NSWO Banding
I volunteered for the Saw-Whet Owl banding project last night. They are adorable, the smallest owls in North America. I got to hold a Saw-Whet! And release it (I have only done that twice, but releasing a bird is one of the best highs ever...ask anyone that's done it.) We only caught two, and stayed out longer than I'd hoped (1:30am), and it was cold, but I'm glad I did it. There's something marvelous about the woods at night. (We were in Yellowwood State Forest.) And the sky is so clear out there.
I'm in the middle a couple projects. First, my novel (25% done!) I'm finding that several minor characters are the ones I like the most, so I'm trying to give them bigger roles, which makes them happy. I've also started exploring the realm of found poetry (untreated, there's not much point to treated if you just take singular words) which is surprisingly difficult and time-consuming, considering you're using pre-constructed phrases. So I find that school-work is taking a back-seat, but not in a bad way. When you care more about the work you're doing independentally, it's good for controlling the stress levels, although lab is getting annoying. I have to come in every day now, and I don't even get to do what I want to be doing, so I'm just not interested. I'm not looking forward to writing my honors thesis, since honestly I'm not even sure what the point my research is, and don't think I'll be able to convince a faculty panel otherwise.
Thanksgiving break is getting so close. I am looking forward to it very muchly. Althought I'm not looking forward to telling the 'rents about the Peace Corps.