There's nothing like spending an evening enjoying an episode of Battlestar Galactica with a cool Mexican Coca-Cola in your hand!
Day 36 Springtime
Spring is finally here! At least on our front steps, anyway. I actually heard my first warbler yesterday and saw my first swallows of the season flying around our house this morning. Sonja just started her surveys going up the Sun Road, but they've only plowed the first 20 miles so far. It'll be a while before she can get up near Logan Pass. Probably at least another month and a half.
I stayed close to home for these. I thought a study of the color green was very appropriate considering that it matches the shade of my sickly complexion these last couple of days.
I missed a couple days in there this past week, but I chalk it up to the hectic schedule I had during the last couple of days of training. It was a tough two weeks, but I'm now officially a structural firefighter for the NPS!
Before I get to the next couple of photos for my 365 Days project, I wanted to share some video from the fire training I was at. This first one is a little boring, but I'm the second person on the hose as we approach a "propane tree". Our task was to "capture" the flames inside a cone of water. This would give us the opportunity to see how powerful a tool water can be to not only extinguish but also to move and manipulate fire. It also was a chance to gain confidence in the ability of our equipment to protect us from heat.
This second video perfectly demonstrates what I meant by "capturing the flame". I took this during our vehicle fire exercise. And believe it or not, but this is in real time. It's not sped up at all. That day was so windy it made for a huge and dramatic fire inside that van. It was awesome!
I had a great time at training, but I am so happy to finally be home. I slept for over 13 hours last night and plan on duplicating that again tonight.
So here are my Day 23 and 27 photos:
Day 23 Capturing the Flame
I didn't actually take this photo, but it was taken with my camera, and that person standing there with the nozzle in hand facing that huge ball of flame is me, so I thought it qualified by default. This was also during the vehicle fire exercise.
Day 27 Three-toed Woodpecker
With spring finally making an appearance (it felt, looked and sounded like spring today), I can assure you that you'll probably see many more bird pics in the days and months to come. Not only are the migrants starting to arrive (this woodpecker is a year-round resident, though), but the weather is finally getting warm enough that it's actually comfortable to be outside fiddling around with my camera. I ended up taking 287 pictures of this very cooperative bird, most of them from less than 10 feet away. I think it's the closest I've ever been to a Three-toed Woodpecker. And I can now vouch that he is properly named!
Day 35
Day 36
