The Biggest Little City in the World

Well, dear friends, I come bearing good news! Many of you know from the mass email I sent out already…but I will be headed to Nevada this summer… and I cannot wait! It will definitely be unlike most places I’ve visited, but I’m looking forward to experiencing a new place, meeting new faces, being in the field, and being able to explore other places on my days off. I’ve already got visions of Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Redwood, and Sequoia National Parks in mind…

The other part, going along with being out west for the summer, is that I’ve decided to reactivate Facebook for the summer, mostly to post pictures, but also to send notes here and there when I can. I’ve no idea how often I will be able to do so, but I’ll do my best to try :)

As if going out west for the summer wasn’t good enough, I’ve also been fortunate to have quite a few eye-opening, educational, and character building experiences in the last 10 days or so. Sounds a bit like I went to a boot camp of sorts. Well… no, not really. The first couple of experiences were through a few different field trips and the last through a Leave-No-Trace training workshop I participated in this past weekend.

The first trip I took on my own with a friend. We drove to Poynette, Wisconsin where the State Game Farm is located. They are currently in the throes of hatching and rearing thousands of pheasant chicks to be released in the fall and we made it for the first hatch of the season. In one of my classes, we recently had a guest lecture from the director of the game farm. I guess you could say, I was intrigued by the operation.

Basket o' chicks

 

 We spent the morning sorting through 6,300 chicks, separating males from females. It was a blur of stripes at every turn of the head! They were pretty cute. Their peeps reminded me of the Crested Wood Partridges chicks I helped raise at the Minnesota Zoo last summer. 

If you look at the incubator, it’s amazing to think that just over 3,000 eggs fit in something the size of your refrigerator! Not only that, but that are rows of them at the game farm. And even before the eggs are placed in the incubators, they are collected, washed, checked for cracks, then sorted into baskets of about 150 – 200 eggs each, before laid in trays.

And after hatching and sorting, the chicks are brought to a brought to a brooder barn where they spend their first 20 days or so before moving in a larger room and then finally outside to finish maturing. It’s quite the process! Once the chicks were released, we had to shuffle back to the door without making a peep, or else risk having them swarm us as they are doing to the feed pan in the middle of the picture!

The other two field trips that were part of class were just as interesting and fun. For these trips we ventured to Raptor Education Group Inc. (REGI) and the International Crane Foundation (ICF), both of which were great! REGI focuses on wildlife rehabilitation and is well-known for the number of Bald Eagle they care for and release and well as their focus of wildlife education. ICF focuses their efforts on education and conservation of all 17 species of cranes around the world, especially with attempting to establish another migratory population of Whooping Cranes in addition to breeding all the species.

For me, it was interesting to compare and contrast the propagation aspects between ICF and the Game Farm, especially because their focus on breeding and chick production vary so significantly. This is not to say one is better than the other, because the Game Farm also focuses on pheasant conservation (and wildlife conservation to an extent) by promoting ethical hunting techniques, especially for youth hunters. Come fall, I’m toying with the idea participating in one of those hunting workshops…and perhaps after graduation, considering an internship with ICF. Who knows, the opportunities are endless!

As for the Leave-No-Trace (LNT) workshop, I’m still coming down from the high of spending the weekend hiking, sitting in front of a campfire, sharing different ideas related to the Leave-No-Trace ethic, playing Hillbilly Scrabble and managing to keep clear of them Gnome…People. Ok, so we took the Hillbilly Scrabble a bit far and for whatever reason, tree gnomes entered the picture and stayed for the rest of the night! Oh, and just so you know, the phrase “What happens in Vegas…” doesn’t apply only to Vegas. It is completely transferrable, and last night is one of those major you-had-to-be-there moments and as such I will leave it at that :)

 

The bottom line is that the weekend was great, the weather was great, the people were great and our ride up to Tomahawk, complete with bluegrass interludes…bomb! We got a lot of envious looks at our Volkswagon Kombi…

With that, I will leave you for now and with the promise that my profile of Sigurd Olson will be up soon. It is still going through the editing process! There will also be some photos of our LNT group, once I receive them. I forwent the camera this weekend at the risk of most likely losing it in the woods!

Author Analysis: Barbara Kingsolver

A two-fer for you all today! I was re-reading some of the other writings I've done this semester and I thought I would share this piece outlining the writing of one of my favorite authors. This was one of the first assignments for my Outdoor Writing class. Enjoy!

Author Analysis: Barbara Kingsolver

            The first time I can recall seeing the name Barbara Kingsolver, I was about fifteen. I was perusing my aunt and uncle’s bookshelves, as I often did while at their house. There was always something new. I can’t say for sure what drew me to Kingsolver’s book. It must have been that it was a new book on the shelf at the time. Whatever it was, I’m glad for it. 

From the moment I first picked up The Poisonwood Bible, I knew I was hooked. Through this novel, I was introduced into a fictitious world inspired by very true political, social, and religious upheaval facing the African Congo in the early 1960s. The evolution of each character throughout the book was contagious. While this novel was a far cry from anything considered outdoor writing, Kingsolver’s ability to draw me into the story was so great that I was greedy for more of her writing.

