This is what I do: ugh

The less glamorous side of biological work.On Tuesday, Stacie, John, and I were tasked with some maintenance at a pretty cool wetland site in Palo Alto. I had seen a clapper rail there once. I knew it wasn't going to be a super exciting field day, but I didn't know how un-glamorous it would end up being.

John and I in the morning rain, the toils of the day unbeknownst to us:Our task? To remove chicken wire cages around planted shrubs in a restoration site, a task that the client should have completed years earlier. Because of the neglect, plants wove in and out of wire. Some were just dead. We had metal clippers, clipped plants free, and then had to twist and pull the cages out from their earthly restraints. Flatten them. Pile them. Into the back of the truck and recycle them. We must have taken apart over a hundred, each with two wooden stakes stapled (which we had to cut) into the frame. It rained. More or less all day, tapering off to a drizzle....but as it drizzled, it became colder. I was soaked through. John's leather gloves turned his hands bright yellow, a spot of humour in an otherwise tedious day. My gloves, twisted, wrung water. Stacie had mud in her ear. We were filthy.

Upside of the day? Hurling wooden stakes at the dump. John "strong like bull" threw his the farthest. Stacie and I each hit the dirt pile and were pleased. Then the guys next to us dumped insulation and we all breathed a nice lung full. Lovely.