The (Hemming)Way of Life

It has been snowing for three days

The first day it was not so bad. We were supposed to get pounded by snow, something like 10 inches. Business closed, work was canceled. Even the library shut its doors. What we actually got was far less than the projected 10 inches.
The second day was much worse. It snowed so much that the door out of the lodge was stuck. We had to throw our bodies against it force it open, the snow had piled up so much. We spent the day cleaning up the lodge, cause really at that point what else was there to do?
This storm is only the biggest marker in this second winter over here in South Dakota. Ponds have frozen over, roads are icy and whole mess of other winter problems have come together to mean no work. My boss has been stuck in his apartment, unable to unite me with the tasks that I need to do. The other crew cant go out and sample because everything is frozen.
Moral is low at the lodge.
Everyday is the same. We wake up, eat, and hunt until the library is open. Then they try to contact land owners for permission to be on their property and I write. Then we head back to the lodge, hunt so more, then head to Terry's for dollar pints. It's a really great deal for very bad beer. Then back to the lodge for more drinks and talk.
Needless to say, we all really want the weather to improve.

-Me

Having Internet Isn't Hard When You Have A Library Card

Outside it is cold, windy and rainy.
Good thing I'm sitting in the rather nice and comfortable Redfield Library. There's a fire burning in a stone fireplace at my feet and some really pleasant old ladies who just love country music and watching birds. I think I just had my longest conversation ever about country music that did not involve Taylor Swift.
The Redfield Library, though very tiny, looks amazing. The small brick building is filled with wooden pillars and columns grand father clocks and graceful curves. And VHS tapes. Lots of VHS tapes. It's like a 90's Blockbuster in here.

ATV training on Saturday went really well. Met Kory, the other Tech for the job. He's a pretty nice guy, Junior at SDSU and fully ingrained in the Wildlife vs Fishes battle at that school.  It's odd, at Michigan there seemed to be contention between the animal and plant biologists, but out here nobody cares about plants it seems. The two camps are fishes vs game animals. Sadly, the fisheries people have the greater numbers, which was why moving the ATVs was such a pain. All them boats in my way. But yeah, the training went smoothly, save fore one minor incident.
We had permission to hold the training course on SDSU property, near some of the animal pens, as that was the only place that had enough space to do the maneuvers required. We were by some big horn sheep, keeping far enough of from them not to disturb them, when a white truck came roaring down the road. It skidded to a stop not far from us, dusting billowing around it, and a rather large bearded man jumped out and stormed over to us. He was yelling something, but over the noise of the ATVs I couldn't hear what.
The ATV instructor walked overt to the man and I joined in after shutting down the ATV. The man, apparently a professor at SDSU, was yelling, threatening to call the cops on us for disturbing his sheep. He claimed that using the ATVs near them could kill his sheep, each worth more that $60,000, and that he would sue us for any harm we did them.
Throughout his tirade, both the instructor and I tried to tell him that he had permission to be here, and that this was an SDSU approved activity. It wasn't until I gave him the name of the professor that was overseeing project I am working on that he calmed down at all. He turned back to his car and made a quick phone call. While he was doing that, we were packing up the ATV course. It was not worth the effort trying to argue with that man, and it would be sad if a sheep died. Eventually he came back, much quieter now, and apologized for his earlier behavior. It seems that Dr. W carries a bit of weight at SDSU.
The man was still worried about his sheep, and asked if we could relocate, even though we could be there. He told us about the chicken pens, just to the north and said that they were empty now. And so we decided to head out and bother that area.
Well, almost. The chicken area was separated by a large muddy field. We drove the ATVs over it, but some of them could not make it and got stuck. Mine almost did, but luckily, I had enough grip in 4-Wheel-Drive to make it through. Even better, we got an extra lesson in our course--How to deal with a stuck ATV.

Arriving in South Dakota or Planes Pheasants Problems and Parties

I always like Airports. Something about them just makes you feel more connected with the world. Maybe it’s the eclectic group of people you meet there. Or maybe it’s the way they tell you to keep tracking of your bags in seven different languages.

The flights were mostly routine, the only thing of note was a conversation with a Crown University Baseball player. Short summary of that conversation follows.

“Don’t go to Crown.”

Aberdeen Airport looks identical to the Powel International Airport. Besides servicing only one plane at a time, Aberdeen has the same interior design style.  All wood paneling and hunting ads dominated the walls. Met Jarrett at the gate and headed out. It took two hours to drive from Aberdeen to the hunting lodge in Zell. Two hours of cornfields and frozen ponds.

