Sick, sick, sick!

Well, I have fallen ill. The past 5 days have been filled with a sore throat, ear ache, and congested nose. Great, in the busiest part of the season, of course. I feel awful not being able to be out in the field. Tomorrow, regardless of how I feel, I will be going outside. No one will stop me.

I have been slacking on this blog… mostly because there is nothing new to say. We are super busy, super stressed, and the summer is coming to a close (sadly). After the summer of work is over, Tim, Jenny, Sergio, Christian, and I will be going to Denali national park for a few days, then Christian and I are off to south Alaska until I return home on September 3rd. So, that is exciting.

Christian and I went for a short drive along the coast the other day (before our adventure got rained out). But here’s some photos:

I hate to be so short when I haven’t posted in so long… but, Jackie Brown is playing in the kitchen, and I have to watch it at least once before the end of the summer, in honor of Jeremy May. Then, it’s to bed early to try to kick this cold.

A new place.

Well, our fun trip to Atqasuk changed to a very, very busy weekend when we got a phone call on Friday afternoon informing us that on Saturday night, we would be moving from our cozy ATK home to the “new camp.” We were hesitant, especially Jenny, after growing so attached to the old house. But, the move had to be done. Other than the kitchen, the new place is great. The kitchen currently consists of a single hot plate, the world’s smallest toaster oven, and 2 microwaves. It will have to suffice for the rest of the summer, but cooking dinner for 8 in it was a challenge, even for Craig (one of the P.I.s at UTEP).

The weekend was very busy, but it was a nice break from Barrow. We had sunshine for the past 2 days, with very little rain. It was so nice to actually be enjoying the weather outside for the first time this week. Tomorrow, it is back to Barrow to continue cover assessment on the crazy grid mentioned previously.

Well, I am at a loss for words. I am exhausted, and out of exciting things to say. But, here’s some photos to make up for my blogging incompetence, and also some words to help explain.

This little bird is going for a ride on the trolley cables. They are actually moving, and he/she is riding along on those small pieces of wood. I attempted to catch it on video, but it flew off before I had the chance.

All of the supplies needed for an evening trip to the field with Jenny- Craisins, Pringles (full and empty cans), bubbles, containers to collect “tundra cake”, and Mt. Dew.

This is a Salix (willow) that is diseased.

A caribou that was laying down munching away very close to where Jenny and I were working in Barrow. He stayed for quite a while, tends to hang out around our sites lately.

A couple of aerial views on the way over to Atqasuk.

It’s raining…

I do not know what the deal is with all of this rain. It seems like every single day lately has been rain rain rain. And not tundra rain, big rain drops like Michigan rain. Darn climate change… 😉

Well, today was interesting to say the least. I will not go on and on about everything that went wrong, because I am sure that no one wants to hear me complain. But, to sum it up: Changing flights= way too expensive, Julien ate my poptarts, rain, rain, more rain, cover assessment on a forest of lichens took almost 4 hours on one plot, laptop for NIMS broken, rain, rain, rain, truck stuck, rain, rain, done. I am now looking forward to relaxing for the night… playing cards on my computer and eating as many oreos as my stomach can handle.

Yesterday was a better day. We didn’t go out the field until after lunch, and the weather was beautiful. Jenny and I worked on NIMS for about 6 hours and got 4 plots done. All the while, we had a caribou friend laying down and eating some grass and lichens about 70m or less from where we were working. Cute little guy… he walks around our sites all the time. I will try to get some pictures soon. We have these big flags and posts around that he likes to scratch his head on.

Here’s some photos from the last time I was down in Aqasuk:

The team is planning a trip to Atqasuk for the weekend to hopefully escape some of the stresses of Barrow for a few days. I am hoping the mosquitoes are not too bad so that we can enjoy some hikes and fun field days (preferably rain-free).