More Regen
The sunflowers are out. They are the miniature species version, but
they are everywhere. On our way through the Badlands, we drove for
miles on roads lined with sunflower patches, just swaying in the
passing breeze as if waving us forward cheerily.
Thursday we painted trailhead signs that were beginning to peel. We
started off the morning cruisin’ along NPS 5 to some oldies station
and hanging out the window to catch a nice cool breeze. It was
definitely interesting work, but the paint was oil-based and we had
to go back to the maintenance shop for some Mineral Spirits so I
could have a clean hand to wolf down my PB&J sandwich. Friday cooled
way down again, so we stayed inside to work on our SCA presentation
and press release in the interp work room. It was sort of boring,
which is weird because I absolutely LOVE projects. I think it was
because we decided to do it on the computer, so I couldn’t show off
my construction paper-cutting and glitter pen writing skills.
Everyone who came into the work room kept asking us if we had the
day off or something, and we were like, ‘no, why would we be here if
we were and wearing our uniforms?’ It gave us a good laugh anyways.
People are just not used to seeing us indoors, I guess. It has been
really cold past two days, which has been a relief from the heat,
but strange weather.
Went camping in the Badlands on Saturday. It was absolutely
beautiful with simply breath-taking scenery, but the park was not as
big as I had imagined. By the time we got onto the trail, the sun
was setting over the prairie, casting a warm golden glow over the
swaying tall grasses…GORGEOUS doesn’t even describe it. Tom and I
hiked about a mile out before we settled on a semi-flat hill
surrounded by even higher, rolling prairie grass hills to set up
tent as the sun sank into deep pinks and purples over the hill.
Directly behind us was the moonrise. A huge full moon sat low in the
sky, defining itself before a deepening night sky. The stars were
just beginning to twinkle as we listened to the wail of coyotes
running wildly in the distance. Everything was calm and peaceful
until Tom caught my hand as we were sitting there and urgently
whispered “Don’t move.” At first I thought he was just playing
around as he is one to make a quick joke, but something in his
voice, a quiet desperation perhaps, that made me catch my breath,
frozen in his tense gaze. We watched in our quiet, iced stature even
in the warmth of the summer night as a small rattler licked his boot
and slowly slithered around and across his body length. I breathed,
“Oh.” The rattler stopped and smelled the air. The 30 seconds it
decided for itself if we were a threat felt like an eternity. It
finally turned its head back around and slithered off and out of
sight. We both let out our held breath and laughed a little
uneasily, which lasted only a few moments before we completely
forgot about the threat and listened again to the howling coyotes
under the eerie white glow of the moon.
We took a leisure day on Sunday by going shopping in Rapid City
Mall, which was a much needed reprieve from the rough and tough
outdoor atmosphere. I needed some girl-time to buy some new shoes
and shirts. Sunday night we went into town for the new Harry Potter
movie showing. It was alright. I didn’t enjoy the acting all that
much, and there is so much detail in the book that the sequence of
events in the film felt choppy. I was also able to get my hands on
the last Harry Potter book, so I’ve been savoring it all week.
Monday came all too quickly as we set off on Bowland Ridge trail,
hiking 2.5 miles out to the park boundary fence. We found a broken
sign at the very end of the trail, which is super (use sarcastic
tone), but we went off the trail and found some awesome limestone
formations that were like a child’s playground. We stayed there and
explored all day. It was so relaxing. Someone in the park told us
that there were petroglyphs on some of the rock out there, so we
tried to find it, but we were looking in the wrong place. We were
able to get some better directions, so we’ll have to go back and
see.
Tuesday we headed out to pull thistle with the EPMTs down in the
canyon below High Bridge, which followed a creek bed full of lush,
beautiful vegetation that also tended to attract unwanted bugs. It
felt like we were in a different world down there away from the dry,
open expanse of the prairie. I came back with 3 ticks on me, which
was not so fun. After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon
cutting regen along a hill ridge where it got to be fairly hot. It
was a good chance to work on evening-out my tan, though.
Wednesday we finished up the regen cutting along the hill ridge,
then broke for lunch back at the VC. Matt and I headed over to the
VIP center where there was a blood drive, and I gave blood for the
first time! It was great! The reason I did it was because I was
scared to, and I didn’t want to be afraid of it anymore, so I
marched myself in there and signed up. I feel liberated in some
strange way – watch out world, nothing can hold me back now! Haha.
Mike Henry gave us the rest of the day off, so we were off by 2:00
in the afternoon. Awesome!
Thursday was interesting because Tyler was off, since his girlfriend
came up to visit, and Matt went with the veg crew, leaving just
Sparky and I to fend off the encroaching new ponderosa generation in
the same meadow we’ve been working in the past few weeks. It was
boring, but a good time for reflection as I plugged in my ipod into
my ears and zoned out. Friday I was with Matt as the other two took
the day off. We finished our SCA presentation project and fixed a
small trail just off the VC area before calling it quits.
Thursday night I had a hard time sleeping. It has actually been
quite muggy out here, which is unusual. I had to keep the fan on,
but stay under a few covers, which seemed to help. I just felt hot,
then cold, then hot again as if my body couldn’t make up its mind. I
woke up to a deafening crack of thunder that felt like it was right
over my house. It startled me so bad that it took a few minutes for
my heart rate to calm down. My room would light up every once in a
while as lightening went off nearby. It was a pretty decent storm. I
only remember listening to some distant rumbling as I drifted back
off to sleep.
This week absolutely flew. I can’t believe it’s already Friday. Only
2 more weeks! Oh – and I’ve noticed that I’ve started to pick up an
accent from out here, so I can’t wait to go home and use it before
it changes back. Haha.
