Wildfire

Today was my first day of work on the Barta Brother’s research ranch, and when Ben and I came home from town where we were picking up equipment, there was a giant plume of smoke off to the north.

Prairie "Pooch" Poop

Everything poops. I recently read a book entitled "What Shat That? - A pocket guide to matching feces with their species." and was quite entertained by all of the "interesting shit" and peculiar uses of what we usually consider a waste product.

Blowing a Gasket

I guess I never really, truly understood the meaning of the phrase "blowing a gasket" until I spent my entire day laying irrigation pipe. I always figured the idiom aptly described the look my mom gets when my brothers and I do something uber dumb... but as I previously mentioned, after today's debacle, I do concur that a leaky irrigation pipe provides a suitable metaphor for an angry ranch mom. (Or an angry grizzly bear, but I digress.)

Bromus Obnoxious

Bromus Obnoxious

More commonly known as Downy Brome and ‘fondly’ referred to as Cheat Grass, I don’t think I’ll ever get all of the seed heads out of my shoes, but it was well worth it.

It’s Got to Be Illegal to Have This Much Fun…

It was a warm and muggy Tuesday following a Monday, as Tuesdays often do, and thanks to the fall of the holidays, this Tuesday happened to become christened a ‘Sticky-Trap Tuesday.’ My trusty partner, Smiley, and I headed out upon our momentous adventure, with lunches packed, sample bags labeled, and spare Sharpies on hand. Other than a near miss with a road-grader and a bit of baja-ing over a bumpy patch, our first set of petial samples went off without a hitch. Little did I know, however, that it would require every ounce of energy reserves from my PB&J s to tackle the next obstacle ahead of me.