Hi all,
Sorry I haven't posted in... forever, but it's been crazy busy with an extra shot of hectic thrown in for good measure. It's been amazingly fun, but so busy my life has been "Barn --> Food --> Sleep --> Repeat" for about two weeks!
Instead of trying to remember every little detail, I thought I would make a list of some major events, and some 'lessons learned' around the farm. Here we go!
1. Cows are strongly-willed toddlers.
I have learned that patience and calm go a lot farther than yelling and rodeo skills. I actually really enjoy having to move or weigh cows because my geeky self is so interested in using the animal's flight zone to get it to move, without having to touch it at all. It's awesome.
2. Not being scheduled to work does not mean not working.
I have an individual project this summer (which started today, hooray!), so lately I've been working on all the little details to make sure that goes smoothly (Do the feeders know which pen is getting which diet? Do I have enough bags for feed samples? Are the labels "idiot proof" enough that I won't get confused later on? When did I last take a shower?!). I've lived in the library that's on-site for a few nights it seems, and I'm pretty pleased with how everything is turning out, but it's definitely the learning curve of "my job is my life". I'm sure this will come in handy in grad school!
3. Data Rangers are super fun to drive, but beware of gravity.
I drive a mobile feed mixer called a Data Ranger whenever I feed the tie-stall cows, and this week I somehow managed to fall off it. It's pretty tricky to get the hang of driving it around, but of course I managed to fall off it just by stepping down after I was done with it. I'll post pictures later on, my phone isn't speaking to my computer at the moment and all my pictures are there.
4. Drawing blood is fun (and doesn't make me pass out, huzzah!)!
One study I'm working on requires us to draw blood from cows every two hours for a six-hour period. I've gotten better at drawing blood from the cow's tail vein, which doesn't hurt them at all, but, referring to #1, they don't always cooperate. It's hard to balance holding up their tail and walking back and forth while they fidget around while trying to not poke yourself with a needle! Drawing blood from a calf is a different story entirely, and a little scarier for me. They're much more wiggly, and you draw from the vein in their neck, so I'm always a little nervous I'm going to poke something important by mistake. But I've had great teachers, and it's been fantastic learning these basic techniques that I've never been able to do!
5. Black flies are the worst things on the planet.
I could write a small novel about how much I despise these small insects. They're worse than mosquitoes, because half the time you don't even see them bite you. They're super tiny and their favorite place to bite you is your hair line, which is beyond disgusting, and the bites itch worse, too! I've resorted to spraying the back of my neck with bug spray just to keep my sanity. They're everywhere! It's been really wet here too, so they're out in hordes. I think they're in cahoots with the mosquitoes, because it seems like I get attacked in waves.
6. North Country-Folk are not, I repeat - NOT - Canadians. Calling them this will earn you dirty looks.
However, they say "Eh" WAY more than yoopers, and they throw it into their sentences randomly. I love it. They also tend to drop the pitch of the last words in their sentences, but in a really unique way that I'll just have to demonstrate when I get home because it kind of defies description. Also, "wicked cool" is a popular expression. In general, I love the people here and I could listen to them talk for hours.
Example: "Those cows, eh, they almost gotcha." or "What's that, eh?" <-- Not doing it justice at all, ask me to demonstrate when I get home, if I'm not already talking like that.
7. Everyone working the milking parlor is somehow related, and I think they're my favorite people on the farm.
"Uncle Neil" is the actual uncle of two of the milkers, Adam and Ryan, and is somehow related to two(?) other milkers, too. Everyone calls him Uncle Neil, and I love him. He grew out a big beard because he loves Duck Dynasty and my first night milk sampling he played a prank that scared the crap out of me. His wife is from Michigan, so I think that put me in a good spot in his book. He's just a genuinely kind person who loves his job and loves to make people smile, and he's definitely going to be one of my favorite Miner Memories. :)
8. This place has TONS of women working in science! I love it!
We actually joke about how few men actually work here. It makes me feel amazing, because science fields have always been male-dominated. It's really empowering being surrounded by such strong, intelligent women. Most of the research crew is female, and some of them are so smart I'm a little intimidated. Everyone here has been so welcoming and easy to approach, though, and I'm so blessed to be able to learn from them. "There's no such thing as a stupid question" actually applies here. :)
9. Rumen fluid is the worst smell on the planet, which will remain on your skin for days.
10. I love living with people who are interested in the same things I am, but are totally different at the same time.
I'm having such a great time working and living with the other interns, and I still can't quite believe I'm having this amazing experience. We all get together at night and joke about the funny things that happened that day, and we all get along really well. I hope we'll all stay in touch after this summer, and now I can say I have friends from all over the place!
I think that's good for now, though I'm sure once I hit 'post' I'll think of a million more things I should have put on this list. I'll post pictures as soon as I can figure out why my lap top and phone aren't getting along. We might have to call a therapist.
Love you all! Also, a birthday shout-out to Nick! Can't believe how old we're all getting.
Also-also: I'll be HOME in 4 days for the beautiful wedding of Sandra and Scott! So excited to see everyone!
-xoxo-
Kaitlyn
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