Turkey Lurkey

My day had a much different pace from yesterday.  My coworker was back from his days off and I was free, for the most part, to get some office work done.  I checked in with the Ranger Academy this morning.  They were just starting class when I arrived after our morning meeting.  Everything was going well at the time.  Once I had been at the office for a while, I got a call from the Ranger Academy area.  The dishwasher was not running correctly in the kitchen.  Even in the kitchen, park equipment is park equipment.  The dishwasher had to be talked to nicely and rattled the right way.  Later in the afternoon, it was the steam table that was being difficult.  Each occurrence is a little intimidating because each time is the first time that I have experienced these issues and it takes time to figure out how to fix or who to ask to fix each thing.  Every experience is a learning experience though, and I will be prepared to rattle the dishwasher the next time it starts misbehaving.
When I was able to work in the office, I made progress on several ongoing projects.  I scheduled a company to come and pump a grease trap on the septic system near the kitchen.  I also had to schedule a county health inspector to be there at the same time to inspect the trap.  The big event is scheduled for tomorrow.  I also continued on a project to track resource management project needs for the park.  I located the program on the computer and called to get my log-in information.  Then, I scheduled some time with someone to get me started with the program because I have never used it before.
With my coworker back for just a couple of days before his weekend off, I decided to make the most of having him around.  I headed home on time, and was relieved to do so, for the first time in a while.  When I got home, something caught my eye in the back yard.  I snuck out the back door in time to catch three of the five or six turkeys that were meandering through my back yard.


It was a busy and productive day, all around the park.  It was really nice to go home on time with the park running smoothly.

Thought of the Day #70
The Florida Wild Turkey, also called an Osceola Wild Turkey for a Seminole Indian Chief, will start becoming more scarce in the next month or two.  The toms have been out and about, chasing the hens and soon the hens will start nesting.  The Turkey hen will lay ten or more eggs in a nest on the ground in a well hidden spot.  She will pick a spot where she won't be discovered, but it will also be close enough to water and foraging areas that she won't have to be far from her nest for too long.  We won't see the turkeys much at all while they sit on their nests for nearly a month.  When the eggs hatch, the chicks stay in the nest for only a couple of days.  Then the hens will group together again and there will be huge groups of mothers and chicks roaming about together.