week in review

Another week down!

This week was crazy busy for me - there were 3 different schools on site. This was also my busiest teaching week in a VERY long time. I taught nearly every session and started teaching 1 new class. The groups were all really good and fun to work (and bit exhausting). The last class I taught this week is one of my favorites. Its a class about macroinvertebrates where we talk about some of the adaptations and then go and sample a stream and wetland. Its super fun for me - I love getting my hands dirty trying to find the teeny aquatic critters.

I had an interesting conversation with one of the chaperones. I had mentioned in class that the bugs don't really bother me much. So he was talking to one of the other interns about how bugs seem to love some people and leave some people alone. It was mentioned that alot people use flowery scented stuff when they shower and that may be part of the problem. Well, I was going through the lunch line and he asked me about my showering habits. Since bugs leave me alone, I must not shower.

UGH - I just started laughing and didn't even know how to respond to that one. On a different note, I handed in my last Hamline assignment yesterday. Its great to have that finished and off my plate. Anyways, just another week as the end of the school year draws near!

nighthawk

On Thursday, a common nighthawk was brought in for rehab. It had an injured wing (a broken left wrist to be exact).

Look at the teeny tiny beak.....

but man what a big mouth you have!

Me getting ready to but the bird back in the carrier.

May Mayhem

For those of you checking my blog on a daily basis, let me apologize. The month of May is crazy! I have posted a bunch of entries today (they had been half finished for awhile but I just got the time to finish them) so enjoy.

The past few weeks have been crazy. On the 8th, I had an outreach in Bloomington, MN at a wildlife refuge there. It was targeted at kids and getting them interesting in birding. It was alot of fun and the new visitor center is amazing. If you live in the cities, this place would be a good spot to spend the afternoon. On the 13th I did an outreach on my own with the birds. It was Freshwater Fest and put on for the local schools. Basically, the kids come to the fest and get to go around to the different stations all day. The day was long because it was 8 -25 minute programs for me and by the end of the day I couldn't even remember what I had said. Overall, it was great though because the kids were all excited and having a great time!

My days spent onsite are also a bit crazy. May seems to be the month that every school wants to come to the Audubon. On top of that, this is also the time of year that we recieve many phone calls in regaurds to wildlife. This past week, one of those phone calls resulted in us getting 5 northern saw-whet owlets. Their nesting cavity was cut down when the property owners were getting ready to install geothermal. They all looked well cared for and were transfered down to the raptor center that afternoon.

In addition to all my work stuff, I have been wrapping up my Hamline course work. I have finished four of my five classes and my last assignment is due on Friday!!

So much to do and not quite enough time to blog. Hopefully as stuff starts to wrap up, my blog updates will be down in a little more timely manner :)

Baseball!

Last night, I went to my first baseball game...EVER!

It was Brewers vs Twins at Target Field. I had been looking forward to this all week. After work, we took off down to the cities and grabbed dinner downtown before heading to the game. Our seats had an amazing view of the skyline. The Brewers played awful but as a whole (the gave up 7 runs in the first inning). Overall, my first it was good experience and I would definately go to another game.

WAUSAU!

So this past weekend I went home for a friends wedding. It was a much needed little break from work and I had lots of fun.

On Friday, I went to Target which may sound completely uneventful but it was super exciting for me since the nearest one is a good hour away from me. That evening, it was a family dinner at 2510.

Saturday morning I went on a walk with my sister to old rock quarry in Rib Mountain State Park. I hadn't been up there before but it was pretty. Saturday afternoon was my friends wedding. It was beautiful and great seeing the whole group of girls!!

Wish I could have spent a bit longer in town but had a blast on my quick trip to the homeland.

Banana

I recently finished a book called: Banana - The fate of the fruit that changed the world written by Dan Koeppel. It may seem like a book about bananas may be a bit borning. Let me assure you that it wasn't. This book was actually a quick and fascinating read, especially considering that I have never eaten a banana.

A FEW BANANA FACTOIDS:

1. American's eat more bananas than oranges and apples combined.
2. All bananas sold in the United States are clones of each other. This is proving to be problematic as a fungus is wipping out the banana we eat - i.e. if one banana gets sick, all bananas get sick. Some experts think that this species of banana may be extinct in as little as 2 decades.
3. The species of banana that we eat is one of the poorest bananas nutritionally and taste wise (just ask anyone who as been to an area where the fruit can be grown and sold locally).
4. The banana companies have had more influence on governments (both home and abroad) than I would even care to think. It just blows my mind that they have been responsible for the rise and fall of entire countries.

At the end of the book I came to this conclusion; bananas are evil. That may sound a bit harsh since most of you probably eat this fruit on a daily basis but this book really opened my eyes to the politics behind bananas. I won't bore you with the details now. If you are interested, go check out this book. I think it is worth a look!

random ramblings

Alot has happened in the past week or so. Most of it is completely boring and not blog worthy. A bunch of school groups and day to day chores.

I have also been doing a TON of thinking and have sort of been stuck in my own thoughts. Over the past week and a half, I have had several conversations with people. For better or worse, these talks and what was said got under my skin. The bad news was it was a really crappy week. The good news is that I have had a chance to process things and am moving past it.

I other "exciting" news, we got snow today. We haven't had any snow fall since February and it decides to flurry in May...ugh. I was just getting used to breaking out my sandals. The photo above is taken from my bedroom window while enjoying my afternoon off curled up watching a movie.