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Borrego Springs, CA

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A day in the life

I think I mentioned a few days ago that I’m never quite sure what I’ll be doing each day on this refuge.  I went into headquarters this morning not knowing if I’d be working or not.  Phyllis and Albert, from New Jersey, finished up their volunteer stint here this past weekend, and will be pulling out tomorrow morning.  Tom is still in the hospital for his cellulitis and Sally has spent her days there being with him.  That leaves Don and Mary and myself to cover things with the visitor’s center and other duties.  We scrambled a bit this morning to figure out how to cover things this week.

I’ll be taking over for Tom and Sally tomorrow, and doing the tour in the morning.  I’ll probably be putting in more hours this week until the next couple arrives, but I really don’t mind.  RV volunteers are like the RV blogging community, and we tend to stick together and cover each other’s backs.  What with Tom in the hospital for over a week after Sally just losing her father, it’s the least I can do.

_MG_5960I stayed on this morning to run the visitor’s center for the day.  We had 30 visitors today, which is a real good number here.  In slow moments, I slipped outside to see what I could see, and found several butterflies fighting over the minute blooms in the mowed area around the building.  Get a load of the proboscis of this guy curving around to the flower.

_MG_5961

The wind had picked up a bit, but this guy hung on to sip the nectar of that tiny flower.

66 MS Sandhill Crane NWR 201215

Then, it got into a battle with this itty bitty butterfly over the blooms.  This one was 1/3 the size of the yellow one, but it was successful in sending the first one on its way.  If I had a little ambition tonight, I’d spend some time with my butterfly book trying to identify these critters.  But, alas, I’m pooped.  Sad smile  Working the visitor’s center isn’t physically demanding work, but after eight hours, and then taking Emma out for some exercise, I’m pretty much done for the day.

The forecast for tomorrow is for heavy rains, but I’m hoping they’ll hold off until the afternoon.  I’ve got a full van load of people scheduled for the tour tomorrow, and heavy rains surely lesson the chances of seeing any cranes.  We’ll see what happens.  Oh yea, Tom was released from the hospital this afternoon, but he’ll be laid up for several weeks recuperating from his ordeal.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

13 comments:

  1. RV folks are good people aren't they. Glad your friend is out of the hospital. Loved the butterfly photos.

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  2. The bottom guy looks like a buckeye to me.

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  3. Wow, your friends sure have been through the wringer lately, I hope the worst is now behind them. It is good that we all look out for each other. Cool photos of the butterflies!

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  4. Good to hear Tom has been released. Hope his recovery moves along well.
    It's nice that everyone covers each other.

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  5. Good news about Tom. It's great you can fill in wherever you're needed but be sure you take time out for yourself as well. They need you well rested and healthy!!

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  6. Really enjoying hearing about your volunteering experiences, Judy! I'm getting closer and closer to being ready to doing stuff like that, thanks to your blog. Now, I just have to get Eldy in the frame of mind along with me!

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  7. Hope Tom gets released from the hospital soon. Great butterfly shots ... could the yellow one be a clouded sulphur?

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  8. Was that big brownish thing a Cecopia Moth?? My memory is fague but we use to catch the big greenish caterpillar and he made his cocoon ..came out a Cecopia Moth..very beautiful...If you think I have lost my mind...you may be right..Good luck with the tour..Glad Tom is "out of jail"..so to speak.

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  9. Even with a full day in the visitor's center, you manage to put up some great photos. That's terrific!

    Don't blame you for being plum tuckered out. That's a lot of things for a reduced crew to take care of. Hope your friends' difficulties are over and things are on the mend.

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  10. So nice of you to cover for the volunteers who are having issues. I think that's a karma thing - if you need someone to cover for you, it will happen. I don't know if I could work eight hours - Haven't done that for a while, and I'm getting pretty darn lazy, that's for sure. :)

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  11. We really want to get over there. We do not work Friday, Saturday or Sundays. This weekend we will be going to northern Alabama. However, next weekend works well because we leave the area on the 17th. So, either the 10th or 11th. Also, our friend Judy reads your blog and would love to join us. She is at the Escapees park in Summerdale and would drive over to join us.

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