lucky thirteen

Yesterday, our twelfth day of digging (seventh in the swamp), we finished up the swampy area, staying an extra two hours to avoid another slog through the swamp this morning. For some perspective on how bad the clay was, last week we did 31 test pits the whole week - yesterday, upon getting out of the worst of the clay, we did 36.
This morning I was exhausted. Last night I was late getting home, and then we were slow getting supper together and Marie stopped in for a visit, and though I got eight hours of sleep, it just wasn't enough. This morning was pretty surreal. We listened to the Velvet Underground coasting through the back roads of Minto trying to find the best route to the other side of the river; we saw a lynx dart across the road ahead of us, and Jason told us stories of his brother, who goes by the stage name Mr. Wonderful: he is a stripper, but is now semi-retired because men keep showing up to his shows, and apparently that is not acceptable. You hear some great stories in the field, but the only one that can compete with Mr. Wonderful is Jamie's story of delivering his firstborn son at home (the placenta sort of steals the show in that one - Ellis still gags when you mention it).
Anyway, the place is pretty nice, especially in contrast to the boggy mess of the last place. We're on the other side of the river (quick geology tip: rivers tend to have a side that they are eroding and a side they are building up with silt; this side is the one being eroded, so it doesn't have silty deposits of clay all over) and basically spent the morning digging holes in fine sand (translation: easy for me, a screener) in a shady forest overlooking a calm river. Jamie found a nest of big hawks with little hawklings about twenty meters from where we are working, and we had not one, but two visits: some river specialists wading about and splashing in the river for our amusement, and a representative of The Client, Michelle, who complimented our lovely square holes and took a picture of me and Ellis looking chic in bug nets.
All in all, things are going well. I have Friday off for some blood work, so tomorrow is pseudo-Friday, and then we are going to Sean's parents' for the weekend. Good times, good times.