Journal of a Sabbatical

March 31, 1999

peeping

March 31, 1999
Plum Island
5 buffleheads
2 killdeer
1 redwing blackbird
2 Canada geese
1 mute swan
1 mallard
3 American crows
4 common goldeneyes
4 red-breasted mergansers
2 black-capped chickadees
2 American robins
2 American tree sparrows
1 great egret
2 greater yellowlegs
10 turtles
1 white-tailed deer
Rowley
spring peepers
North Andover
1 great blue heron

I heard the first spring peepers of the season this afternoon. I had forgotten how loud they are. I can hear them in the car with the windows closed!

Also saw the first turtles of spring: ten of them at the north pool overlook on the refuge. I'm not sure what species they were: shiny black turtles sunning themselves on muddy banks.

The piping plovers have arrived. Well the advance party of 5 of them is here. I didn't see any of the little peeping federally threatened creatures, but I met Steve at the gatehouse when I entered the refuge. The beach closes tomorrow morning. My first plover warden shift is Friday morning from 8 AM to noon. The gatehouse is manned - personned? - umm, staffed - now in preparation for tomorrow. The signs are all up and ready to be unveiled. They're covered with burlap until the beach closure goes into effect.

I finally got in touch with István in Budapest (he's having e-mail troubles) and found out the new herbarium building will not be ready in time for a May visit so we are now looking at late June, which is better for me anyway. So if e-mail is supposed to be so wonderful and the answer to every communication problem, how come it's broken so often? Frequently people who e-mail me (or other world users) get a message that says "unknown user". I report it to customer service. They apologize, say it's a bug, say they're working on it. Meanwhile friends and colleagues think I've vanished... but I digress. Wasn't I just planning a trip to Hungary? I can't wait to see Budapest. I think I'm going to have to drop Bosnia from the itinerary though. Maybe a trip will break me out of this rut I think I'm in.

It feels like such a full day today.

• Cleaning at the cat shelter.
• Making Jaguar purr.
• Seeing Jazzpurr leap over Jaguar to the very top of the row of cages and almost not make it!
• Meeting a new black and white cat who talks almost as much as Wilbur. I always thought that was an orange cat personality trait - or Siamese.
• Jazzpurr turning a complete somersault in midair trying to catch the cat toy.
• Running into Steve at the gatehouse. He already thinks I spend every waking moment at the refuge.
• Being practically eyeball to eyeball with a young white tailed deer.
• Counting turtles!
• Hearing peepers!
• Trying to answer "what is art?" with Tom and Philosophy Larry - helping Larry prepare a class on aesthetics.

No wonder I don't have time to read. Yesterday I made a list of all the books I've read so far in 1999. I figure if I keep a list maybe I'll get more reading done. I only have a few pages of Waiting to Fly left to read but I don't want it to end. I've got to start choosing easier books. I have that whole pile of Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries that Joan-east and Priscilla gave me and I haven't started any of them. It's weird knowing I am the only online journaler who has never read a single word by Terry Pratchett (whom I've only heard of from reading online journals). I just read in the Boston Globe that Bernd Heinrich has yet another book about ravens out. Maybe I'll put that on my wish list for like Christmas -- of like 2001. By then I may be finished with my backlog.

Until next time...