the incredible shrinking crew

i spend some time every week, while hiking around, chasing horned toads, dodging cacti, stepping on sagebrush, and leaving no trace, thinking about what title i will use for my next blog entry. i'm sure i come up with some good ones but it's hard to write and walk at the same time and by the time i do get around to writing, i forget what i thought about.

so instead i thought i would share some other thoughts i've had about things the past few weeks, as i try to keep track of thoughts as they come to me, though sometimes they happen fast and furious and i just can't get them all down. (in this way it's like my dreams, i wish i could write them down every morning but sometimes there's just too much to remember. maybe i'll get a tape recorder or better, one of those digital recorders and start orating my dreams every morning. much faster than writing.)

1. why do people come to ely nevada, to visit? i asked the lady at the soda fountain the other day and she said "well we have the casinos, and the train (she means the historic 'ghost' steam train), and the and there's a cookout at the park this weekend." and i'm thinking to myself, that's why people come here, for a cookout?

2. camping in the desert is just one of the dustiest things you can do. there's always dust everywhere. of recent it's been seriously going up my nose. making me sneeze. and drying out my nasal passages. anyone know any good dry nose remedies?

3a. good parts of field work in the desert: hiking, camping, camp food, feeling rustic, great photo opportunities, being one with nature, getting away from it all, seeing interesting wildlife and plants

3b. bad parts of field work in the desert: bug bites, going to the bathroom in the 'woods' (but i'm getting used to it), it's HOT sometimes, going to bed when it gets dark because i'm so tired and therefore not accomplishing things at night when i have a few hours of free time, eating oatmeal every day for breakfast gets old...

4. i don't know about anyone else, but i have this extreme tendency towards getting bitten by anything that lives in the area. namely, unknown bugs that bite me in my sleep, leaving me with itchy, raised, swollen bite marks when i wake up. it's kind of unfair, really. but mostly itchy. and weird because i never see these bugs that are chewing on me.

5a. being in charge at work is a weird thing. i'm the kind of person that, if there's something that needs to get done, and it's not too hard, i'll likely step up and do it. at our job here, it turned out to be data sheets. i actually like being in charge of the data sheets, it makes me feel important and like i have a vital role in the project. without the data sheets, what are we doing out there? but i have to collect the data sheets from other people, which can be a little bit of a chore. why? because they don't seem to think it's necessary to give them to me when they're filled out.

so i'll say, "hey erik, where's your data sheets?"
and he'll say, "in my clipboard." instead of saying oh, i'll get them for you.

so then i say, "where's your clipboard?"
he says, "by my backpack." still, not helping me, if i don't know where his pack is.

so then i say, "where's your backpack?"
and he says, "over by that tree." instead of telling me which tree.

at this point i give up and start going over to people's backpacks looking for his data sheets, when he could have just given them to me, or told me where they were, or whatever in order to avoid this whole ridiculous conversation. the rest of the group is pretty good about giving them to me when they're done, and for that i'm so grateful.

5b. another thing about data sheets is that i have to make sure everything is taken care of before the plot gets broken down, in case we forgot to do something so we don't have to re-set up the whole plot again cause we forgot to take pictures or forgot to do some other vital thing. so i like to collect the sheets before we break down the plot, which i also get some grief about when people are antsy and want to move on to the next plot.

the biggest compliment i got about all that was when my boss, robin, came out to the field to work with us and i said, "did everyone give me their data sheets so i can check them off?" and he said "i'm glad someone is making sure things are being checked."

6. one thing about working with men all the time is that i really need alone time, and sometimes i just need girl time. jane was my savior for these situations, when the guys were really just being so much like guys that they didn't understand what was going on with me. they weren't being sensitive to things that were bothering me and i just needed someone female to talk to. in the field i can't very well call up my girl friends elsewhere in the country and vent, so i will deeply miss jane when she leaves and i'm alone in a sea of male co-workers...

7. when we were at the south ruby mountains, there were mormon crickets everywhere. what's a mormon cricket, you say?

these crickets are huge, but on the whole very friendly. they are completely spastic sometimes, and occasionally very mellow. they love people, water, and crawling into backpacks, as well as laying their eggs in the sand on dirt roads. they also seem to like crossing major highways sometimes just for effect. you can hear them crunching as you drive along. anyway, i don't think mormon crickets live at spruce mountain where we've been the last few weeks, but some kind of crickets do, as they make a delightful chirping whir that soothes me as i fall asleep every night in my tent (named the taj mahal).

8. the weather in nevada - it's well repeated amongst our group that it's chilly in the morning, it warms up and actually gets hot during the day, usually clouds roll in in the afternoon and it sometimes rains, and then it's nice for the rest of the day, and cools off at night. this is a distinct pattern that's been going on all summer. it's not humid, it's very dry, and the rain when it happens makes everything look new since all the dust gets washed off, or at least moistened for a few minutes. the colors after the rain are brilliant. but when it doesn't rain it's just dust dust dust.

i probably should go hang out with my roommate jane for a little while longer, she's leaving town tomorrow morning to drive back to humboldt to go to school. i will DEFINITELY miss her on the crew. robert left last week and i thought that was sad, jane leaving takes away the one female, the one refuge of sanity i have on this crew. good luck always jane!

more later this weekend when i have more free time...and maybe some photos too.

(see i can be wordy and write a lot when i have time to!)

(i'm publishing this much after i wrote it, but there will be more soon! with photos!)