This place is just peeing rain. As it was described to me, it's going to be some kind of meteorological miracle if it does not rain the entire time we're here. All the locals are stomping around in big yellow boots. Might not need the sunglasses for the week, but wearing them anyway. I need to shake off a but if my newyoriqueno qualities. Calla lillies seem to grow wild and the new roads are pretty good, except it still feels like an amusement park ride. I was riding in the back and just kind of dealing with it for a few hours by blasting Link Wray. Something about the Surf Sound makes for the right feeling on these roads.
The nice thing is that there are hummingbirds everywhere.
We went on a 3 mile hike today through the nearby oath, a very well maintained trail with plenty of log bridges to cross the 20 or so streams we met. Tom, who is one of the researchers directing this, introduced us to some of the plants and caterpillars we'll be searching for. They're very small, for the most part. Extremely small, with the occasional biggun. Tom explained that while there are many very large caterpillars, the biggest variety are 1 inch and less. Somehow, I expected much bigger, but it makes sense.
That said, one of the research assistants explained how she was alone at the base recently and hadnto kill a black widow in her bedroom with a sandal and a woman accidentally stepped on a 2-inch beetle in the toilet, which made everyone a little unhappy: the woman, the researchers, the big fat beetle, everyone. It languished on a table while everyone flopped it around for a bit before being tossed into the scrubby grass to complete its cycle of life.
