Birthday Bash

Hey all! It’s the 5 week marker today and I’d like to celebrate by updating you on the past few weeks in backwards order! First up: Echo’s 12th birthday party aka last night!

Trudy, the biologist for OSPRA has 3 kids. Echo is the oldest and Jules and Jade are twins, a boy and a girl. Saturday was Echo’s birthday.

The fun started around 6pm and the kids were all ready to go. A group of about 10 kids were running around in the back working up an appetite. Psh, made me hungry just looking at them. Good thing, too. The food was top notch. Last week Trudy’s kids went fishing and caught 35 trout, so there was plenty of trout to go around. Delicious! And then, practically right after we cleaned the fish we had fondant cake Jenn’s sister, Shirley, made. The cake was absolutely adorable! In addition to cake, Jenn made ice cream so there was plenty of sweetness to go around. Great dessert.

Once dessert was over it was time for presents! We sat outside and watched Echo and the kids open her presents. Man, I remember being her age opening presents in front of the guests. One time, I received a beanie baby from my aunt and told her I’d already had it and my mom said that was rude. Lesson learned. Smile and accept. Getting ready for wedding presents. The registry will be up as soon as I get a boyfriend that proposes.

Echo saved fireworks from the 4th and planned to set them off at night. I get nervous when kids do anything risky, let alone set off fireworks. It’s safe to say I was on my toes. All 6 of Trudy’s dogs were MIA because they hate fireworks, as I describe here. Before fireworks really got going the kids were playing badminton and Jenn and I were petting their calf, Willy. It was cool to finally pet a calf, even if it wasn’t a bison. It’d be super cool if the bison calves would just walk up to us. Oh well, a girl can dream.

The fireworks were really cool. Never been so close to them being set off and the view was sweet. Only one small grass fire started and then immediately extinguished. To top the night off Trudy brought out s’mores! Perfect ending. So happy I got to be a part of her birthday two years in a row. Yay birthdays!

I got too much mud on my tires.

I’ve got other, happy things to post about, but right now I’m going to tell you about my day. It was dreadful. Eventually, it turned around. Later this week I’ll write about Summer Nights and my Wyoming trip…later.

I jotted this post in my phone while it was happening, so bear with me.

Hope your Tuesday was more productive than mine. Woke up bright and early with the expectation of having an easy day in the buffalo pasture only to get my ar stuck in mud and learn that there’s no more Verizon coverage. What a day! And it’s not even noon!

I drove through the muddy part of the road the same as every day, but today the mud had other plans. There must have been an excess of rain last night and just completely soaked the ground. To any native South Dakotan that mud would have been a no brainer. To the city girl she think she can handle it. Well, she can’t. And neither can the Kia. I killed her. Got one of her front tires stuck right in the mud. Genius.

The real problem is that we couldn’t get a hold of anyone to get help. As I mentioned earlier, AT&T cut off Verizon from using their towers here so Verizon customers have to switch over to AT&T. Monopoly anyone? After almost an hour of trying to contact people, I finally got a hold of Trudy and Jenn. Jenn was able to come and try to help us. When we tried to back my car out of the mud I kind of, maybe, drove off the road and sat the back left tire on a ditch. Oops. So, now the car was really, really stuck. Jenn called her cousin, who knows everyone, and he contacted some people with a truck strong enough to tow the Kia. In the meantime, I was cleaning mud off my boots with a rock and daydreaming about my car not being stuck.

Funny story, the guy came to save my life and then when he pulled the car out from the ditch, the front bumper was stuck on tree branches and ripped right off! That’s funny, right? Good times. And now I’m internally freaking out becuase my car looks like a disaster. It’s considered a real rez car now, but even the other cars on the reservation don’t look half as bad. Can I come back to the suburbs yet?

So the day is over and now I”m writing in the present, present tense. I cooled off and chatted with my mom to try and feel better. It’s just a lot of guilt and disappointment. Anyone wanna pay for my bumper to get fixed? No? …yeah. As a thank you for Jenn, I made my famous nutella chocolate chip cookies. They came out as delicious as ever. Made me feel better and reaffirmed my baking competence. Don’t worry, future children, Mama’s gonna feed you well.

