Monday, July 16, 2007

Where Do I Begin?

Sorry to those of you who have been a little concerned about my well-being in the last couple weeks. I haven't been to the internet cafe of late because of long days, exhausting days in the field. I just feel like going home at the end of the day, not to mention it's been too hot for the girls to stay in the car while I type away. But. I AM FINE, promise!Last week was pretty eventful. I managed to get myself lost in the forest for about 2 hours last Tuesday, before finally calling the central dispatch so they could contact my partner. I was really tired and dehydrated by the time I got "found" an hour later. For some reason, my GPS unit didn't mark the location where I parked my car, so I wasn't able to navigate my way back after surveying my structure. I started passing the same logs, dead trees and snags over and over again before finally admitting that I couldn't find the truck and was, therefore, lost. It was a crappy day, to say the least, but I'm just glad I walked away with only some cuts and bruises, and nothing worse.Friday morning I woke up to a bat flying around in my bedroom. My former labmate studies bats, and I've helped her a little with mistnetting (capturing) them, so I'm no longer fearful of them (Thanks, Trixi!), but they are a b-tch to try to catch! I couldn't even manage to shoo it close to a door to let it out. I didn't see it all weekend, so I was concerned that it had starved to death and I'd find Kika playing with its corpse soon enough. However, I think it found its way out of the house; this morning there was a bat in the garage that managed to slide sideways through a crack in the door and make its way back outside. I guess those bats take care of themselves!Was planning on going to the Oregon Country Fair this past weekend--I even bought my ticket--but I just didn't feel good about leaving Shabbi at the house for several hours. Her health is rapidly declining, and she's no longer "bouncing back" the way she used to. My goal is to keep her around so Adam can say his good-byes, but realistically, I don't think that she will be with us once we're back in Michigan. I don't *think* she's in any pain, but her energy levels and general ability to live her life are greatly diminished; Adam and I are staying realistic about how quickly our good-byes to her will come.Adam is doing okay, just really hot and bored and homesick. We just got off the phone, so he sent out a hello to all. He also thanks everyone for the pics they contributed to his scrapbook. He received it a couple weeks ago, and has it on his desk at work. Evidently, it is quite the conversation piece because he's been sharing it with many of the coworkers who drop by his office when they need a laugh. So thanks to all of you who so generously sent pics for "the cause".Below are some pics for you to enjoy; just some highlights from the last couple weeks.

This was Kika in our tent during the 4th of July. We camped out in Art's backyard and it was great fun!


Kika gave Shabbi an Independence Day kiss...


...taking a little time off from the field work to pose at the waterfalls...

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