A little change of scenery!

The other day I was driving from the TX Panhandle back to the Trans-Pecos with a TPWD (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) Biologist I had just met that morning.  It was about a 9-hour drive (all in the same state!), it was the second time in less than 24 hours that we were both making the trip, and we were hauling a trailer full of 25 pronghorn we had captured earlier in the day (which means we were making as few stops as possible).  So I'm sure you can imagine that we had a lot of time to talk and get to know one another...  He was asking me what it was like for me when I first moved here to TX and mentioned that it must have been quite a cultural shock for me.  I said it wasn't really, because I had spent four years in PA (and sometimes WV) with rednecks to prepare me for the TX cowboys :)  I think the biggest shock was just being what seemed (and still seems) like a million miles away from home!  Although I have settled in here in the past 6 months (has it only been that long??), and even have my own apartment (which has yet to be furnished beyond a bed and one chair...), I do not miss home any less.  Still, as many of you know, I've been SO busy down here in the last couple of months that I am not able to dwell on missing home and the people there that I love quite as much as I did in the beginning... which is a good thing!  Anyway, I have joined the blogging community as a way to better keep in touch with friends and family who may be interested in some of the things I am doing down here.  It was too much of a pain to send a bunch of different e-mails, or tell the same story 10 times over the phone, so I figured this would be a good way to keep everyone relatively informed of what is going on in my grad school life.  And since some of you probably already follow other blogs, this is just one more you can add to your list :)  I guess I have quite a bit of catching up to do from when I first started, so maybe I will try to include a little bit of past events in the present to get caught up.

For now I will just post a couple pictures so that you have an idea of how my scenery has changed from forests to deserts and mountains.  While very different from what I am used to, I am blessed to be living in such a beautiful place.

Luckily, even in the desert, there are places I can go to feel like I am back in the woods!  And as you can see in this picture, if you hike up high enough you can still see the desert way off in the distance.  What a beautiful scene!  And even better - this is one of my study sites so I do get a little taste of the forest every so often :)  This is a view on the way up to Mount Livermore, a peak in the Davis Mountains Preserve (those of you that are my friends on facebook - in my current profile picture I am sitting on top of Mt. Livermore).

Obviously quite a bit different than the first picture, but in my opinion - equally breathtaking.  It's a harsh ecosystem being as dry as it is, but the mountains are beautiful and I've seen some of the clearest and bluest skies ever in this area (although it was a little cloudy this day).  This again is one of my study sites and I have watched the sun rise above these mountains which was a very humbling experience in person! I am on top of Elephant Mountain (also a TPWD Wildlife Management Area).

A little bit of a different view of the mountains, since this time I'm not on top of one!  But if you look closely enough, you can see the Chisos Mountains (in Big Bend National Park) in the distance hiding behind some fog.  A much more beautiful sight in person, so you'll have to use your imagination a little when looking at this picture.  And again, this is another one of my study sites :)

Well, I think I have done enough for my first entry... I have a little break from my field work for a couple weeks, so I am sure I will have plenty of time to post enough to get everyone caught up to the present!

Until next time, Laura :)