Peck Ranch - The Beginning

Peck Ranch – The beginning

Our MOFEP housing at Peck Ranch 

(otherwise known as Camp Whippoorwill)

View from our housing

The Place – Peck Ranch

The beginning.  The housing at Peck Ranch wasn’t the cabin I imagined, but it was the beginning – and that’s what was important.  Although the interior of our strewn-together trailers initially felt like a sterile maze, it represented accomplishment, independence, and my future, not to mention tick & chigger bites.  Besides, the view down the road felt like an African Savannah (hey, use your imagination). 

 

The Characters

I lived here with my crew – Ryan, Keith, and our lead Jean; the bird crew, and our housing manager, Robert.  

Ryan is that helpful guy with a good heart.  He fills the silence and makes people comfortable.






 

Keith is our triathlon runner with a penchant for that surprising, memorable one-liner.

 Jean…there isn’t really a collection of simple words to tell you about Jean.  But let me give you this – she gives me a center to talk to through the excitement and the change and really helped me refill after a stressful weekend.







 

Oh yeah, of course, there’s me.  And I guess since I’m writing, I get to be cool.  So. . .

Yes, this is me thinking I’m cool.   

I really enjoyed hanging out with the people on the bird crew.  Amy is a sweet girl who reminds me of an old friend, Jenni.  She has a lizard.  Lyndsey is an awesome cook with a delicate, calm spirit.  She plays banjo.  Doug is funny guy with an easygoing personality.  He does nature photography, entirely self-taught, and writes letters.  John plays basketball and finds endless pleasure from ribbing the others.

The job

This is where I work.  Pretty.

 

Ok, sometimes.  I’ll get started admitting right now, that I romanticized field work, just a bit.  On some days, I work here. 

 

I’ll translate:

 

 

Ok, now that that’s over, I really do love the work so far, and yes, it has been the reflection on life I was looking for.  My actual job has us looking at the ground level vegetation throughout different MO forests and monitoring change over time.  That info tells you about the dynamic ecology of the landscape, and lets you make more informed decisions for restoring our Oaks.

But first, we had to get through Botany Training.  Now, that’s a story in itself, and I’m trying to tell you about the beginning.  The important thing to know is that handling both those good and bad experiences served both to cause that reflection I sought, and to give me an escape from myself when I needed it.  In my time at Peck, I realized that it was ok to let the people at home, be at home.  That I needed to live my life out there, and visit when I could.  It was mostly just the way I thought about things, but that freedom to neglect making a phone call was the first step that would prepare me for the rest of this thing.  As for the next, well, I’m writing to you from Whetstone now, and I’ll let you know as they come. 

Look for more random thoughts and Peck Ranch stories & funnies as they come (like, why I told you this place is called "Camp Whippoorwill".)