Another Week in the Field

This week, I became temporarily diurnal. Our machine needs oil, at least as far as scheduling goes. This means that I occasionally get desperate, last-minute messages about trading in my night supervisor hat for a field instructor one. Not that I mind, although I think scheduling difficulties are generally stressful for all involved.

My group this week included the usual spectrum of students, and we spent some quality time out on the trails. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. At the Friday meeting, we found out that our old dining hall is going to be demolished soon, and other facilities changes are in the offing.

Thursday, as I often do, I took my group up to Lake Ranch Reservoir. The sky was mostly blue, but it's obvious that Autumn is here, both from the slightly cooler temperatures and the drifts of colorful leaves decorating the trails. Everything is dusty and dry, and the water level in the reservoir is lower than ever.

One of the kids found a dead bat. I'm not sure which species it is.

At home, after getting back late from a night up in the city (to be detailed soon on my music blog), I went out to close up the chicken coop and saw this little guy looking down from the back fence.

I wonder if he was pondering a possible chicken dinner. We saw him again the next night as he investigated the front "lawn" (in quotes because, due to the drought, it's not actually a lawn at the moment).

Brian the kitten has decided that he likes books. As I type, he is on another rampage.