Some migratory birds move from pole to pole in search of wind currents, shifting weather, mating and the far-off bounties of food they said farewell to some seasons before. Ringed seals in the arctic move throughout life, often alone, only to shift priorities and pursue companionship under the blue of the polar ice. The life of salmon is carefully woven into the fluid movement of oceans and rivers and without the salmon’s selfless migration countless species could not survive. Much in the way these animals use shifting seasons as their primary metric for movement so do many of the seasonal workers involved in conservation and life in the wilderness here at CFI.
With much of the winter season snowed in, some of us find winter as time for explorations around the world, time for volunteering at wildlife reservations, or some of us find it’s time to seek a hibernaculum and hermit up for the coldest of months. I typically venture overseas or go to work in the Southwest at wild canine centers.
From these polarities many of us have learned the value for the basic accommodations and commodities that we have at our daily disposal when not in the woods. The shower is primary example of this. A shower relatively near a kitchen that has a tea-pot is incredible and a home with a flush toilet…. well I know I feel extremely spoiled when I have that. Yet, for all the value these trips via global meridians and hot showers have, they cannot fill the void that inevitably turns into a gaping chasm as spring hits and the plants grow closer to budding. When the snow hasn’t even melted yet, we begin to yearn to be in the woods; living out of our backpacks and cooking together while we hear the monsoon rain smashing against the exterior of our small outposts of tarps and tents.
Summer is a busy season for us. Our projects are underway, staff is working hard to tie off all loose ends, base camps are being set-up and the rains are here. One may think there is so much going on that there is no time to turn inward and restore ourselves with the vital essence that sleeping amongst the stars and wind provides. Working for CFI has been a transformative experience both personally and professionally, and I am incredibly happy to be part of the CFI’s mission to protect and preserve the Fourteeners forfuture generations to enjoy.
