Flashback to...7 April 2012
All I hear in the morning is the chorus of birds and the
waves crashing into the shore not too far below me. It’s a bit breezy this morning, but the sun
is bright and the sky, cloudless. And so
much green! There are trees on Sherkin Island, but they are not very
large. Some on the mainland seem more
like home. Yesterday was drizzling rain
until I was on my way to Baltimore,
when the sun popped out. The
peacefulness here reminds me of Plainfield,
remote, lacking the harsh noises of development, but also, there is water.
I do love the ocean, but I haven’t spent nearly enough time
there as I would like. It’s just one of
those things that I keep coming back to as an interest, something I want to do,
but then, the idea becomes buried underneath what I have to do, or drifts away
for a time. It’s kind of sad to think
about not pursuing what one loves.
Perhaps, there is a time and a place for it, though since everything
can’t be done at once, and it may take time to really develop a passion for
something. I’m here now though,
neighboring the ocean. There are no
excuses. I also wanted to return to Ireland after
the last trip, since the island was so lovely and the trip was short and
rushed. It’s amazing what chances life
gives to you and how many! Until you
learn the underlying lesson or make the most of an opportunity.
For the past few days, I have been exploring the beaches for
intertidal sea life with two other rocky shore surveyors, in order to become
acquainted with recognizing the various species. This will certainly be a crash course in data
collection and species identification.
The organisms that we will be surveying include seaweeds, shelled
animals, sponges, lichens, and sea anemones, among others. There is a small library in the lab to assist
us with identification. We’ve mostly
been working with seaweed over the past couple of days and there are remarkable
differences among them. Yet, it has been
challenging to match what I see with the descriptions and pictures in the
books. There are so many possible choices
for what a single organism could be.
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