Today was great. I don't know why but I honestly can't stop smiling. I'm exhausted, I have a couple ant bites on my ankles, maybe some random scrapes, a blister on my foot but I'm so incredibly joyful it's amazing. I absolutely love this internship, it's everything I've ever wanted to do. And it's only been about chickens so far! It's so clear that this is what God wants me to do with my life because I have been having the time of my life! And we've been doing very mundane things, as well. It's really not that exciting to anyone who's not me and enthusiastic about everything, haha.
We went out to the Texas City Prairie Preserve today and got to help out the Nature Conservancy there (they have two Attawater's Prairie Chickens). We helped them nail scraps of metal onto posts to try to deter birds of prey from preying on any of the two chickens they have left. This is actually the first year they are trying to prevent these attacks, so when the new chicks come in from captivity, they will be more safe than any of their previous friends.
It was simple(or supposedly so). You went up to a fence post and nailed about three nails onto the top of the fence post so the birds of prey couldn't stand there. But it really wasn't that simple....You wouldn't believe all the things nature had in store for us today, and needless to say I'm fairly useless at hammering nearly anything. There were bushes, tall grasses, and thorns surrounding the fence posts, making it nearly (and sometimes completely) impossible to get to. Then there were the ants, thousands of them in very large swarms...in the posts. That was unfortunate. Some were completely skipped because there were so many ants on them.
It wasn't hard work, but it was a lot of work. There were thousands of acres of Prairie that were covered with fence posts that they needed to cover before August, and we were only helping a small portion of that. There were ten of us, so we got a lot of work done, but it wasn't easy. It was a lot of walking, a lot of struggling with nails, and bushes and ants, but nonetheless, we accomplished a lot. Our trek back was fairly long and we could see the kind of work that we did throughout the day.
It's really great when you can see your progress, but in conservation work, it's never really like that. Thinking about how much more they needed to do was almost heartbreaking, especially since nearly no one was working at the facility. It's hard, back-breaking, sweat-drenched work, but it's worth it. Even if one of those posts helped save a chicken's life it was worth it for me.
I loved today because it was getting dirty, and getting really involved in the stuff that needs to be done. It was fun because it was out in nature, surrounded by God's beautiful creation, even though some of it was out to get us (ant's are a little evil....). I was content with the work that I had done and grateful that I had this opportunity to really see what conservation work involves and how their days can be spent. All throughout this internship I know I'll be dreaming of the future, and of the day when it'll be my project out there, trying to save whatever animal I choose and help promote a healthier environment and ecosystem for all.
I can't wait for the life that God is opening up for me. I'm perpetually excited and so enthusiastic. Even though I'm tired, and my body is sore, I'm completely joyful and intrigued in what tomorrow will bring.
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