Some Lighter Notes

It has come to my attention that my posts are getting a little too deep and
I am obviously spending too much time alone with my thoughts. I dont think
the person meant it as an insult or questioning of my mental state, but
anyone who knows me knows that I dont like to get too serious with things.
So these will hopefully be some lighter, more fun notes.

We are in the final throws of science on the Cape. Just two more weeks of
seal and penguin work, then we stop all science and just focus on packing
things up for a week. Less than a month from now I will be sitting in a
cushy hotel room with running water, flush toilets, and a real door
separating me from anyone I damn well want. Should be pretty magical. Until
that time though, I am trying to really soak in where I am. I climb at
least 4 large hills everyday to look for seals, but sometimes I kind of
forget to look out at the view while I'm up there. Or more often than not
these days, its too foggy to see anything anyway, so you might as well look
where you are going and avoid tripping over a rock or bitey-end-up seal.

That being said, occasionally we get that freak gorgeous day with sun,
mostly blue skies, and ideal little to no wind. In truth, that almost never
happens (you can have sun or no wind, rarely both), but a couple days ago
we got about as close as we have come to it since December. It was sunny,
relatively non-windy, and visibility was good enough to see most of the
cape from my high perched vantage points. So I went right up to the edge
and look out, doing a full 360 to take it all in. After nearly losing my
balance and falling down the cliff, I really did take that deep breath and
just kind of feel myself relax. It was pretty nice I have to say. This is
one of those places most people will never ever get to visit and that makes
it very special.

So of course, my next move was what I assume comes naturally to every male
(and probably some females, though physical and safety restrictions might
come it play more). I unzipped and peed right off the cliff. As my mom can
(and readily will) attest, I have always enjoyed peeing outside. Its one of
those simple pleasures of being in nature and being free! If you have never
peed off a cliff especially, I highly recommend it. This is one where wind
can actually be beneficial, though you have to make sure you don't get
blown off as well. Nobody wants to end up bloody and broken at the bottom
of a cliff covered in their own pee. Guys- just do it. Girls- find a way,
because if peeing off cliffs is wrong, why does it feel so right? Its the
ultimate bout of freedom, that perfect combination of exposing yourself to
the world while simultaneously marking it as yours in a cascading stream of
human dominance over nature. Or something like that…

Thats my main story for tonight. In other news, we have our 4th and final
round of pup weights tomorrow, where we go out and catch/ weigh 100 pups.
100 doesn't seem like that much but the leopards have been hitting us hard
this year and finding all 100 is tough (at one point I suggested it might
be easier to just weigh the leopards at the start of the season and again
at the end and figure out the difference). Not to mention, the puppies are
officially getting kind of wise to us, especially when they see a crew of 6
people approaching with a small wave of other puppies running out in front.
That and their freakishly large size all of a sudden that gives them added
speed and maneuverability is going to make it quite the spectacle. I'm just
a little excited. Its like the rodeo with adorable baby seal. I will have
lots of banjo music playing in my head and don't be surprised if I end up
diving into a tide pool after one. Sometimes you just gotta do what you
gotta do.

Immediately following the puppy weights we have penguin chick banding (well
ok its the next day). This should be equally entertaining in that it
involves corralling piles of penguin chicks, who are, to be extremely
generous, "uncoordinated" and slapping some bands on them. One of the
highlights these days of heading out to the penguin colonies is just
watching parents come back from sea and having their chicks chase them
around the colonies trying to get food. Sometimes its not even their
chicks! You might get a whole herd of chicks chasing one adult. They're
also in the process of molting, so most are part downy softness, part real
bird. Often this results in very confused looking birds with a feathery boa
around their neck or mohawks on their heads. I also saw one trying to nap
on its belly the other day but it was so fat its wings and feet barely
touched the ground so it was mostly just superman-ing and dreaming it was
soaring through the air. Or whatever it is that penguins really dream
about…

Ok thats it. Not challenges, no big life questions, just what do you think
penguins dream about? Write it down. Maybe walk up to a complete stranger
and tell them your answer and then try to describe the confused look on
their face.