The Charmed Life

The Charmed Life

Working and living with a small group of people can be draining, especially when you’re putting in the long hours that we are to try to find as many stickleback as possible. Luckily, a good crew [like ours] will make the days easier by finding time to enjoy the beautiful land we’ve traveled to with a smile or a joke or something unexpected. After a long day of travelling and trapping, we had one more lake to find in the Green Point campground. As we wandered up and down a beautiful ocean side trail to no avail, Eric fortuitously took a moment to fall face first into a bed of moss and grass that faced the ocean.

“It smells delicious!” he cried. “Come on down!”

We skeptically obeyed. A soft landing and a sweet but earthy smell welcomed us. These are excerpts from the photoshoot that followed:

Sweet Emma, Jenna, and Eric enjoy the sunset from the patch
Sweet Emma, Jenna, and Jason enjoy the sunset from the patch
A possible stickleback sighting!
A possible stickleback sighting!
Let's compare
For comparison; note the differences in fin morphology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sculpin try to crawl to the ocean
Sculpin try to crawl to the ocean
And a real man's beard
An actual sculpin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good laugh
A good laugh attracts…
All of a sudden, this guy was a few feet from us, sniffing at our traps. The first fox sighting of the trip and it was so close we could pet it.
…this guy! All of a sudden, this fox was a few feet from us, sniffing at our traps. The first fox sighting of the trip and it was so close we could pet it.

I wonder how I came to deserve such a very charming scene. After a battery of photos, the fox ran back into its hole, and we strolled back to the car through the iris-laden path.