The beginning in the middle

Well, I decided long emails are not the way to go. Longer blogs are obviously a better solution. I haven't blogged in a very long time, so we shall see how consistent I can be. First off, Merut is not my real name. For those of you who do not know, it is the "Ancient Egyptian translation" of my name which I did when I was in the seventh grade. A very reliable translation, as I'm sure you would agree. It is an alias, because my father always warned me about "Knowing the Risk".

Currently I am half-way through my summer of field work in Utah. I've been here about two months now, and will continue to work here until the end of August. Then I will be able to go home to where religion is mostly a non-issue, I can get full strength beer at any of the 15 or so liquor stores within a couple square miles of my home, and I will no longer have to sleep on a futon mattress on the floor (not that I am complaining, I am quite grateful for it).

I have been working for the Division of Natural Resources doing surveys for Burrowing Owls, and occasionally Sage Grouse and Peregrine Falcons. In fact, I spent four hours of my life yesterday sitting by myself in a canyon, waiting for the Peregrine Falcons to emerge. Which they did not. Which meant I listened to four hours of NPR, straight. Daddy will be proud, or at least he should be.

The owl surveys were a mixed bag of fun and tediousness. I saw about 8 owls in the two months I looked for them. But when I did see them they were adorable. They just bob up and down, while looking at me, confused as to why I'm sounding like an owl. Now I am here to do bat surveys, which I enjoy much more. Unfortunately, out of the 7 sites we've done, we've been skunked at 5. Pretty awful odds. Hopefully the weather will improve, the moon will go away, and the bats will pop up. The worst part is that we've seen bats flying in two of the places we've been skunked and still not caught them. Instead we've been catching plenty of nasty beetles that are gross to pull out of the nets (you pretty much have to hold your breath, and kill the things, then pick their body parts out of the net). I keep hoping for just one elusive bat, the "morale booster."

That's about it for the moment. I'm two weeks behind in my study plan for the GRE, so hopefully I can pick it up again, because I don't reckon I want to start over for a fourth time. I just finished reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. For those who would be interested in an Autistic child's perception of the world (in fiction form of course), it is a short but easy read. Also I would recommend watching "30 Rock", because it is quite clever. Although the story lines can be forgettable, the characters are not. And I really need to start the outline for the Note I'm writing for the zoo.

P.S. Please someone come and visit. You can sleep on the floor next to my futon.

P.P.S. I have created a photo sharing thingy, so if you look in the left column, you'll see a link to my photos. If you click on the link, it will show you my photos, and you can either click on the individual photos, or click on the small slideshow button in the top right corner. Also, if you scroll down the photo page, there may be more than one page of photos. I'm saying this because I know some of you are "technologically challenged" (a.k.a. mom). Also, if you look in the left column of my blog, you'll see "Uploads". Anytime I post new pictures, links to them will be posted in the Uploads column. In other words, if you don't see new things there, you won't see any new ones in the photo location either. If you do see new ones, you may want to click on the photos link, because I may have posted more than just five photos. Clear as mud, or "turbid", to use a GRE word.