Catching Up

We've been bad bloggers, I know.  It's not easy keeping up on this thing everyday, especially on the days when we come home exhausted and just want to sleep.  Or in the case of the past two days, when we play too much at night and fail to make the time for it.  So I'll do my best to catch you up on events.

Sunday was the day after we found the Leatherback nest.  We returned to our normal routine of splitting up the work.  It's much faster, and though a little more difficult and longer, it's actually less tiring overall, because we get more rest at the end of the day.  So Kate went south in the truck, and I took the Mule north.  I'm not sure if it was my turn to go north, but it became my turn, because of the raccoon situation.  We had set two traps on North Middle on Saturday, and if they worked, Kate didn't want to be the one to find them full.

We've been using the tides to our advantage lately.  The cycle they've been in provided us with a rather low tide between 6am and noon.  This has allowed us to drive our vehicles across to North Middle.  It's a lot easier have all the necessary equipment in the Mule or truck as we work.  Using the bike on North Middle requires a choice between strapping everything we need to the bike and peddling hard, or taking a fun trip with just the bike and risk having to backtrack if we find something.

This particular morning, the tide would be low around 9 or 10am, which meant I'd run North Beach first, and the raccoons would have to wait.  I was on the beach at 6:30, so I patrolled Bradley (North), turning up two false crawls and two nests, one of which had to be relocated.  I checked on all the other nests, 28 that day, and found them all in good shape.  When I got back to the tidal creek, it was low enough to cross, so I did.

As it turned out, the traps were empty.  The bait was still in them and the doors were still up.  The raccoons had been there though, I could see their tracks all over, and they had dug around one of the nests.  They're able to stick their hands through the larger screening, and attempt to dig up the eggs, but they can't get through the small screen, so the eggs were spared, for now.  I filled in the holes they made, made sure all the stakes holding down the screening was secure, and moved down the beach.  I found a simple false crawl at the southern end, logged it, and headed home.  Kate had only two false crawls on here entire patrol of South and South Middle.  It was an easy day for her and she was home before me.

Being home early is always a good thing.  We decided to make good use of the time and did some work around the house.  Kate mowed the lawn again, which will hopefully decrease the ticks for a little while.  I hung up two bird feeders we had bought on shore, and re-hung the hummingbird feeder our neighbor Jim gave us.  The hummingbirds are amazing, and a-plenty.  The birds are just starting to figure out the other feeders, and hopefully will be around much more now.  I also built them a bird-bath/fountain out of a hubcap we took from an old Chevy at the dump, a hose we had with one end cut off, and some other things I found lying around the shed.  I haven't seen anyone use it yet, but hopefully they'll figure it out, or perhaps the deer and their fawns, or maybe the donkeys, will use it to drink.

Kate was getting tired, so we took a lunch break.  Afterward, I decided to go down to the pole shed (that's just what they call it, its yet another structure on the island housing equipment, some used, most not), and steal the chest freezer.  It seemed unused, except to house the biopsy sample and humerus bone from our last stranded sea turtle.  Into the back of the truck it went, and after a short drive, I had it home in our shed.  As I went to clean it our, I discovered there were a few other things inside.  One, was a large piece of, or a small but complete, hog.  It was in a bag that I couldn't remove until the freezer had thawed some.  Below that, and also frozen in place, were 6 bags of I don't know what, and I don't really want to know.  It all smelled pretty gross.  Who knows how long that stuff has been in that freezer, or why.

By now Kate was inside, so I tried to squeeze in a job I've been wanting to do, but I thought she wouldn't approve of - pruning the orange trees.  She likes them how they are, I on the other hand, had been wanting to cut the bottoms out, so I can see into the back field and watch the deer when they come.  Pruning shears in hand, I went to it.  I got a yell out the window, because the one tree was lopsided.  She's right, it still looks funny as of today.  I think she'd agree though, the view is now unobstructed.  When the deer come, we'll be able to watch from the window.

By this time I had worked too much, and had introduced a few drinks to my labor.  Tired doesn't mix well with alcohol (hey, what does?).  I thought it would be a good idea to put all my cuttings into our big fire pit and burn them.  We regularly burn our paper trash in the smaller pit, so it seemed like a good plan.  Of course all the cuttings were still green and would not burn.  So out came the gasoline.  I'm still not sure if it was the shape of the pit, or the amount of petrol, but the thing went off like a bomb!  The one side that isn't made of brick, but only has a flimsy door, blew straight off, and a ball of fire went up.  I look a bit funny now, with beard, hair, eyebrows and eyelashes all singed.  Maybe this will teach me not to light fires with gasoline, but probably not, since this was probably the 100th time I've burned myself this way. After that though, it was definitely time for bed.


