Off the List

Today was my last work day for the week, so it was a day for finishing projects.  I headed straight to the office this morning after my drive around the park.  I talked to my coworkers and got them started on some projects and I settled in for office work.  I got the daily paperwork done and then sent several e-mails in continuation of several e-mails sent yesterday to get all of the information compiled for a historic form regarding the cabin to be submitted to the Division of Historical Resources.  I finished up that project and then headed out to take photos of the Log Cabin Visitor Center to add to the report.  I took photos of each side of the building, a few shots inside, and one of the crawlspace.  Some of them turned out nicely, here are the good ones.



I also took a photo from the porch of the spring.  The water is going down, but its going down slowly.  We finally made it below 24 feet today.  Compare the photo below to the photo from last Thursday when we were at 24.79 feet.  You can really see the difference if you look at the length of the white water gauge in the water.


I spent most of the day in the office finishing up my time sheet, the historic structure form, and several other partially finished projects that were on my to-do list.  It felt good to get it all done, but I was longing to be outside.  It helped that it was getting colder and cloudier as the day progressed, but I still wanted to be outside.  On one escape from the office, I found this cocoon on the ground.  It appears that its former owner was done with it.  I'm sure that it exited through the large hole in the top.  A Polyphemus Moth utilized this cocoon when it pupated into a moth.  It likely made its silk cocoon high in the safety of an Oak tree.  It was probably attached to a small branch and several leaves.  You can see the imprint of a leaf on the top of the cocoon.  I see these cocoons relatively often.


When my day was almost over, I headed out to the barn with an arm load of toilet paper and paper towels.  We will have scouts camping at the barn this weekend and I wanted to make sure that everything was all set for them.  My coworkers had taken some picnic tables out there earlier in the day.  I left a welcome message on the dry erase board for them and stocked the restroom.  I also dripped all the faucets before I left to make sure that they don't freeze when we hit the 20's again tonight.  I headed home but decided to get some yard work done.  When I finally went in, I found that the power was off.  The incoming storm must have caused some line damage somewhere.  Shortly after the power came back on, I got a call from a very important person.  He gave me some good news that I will likely be able to share with you tomorrow... stay tuned.