Badlands Residency Day 12

After a brief trip home to Coeur d'Alene to visit family and lead the Coeur d'Alene Firefighters Pipes and Drums for our St. Patrick's day pub crawl, I am back in Badlands!  I arrived yesterday afternoon and met up with the student groups from three schools: Crazy Horse High School, Red Cloud Indian School, and the Calhoun School (from NYC).  We had dinner and spent time getting to know each other.

Today we gathered in the morning and headed out to hike part of the Castle Trail with Ed and Milt, paleontologist and ecologist, to learn about the plants and geology of the park.  Afterwards we headed back to the visitors center and I gave a little presentation on nature journaling.  Following that was a hike behind the quad area, hunting for fossils, watching the sun set and the moon rise.  Glorious.

Ended the day down at the Wagon Wheel.  I brought my bagpipes along and played for everyone, we had a bean bag toss tournament, and I managed to beat Jerry at cribbage - again.  A fun St. Patrick's Day evening.

Hiking along the Castle Trail from Old NE to Door/Window.

Badlands Residency Day 11

Another beautiful day, though not as warm as yesterday.  I even opened the windows for a while.  Spend the morning cleaning, doing laundry, and organizing my apartment.  This afternoon I took a walk around the area, getting some of the photographs I'll need for my work on illustrating the park's Design Guidelines publication.  

Tomorrow morning I fly back home to Coeur d'Alene in order to lead my band, the Coeur d'Alene Firefighters Pipes and Drums, on our St. Patrick's Day pub crawl this Saturday.  If you're in the area, visit the band's facebook page to see our line-up for the day.  I think we start at noon.  Follow us around to as many gigs as you like!

I'll arrive back at Badlands on Sunday, just in time to spend the week with students from several high schools, local and non: the Calhoun School in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Red Cloud Indian School, and Crazy Horse High School.  It'll be fun but busy week!

As I write, the weather is shifting.  It was a calm day, for badlands, but the bombing sounds in my walls and roof tell me the wind has really picked up.  Here's an evening shot from out my back door.