Sunday, August 10, 2014

False Summer




I expected the climate to be like what I saw during the last two summers in the midwest; hot enough to boil the glue and dry enough to suck the liquid out of your pores before you knew what sweat was. I really expected it to get bad when they told me that Nebraska has been in a drought for the past three or so summers.

 Then it rained.

 And it rained again.

 And again.

And then there were all of the baby animals and the flowers started blooming.

With the exception of maybe two days this summer (and only one when I was working), we never saw it top 100. In fact, I'm not sure it even ever hit 90 aside from those days. It's been humid, but nothing more than I'm used to back home. Seeing it drive other people crazy is always kind of fun though, just because I'm so accustomed to it.

 So everything has been really green, colorful, and pretty since we've been here. I was joking with Mike today that we interns brought the rain and it'll leave when we do, but I kind of hope they keep having this so they can get out of their drought. 

 Apparently this weather isn't the best for the corn crop, but we had some one bring us some fresh a few weeks ago and it tasted wonderful. Can't be doing awful.... I hope.

 But anyway, I never really saw summer this year. When I go home, it will be pretty much fall, and when I left we were just finishing spring there. Then I got to Nebraska and I was getting it all over again. Nice way to spend a year. Now if we would just get a clear night in time to see some stars...

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My Story (Very briefly...)

Lots of people claim that they wanted to be paleontologists at the age of 3. So did I. The problem is, I never really grew out of it. My third birthday party had dinosaurs. Everywhere. I grew up digging in fossil dirt from Aurora, NC, looking for coral and shark teeth. I practically lived at my local science museums (and still do, only now I get to do research, fossil preparation, and work in collections!) When local paleontologists discovered a dinosaur with a "fossilized heart" (no longer considered such) when I was little, I got to meet the man who led the work. And then, years later a dinosaur bone with soft tissue turned up. I was officially hooked.
No longer was I dreaming about dinosaurs. I was actively pursuing the science behind prehistoric creatures. I didn't want to read about it, I wanted in on the action. So I started working at the museum, and finally going on my own adventures. And thus, I needed a place to share them and maybe inspire others the way I was inspired. I have gone from watching fossils be prepared from one side of the glass at the museum to working on them on the inside of the glass. I am a student working toward my goal. I can finally start to call myself a paleontologist.