OUCH!!!

This is what happens when the person driving towards you ignores a sign that says 'oncoming traffic has a longer green light' and turns straight across the road in front of you when you are only a few car lengths away from him and it is pouring with rain! Of course he was driving a big red pick-up truck so the damage he incurred was considerably less than us. Thankfully Jamie (who was driving) and myself came out of things considerably better than her poor car did. Apart from being a bit shaken up and rather sore, no serious harm done. Whether Jamie's car will ever be the same again though is very doubtful.

Photo Credits - CJT

CINDERELA DAY

There are not many negatives associated with working for a not for profit organisation but one of the few is when we have to prepare for a big fund-raising event. Today is the day of our annual Butterfly Ball at the Nature Museum. It is a day when the majority of staff get the day off because the museum is closed but being the Manager of the Living Vertebrate Collections I have to rally the troops for a big clean-up to get all the animals looking their best. Unlike other areas of preparation for this event there is very little that can be done in advance. I can't very well tell the snakes 'OK I am going to clean your cage out today and I don't want you to make a mess until after the ball!' Or tell the birds 'OK now you mustn't spill any of your food after I have cleaned up!' Some how they just don't seem willing to co-operate. So today was spent draining and refilling turtle tanks, syphoning algea out of fish tanks, cleaning up snake poop, and a million and one other fun tasks.
The first picture shows Mike our DNA research intern and Jamie our Aquatic Specialist on algea busting duties 'You scrub and I'll syphon!' The second picture is Brad our Animal Care Volunteer, planting up a tank full of carnivorous plants.
Next we have John our Horticulturist, dangling thirty feet up in the air in the roof of the Butterfly Haven fixing the netting that prevents the butterflies from getting trapped, and Doug our Curator of Biology (otherwise known as Boss!) wearing some very kinky bondage gear......ah no sorry, actually he is on the other end of the rope that John is dangling from. You see as Boss you get all the best jobs!!
Finally we have Vincent our 'bug man' hosing out the waterfall in the butterfly haven. Normally our jobs are pretty well demarkated, Mike - DNA, Jamie - Water and things that live in it, John - plants, Vincent - bugs and moi? Well 'If you have a spine you're mine!' But on this day we all muck in and just get the job done.
So why Cinderela Day? Because after working hard all day scrubbing and cleaning we, of course, do not get to go to the ball!!

Photo Credits - CJT

HOME SWEET HOME

It is almost inevitable I think that when you end
up living on a different continent, from time to time your mind turns fondly to home. It never ceases to amaze me the number of people living in Chicago who see fit to make derisory comments about the English weather! It is the 28th of April and our forecast for Chicago today is freezing temperatures, driving rain, turning to snow later and 30 mile an hour winds! Nice! This from a city that spends eight months of the year buried in winter and then the remaining four months hot and incredibly humid. I must admit I give people pretty short shrift these days when they start sneering about English weather. I make a point of telling them about the palm trees growing in my Mums garden and the fact that she never has to worry about frosts spoiling her plants (never mind the weeks of sub-zero temperatures we endure here!) OK so my parents live right at the very southern tip of the country and, yes, Scotland is a little different from Cornwall as far as climate goes but it just amazes me how many people have this idea of England, and usually it is the people who have never set foot there! Just for good measure, both of these photos were taken near my parents home in England in December - no ice or snow to be seen! Now I am going to put another sweater on and make myself a hot chocolate!

Photo Credits - Dominick V

INTO THE BLOGOSPHERE

I never thought I would see the day but, here I am, starting a blog - the moral of that story - never say never! In a life that has so far seen me stumble my way onto three continents it is always hard to keep in touch with all the amazing people you meet and who make an impression on your life. Being a naturally lazy person, this seemed like an ideal solution! At least with a blog it gives people an option to find out what is going on, rather than having the dreaded 'annual update' enclosed with a Christmas card.
Currently my life finds me residing in Chicago, married to a truly wonderful man, living in an apartment overlooking Lake Michigan and working at the nearby Chicago Academy of Sciences Nature Museum as the Manager of Living Vertebrate Collections. (Much more about that in later postings)

We recently returned from a trip to the Galapagos Islands, which was what finally motivated me to get a blog organised, as so many people wanted to see photos and hear about the trip. Here is a little taster of some of the fantastic animals we encountered. Starting at the top - yours truly with a Galapagos Giant Tortoise (Geochelone spp. this particular individual was taken from a private collection to the Darwin Centre so its exact species was unknown.) next, a Sally Lightfoot Crab (Grapsus grapsus), a Land Iguana (Conolophus subcristatus) and
finally the Santa Cruz species of Giant Land Tortoise (Geochelone nigrita) - this must surely be one of the perks of being married to an avid and very talented amateur photographer. (Not that I am biased you understand!) Actually when visiting the Galapagos I defy anyone not to come back with some amazing photos as all the animals are such willing models! And unlike most other places in the world, most of these models are relatively slow moving.


Photo credits:
Lion - Paul Joynson-Hicks
Tortoise, Crab, Iguana, Tortoise - Dominick V