Pretty sure we’re going to fix the Kia on Friday. Hopefully nothing flies into the grill until then. Otherwise we’re really in for a treat. Fingers crossed everything else this summer for the next 7 weeks goes smoothly.

In closing, do not listen to Brad Paisley’s advice to “get a little mud on the tires”. It’s a lie. Avoid mud on your tires at all costs. Heed my warning.

Spotlighting for Swift Fox

Last week Prameek and I joined the OSPRA team and WWF on a spotlighting mission to find swift fox! The swift fox population in South Dakota isn’t doing very well, so Parks and Rec is monitoring their progress. It’s unfortunate because these guys are adorable!

The night began by setting up camera traps for the foxes. The camera traps wouldn’t be so bad if there wasn’t bait involved. In order to increase the odds that a fox would come by the camera we use bait, some kind of meat, to draw the fox into view. The cameras have motion sensors so once that fox triggers the sensor the camera takes its pictures. It’s pretty cool. The bait, however, is not. I think they used snake meat. You don’t want to be downwind of that. I’ve worked with rotting chicken liver and I can’t decide which is worse.

Rob setting up the camera trap

At about 830pm it started getting dark enough to whip out the spotlight. When you spotlight, you shine the light out the car window looking for eyeshine as you drive around in pitch black. I was impressed that Rob managed to find the road when we veered off. We didn’t see any fox eyeshine, but we did see bunnies, jackrabbits and pronghorn.

pronghorn running away

bunny!

Unfortunately, I got motion sickness from driving around staring at a spotlight for a few hours so that was unpleasant. Otherwise spotlighting is really fun! And I love helping setting up traps. Been setting traps since ’09! …for men! Haha. Just kidding.

This weekend I’ll be going to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to visit my college friend Julie! We played soccer today. She’s pretty amazing. If Julie is involved you know you’re going to have a good time. Check out her blog <–…she does pretty amazing things too. We’re going to Yellowstone National Park. Oh yeah. It’s that kind of trip.

#southdakotasummer

Puppies!!

One of the saddest parts about living in South Dakota is seeing all of the stray dogs. Many of them survive on their own in the small towns or wandering the Great Plains. My dog, Dakota, was a stray and I picked him up and brought him home. My mom has strictly instructed I refrain from bringing home any more dogs. Even though she loves everything I bring home.

Last Sunday, Prameek and I spotted a puppy bounding around in the tall grass next to the road. When I pulled over and walked to retrieve the puppy, another popped out! Two for one! Probably the best deal with puppies. Or candy. We called the local rescue, the Oglala Pet Project (OPP), and Andrea came and picked them up. OPP has a great mission – to find homes for the stray animals on the reservation and she does a phenomenal job. Andrea runs the group and organizes foster care and oversees the adoption process. It’s incredibly thorough and places the dogs and cats in loving homes.

oh i just want to squeeze their faces off!

If you’re reading this and considering adoption, check out OPP. Rez dogs are built to last and are utterly devoted to their owners. They know how bad life can be and they appreciate their new families. Trust me, the minute you look at the adoptable dogs and puppies you’ll fall in love. I did. But I’m not allowed. Come on, Mom! She looks just like Dakota!

Last Saturday I saw the move Epic and if you’re really interested in how it was check it out here! It’ll be a good waste of time, I guarantee it.

It is currently severely thunderstorming. Perfect. The grass will be happy. The dirt, on the other hand, will take forever to dry and put data collecting on hold. Darn you rain!!!

Volksmarch it up!

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to continue a new tradition I began last year. I participated in the Volksmarch up Crazy Horse Monument. Side note: I understand tradition takes a few more years to build up, but I’m working on it.

