Love my job

I love my job. A great deal of people say this but do they really mean it? Well when I say it, I mean it. My job is diverse. I can work inside prepping proposals and maps one day and the next be outside taking stream measurements or water samples. I can be in an urban setting or a wilderness setting all within an hour. Being the outdoorzy (http://www.outdoorzy.com/) type though I really like the work I do outside. I live in a rural setting with some beautiful, old, farm land and I have come to appreciate the look of some of these farms.

I was doing some stream habitat assessment work recently on a farm near Pleasant Ridge and man was it beautiful. As the name suggests it was ridge country and the view from the top was astounding. I could see for miles for 270degrees. Farmland and forest with the odd road here and there dotted by houses and church steeples. The weather was sunny and boy did I love my job.

The small stream we were assessing was no wider than a meter but small fish darted constantly from rock cover to tree cover and back again. We worked away measuring the width, depth, and conditions while the changing scenery took our attention from time to time. The job allows me to see wildlife such as the porcupine we saw in a nearby spruce tree or gophers scampering back to their burrows, deer darting into the nearby alder thicket, frogs leaping under sunken logs, or unknown beetles munching on leaves. All the time there is something new and yet there is the stability of having a purpose to be there too. Anyone know what kind of beetle these are by the way???

It is truly amazing how the old farms still maintain their charm in todays modernization trend. Some farmers hold on to the old way of doing things and this makes them even more charming. The old rock piles piled in the middle of a field just provide the scene with a touch of character that would be lacking without their presence.

The shining birch bark from a rounded wood pile next to the tree line adds just the right contrast to the sharp lines of the field and trees. The farm scene is one that not only deserves respect but almost politely begs for it. The best part about it all is that I get to work in that type of scenery on a regular basis and it makes for great pics and blog material :)

Most farmers appear gruff and tough on the outside, and for the most part, that is true, but they also are welcoming and willing to talk about their land. They are often very proud of what they have accomplished and who can blame them. It is no easy task making a living off the land, tending to stock 24hours a day, seven days a week. But like me, I bet most farmers do not work because it is easy, or because they are going to be rich but rather they do it because they love their job.

There must be a good country song in there somewhere :)