planning to visit SNP throughout the next couple of weeks, giving them basic overviews of the plants/animals and natives of the Sonoran Desert. To be entirely honest..the most fascinating and disturbing aspect of yesterday was that there is this distinct scent associated with elementary schools. The second I entered Walter-Douglas, I was consumed by this awful blast-from-the-past scent that lingered in every room: a disgusting collection of baby powder, cafeteria food, rubber erasers and moth balls.
Today was even more fun. A group of about 50 4th graders from Brika Elementary came out for a special 4-station program that we offer, which touches on different aspects of native life in the Sonoran Desert: food, shelter, storage, and communication. It was actually a load of fun, and the kids were great! By the end of the afternoon, I felt purty snazzy in my fancy-shmancy ranger uniform, with kids hanging off of all sides of me. How altruistic. I forgot how hopeful and energetic little kids can be.
Any free time I've had, I've spent doing a lot of independent research in the library in the basement. I've actually become quite interested in the culture of the park and the lives of the desert's natives.
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I deleted my previous comment because it contained a horrendous amount of grammar mistakes!
Did you know Johnny Cash did a cover of "Personal Jesus"? It's superb.
Anyway, I'm glad your project is going better. I hope things are looking up for you. I bet you look amazing in your uniform! We shall compare wildlife tracking skills once I've actually done some.
Love ya,
Katharine
Oh my gosh, he did?! I'm going to look it up right now! I bet he could totally pull that one off.
Hahaha yeah the uniform shirt is about ten sizes too big, but I have to tuck it in anyways, so I guess I'm the only one who knows.
Ooh we shall! ...Once I've actually done some too... XD
Can you distinguish between a Gila Woodpecker, Guilded Flicker, and a Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker?
Do you get to wear a ranger hat?
Mm, Mr. Johnston--
yeah they have relatively differentiated feather patterns and colorings and they nest in different locations on the saguaro (I'm pretty sure the gila woodpecked nests higher up, and the flicker nests closer to the middle...but it could be vice versa).. the positioning on the saguaro depends on the size of their heads... one of them is larger haha. I honestly do not know much about the Northern Yellow-Shafted flicker..but I'll find out tomorrow!
Dr. Rising- my uniform is absolutely miserable! The shirt is about ten times too big, and the pants are a hideous shade of old-people brown. And yes, to frost the cake (hahaha Katharine!), I get a fabulous hat to wear too. Except I have yet to wear it, even though I'm technically required to wear it anytime I go outside. But you see...the thing is... I think it would mess up my do.
Hi Tina,
Loved your descriptions of everything from your uniform to elementary school smells. Brings it all right back.
What are you currently researching independently? I thought it was turtles?! How do you know all that about strange birds? Has Mr. Johnston been refocusing your project? :)
How interested do the kids seem to be? Do you have to keep them in line a bit, or are they all star-struck?
Hope all continues to be well!
p.s. sorry I took so long to get on this...I just got the link yesterday. Doh! It seems like you were all just here at the school yesterday...
Haha to be entirely honest, I have done a little research on tortoises and other animals, but I've gotten so distracted by the culture. I'll be sitting in the library, trying severely to work diligently, but then a book about the Hohokam or Tohono O'ddham will catch my eye, and all hope is lost.....
Actually, the other day I fell victim to a book called, "The Desert Is No Lady," and it was depictions of early life in the Sonoran Desert from the eyes of native american women of the time.
Haha I actually only know the stuff about birds because it was covered when I went through the week-long training session! Oh,but I got it backwards...switch out flicker with gila and vice versa.
The kids are pretty into it actually, because we have hands-on activities for each station. But there are always those couple of kids who JUST WONT SHUT UP.....I'm sure you know how that is ;)
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