don't panic, i'm a naturalist

i'm all gradumated and stuff, which means i have a shiny new certificate and a fancy new hat.

and the girl scout council is wasting no time making hay, because if you thumb through the program guide the words "with a Vermont Master Naturalist" are sprinkled liberally throughout, which makes me both proud and a little terrified.

i'm having fun preparing for events that are still five or six months away. f'rinstance there is a wildflower tea party coming up in october, which will be the end of goldenrod season, but i have made garlic mustard pesto (in my freezer) to serve along with other spring delicacies like knotweed pie and violet sodas.

i hope to make touches like that be the difference between "that was cool" and "WOW that was cool."
it isn't hard to do if you put some things by, like the violet syrup or the knotweed purée.

i guess i should tell you some things

i think i mentioned that i am studying in the Vermont Master Naturalist Program?

yeah, i am. our last class is next saturday and i will be a bona fide Vermont Master Naturalist.

really you don't pass until your project is complete, but you only need 20 hours of project work and my project is kind of just a down payment on a never ending multi year plan and i'm over 50 hours on that so far, sooooo.

last weekend i went to a training at a girl scout camp, as an instructor.

before the training proper i played chef flask and whipped up some ramps 'n' taters and wildflower fritters with birch syrup for the other instructors.

i also field tested my new homemade hammock stand rig, which only settled the question for me if i need the storeboughten one.

answer: yes. the one i made hangs the hammock just fine but it's hard to put up a full sized tarp and also my rack is eight feet long to transport, which is Not Convenient.

also i seem to have gotten caught up with the town conservation commission, because when you start to do outreach in the community to support your project for the girl scouts, you start needing favors or at least goodwill from the community, so now i'm helping to monitor the health of one forest and i'm on the hook for a written report for a historical society.

it's all turning out fine though since i'm still a volunteer and can pick and choose both my work and my hours and because i don't get paid, everyone is happy to have me do the work i want.

i am able to turn hours and hours of labor into free camping trips...

...on which i perform more labor.

but it's all good. i'm having fun.