As the title says. Those of us who collect in the wintry parts of the northern hemisphere begin showing signs of this tragic affliction around the mid-month mark of February and, if March continues the snowy pattern, it can escalate to ever more serious symptoms. Many of these symptoms include: * Checking the weather forecast every half hour in the hopes of some glimmer of spring * Emptying and repacking the field kit * Holding the hammers with weepy sentimentality * Going through old photo rolls of last year's digs * Writing epic lists of places to go, goals for the season * Losing hours just scrolling through fossil images * Pining over geologic maps * Willing the snow to melt with mental powers or heat laser vision I am seeing my hopes diminish for an early spring like we had last year as we received about two feet of snow (with more to come) in just the last week. That is really the hold-up in these parts: waiting on the snow to recede. For me around here, it just needs to clear from any locations that have rock piles or slopes of any kind. Last year, I went out on March 7th. According to the long-range forecast, there will be snow falling every day for the next two weeks, which brings me to March 4th. What I need are five solid days of 10 Celsius to burn as much of the white stuff away as possible! This a good, yet one of the worst, times of year. It is good for catching up on prep and planning. It is horrible because of the long winter wait. Of course, there are other fossil-related activities for some of us to do. Acquiring any missing tools, or replacing no longer functional ones is something to pass the time, but that doesn't take months to do. Planning doesn't take that long either. So that leaves, for me, two avenues: prep and drawing. To that end, I have four trilobites for prep coming in the mail in the next 3-4 weeks: one from Oklahoma (rec'd today; Devonian), Morocco (Devonian), Illinois (Waldron shale, Silurian), and Russia (Ordovician). I still have my own prep queue to keep me busy, but nothing super-complete, so I was tempted by shiny things from abroad. In terms of drawing, I managed one in the past month, and it took 100 hours because... pustules. Lots of them. I think after that long slog I'm taking a break from drawing trilobites. I have two other drawings in mind: a modern isopod, and a cystoid. Although I love lumpy-bumpy lichids, and there are a number of others I really want to draw, I need a breather from pustule-work, which is a lot like inscribing a pagoda on a grain of rice -- it is that slow-going. And what else? I got a much higher-powered Dremel rotary tool for matrix work. I also got a hoodie made to my specs using Sam Gon III's line drawings. Yes, I could have more of my own drawings printed on clothes, but I didn't want to be that self-promotional. Besides, I have a few already, and I've long admired Sam Gon III's work. I'm going to wear it as a little homage. The back of the hoodie (which is a great addition to cooler temps in the field!) has a Terataspis grandis done in vinyl white lines, and the front is a smorgasbord of Sam's line drawings. I also had the Terry printed on a tank-top for summer work. One has to look good in the field, right? It leaves no question why I am out there, for any who are curious as to why some big middle-aged bald dude is bashing rocks with his hammers. And, of course, let's keep in mind that trilobites are tres cool, the very apex of high fashion -- it's just that no one else knows it yet. Alas, the burdens of being a trend-setter. Ha! Apart from a tiny Okie bug to work on, not much else on my fossil plate these days as I wait out the winter, and await the other bugs. Of course, there are tidal waves of paper grading awaiting me next week, and again in the last two weeks of March.
The days are getting longer. It is only a matter of time. Sunset today is at 6 pm. That is 10h 43m of daylight. The last time we had that much, it was October 22. Yes, I think in these terms because I have a serious case of February Fossil Fever! The only cure is the first day back in the field. Comments are closed.
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Kane Faucher
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February 2024
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