6.03.2010

     Today was busy day, and it was extremely long. Chelsi and I got up and headed to work at 9:45. We got there and Jesse told us we were going to take the weed whacker up to the HC to weed the orchard. When we got to the orchard, I was not allowed to use the weed whacker because I had not signed a form yet. Chelsi showed me how and I watched her for a small amount of time. She did a great job in her bright orange chaps, and I hope that when it comes to be my turn I can do half as well as she did.
     I got on my hands and knees and with the aid of gloves began trying to remove the "prickly lettuce" from the mulch beds. This was quite a task! I would grab onto the bottom of the plant and try my hardest to pull the entire thing up, but a lot of times would just get the leaves instead. We continued to weed and maintain the orchard until lunch, when a much needed break was in order. Check out my pants!

     After lunch, Chelsi was sent to the school while I was to go back with Jesse to the orchard to meet with a high school group called "Upward Bound" which was made up of first generation college students. Jesse used one of the plots I had successfully weeded as an example of what the other 20 plots should look like. We did that for about an hour and then headed back to the EC for an employee meeting.
     Exhausted, I had to try so hard not to nod my head on the brink of sleep because they were discussing things I had not a clue about. The meeting ended, and Chelsi and I took the mower from the "bone yard" and while doing so, we found a robin's nest sitting on the fence inside.

     The robin watched me closely as I snapped some pictures, but we were very cautious as not to disturb her home. We dragged the mower across the bridge to the Native Plant Display so Chelsi could show me how to mow the area around the plants. I had some hand shears and used them to get the little areas that were not worth mowing. We took a little break and watched some birds, and listened to the pheasants talk to each other from across the prairie.

       We headed back to the EC and hopped in Chelsi's car to meet a group of people at the school house down the street. Chelsi gave them a wonderful program about the history, and I sat in the back hoping that when it comes to be my turn I will be able to do as excellent of a job as she did. We later learned that the group was from Ohio, visiting their grandparents in Lincoln. They seemed way more interested in Chelsi and me and where we were from and why we were here than in the monument.
     It was hilarious watching the girls in the group try to spin the wheel with a stick. You know how in the old days they would push a ring from a whiskey barrel with a stick? Well, turns out it's not nearly as easy as it looks!
     After closing the EC, Chelsi and I headed home. After meeting up with Allison, it was decided that we were going to go to Dairy Queen for some much deserved ice cream. Why Dairy Queen you ask? Well, it's the only place in town with ice cream. How sad!
          When we arrived back home from enjoying our delicious blizzards, we had a guest greet us on the front step. It was some kind of beetle! He was nice enough to pose quite still while Chelsi and I attempted to take some decent pictures of him. Come to find out later... the poor guy was dead! He is an Eastern Eyed Click Beetle.

     While walking home from the Native Plant Display, we were about the pass over the bridge when Chelsi's feet startled yet another critter. A snake! He sat there with his head up and tongue out, watching us as we took a million pictures attempting to get one decent one. He's called a brown snake. He was the size of a garden snake, and not nearly as big as the snake I saw slithering back into the grass when Chelsi went to mow. That guy was HUGE, and I just saw the tail end of him! We still can't figure out what he was.

     While watching the sunset and enjoying the sounds of the prairie, we were fortunate enough to get some pictures of a hairsteak butterfly. The poor little guy had a piece missing from his wing, but he is still beautiful. This little guy is about the size of my thumb nail. He looks big in the picture, but in reality this guy's tiny!

     The Native Plant Display (NPL) is a collection of plants such as the cobaea penstemon, purple poppy mallow, porcupine grass, white sage, and about a dozen other native plants which would have occupied the prairie in the homesteading days. Do you know your prairie plants?

    
     All of the pictures on my blog were taken by me. I apologize if the layout is difficult to follow, but I cannot figure out a way to arrange my pictures in a decent way and I do not know how to make the body of my blog wider so you can see the pictures better. Bear with me, I'm still learning. :)
     The girls and I stopped at the Monument before ice cream and decided to take some silly pictures, so those are what I will end with.

From left to right, it's Chelsi, Allison (on top) and me. These girls are amazing, and I am enjoying living with them. I learn more from Chelsi each day that I never ever knew before coming here. Plus, my charming southern accent is starting to rub off on her! Today at Dairy Queen she said "Sah-clone" when she was talking about an ice cream store in her hometown. Allison and I both started laughing. It was adorable.

"Our heritage and ideals, our codes and standards - the things we live by and teach our children - are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings."

-Walt Disney