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Borrego Springs, CA

Sunday, December 19, 2010

18 more hours done!

IMG_7644                                  THE EVAPORATING POND BEHIND THE TEMPORARY VIS

 

The amount of hours that I have to put in each week on the refuge, is a yearly good natured debate that Stephanie, the volunteer coordinator, and I have.  She wants me to put in 32 hours/week, and I think it should be 24 hrs/week.  To me, 32 hours is practically a fulltime job, and I’m retired!  The 32 hours for solos seems to be very common along the Texas coast and at many Arizona refuges.  At just about all of the other refuges I’ve volunteered at, I’ve only been required to put in 17-24 hours.  So, some weeks I put in 32 hours and some weeks I don’t.  There are  various arguments to support either position that I won’t go into here.  :)

_MG_7629 _MG_7633

Anyway, this weekend I put in two nine hour days working the VIS.  That’s a pretty good chunk out of my weekly quota!  This is not the busiest time of the year for refuge visitors, so I was happy to see this young Cooper’s hawk alight in a nearby dead tree yesterday.  He stopped for an afternoon preening session.

_MG_7609 _MG_7613

A little while later, this orange-crowned warbler (L), and a common yellowthroat (R) bubbled  through the semi live oak trees across the road.  I was anxious for my stint to be done because I knew that JOHN AND BRENDA would be arriving at the RV pads in the afternoon from Louisiana.  When I was done with work, we met, and I enjoyed a delicious lasagna meal that Brenda had prepared, and a great evening of conversation.  As others have said, meeting people in the RV lifestyle or from the RV blogland community is like meeting old friends. 

 

We were so busy chit chatting, that I didn’t even get any pictures.  I tried this morning before I headed in for work, but Brenda declined being seen on the blog in her PJs (:)), and John, and their dog Meg, somehow disappeared off of the highway as I tried to catch them on my way into the VIS.  Oh well, maybe we’ll meet again some time down the road.

 

For some reason, I didn’t sleep very well last night so today really dragged by.  I was happy to be done.

_MG_7647You know who was also happy I was finished with work after being cooped up in the rig for two days in a row!  After a good walk around the compound, it was play time…

_MG_7651 _MG_7653

Until a red-tailed hawk had the audacity to fly overhead and land at the top of an electrical pole!  I guess Emma thought it was a turkey vulture.  :)  She seldom barks, but when she does she puts her whole being into it!  Do you think she knows that if you are going to do something, you should do it well?  :)  Such expressive antics she goes through.

IMG_7661 IMG_7659 Tonight’s moon rise and sunset…

I’m supposed to have the next two days off, but with the Christmas Bird Count on Wednesday, and my normal bird surveys on Thursday, it seems to me I’m going to have to take some time to scope out the new way to get to the survey areas before then.  (was that a run on sentence, or just a very long one?)  Hmmm, looks like a 32 hour work week to me.  :)

_MG_7616                                                                          THE END!!

 

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy

15 comments:

  1. I have wondered about volunteering hours. There is a fine line between helping out and being taken advantage of. I do not know that limit since I have never volunteered in a park.

    My observation of volunteers at membership or commercial RV parks is that they generally do not put in a lot of hours-maybe ten to 15 a week.

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  2. Your "The End" shots are most amusing. I look forward to them.

    32 hours a week for one person seems like a lot of hours to volunteer. How much do they figure that full-hookup site is worth?

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  3. I agree...seems that they know a "good thing" when they see it..and YOU are it....Maybe it's tme to move on down the road....

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  4. I mostly worked 7 days a week at Lassen, mainly because there wasn't anyone to take my place if I didn't do it. I worked on my own volition, but had a lot of time off in between campground rounds and paperwork, talking to visitors, etc.

    At Ft. Pulaski I worked a 32 hr week. I really didn't mind either job or the hours. At Lassen I made my early morning rounds and then took off for the 100 mile roundtrip to get groceries or whatever, then got back in time to do the job for the rest of my day.

    If I see something that needs to be done and I know there is no one to do it, I'm usually more than happy to take care of it myself. Being alone I usually enjoyed the contact with people, and I know the NPS appreciated my efforts.

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  5. nice to see some pictures of Emma enjoying the great outdoors!!!

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  6. are you sure she wasn't howlin' at the moon?

    and yes, as a matter of fact, I do need a lesson in that particular skill you mentioned on my blog... that's something I've never mastered the skill of!

    my bird boy (age almost 36 =) ) did his first day of bird counting today here in KS! it's volunteering and I don't there's a # of hours required... just sayin' !

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  7. I can see Emma was very happy to get outside and enjoy the fresh air - nice pics of her!

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  8. 32 hours would make one weak. Good pictures of Emma.

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  9. We considered the part time Workamping route a few years ago but neither of us liked the idea of being shackled with rules, regulations & hours. I suppose if we were full timers we might have looked at it differently but being Snowbirds we just want to maximize our time, our way.....well, for at least as long as we can anyway.

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  10. Love the pictures of Emma today. My vote is for howling at the moon too.

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  11. I love that animals can express themselves so freely and with such great joy. We could learn a lesson or two from them. 32 hours is toooo much. Maybe every couple of weeks you could do 32 and then most of the time 24. Love the pictures. These birds are all so beautiful

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  12. Look's like Emma really can get into a good bark. Glad to see she is so happy with her life. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

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  13. There are some days (or nights) that I feel JUST LIKE EMMA~!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  14. Ah yes, these pictures of Emma show her head and face shape quite well. I agree with your assessment that she is not a lab, and probably has quite a bit of pit bull in her.

    She looks quite happy.

    Lucky dog.

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  15. Loved your pictures. Are you also posting to e-bird. Got any good recommendations for the count?

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