This one’s for you dear fieldcrew

It is good, but a little weird, adjusting to office life, after spending 11(?!) weeks in the field. You sort of forget how to sit down in a chair and type on this thing called a “computer.” You get confused by the switch in environments and are left wondering: where is my graph paper? where is my bucket hat? why are there no mosquitos here? how come i am so alone!?”

Well, the grass has grown over the back-filled pit and everyone has gone their separate ways (*cue violins*). I am missing many things about being in the field, mainly my fellow field-crew members (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE GUYS! this blog is for you)

This year we had a few volunteers (new and seasoned), a lot of visitors, a dog, a bumblee, and one solid field crew consisting of Shalen AKA Shale, Isaac AKA General Danger, Claude AKA ?, and myself AKA Chips, under the supervision of Dr. Kristmanson AKA The Boss.

Not being at PAV anymore there are lots of Things I miss, such as:
the beautiful view of the water, participating in the history of PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND every day, the feel of a cool breeze on a hot day, Bideford bootcamp (improv post-work workouts on red dirt roads), listening to Lady Gaga whilst cataloguing on rainy days at the KGH (King George Hall), carrying around really big guns (arm muscles), the sounds of a certain someone SCREAMING e-v-e-r-y time he found an artifact, uncovering the mysterious “poop” soil, bucket hats, plaid shirts, knives!, those days someone nice (usually someone named Dave or David) would stop by with a treat (H2O, strawberries, popsicles, muffins, etc.) and my dear friend Burt Reynolds whose daily presence at the site initially terrified, and eventually comforted, me.
(*Burt Reynolds the bumblebee, no relation to the actor).

Things I don’t miss: MOSQUITOS FROM MORDOR, weird sunburns, dirt in my eyeballs, the weather extremes (experiencing both freezing AND boiling weather), dehydration, the commute from Charlottetown to Low Point and back every day, the fatigue and exhaustion, thunder & lightning storms trapped at King George Hall, having limited will-power against road-side french-fries and ice-cream, an ear-splitting impersonation of Dolly Parton, SomeONE (ISAAC – I Know what you did last this summer) throwing rocks at me in my general direction while I walked the shore at lunch.

But you know, the funny thing is, I even kind of miss the things I don’t miss.