Washington, DC

It's my first time in Washington, D.C. First impressions:

I'm pleased to experience a transit system that is as easy to use as the ones in other capitals i've visited. :)

Things are a little shabbier than i expected. Somehow i had this expectation (from photographs and postcards, i guess) that the place looked immaculately maintained, like Disneyland. Instead, it's a normal city, just like London or Paris: people live here, sometimes the grass is worn, sometimes shrubbery dies. I guess, while initially disappointed, i'm glad it is Real and not extravagantly maintained. Grass should die in the summer during drought.

The White House is smaller than i thought.

The Washington Monument is crick-in-your-neck tall!

I enjoyed watching people of all sorts ride bicycles for pleasure and for commuting, and people playing frisbee and soccer in the parks along Constitution Avenue.

And i forgot my camera! My mega-pixel SLR camera! Arg!

I'll just have to come back. ;-)

Wyoming or Palm Springs? And do i even really have a choice?

This week i found out that my application made it through cyberspace to the deciding official regarding a job in Cody, Wyoming. I've googled Cody, WY, and it's an interesting place: near Yellowstone National Park. Population of about 10,000. A museum. A river. An airport. And winter. It's awfully far away from my friends, family, and community here. But I can make new friends, and keep in touch, and come back to visit...it's not as far away as Cameroon. I've looked up the office too, and it sounds like a neat place. I think i'd like the work and the environment.

Then i saw a job posting for Palm Springs. Much closer to home that is, with lovely architecture. I love the desert too. But it's blazing hot!

Either way, i don't have to choose yet: haven't been offered the Cody job, and haven't finished applying for the Palm Springs one. And both are moot unless i hurry up and finish this thesis. :)

Day 12: My hands hurt...

...and i need to buy more thick wool socks. Two pairs is not enough when they're soggy and full of grit at the end of each day. I need to update my eyeglass prescription, because i can't ID plants more than 30 or so feet away, even squinting. And buy more sunscreen.

This week of work was harder and less fun, work-wise. The novelty of hiking up relatively unexplored drainages has worn off. Maybe that's because this one is not unexplored: it's right along a highway, and there's all sorts of debris, like coffee cup lids, beer cans of various vintages, potato chip bags, and car parts, strewn along the width of the wash. The water is filled with green and red algae because of the lack of shade, and biting flies are everywhere. Although the sycamores are crown-sprouting nicely, it will be a good growing season or two before they shade the creek, reducing the algae and flies. And i didn't see any frogs this week. Seeing little Pacific tree frogs hopping into my vision is a refreshing mental break of undirected attention in the midst of peering for 100 species of weeds in various stages of growth amidst a zillion native chaparral species in their stages of growth.

Side note: how can people who enjoy being outdoors treat the outdoors so badly? Why do we find so much garbage outside when we're doing these surveys? Do you like picnicking amidst garbage? Put it in the Dumpster or pack a trash bag with you and take it home.

Thursday, i found myself in a patch (an infestation, really) of weeds near a creek confluence. My skin ached from too much sun (not enough sunscreen on Tuesday), my fingers had blisters that using gloves neither soothed nor prevented, my wrists and arms and legs and back ached, i realized i'd left a major part of my lunch in the fridge back home, i'd walked into one too many baby yuccas while looking at something else, my arm had an allergic rash developing (either to black sage or poodledog bush), a sharp rock had ripped another hole in the knees of my grubby jeans, and i was tired. Four hours of work and i'd pulled a lot of weeds but made hardly any mileage, and that wasn't even tackling the type-converters (invasive grasses and mustards that burn too frequently for chaparral to recover). I sat down and had a brief moment of self-pity, just wanting to call it a day and go home.

Then i thought: my friend Katie the botanist wouldn't quit. And i can make it through the afternoon, go home and wash my face, put lotion on my hands, and recover over the weekend. I need the money. The stream needs help. I want to do a good job. And i hate quitting.

So, yes, i am still enjoying it. The first week of work, i told my supervisor that maybe i'm certifiably nuts, but i love this job. (I was on an endorphin high from all the hiking the day before.) She asked how it was this week, and i told her i was tired, my body hurt, i was looking forward to sleeping this weekend, but yes, i am still happy. I know we're accomplishing something useful. I know that this work is essential for letting the native plants recover, even though this isn't weed eradication. We're reducing the weed seed bank. We're giving the native plants a chance to compete against invasive species that sprout earlier than they do. And come Monday, i'll be ready to get back out there, slather on the sunscreen five times a day, drink 4 litres of water and rehydration tea, get my hiking shoes muddy, and pull out more weeds.