Rain and worms 11 July 2002 Well, the monsoons have (finally) arrived. For about the past week we've been dumped on several times during the day and night. I'll wake up to a bright, sunny, warm day and by afternoon, dark skies and distant rumbles have begun. It is a welcome change, although bittersweet. Monsoons never arrive out here with out thunder and lightning and despite the torrents, the lightning nevertheless starts fires. One lightning strike the other day blew out one of our phone lines. We had a whopper of a storm come through camp on Tuesday night. Thunder and lightning like I've never seen! And the rain!! It is the biggest storm I've ever experienced out here, and the scariest. Honestly, I feared for my life (and after talking the next day with everyone else, I wasn't the only one). There were several lightning strikes that were accompanied with instantaneous thunder. Sometimes the sky glowed red, which I learned later means that the lightning has hit the ground. There were at least 2 strikes that hit the ground in camp. The air reeked of ozone, a smell I had never had the pleasure of smelling in my life, and could probably live happily if I never smelled it again. As tempted as I was to run to my nearest neighbor for company, I didn't want to any more upright than necessary nor leave the relative safety of my thermarest (not one part of my body was touching the ground). What I found out the next day was that everyone else was thinking the same thing. The storm lasted several hours, starting somewhere around midnight and despite my early bedtime, only allowed me about 3 hours of sleep. I was scheduled to get up early to go out for behavior observations and since the sky was crystal clear at 4:30am we of course went out. The storm didn't have the courtesy to keep going well into the morning so I could sleep in. It was just a long day all around. Aside from lack of sleep, the camera, weather, and a restless owlet proceeded to frustrate my day. And to top it off, I lost my Leatherman somewhere in the area which I could not search for at the end of our observations because the heavens had opened up yet again and I was soaked and muddy. I know to expect these kinds of days, but when they actually arrive, it just isn't easy sometimes. But enough of that! :) Last weekend a bunch of us took off to Alpine, Arizona for (get ready for this) The Ye Olde Tavern's 9th Annual Worm Races (sponsored by Budweiser). Yes. Worm races. Lex, one of the girls on my behavior crew, lives in Alpine (a mere hour and a half from camp, lucky duck) and mentioned the races several weeks ago. So, after a day in the field, we showered and got all dressed up (which basically means clean, normal people clothes) and headed into Alpine. It was a blast!!! We arrived at Ye Olde Tavern in time for the second heat of races (yes, there are heats). The races are held in the back patio area of the Tavern. You buy your worm ($5 which this year went to the library for a new computer) and you must name it. No outside worms allowed, to discourage cheating. :) You wait for your worm's name to be called and when it's your turn you place your worm in the center Start area of the table, excuse me, the Start of "the famous Gusano Downs". You then have 2 minutes to cheer, cajole, and squirt your worm (without touching it) to the edge of the round table. If your worm makes it to the edge, the judges pick it up and replace it at the center. The winning worm is the worm that traveled the farthest in the given time. You're given a squirt bottle of water to aid your worm, usually used to squirt it in the hindquarters (if worms have such a thing) or by squirting a trail of water for it to hopefully follow. You only race against one other worm which makes keeping track of your worm easier. The winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd) are announced at the end of all the races. And yes, there are trophies. I, sadly, did not win, even though I raced 3 worms. Probably the oddest thing that night (not that any of it was un-odd) was when the waitress came up to Jill and I (who each had a margarita in one hand, and a cup of worm and dirt in the other) after we had raced our worms and gave us each $5 and said "These are from the gentlemen in the blue shirt, he'd like you to race a worm each". So we went over and thanked him, named a worm after him, and it was off to the races. As we were finishing up our races, the waitress returned with $10 for us to race again. So we raced again, and again did not win (not even close!). My third worm liked to race in circles, unfortunately, circles don't count. But the night wasn't a complete loss since Cliffaroo, a worm named after the tow-truck guy who picked up Carrie's car in Reserve, sponsored by Lex, coached by Nat and Carrie, and cheered on by Kevin and Theresa, won 2nd place. And the Lollipop Shoppe was open so we all had fabulous ice cream. So there are up days and down days, most of which are all rainy days. :) I'm still enjoying being out here, but ready to head home too. Ann told me last week that I was going to help out on her Manatee Sonar project once we get back home to San Diego. Which means that I'll be spending time at the beginning of next year working in Florida with Manatees! It'll keep me pretty busy working on multiple projects, but I know I can pull it off. I'm very excited to be able to broaden my horizons and still do what I love. I hope you're all doing well! Love and sunshine, Stefanie ;) top of page letters from camp