“Experiences like those are attached to every piece of data in that massive sheet. This kind of data collection is time intensive and you get cold and you don’t always get to see the fruits of your labor. And yet… many people over many years have dedicated hundreds of hours to build this dataset.”

“As I go about the business of readying our boats and docks for the summer season and taking care of the million little details that need attention during the switch to warm weather operations, those two words, “persistence” and “hope” stick with me.”

“I haven’t had a fish tank since I was five and even then I distinctly remember not being allowed to even feed the fish due to an abundance of enthusiasm when it came to fish food.”

“…despite the chaos and uncertainty, some things must go on as normal, which is how last week, I found myself, as I have once a month since starting my term, ankle-deep in a river, filling 250 mL bottles and recording data.”

“It can be hard to imagine a time when normalcy will return, but we can only take heart in the fact that it will. Spring greenery will return, the sodden ground will dry, and the threat at hand will pass.”

“Being in the mountains always makes me laugh. Why? Because they’re hill-areas.”

“And while there is still a piece of my heart that soars highest when I walk through the quiet woods alone, I’ve become aware of a new part that is fullest when I can share a salamander find or glorious sunset with others”

“My mom and I lay on our stomachs on the boardwalks at Huntley Meadows, a tiny wetland nature facility located behind a Denny’s and an apartment complex on one of the biggest highways in my hometown, looking for signs of turtles and frogs. I saw and learned and cherished so much while exploring these places.”

“The life of Squam that you become a part of is so inviting and becomes something you will never truly be without.”

And that is why we come to the woods, whether the trees ring with conversation and laughter or the only sound is the crunch of snow as we tramp onward, and think, and watch, and listen, preparing for our next discovery.