Jenn, Prameek and I joined thousands of residents and tourists alike up the perilously flattened out and well-marked trail to the top of Crazy Horse. Jenn ate dirt early on and had to complete the next 5 miles with a gaping wound below her knee. Okay, so it was more of a scrape, you can barely consider it a flesh wound, more of a wound to her ego, but you get the idea. Either way, she made it! She was going to get there even if the EMT had to drive her all the way to the top!

But it’s alright. We made it without medical assistance…thankfully. Once we were at the top, it was time to hike back down and get some grub. We chose to eat at the site because we were famished! Oh boy! Let me tell you. Sorry, no pics of the food. But my sammy was delicious.

I’d really like to be able to do this every year. Maybe go to South Dakota for a few days and hike this bad boy. Sadly, I didn’t get a t-shirt this year. How will I ever remember I participated? Oh, that’s right. My brain! And this picture…

But yes, so if anyone is interested, next year, first weekend in June, South Dakota, Crazy Horse. Let’s do this. There will be a sign-up sheet for all those considering the trip as a possibility. I imagine the list will be short so we can split a hotel room and gas money. Unless we fly. Then we’ll have to come up with a new plan.

Oh well. Not important now. Until next time! 🙂

Oh the weather outside is weather

In teh past few days I’ve seen dense fog, toreential downpour, uncomfortable heat and dime-size hail. South Dakota sure knows how to keep a girl on her toes. I’ve even been keeping up with the hourly weather report but clearly I need a more reliable source.

On the foggy morning we traveled to both research sites only to be restricted to less that a mile of visibility. I debated telling Prameek a ‘Land of the Lost’ story similar to what my dad used to tell me, but I decided against it. It’d be a waste if he didn’t understand my amazing story with such classic characters like Sarah the triceratops and Stink the monkey man (although I’d be entertained). A few days later we got caught in a hail storm. We failed to get out of the pasture soon enough and had to drive back on slippery dirt roads which quickly turned to mud. Good to know the Kia can handle it.

I just can’t wait for this week to be over because Saturday we’re doing the Volksmarch up Crazy Horse Memorial! Six mile hike, baby! So excited! Last year I walked it alone and as realxing and self-fulfilling as it was, it’s always nice to have company. And now I’ve got another chance to get a picture in front of the mountain.

So recently I’ve been (poorly) splitting my time between this blog and a comedy blog I started with a couple of friends in our improv troupe Kram Comedy. There are three incredibly different authors that each post a new entry twice a week. Bored at any point during the day or night with access to the internet? Look no further than Kram Comedy Speaks! Hopefully we can make you laugh 🙂

Here’s the Land of the Lost intro. Classic.

Bad roads are bad for business

We FINALLY made it out to the pasture after two days of rain and two days of drying. Little did we know that two days weren’t enough and the roads were still pretty bad. Nothing the old/new Kia couldn’t handle. Well, some things she couldn’t handle and we weren’t crazy enough to test her limits. I did run her through mud, though! Woo, that was exciting.

Since we missed a week of observations, Prameek and I are going to work overtime to make up for it. That requires an early wake up. Damn. The only positive about waking up early is catching the sunrise. Glorious! And then when it’s up you remember that you’re awake really freaking early and want to go curl up and cry. Fortunately, that second phase only lasts a few minutes, which feel like hours, but in reality it’s no time at all.

While I’m in South Dakota slaving away with the bison, my family is at a bar-miztvah (Bradley’s bar-mitzvah – Mazel Tov!!) enjoy free candy and bonding time. Grr!! Family, I know some of you read this, and FYI I MISS YOU AND WANT TO BE THERE! Good thing there are at least 6 more mitzvahs in Ohio and then at least 2 in New York. Oh goodness, that’s way too far in advance. Nevermind, I take that back. Don’t think that far into the future. It’s too horrible to think about. Fingers crossed I’m married by then…and then you have a wedding to go to in between. Yay! And I promise, it’ll be just as, if not more fun, than my bat-mitzvah.

By the way, 1 MONTH DOWN 3 TO GO!!

