Tales from the Steppes

2005-06-23

9:56 a.m.
The rivers are full of crocodile nasties and He who made kittens put snakes in the grass

Yesterday I went out to do more fieldwork but did not take the Doof with me. I think he was a bit offended and hurt by my not asking him for help but he will just have to get over it. I was not in the mood to listen to his color commentary about his mother-in-law or whatever his latest issue is. And since he can neither navigate worth a damn, even with a map, or move through the woods with any grace, I thought he would be of limited use.

The site was about as far as you could go northwest in the county, so I had a nice leisurely ride out. I say leisurely because I was driving a county car and speeding is a major no no when driving one. It would have been a bit nicer except a delivery truck decided to tailgate me and try to intimidate me as I drove down a teeny tiny country road. There was no place to pull over and let the goobs go by and with the limited sight distances and major deer population, I was not going to go any faster. (If I am in an accident larger than a minor fender bender, regardless of fault, I get hauled off for drug testing and subjected to increased scrutiny. Not that I was on drugs or anything. Just not worth the hassle.) This road was so small that it has a creek that has to be forded - no bridge.

I parked at the auto part place next to the property, as there was no place on site, and went in and explained why my vehicle was there to the guy behind the counter. He asked what I was doing and I gave him a vague answer about the property next door. He said "The swamp?" Hrrrm. I checked my plan again. It says nothing about wetlands, water, anything. In fact it declares expressly that there are no streams, no wetlands, no nothing except a small forest stand. So I went over to check it out myself and sure enough, there is a lot of standing water in those woods. With mosquitos the size of chickens. The area on the plan that said "lawn" was a field of thistles taller than me. Somehow, I have a feeling these applicants aren't going to be so happy with me when I am done with their inventory. But no less happy than I was to spend my afternoon at the office with my boots stinking of swamp mud.

I believe I will go out this weekend and buy a bit more protective clothing. While 90% of my time is spent looking like a professional in a hyper air conditioned office, that other 10% involves a few more things that bite or give you nasty rashes than I am comfortable with not protecting against. It is not like hiking, where there is a path for you to stay on and if you choose to get off it, that is up to you. When I am checking a property that has never been developed or let go for a very long time, any paths are caused by deer. While you are happy to have these paths, as sometimes the brambles are inpenetrable, these are where the deer lays are, complete with deer ticks. I have spent enough time in the last few days listening to my co-workers talk about how many times they have had Lymes disease that I am now a bit wary about this hazard.

Of course, I really am quite lucky. From last Friday's excursion, the Doof brought back several ticks and a bad case of poison ivy. I escaped unscathed. Of course, I was in front with a short skirt on. (Don't ask. I thought we were going out to sites like mine, which were all downcounty, developed sites. Very stupid.) And he was behind me but did a sucko job of following or paying attention.