rainbows and light hearts

Searching the skies for osprey.

The past few days have been long ones. But, all the same, they were great! As Megan mentioned, we had a lot of fun at the Great Bay Discovery Center on Tuesday. We were able to walk down a boardwalk with our guide, Kelly, who taught us about ospreys (my favorite bird), the kinds of animals that inhabit the salt marsh and why salt marshes are so important. After our interactive morning experience, we were released onto the mudflats during low tide, each of us were assigned different organisms to find. I was in charge of searching for sea lettuce (a very common and easy to find plant), Daniela was searching for striped mussels buried in the mud, Sharon scouted around for mud crabs and Jessica hunted for amphipods (I hope I spelled that right). Least to say, we all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Later we sat down and worked with Megan on a way to inform visitors of the Great Bay office that wandered into the beautiful garden about invasive plants. It was a great success, if I do say so myself.

Over that past day and a half (all of yesterday and this morning) I’ve come to realize something: there is nothing that is both as satisfying and frustrating as pulling invasive plants. The great thing about it is that there are those large sections of land where one or two types of invasive plants have taken over and you can take out huge sections of it in one go. My personal favorite is the loud crack that occurs as you rip the roots of those pesky things out of the soil. And yet, there are those times, like earlier today where the expanse seemed too great; that there were too many for you to handle and get rid of. It can make you feel almost powerless to stop the spread. Then after doing your best to clear out a good part of it you step back and you can really take a look at your handy work. It’s honestly an amazing feeling to know that you have helped make a difference to preserving and protecting nature.

On a lighter note, this afternoon we got to work with oysters!!! We helped count the number of spat (baby oysters) that were found on oyster shells previously set out into the bay. We did this in order to help a project that could restore the oyster population in the Great Bay, allowing for healthier waters, more fish and a healthier ecosystem over all. We also helped the oysters along a bit by clearing the shells they now call home of sea squirts (strange squishy creatures that do squirt water when you poke them) and other creatures that could inhibit their growth.

It’s hard to see another week pass by so quickly but I can’t help but be excited about seeing what the next day has in store. I know that everyday we will work our hardest and keep our hearts light, knowing that we are doing our own part to help protect the world around us.

~Samantha Hoffman 07/26/12

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Wagon Hill at Sunset.  Photo by Paul Norris - www.picturesocial.com

Sharon and I were pulling an Autumn Olive (an invasive species) today using every fiber in our body because the plant was so deeply rooted into the soil. We were successful in pulling it out, which is great, but we actually fell backwards into a batch of Poison Ivy.  Sharon and I died of laughter though, and we washed off with this oil absorbing soap so our day was able to continue and very positively at that. We stopped after work at this small farm where we fed donkeys and picked blueberries. When we were paying for our fresh goods the farmer at the counter told us we should take an extra box of berries for free which pretty much brought a tear to my eye. Then as if the day wasn’t going well already we saw a rainbow as we talked about life walking along Wagon Hill that actually has a wagon atop the hill. The day went by too quickly – even the work part.
 
~Daniela Escobar 7/26/12