How Did They Get That Bus There?

This looked a lot more impressive in real life. This is a Christian bus that, I assume, is a relic from Burnt Over District and the church, dumpsters and telephone pole were built around it, because otherwise I can't imagine how it got there.

I am also curious about what the protocol is for coming across a stoned man with a bleeding head wound. He was very sociable and seemed very happy to talk to me. I just couldn't figure out if he had noticed his blood dripping down his face. I figured that his head wasn't actually bleeding enough to warrant calling an ambulance.

I visited the campuses of Concordia (Britt, Lutheran) and Dominican (John, Catholic), (They're across the street from each other and have a healthy rivalry that only exists because they are across the street from each other) and learned that grey squirrels prefer the company of Catholics to Lutherans.

On a completely different note, I'm buying a car! I was totally going to get a canary yellow Chevy Cobalt, (he is a black man named Leroy) but they were getting terrible reviews so I'm on the hunt again. Hyundai Elantras are Consumer Review's Highest recommended used car, so I'm looking at them now. Wish me luck!

Squirrels in the West Bank... of North Pond!

I crack myself up sometimes.

I was entering data from a service project in Lincoln Park and North Pond is located there. Other colorful location names that only I use are The Isle of Cool (the part of Brookfield where I live) and The Post Office by the Industrial Park Where That One 45 Year Old Man Tried to Buy Me a Drank.

I saw a blue jay fly into a glass window. (Elizabethman?)

There was a woman riding a bike who I could have sworn was topless but then I saw that she was just wearing a skin-tight, flesh-colored shirt.

Not much more to report for today. Tomorrow I'm going to be tracking squirrels in Chicago's Best Kept Secret: Berwyn! (Only the entity of Berwyn refers to itself as such. This DOES NOT include the residents of Berwyn.)

An Introduction

Hello! My name is Elizabeth and I recently stumbled upon an internship with Project Squirrel. Yes, Project Squirrel is a real program and yes, I may be a glorified citizen scientist (only time will tell). I get to travel around the Chicagoland area (mostly Western Suburbs) taking note of grey and fox squirrel populations.

Now, you may be wondering "How can I support this worthy and noble endeavor?" Do I have news for you. You can become a Citizen Scientist! Just visit projectsquirrel.org and fill out a survey! The website explains how to tell the difference between squirrel types. Not in the Chicagoland area? Not a problem! Project Squirrel needs data from all over the United States! It's actually a lot of fun, similar to how bird watching is kind of addictive.

Since this is actually my job, I get to make my observations in the morning from sunrise to 8 am. It's been a fun transition. The nice thing about this is that nearly everywhere is safe at 6 in the morning, so I get to go into neighborhoods that I would normally try to avoid.

I've found a few neighborhood treasures, like fantastic parks and motels with half-hourly rates that I will report on. It will be fantastic.

Nature Fact (but the fake kind of Nature that you find in suburbs): Adolescent robins will let you get within a foot of them because they haven't quite figured out how to fly yet. Don't actually get that close because their mothers get pissed.