It's Raining, It's Pouring

Well, despite the sunshine in these pictures, it has been pouring down rain for about two solid weeks, with the exception of Sunday which was blessedly warm. There have been about five, maybe six, sunny days since I arrived here and I feel like I've been blessed with a second winter this year. So, on the weather side of things, I will be happy to get back to California, dry out and warm up a bit. It really is still quite beautiful, though. There is nothing wrong with watching rain drip off the ferns and spruce. The loons call out all day and all night and the wind is ferocious and wild. The waves beat so strong on the shore that they whip up a thick foam - which is fun to paint on the sides of the boats and make beards with. I really do love it. And Luna and I have fun all the same. Sometimes we go out, but it really is quite chilly so mostly we stay in and play and tell stories and sing and dance and bake. I got to go out in the field a couple of days ago. It was quite an adventure. I helped Daniel and Casey put nets out and pull in about 200 fish. They needed to measure them and record how much scarring they had from gill nets. The first group of salmon we didn't quite get enough so we had to put the nets out again. After pulling them into the nets, they have to be untangled from the nets and thrown into a little cage thing (I'll post the pictures soon). This was fun! I got bit a few times. Salmon have sharp teeth. I also fell in the water a few times (tripped on the net) - making the waders somewhat ineffectual. (Keep in mind - this is in the pouring down rain, standing in water that is about 7 degrees celcius) I was the data recorder. It took several hours to get all the fish done. By the time we were finished I was so cold my hands wouldn't even grip the pencil and I couldn't zip up my life vest for the boat ride back. Thank goodness for that special science paper that you can write in in the rain. It stood up well when I dropped it in the lake twice. Oh well. A bowl of chili and a cup of hot tang (back at camp) and I was good as new again. Despite the cold, I really had a great time wrangling fish. I'm not sure Daniel and Casey were too thrilled to have a hypothermic newbie in the field with them. But I had fun. And they were really nice about it all.

As far as the pics go: one is of a leisurely evening in camp (pete w/ a butterfly net, daniel peeling potatoes w/ luna playing nearby, andrew sitting); my bed in the bunkhouse (somebody asked where I sleep); and Luna making fairy soup.

I've got to turn the generator off, so that's all for now. I hope you're all doing well. See you in a couple weeks!