Monday came too soon, but luckily, it was our second anniversary, and we thought it would be fair to have a late day for once.  When the alarm went off at the 4:25am, Kate just reset it for 6:30.  Sleep can be a wonderful gift.  Of course in deep sleep, the the two extra hours went by in what felt like five minutes.  Soon we were up, and having breakfast - scrambled egg burritos, with mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, and cheese.  By 7:30 or so, we were off on our separate patrols.

I took the truck to the south end, and had it pretty easy - one nest on South Middle that I relocated with only 88 eggs, and an obvious false crawl on South beach.  I radioed up to Kate, who was working on her second nest on North, and wasn't sure how long she'd be.  She told me over the phone about another Wilson's Plover nest she discovered right next to a turtle nest she was working on.  The bird's nest can barely be called a nest, as it's really just a depression in the sand, as you can see from the shot she took.  I told her I wanted to help her finish early so we could play.

I drove north, and was out on Bradley beach in 30 minutes.  The tide was low, and just right for crossing, so I went over to patrol North Middle, while Kate kept working North.  I checked on NM1, the nest right over the creek.  All was well, I went over and checked on NM2 and NM4, the two nests we've been having raccoon problems on.  They had been back and had really been digging this time.  No eggs were harmed, but the raccoons were pretty close to getting at some.  Then I went behind the dune to check the traps.  Both were occupied.  I'm grateful Kate was far away to the north, for what transpired next was probably the most unsavory thing I've ever done.  I can only find assurance in the fact that this is a necessary, all-be-it disagreeable step to save a threatened, soon to be endangered, species.

When I was done patrolling North Middle, I crossed back to North, and started checking the nests from the south up, until I found Kate, checking the nests from the north down.  She informed me that our very first nest, NB1, had been dug on by more raccoons, but was safe for now.  I showed her the two empty traps, she gave me a hug, and then we agreed to re-set them near NB1.  When we were finished, we headed home, to begin enjoying our anniversary together.

We decided to go to the midden to get some mussels for dinner.  Also en route, we hung a crab pot off the dock.  I had found a pot that still had the rebar attached to the bottom.  The ones without are too light for the strong current there, and we've only been using one off the causeway in the marsh.  This heavy one just needed a little fixing up and we might be in business for stone crabs.  I also had fresh bait, for the island gifted me an anniversary fish while I was kayaking back from the ATV on South Middle.  The fish (mullet maybe), just jumped right out of the water and landed at my feet at the kayak.  Amazing.  We haven't pulled the trap yet, but we did eat the mussels we gathered today - over 50 of them, and all of good size.

After the midden, it was Kate's time to tie on the load.  She managed not to light herself on fire, even while using the oven making brownies.  We watched some TV shows on the computer while snacking on tortilla chips, salsa and avocados while waiting for a phone call from the post office regarding our missing package.  When six o'clock finally came, and they hadn't called, I called them.  Still no news.  This is why the post office is losing out to UPS and FedEx.  At least we were no longer tied to the house, so we headed out.

The day before I had gone to Middle Place while Kate was napping.  One of the buildings there is pretty special.  It was built by the Genesis Project, a cooperative, semi-sustainable community, here on the island in the 70s.  Most of the small structure is assembled without nails, and all of it from trees that fell naturally.  It's very quaint, and I know how much Kate likes it.

The building, like most here, is in disrepair and hasn't been used in ages.  I took some time to clean one side (it has two identical sides, each with a lower room and a small loft above).  I cleaned the windows, swept the floors, and rearrange what furniture was available - a table, a chair, and a platform for a bed.  I also brought candles and some linens.

There, we had Brie and crackers, opened some champagne and toasted to ourselves.  We opened the windows, listening to the sounds of the island, and just enjoyed that place for awhile.  We figured out the timer on the camera, and took a photo of ourselves - the same one we posted in yesterdays blog.  Then it was time to go home, and go to bed.

The next morning brought us into today.  Kate worked hard all day, doing the beaches alone and giving me a day off.  I used the time to rest, sleeping in until a very late 6:30am.  The rest of the morning was spent lounging on the couch between phone calls to the post office about our still unreceived package, and the insurance company/doctors offices about billing issues they don't seem to care to sort out.  Kate finally got home around 4:00pm.  I made her spaghetti, with the mussels we picked yesterday.  Then we watched the movie UP, which I knew she'd enjoy.  Now she's sound asleep, wiped out from another long day in the sun.  These days off we give each other are sort of a double bind.  By giving one, you have to do all the work alone, and end up really needing one soon after, and hence a cycle is created.  It's a funny feeling never really getting a break from all this, and not expecting one until it's all over in a little under four months.  When dawn comes, rain or shine, weekday or holiday, the nests await, and the work must be done.  Thankfully, the work is rewarding, and if that's not enough, we always have each other to lean.