Big parachutes 28 June 2002 Hello again! Sorry it's been so long since my last letter. Things have been pretty busy around here. The behavior crew has been piling up the videos this past month and a half. We have so much video data of our owls this year, it's great! Out of the original 10 nests, all but 2 of them we had to abandon, either because the parents abandoned them, because of a predator in the area, or because they are just too far away from us to visit on a regular basis. Luckily though, we've found a few more nests, with owlets, since then. The owlets have just started to fledge and have been found a few times out of the nests bouncing around (no flying yet). I'm headed out for an overnight behavior visit from Wednesday to Thursday, and possibly Friday too. It should be exciting. I've been able to go out in the field more, although there are days when I'm confined to camp and my computer. I went out Wednesday night for an overnight behavior observation with two other girls from the behavior crew. We don't do observations at night, but the hike in is pretty far (about 6km, after a 1 hour drive) so we hike in the night before and wake up early to find the owls. We were able to have our monstrous packs brought in for us by ATV so we didn't have to hike in with them. Well, the hike wasn't horrible, it was on a road, but a very rocky one, so my knees and ankles were complaining by the time we reached our campsite. We spent 2 ½ hours Thursday searching for the owls…and never found them. It happens every now and again, but it seemed even worse than usual since we had hiked all that way in. And since we were done early, we ended up hiking out in the middle of the day instead of the evening…very hot, no shade, and mostly uphill. We thought about waiting until later, but the promise of ice cream and showers made us want to head out ASAP. Such is the life of an owler. :) I love it! I'm sure you've all heard about the fires scorching the west. Well, it's no exception out here. We're not as bad off as Arizona is right now, at least not here in the Gila Forest, but it is very hot and very, very dry. However, as of today, the forest has been closed. Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't happen earlier. It was probably the only National Forest in New Mexico that wasn't closed yet. So we're constantly listening in on the radio for news of new "smokes" and the status of the burning fires. We're hoping and dreading the arrival of the monsoon season. The rain will be very welcome, but with rain (and usually preceding it) comes lightning, which means ground strikes, which means fires. So it's a bittersweet time of the season. Although some people who haven't been out here doubt that the monsoon season exists out here. I'm getting skeptical too, and I was here to witness it last year! Today was the first day we got some actual rain. Not a lot, but enough to pat down some of the dust. It's not all work out here though. We've got celebrations planned for July 1st (Canada Day, there are several Canadians out here this year) and 4th. The season is set to end by the end of the month. Last day of data collection is scheduled for the 28th, with 2 days after that to breakdown camp. There's so much stuff here, it seems like it should take longer, but once breakdown starts, Chuck is itching to get home, so he doesn't let it take more than 2 days. :) I'll be heading to Silver City (about 3 hours away from camp) for a few days after camp is gone to organize data with the supervisor team before everyone scatters. I was able to take 10 days off to go home a little while ago. The break was much needed and much appreciated. I came back a bit more tan, a bit more blond, and lot more rested. As soon as my plane arrived, Mom and I headed up to Santa Barbara to see my sister, Paula, graduate from college (yeah!). It was great to see the family for the weekend. I spent the rest of the week at the beach, Del Mar Fair (excuse me, San Diego County Fair), OB Street Fair, sleeping in, and eating all my favorite foods that I miss when I'm out here. As soon as I came back to camp, I was set right to work. Ann left a few hours after I arrived back at camp. It seems that she and I can't be in the same place for more than a few hours this year. Except for the first few weeks of the season, it's been either me or her here at camp…mostly me because she has to take several trips to San Diego and elsewhere to deal with this project and several others. It leaves me with a lot of responsibility, which is good and bad. Some days it seems like I'm working 4 different jobs out here. I think I'm doing a pretty good job, and every now and then I get some words of encouragement/amazement from the people out here. Chris really is a lifesaver and lets me vent to him when things get tough for me. Speaking of Chris, you should check out his website (www.chrislives.com) and take a look at our skydiving pictures. Yes, skydiving. The first weekend of June ten of us drove out to Marana, AZ (just outside of Tucson) to go skydiving. I still can't believe I did it. Someone mentioned it about a month prior, and I thought "Yeah, that sounds like fun" but figured I wouldn't be able to afford it and probably couldn't get the time off. Well, turned out to be not that expensive ($100 to jump tandem plus $50 for the video - cause you gotta get the video) and scheduled for a Saturday which was perfect since getting away on the weekends is easier for me because the jets only fly during the weekdays. It was amazing!!!! Such a thrilling feeling. We all jumped tandem (we had an experienced jumper strapped to us like a backpack…he had the parachute on), and several of us got videos. The cameraman has a camera attached to his helmet and he jumps right as you do and freefalls right in front of you. Freefall lasted about 40 seconds, but felt like forever! We were falling about 200 mph!!! Then we floated once the parachute opened and the view was spectacular. I was able to control our direction a bit, which was so much fun. The landing was a little rough. I landed on my feet, but then fell to my knees…on gravel. So I'm still a bit scratched up. After Ann saw the video, she decided we were crazy. I got that reaction from quite a few people. :) I was able to keep it a secret until I got home a whole week later - that was tough. I could easily see how skydiving becomes a hobby. The adrenaline rush was amazing. The worst part was when they opened the door to the plane at 9500 ft above the ground. The wind came rushing in and you could suddenly hear the plane's propellers very well…it then became all very real. Luckily, the guy is strapped to your back so he just kinda pushes you out. Not sure if I could jump solo...but maybe someday. :) Well, it's been a crazy last few days, so I'm taking the rest of the night off to relax. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Drop me an email, I'd love to hear what you are up to. Love and sunshine (and a big parachute), Stefanie ;) top of page letters from camp