And what a treat all of her writing has been thus far! Since that first novel, I have steadily worked my way through most of Barbara Kingsolver’s work to date, with a few exceptions of a couple works I’ve been unable to get my hands on. I’m not really sure I can pinpoint exactly what I find so enticing about Kingsolver’s writing. It is a mixture of thoughts and ideas that are simple, yet complex. A mixture of thoughts and ideas that are reflective, yet provocative. There is a frank and raw sense of wonder driven into the language she with which she writes, which ultimately makes it difficult to shy away from. 

It leaves me hungry for more. 

Kingsolver’s initial training as an ecologist and biologist have not escaped her in her literary path. As an individual studying biology myself, I am drawn to her ability to weave biological and ecological principles through her storytelling, whether fiction or non-fiction. These principles are woven into her writing either directly in the case of Prodigal Summer (fiction) and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (non-fiction) or indirectly in Animal Dreams (fiction) or Small Wonder (non-fiction essay collection). In both instances, readers of Barbara Kingsolver are enveloped and educated through narratives infused with underlying biological and ecological themes. 

Kingsolver stated once in an interview I came across, that she worries about scientific illiteracy in our country and that this was where Prodigal Summer was born from. She aimed to bridge this gap by writing a novel shrouded in basic biological concepts from speciation and natural selection to keystone predators and genetic diversity, translating austere scientific jargon into an easy-to-read novel. A casual reader probably would not have guessed that. They would have thought it was a simple story of spring and summer time, not that it was really trying to describe nature in its prime or man’s ongoing feud with it. Even the title of the book is suggestive of its contents. Prodigal in Kingsolver’s mind was not about returning home. Rather, it is a succinct word for all that nature is in its height: “recklessly productive, prolific, lavish, wastefully extravagant” to quote Kingsolver.

I am currently working my way through Small Wonder. In reading these essays, I cannot help but feel there is flair reminiscent of Rachel Carson emanating through Kingsolver’s words. Each essay is poignant and full of a sense of hope. These essays were written just after the September 11^th attacks when hope was in full swing, not only for man, but also for the environment in which we live. They aim to remind readers that beauty still exists in a world that has been irrevocably scarred. 

I think this is what I like most about Kingsolver’s writing overall. She is an exquisite weaver of stories and narratives, both fictional and non-fictional. No matter how strong or ill-fated her subject is, there is always a positive sense of hope ringing through.

And I am left feeling content.  

"Why Wilderness?"

First things first, I feel I should apologize for the changing template. I am still reacquainting myself with some of the features on Blogger...that and I am a bit curious. So, as a head's up, don't be surprised if it changes again.

At the moment, things are going well as can be. The sun was shining yesterday and little today. Got my first minor sunburn of the year. I've been riding my bicycle (imagine this being said in the voice of Freddie Mercury). Saw a Red-tail hauling a stick for a nest. Saw a great performance by a local author/humorist/amateur farmer. Life is good.

So why is it that I still feel like a lump at times? I'm still trying to figure this one out.

Even though I realize it is somewhat unhealthy, mentally speaking, I bottle most of my thoughts, until at some point the top blows. Intuitively I know internalizing everything won't solve much, but at the same time it is good as any tactic to avoid proverbial elephants that are taking up space when you a strapped for time. Hence why I keep doing it. I don't think I mean to. It just happens. And I think it happens more than most people like to admit.

I am sure most people, myself included, are fortunate to have unwavering and compassionate support systems, whether they recognize it or not. I am in the I-often-forget-I-have-this-person-or-that-person-I-can-talk-category. As a result, thoughts, feelings, emotions are filed away for inevitable eruption.

One reason, I think, for our (and my) bottling up things is that we are conditioned early on not to talk to much about ourselves, try to draw attention to ourselves and to be strong in undesirable circumstances. How many times have you deflected compliments meant for you specifically? I am famously guilty of this. It is hard to accept something you yourself don't believe is true, even though something deep inside tells you it must be so or else you wouldn't have received the praise. This is why it can be hard, say, to write a cover letter or to interview for a job. Instead of imposing self-importance, we are often taught to be considerate and respectful to others.

So where is the happy medium between all of this? Where do all of our thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings lurk, if not in the back of our minds (or in cyber space)? How do we overcome this? Some of us hold it in, then blow our tops; some of us wear our emotions at the front; some of us write. I am trying to get better with the last in order to avoid the first. I pride myself in the fact that I was once fairly good at keeping a daily journal, but have since fallen away from that.

It's said the bad habits are hard to break, but what about trying form good ones? Why is that equally as hard? I've often asked myself this and have yet to find an answer, even after much effort. If anyone has any insight or secret recipes they'd be willing to share, it would be greatly appreciated!

A preview of things to come: yes, I know! At moment, I am working a piece of writing profiling the life of Sigurd F. Olson, renowned as a nature writer and wilderness conservationist, for one of my classes that I'm rather excited about. Once the final touches have been added, I'll be posting it for your reading pleasure.

If you have not had the chance to read any of his work, I would definitely recommend it! There is a flare of simple elegance and quiet wisdom that permeates through the pages of his books and essays. Any lover of the outdoors is sure to feel something close to kinship as they read about the haunting warbling of loons or the flickering dance of the northern lights.

I'll leave you with one the quotes from Olson that I find fitting, especially for my ever-evolving environmental ethic:

"Wilderness is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium."