A Day in the Country
Thursday our ecology class had to go on an organic farm tour; normally I'd like doing this, getting to skip class and spend a day outside, but it was a day that started early and after driving for an hour and a half we got out of the car and got to (surprise!) herd sheep. So by 10 a.m. I was standing in a field of sheep shit wondering why the sheep were running in the opposite direction of their pen and why the guy in charge was okay with this. I was totally unprepared to herd sheep, although with ecology field trips I'm beginning to realize that something unexpected will always happen and I will not be ready for it. This time, while standing in the clover field I wanted some water pretty badly but I wanted a hat even worse. And not only was it hot, there were hoards of small black biting gnats.
After the sheep herding, which took all morning, we got lunch. It was really fantastic, but then we had to stand out in the yard and listen to a permaculture lecture all the while slapping at the small, black, biting gnats. After the lecture we got to go look at some organic community gardens. Luckily the people I rode with were just as willing to skip out early as I was. But it turns out that we didn't leave early, just at the scheduled time to leave and everyone else from class had to stay later.
I have a hard time recalling exactly what was said during the lecture and an even harder time remembering what I was supposed to have learned from the morning of sheep herding. I think, although I'm not sure, it was supposed to be something like this; farming, especially organic farming is hard work. I guess they wanted to teach us that by example.
We usually don't have ecology class on Thursdays; Mondays and Wednesdays are lecture days and Fridays we meet from 8:00 to 12:00 for field trips. Because we had to be gone all day Thursday our professor graciously let us come in at 9:00 on Friday! One whole hour off of class time in exchange for a whole day of my time. So Friday at 9:00 we had to meet at Urbana's largest park to survey prairie plants. I wore sandals and then had to fight my way through dense prairie that was well above my head.
And the week before that I found myself in the middle of a corn field in a downpour with plastic sacks tied over my feet. We were collecting data for biomass calculations and estimates on potential ethanol production capabilites of corn fields. Our class quickly divided itself into two groups, one group spends a lot of time meticulusly recording data and doing the calculations, the other and the group that I belong in is the group that estimates the data and tries to get done as quickly as possible. At first that sounds like I am short changing myself in this class but that's not the case. Because I fortunately know a lot of people who have taken this class I know there is only one lesson to be learned and so I've learned it. The lesson is simple and it is that the United States is too dependant on petroleum energy and biofuels are not the solution and eventually we'll all die. So, I don't have to be all that careful when digging up the corn plant, cutting it into pieces, and then weighing it. Knowing that I'll eventually die frees up a lot of my time to think about other things, like swinging.
After the sheep herding, which took all morning, we got lunch. It was really fantastic, but then we had to stand out in the yard and listen to a permaculture lecture all the while slapping at the small, black, biting gnats. After the lecture we got to go look at some organic community gardens. Luckily the people I rode with were just as willing to skip out early as I was. But it turns out that we didn't leave early, just at the scheduled time to leave and everyone else from class had to stay later.
I have a hard time recalling exactly what was said during the lecture and an even harder time remembering what I was supposed to have learned from the morning of sheep herding. I think, although I'm not sure, it was supposed to be something like this; farming, especially organic farming is hard work. I guess they wanted to teach us that by example.
We usually don't have ecology class on Thursdays; Mondays and Wednesdays are lecture days and Fridays we meet from 8:00 to 12:00 for field trips. Because we had to be gone all day Thursday our professor graciously let us come in at 9:00 on Friday! One whole hour off of class time in exchange for a whole day of my time. So Friday at 9:00 we had to meet at Urbana's largest park to survey prairie plants. I wore sandals and then had to fight my way through dense prairie that was well above my head.
And the week before that I found myself in the middle of a corn field in a downpour with plastic sacks tied over my feet. We were collecting data for biomass calculations and estimates on potential ethanol production capabilites of corn fields. Our class quickly divided itself into two groups, one group spends a lot of time meticulusly recording data and doing the calculations, the other and the group that I belong in is the group that estimates the data and tries to get done as quickly as possible. At first that sounds like I am short changing myself in this class but that's not the case. Because I fortunately know a lot of people who have taken this class I know there is only one lesson to be learned and so I've learned it. The lesson is simple and it is that the United States is too dependant on petroleum energy and biofuels are not the solution and eventually we'll all die. So, I don't have to be all that careful when digging up the corn plant, cutting it into pieces, and then weighing it. Knowing that I'll eventually die frees up a lot of my time to think about other things, like swinging.
posted by Ellen at 1:08 PM
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