Still On The Go

It felt like Monday all over again. I spent my morning trying to get as much done as I could before I had to leave the park and drive all over the place. In the afternoon, I went to Adams Tract and collected water samples, then took the samples to Lake City. The day went by quickly, but its all sort of a blur of hurrying about.
After opening the park and doing my morning drive, I found that my co-worker had come in to fish on his day off. You know you have a good job when you go to work for fun. I chatted with him for a minute and then left him to enjoy the peaceful river while I continued my walk around the park. I went over to the restrooms and took a look at one of the light fixtures. The light had not been working and I had someone replace the bulbs. The problem seemed to be with the ballast instead. For some reason, its more expensive to replace the ballast in these light fixtures than it is to buy a whole new fixture. I took a photo of the fixture to make sure that I got the right one when I picked up supplies later. I know it isn't a very exciting photo, but I find snapping a quick photo before going to the hardware store is a help quite often.

I spotted a moth on one of the restroom windows when I finished with the light. I have seen this type of moth more than once, but I don't have an ID for it yet.

After I left the restroom area, I drove out to the entrance station to add more envelopes and brochures. The Forked Bluecurl and yellow Slender Scratchdaisey that I found nearby were so gorgeous together, they were like little bushy bouquets that had been carefully arranged. I had to spend a few minutes with the flowers. The Bluecurl is a new find for me this year and I have been seeing a lot of it. I am not sure if there is more of it this year, or if I just never noticed it before.

While I was taking pictures. The one and only car of visitors that I saw today entered the park. I drove back around to the main area of the park and greeted them. They were divers and I renewed their pass after checking them in. The woman that I sold the pass to asked if I got any good photos, and asked what I was taking pictures of. She told me that the Bluecurl has been very hardy on her property this year, so it must be a good year for the beautiful plant. She also told me that she keeps notes about the wildflowers that she sees on her property and where she found them. It provides a great resource year after year, and its interesting to note the changes. I am enjoying creating a similar reference with my blog. The blog is ending up being helpful in more ways than I ever anticipated.
Once I finished up with paperwork and all my other responsibilities at Troy, I headed to Adams Tract. I talked to the volunteers and made my way around the camp to collect the water samples from various faucets. I realize now that I should have taken some photos of the process, but I guess I was juggling too many things to add a camera to the mix. I put the water samples on ice and began my 25+ mile drive to Lake City where I dropped the samples off at the Environmental Health Department. They will test my water samples for bacteria to ensure that we stay in compliance with public drinking water standards. I do this every quarter, so if you would like to know more about the process click here for last time or stayed tuned until next quarter. While I was in town, I stopped at the hardware store for a new light fixture for Troy and some supplies for Adams Tract. On my drive back to the park, I stopped for gas and found a moth to photograph. This is really becoming a tradition.