Writer's Block

Here I will attempt to break my writer's block by reminiscing about field adventures.  Currently, there is a bit of snow on the ground and temperatures dip well below freezing.  This means that plants are no longer doing their thing, so there's no good reason for me to be out looking at them.  Really, my annual schedule is pretty ideal, I spend the sunny months out at my field sites and the cold months inside writing about my research.  But it's hard to have that perspective right now, because I'm very bored with what I'm writing.  And a little dejected.  I spent gobs of time writing up a manuscript I presented last week, and I got some really good feedback, but the general consensus I took from it was that the paper made readers feel "brain-dead" (that word was literally written on two reviews).  Fortunately, the comments were presented in a constructive way; unfortunately, I'm a cranky-pants and focusing on the down-side of things right now.

So here are some pretty pictures from the awesome wetlands I get to study:

This is Bidens cernua, commonly called nodding beggartick.  It grows very tall, very fast, late in the season. Making field sites I visited early in the season look completely different.  It also has fun shaped seeds that cling tenaciously to clothing

Storm coming in over cattail.  

So, maybe not pretty, but I also have cool garbage at my field sites

View of Antelope Island from one of my field sites

Curious little ponds near a field site.  

Garden snake and pickleweed.  

Pickleweed turns some beautiful colors; it is my favorite fall foliage to view.  

Also, not pretty, but days that like made me feel like I was really living the good life.  

I think cows are frightening, often they just turn around and stare at my car, making me feel inadequately scary.  

Allenrolfea occidentalis, quite possibly my second favorite wetland plant

Marsh Llama.  Seriously.  Awesome.  

Beautiful pond and island of Schoenoplectus maritimus.  

Dragonfly that seemed awfully fond of my shirt.  It was nice that it matched my shirt.  

Swallows on a dead Tamarisk tree.  

Garden spider.  Despite several confirmations that this spider is harmless, I am still frightened.  And intrigued.  

Schoenoplectus maritimus is good bird food.  

So there you have it.  Wetlands are awesome.  Now I will go finish a proposal, in order to fund the super great research I am doing at these places.