Settling into BC

Plans have finally solidified for the most part for this summer (beyond that we still don't know).  I've hired a small crew for a few months but generally speaking, I'm having a 'down' season.  This means that I'll be at our basecamp for the duration of the summer with the animals while John and crew are sampling vegetation in Northwest Territories and some more areas in NE British Columbia.  It is far more costly to actually sample with the animals and we don't have our graduate student this year to help.  So we asked for and received funding for some vegetation work in NWT that will compliment and add to what we have been doing the past 3 years but is cheaper and logistically more feasible with a reduced crew.  With this 'down time' comes the expectation from our funders that we (more me than John) will be able to get much of the last 3 years of data analyzed since the field workload is much reduced.

I have mixed feelings about how this has turned out.  There are 2 major down-sides.  First is that this delay in our planned research may increase the number of field years I have left.  The original plan was this year and next would be it for this 6 month/year extreme field research that we've been doing for almost 20 years.  I enjoy the work and being out in the woods 24/7 but I'm honestly exhausted from the stress of it, the work of it and not being able to do anything 'normal' (gardening, backpacking, sitting on porch with a beer...taking a day off now and then...etc).  In the past, we've done work like this for 3 years in a row and then always had one year 'off' before starting a new 3 year project.  I've been living this field schedule with no breaks now since 2011.  This is the 6th straight year and honestly it's wearing on me.  It would be easier to bear if I knew I just had this year and next...but given how things have been turned upside down, we may now have 3 more years ahead of us (not including this year).  Even if I'm not 'in the field' this year, in my mind it still counts because I'm not home.  And 'basecamp' is a camp trailer which, while better accommodations than the back of a truck, still doesn't have running water or electricity and so trying to work hard and be productive on a computer under those conditions is challenging to say the least (when both John and I are at basecamp, the table isn't big enough for us both to work so he's on the table and I'm on the bed trying to work seriously with a computer on my lap!).

But there are up-sides.  If I can get my head on straight and quit wallowing in self-pity because of the above, this 'down' year does afford me a chance to get caught up on some analysis/writing that I can never get ahead of -- which in theory, if I can make it happen, would finally give me some breathing room this winter.  Not taking animals out means that HUGE stress is not there (although we may take them out for 4 or 5 days to finish collecting data for a side project I've been trying to work on but I can handle that).  And it means a far more flexible/routine schedule than in past years... Without some of the mindless distractions I have at home (Netflix and unlimited internet access!), I see myself spending more time on hobbies than I have been doing at home - and certainly more than in past field seasons when I had no time. 

Without a full-blown field season, I also had space in my truck to bring more personal items.  Normally it's full to the gill with work stuff and I can only fit the necessities.  With this new space, I brought tons of knitting and some art supplies.  I bought and brought a weight bar and plates so that I could continue with my strength training and I brought both my bikes (road and mountain) as well as my bike trainer for when I can't get out on the road via foot or wheels (which is more frequently than one may think). I brought books...so many books.  And I brought my yoga stuff and in this particular camp trailer, there is actually room to lay out a mat (our old one that is currently in Quebec, there was no space)...I'd prefer to practice outside but often weather or bugs prevent that from happening and so it's nice that I have other options. 

As mentioned, the latter all depends on keeping my head on straight.   I've been up here right at 3 weeks and so far I'm struggling a bit.  Part is to be expected actually and I'm allowing myself some space for that.  We push HARD before coming up here and both John and I, once here, sort of crash for a bit in exhaustion.  It takes a few days to get back into a routine.  And it's also a complete shift in lifestyle and that is always an adjustment no matter how many years I do this.  Add in the unexpected stress from the fire situation and we've already had some animal issues, and it's been a slow start. 

But last week I reached out to Mel, had a session, and these last few days it feels like things are slowly settling into a bit of a routine.  I've been taking my morning walks, stopping mid-point to breathe and stretch some of the stress out of my shoulders and neck.  I've done some lifting and biking (I'm having to get creative with the lifting...I'm doing assisted pull-ups on a corral system our landowner uses for his cows...I've built a 'bench' out of feed bags and a step out of crates and plywood!).  I've been knitting -- starting 2 new projects because I felt like I needed a fresh start.  One of these, pictured above is a garter stitch, lace shawl.  It seems like every year I gravitate towards those at the beginning of the season!  I've also brought out my sketchbook and have begun working with pencil and paper again after an 8 year hiatus (I just checked and yup, it's been that long).  It is scary to show these on the blog, but I'm proud that I'm returning to it.  And exciting...the first page was hard.  Part because it has been so long and part because I've never sketched moving objects and that was tough!  But the second page...I was filling water tanks and it takes about an hour so I took my sketchbook out.  I got so completely drawn into the process that I kept forgetting to switch the hose so tanks kept overflowing!  And I felt the muscle memory start to take over.  I felt the trust in my hands come back and I didn't second guess as much but just let me hands go.  It's exciting. 

I have more to share...a new endeavor that I think I'm going to love, but this is long enough already -- I'll share on the next post.  How about you?  Are you doing anything creative or does that take a back seat in the summer?

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Now playing:  Sometimes A Waltz by Babes With Axes

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