Two day rain delay

Oy, rain is depressing. Everything seems worse in the rain. We’ve missed out on two field days due to this storm. It’s probably somewhat related to the terror tornado that hit Oklahoma. Try and slip in a prayer for all those affected. Help if you can. If not, continue on with your lives.

I would continue with my life except the rain poses a problem. We can’t chance going into the field in case the Kia gets stuck in the mud. I’m not sure what she can handle, but with those bald tires, mud probably isn’t it. So we’re stranded at the house finding ways to stay busy. Fortunately, I’ve got a thesis to write, blogs to update and Arrested Development to rewatch.

Yesterday I was able to catch up on New Girl, The Mindy Project and watch the series finale of The Office. Man, that one brought me to tears. Hats off to the writers and the actors and everyone involved because that was a top notch finale! There will never be another love story like Jim and Pam.

I’ll let you all know when I find my Jim. He’s gotta be around here somewhere…

Prairie dogs and drug stores

I love being in a new state and having new places to explore. One such place is the tourist trap that is known as Prairie Dog Town! You can feed sickly looking prairie dogs and fear for your life as they creep closer to you begging for an unsalted peanut. It’s quite the adrenaline rush. They even specifically warn you NOT to run away. I’m assuming that’s for children and grown men.

who would run away from this? 

The real reason Jenn and I visited this wonderful land of tiny dogs was to see the giant prairie dog statue and obviously tourist is up and get a picture with it.

The real destination for the day was Wall Drug in, you guessed it, Wall, South Dakota. Back in the 1930s, Wall Drug was an actual drug store and would encourage visitors by offering free glasses of ice water. What a marketing strategy! It still works today because that’s all I came for.

Success!

I’m sure during the peak of summer this place is packed, but since we went on an overcast day in May it was fairly empty. We explored the shops (there were so many) and got to take a picture on a real, life size jackelope!

I’m a real cowgirl!

On the way home we drove through a serious hail storm! It felt like the hail was going to break through the windshield and kill us on the spot, which would have been so unfortunate after having such a lovely day. After what seemed like forever, the hail let up and calmed down to a severe rain storm. The Kia managed to come out of that without damage, which is less than I can say for the Focus in its last encounter with hail. Poor guy got destroyed. At night we had a rather large cook out, delayed a bit by a traveling thunderstorm. There was so much food I literally had trouble breathing. I came back here with the understanding of eating poorly prepared meals or cereal but so far we’ve at least had one large, delicious meal every week. Love it.

And now this Sunday is being spent writing and working. Prameek comes back tomorrow and then its back to the field! Unless of course we get rained out all week…according to the weathermen that is a serious possibility. Ruh roh. Hope the weather is more friendly wherever you are!

All by myself (sing it)

As the title suggests I’m alone this weekend. Prameek went to Montana for a college reunion and I stayed in South Dakota to be alone with my thoughts.

My first thought was to (shamelessly) read “50 Shades of Grey”. I’ve heard mixed reviews and decided to give it a shot. I generally jump on a series bandwagon later than the public. Hell, it took me years before I gave Harry Potter any thought and without HP I’d be a different person. If there’s something I can geek out to that’s not television or Hollywood, it’s Harry Potter. Another popular series that I distanced myself from was the Twilight Saga. Eventually it ended up in my lap, but only after an intense internal argument, which I lost because Stephanie Meyers is not evenly remotely near J.K. Rowling. Have you ever read a book with a weaker female protagonist? Not once did I root for Bella. Who deserves two guys fawning over her when she can’t even pick herself up for 4 chapters? And even after her deep state of depression she fails to have a break through and gain independence. Only in the last book (yes, I regrettably continued to the last book) does she grow a pair and become a woman.

Anyway, I digress. My next reading venture will be full of bondage and poor writing, but I’ll manage. The writing is a bit redundant but I’m holding out for the good stuff. The S-E-X. I’m ready for you, Christian Grey.

Other than that, tomorrow I’m going to Wall Drug with Jenn.

And then in three months I’ll be home.

Time sure does fly.