Workplace du Jour

Hey kids! I got a respite from my freaky gas mask today and got to work right next to the ocean. A very nice change. Yes, there was a chain link and barbed-wire fence between us and the beach, but it was still much more fun than working on a bleak construction site full of loud and noxious machinery. This time I have my lungs to thank for this fortuitous change of affairs. The diesel and billowing dust clouds of the monitoring job are getting to me, despite my mask. Although, I was rather justly scolded today by a coworker who somehow found out that I wasn't wearing it the entire time on the monitoring job. That is true. But I challenge you to wear one of those things when climbing up a steep hill or jogging to avoid impending doom in the form of 200,000 pounds of cold yellow metal. It can't be done! I would have liked to wear the mask all day (well, no, that's a lie. I don't like that thing! But I like having my lungs healthy) but it was simply much too hard to breathe through those filters any time I moved at more than a slow ambling walk. I'm afraid it's just not practical for me out there. Without the mask, I suck in lots of deadly fumes that my body can't get rid of, and then I'm not able to breathe. With the mask, I can't get enough air when I exert myself, and then I can't breathe. There's my justification for taking the darn thing off. At any rate, that's why I'm temporarily off the job!!

So there we were at Silver Strand Beach, on military land south of Coronado Island. Lovely. Iceplant is typically a type of flora that I am not fond of; however, it is squishy and fun to walk on and makes a good cushion when you're sitting down doing paperwork. And in several spots, it was thickly overgrown where we needed to dig our units, so we got down and ripped it up with our hands. It was quite therapeutic--grabbing fistfuls of plant and roots and pulling with all my strength 'til big clumps came off and I could toss them over my shoulder--fun times! A few times it resisted so strongly that I had to pull with my full weight against it and then when the roots suddenly gave way I fell squarely on my butt. It just made me laugh. For those of you who think it's hypocritical of me to be gleefully tearing up plants left and right: iceplant grows like wildfire, takes over other vegetation if given the slightest chance, and doesn't even belong here. Take that, iceplant!
I know working at the beach all day seems like a dream, especially to you poor freezing east coast folk, but if it's any consolation, it was pretty cold in the early morning with all the fog. We also tend to not notice the lovely surroundings as much as you would think--we're too busy digging, screening, bagging artifacts, measuring...But the few times I paused and looked up I was extremely gratified and amazed at how gorgeous it was. Such a beautiful clear day! Not too hot or cold, the water was a flashing greeny-blue, pelicans were occasionally winging overhead, and a curious but aloof ruby-throated hummingbird guarded the periphery all morning. AAhhhhhhhhh, this is why I do what I do! I'll take my $30 less per hour to enjoy these shining saturated moments. Peace. Sunshine. Salt breeze. Bliss.