Bizzaro Organ Pipe National Monument

Really the only bizzaro thing about it was the weather. Last time we worked in Organ Pipe it was over 100 degrees, this time we are wearing sweaters. Winter has come to the southwest. The rain came. All night and all day and everything was damp, most things were wet, and some things were soaked. I smiled and laughed as I sunk to my ankles in the mud as I attempted to dig up prickly pear. My crew wore a combination of pouts and anger. This is the desert? Then the fog came and everything that was damp was wet and everything that was wet was soaked. With the morning came the sun and it burned through the fog until only fluffy white clouds remained. But the desert rejects moisture and everything continues to be damp.
With one hitch left people are definitely getting good at getting on each others' nerves, but we continue on working and laughing and having a good time. This time around no asphalt work for us! In fact we mostly worked with the restoration team. Picking creosote seeds, installing signs, removing prickly pear, and removing buffelgrass. Half of us spent a day with Steve, the engineer turned seasonal park maintenance man, surveying and laying out the rest of the cacti nursery that we started with him last time we were here. We worked on the border fence road practically touching Mexico while our armed guards patrolled the area. At night we look out over the lights of Mexico. Funny how much an invisible line on a map can mean. On our last day of work we were pulling buffelgrass. As I was hacking away at the root system of a mature plant, I heard the weak rattle of a western diamond back. I woke it from it's cold weather slumber with a swift wack to the face. It's bottom jaw was falling off. I was not allowed to put it out of it's misery. It continued to angrily rattle for the remainder of the day as we continued working a few yards away. My heart sinks. It is going to die slowly.
In the midst of it all crew member, Cory, did an education on climate change re igniting my fire for what I am doing. I feel I had lost a lot of my passion and reason for doing my job and living a conscious lifestyle. I had forgotten the importance of the little things I can do to make a positive impact on the well being of our Earth and am embarrassed at how easily the fog of apathy and complacency had washed over me in the ho hum of everyday life. I find myself re invigorated and re committed to living an ecologically conscious lifestyle, attempting to leave as small of a footprint as possible, and appreciating mother nature for all she has to give. Thank you Cory for the small reminder.
Caruck update: The caruck is currently in my father's garage and the engine is in pieces on the work bench. Broken alternator belt, broken timing belt, bent valve, scratched piston, broken cam followers... Basically Dad is rebuilding the engine. Best birthday/Christmas present ever. Fingers are crossed that he doesn't find too much more wrong with it and that I'm able to drive it back to Tucson after the holidays.