Muddy Slugs

I lay in my tent with a headlamp strapped around my forehead, and even though it’s dark, a Brewer’s sparrow calls across the sage brush. He is so emotional about spring and having a mate he can’t stop singing in these late hours, his song sounding sort of insect like. In the distance calls a great horned owl and several frogs giving me a feel of almost being in southern California, camping next to a lively riparian area.

Today started at around 5am where I rolled out of bed, grabbed my binoculars and a scoop of peanut butter, then went out to a Buffalo Gap National Grassland for my last day of job training. In the grasslands the mud was so bad the whole group collected mud on the bottoms of their shoes then scraped them off while scooting across the highway, looking like slugs leaving a slime trail. My cowboy boots didn’t collect mud, probably that is why they are George Strait approved. We all cleaned the Whitney Preserve house, Nick sweeping the kitchen floor, Anica vacuuming, Erin using the big broom in the dining room and living room. Dried mud was everywhere from the wet and snowy week we had. We divided into groups by which state we were working in for final instructions, then we all went our separate ways. Me and Nick used the Hot Springs library for hours, and didn’t get to our first points at Raven Creek south of Upton, WY till long after dark.