 We arrived at the Lodge a little past midnight. After a short talk with some of the other techs there, I went to bed. Woke up again at 5 to head out to Brookings, home of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and two hours away, which by South Dakota standards, is just down the road. This state is vast and empty.  Internet is thirty minutes away.

On the drive over we saw geese tornados. If you have never seen one, they are an amazing site.  The geese circle around a landing spot and slowly descend down to the ground forming a black funnel or tornado like shape. I have never seen that many birds in one place as once. Sometimes, the migrating flocks are large enough to cover the sky.

We rolled up to Brookings around 8/830 and headed into the SDSU campus. The drive went by a lot faster than it would have in Michigan. South Dakota has speed limits 10 mph faster than back home. It’s kind of great to cruise down streets at 70. I had to redo some paperwork and take some tests. Turns out that I am still working for the USGS with this job, and as such I have already done most of the paperwork. Yay.

Off to Adventure!

And so it begins.
Today I'm off to work in South Dakota. Hopefully I shall be able to update this regularly, but I'm not sure. The lodge I will be staying at is supposed to have internet, but I wonder if that is just during pheasant hunting season. As it is a pheasant hunting lodge. And this is not pheasant hunting season. Who knows though? Well, I guess I will in about twelve hours.
There are not many flights to Aberdeen.
Well, that's about it for now. I mean, I haven't really done anything to write about yet. Soon I will though, so keep checking on this space for the exciting adventures of Michigan Lind!
Now though, I think I'll grab some food. I'm thinking something in Chicago.

-Me

Preparing for Adventure

Hello all, and welcome

Notice anything different? 

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No?

Well that is probably good, as nothing has changed about this site aesthetically. Instead, the change is in content. As you are almost certainly aware of by now, the amount of writing on this blog has dropped drastically recently. That is due to the switch from creative writing to adventure journal. 

Yes that is correct. Adventure. Soon I shall be off on the next Grand Adventure (TM) and you can read all about it here.

Right now, one week away, I must say I am cautiously excited about this. The work sound amazing, and it could be a lot of fun. It's just the locality that I am not to keen on. Zell, South Dakota makes the middle of nowhere seem like the hub of civilization. It has 4 streets. And, the best part, according to the ever accurate Wikipedia, it's only landmark is "Jim's Liquor Store."  Woo

While I do love being outside and enjoying nature, sometimes I like to see other people too. But hey, who knows. Maybe Zell is really Swell. We'll just have to wait and see.

That's all really for now. The next time I update will be the day the adventure begins. Until then, enjoy yourselves.

-Me

Thanks For Waiting

Hello Yet Again,

The ending of a story is not quite enough thanks for sticking around all this time. 'Specially that ending. So, in that vein, I have something special for you all. A super short story I wrote called "Ezah The Jewel Thief." It's about a jewel thief. Named Ezah. Bet you didn't see that coming. I wrote it as a challenge to write a story in under 500 words. One day, I hope to expand on the story, but maybe not. I kind of like it as it is. I'm sure you will too.

Sadness, Joy, and The Nether

Hello again All,
I hope that my absence has not caused you too much distress. For my lack of words, I do apologize. Recently, I have felt very lacking in my writing abilities. Within a week of one another, two of my short stories-two that I had been most proud of-had both been rejected. Sadness abounds. For a couple of weeks, I lost my will and desire to write. Every time I thought I should try and start something, I'd get to the computer and stare at a blank screen before giving up again. I felt worthless. Those rejection letters, coupled with my lack of progress in my career gave me a whole host of doubts.

But that is not the end of the tale (if it was why would I be writing this now?)!

Just a few short days I was hired for field work out in South Dakota. It was great news, not just the fact that soon I will be paid to basically go on vacation with  a boat load of birds, but also the fact that I was hired because of my skills as a researcher. It was good to know that I am good at what I want to do. With that letter, came a renewed focus on writing. So after about a month of stagnation, all of my projects are moving forward again. Happy Days!

With this new job comes a change in programming here. Come April, I shall be setting this up as a field journal. Don't worry though, II'll still be posting stories. They will just becoming between tales of my adventures out in the field. One could even say my, "Continuing Adventures....."

Well, that's enough of an update for the moment. Thanks for staying with me, all of you out there. I know you've been waiting  for the ending of the Nether. I am sad to say that it will most likly not be worth the wait, but I still hope you enjoy it!