Let me tell y’all about some wildlife right quick.
Mississippi, or as I like to call it “Sippiland,” is a state teeming with various species-of animal and human-that I’ve never before had the pleasure of meeting. Or displeasure, in reference to these irritating mosquitoes. Seriously, these guys are worse than telemarketers.
Entering into my seventh week stationed at North Mississippi, I’ve learned a good bit about this area. It’s not such a bad state, in spite of what every other state in the U.S.A. might think. Yeah, it has its extreme country side where you see nothing but cornfields for an hour or two and pass by a town in only half a second. And there are places that have an old guy playing a banjo on that chewing tobacco with an old dog deemed “Roscoe.”
And places that don’t have a Wendy’s. Crazy, right?
But I am talking about the wide open areas with lush fields. The rich history of the south. The southern hospitality of the people here. The calm, sort of relaxed atmosphere that makes me feel at home. I’m talking about the buttered down cornbread, people!
Well, so far during my internship with SCA I’ve had hand to hand combat with red swamp crayfish, three-toed Amphiuma, timber rattlers, southwestern bats, box turtles, and many others. Let me say first (or fourth), I had never touched any of those before in my whole entire life. And regrettably, I didn’t mean to have a physical interaction with that certain amphibian.
All I’m saying is don’t pick up certain snake-like creatures. I don’t think they enjoy it.
From the minnow trapping, to the conquering of my fears that resulted from a bat misnetting incident, to preserving a historical landmark, I’ve grown a good deal from this boggy summer down in Sippiland. Figuring out my dream job, that one that y’all see listed in my Follow Me bio, came from all the thinking and writing I’ve been doing since I started with Career Discovery Internship Program (CDIP) (some of that writing shows up as previous blog posts, which can be found here: http://sweetcornbreadandferalhogs.tumblr.com/). A big thanks to the SCA web team for letting me share my experiences on Follow Me for the month of July. I sincerely appreciate it.
Well. ‘Til next time.
