Toby Martin's Blog

Bio Dryland Day 1: After the long and windy bus ride from Ladue to Rolla the final part of bus ride was upon us. The last section of driving in Salem, Missouri was furnished by playing a game in which we counted the number of cows you could count and whoever had more by the end won. After about forty five minutes the bus turned left and we were turning into the Dryland grounds. Up and down the hot dry dirt road went until we were at our docking place. The door swung open, we piled our stuff out and walked down to the Orientation Gravel Bar. As Newman gave his speech I thought to myself, “How am I going to endure another boring Biodryland session” even though this time I wouldn’t necessarily be doing any of the hard work. After orientation we went to Lunch. Lunch consisted of some decent hotdogs and potato chips. After lunch we split up into the different classes and one went to stream another went forest and another went to Riparian Zone the place between both. I went to Forest and watched my group work very diligently to collect date on the different trees on the forest transect. As dusk set in lots of bugs started to come out so I was happy I had barrowed bug spray from one of my cabin members. My cabin consisted of Beacher, Caleb and Zach. The others, I can’t remember their names but it is boys Cabin 3 the only cabin I have ever stayed in. After Forest went back to the Pavilion where I found out it was our group’s turn to make steamboats. Steamboats consist of hamburger meat, potato, ketchup and spices and other condiments. Josh Kazdan, the other counselor in my group decided to include a black bean patty, what was being included in the vegetarian menu in his so I did the same. We wrapped them up in tin foil and headed down to the South Gravel Bar. From there we collected wood, built a fire and played mafia. Maddie Shands lead a good game of Mafia where everyone cheated when they were supposed to have their heads down. As dark set in we pulled our food out of the fire and ate. My steamboat tasted amazing and I ate Turner Carlson’s too because he didn’t eat any of it. After eating we roasted smores and told stories. This next part is my favorite part of the trip. Josh Kazdan told the three most entertaining stories I have ever heard told around a campfire. His first one was about going to a Japanese wash house where he was the only one circumscribed, about three people he knew that went to California to trip on LSD but ended up kidnapping a challenged person and about going on the spring break service trip to a very hicktown where a taxidermist did a Zebra. Keep in mind all of this in front of Ms. Gosnell which was by far the funniest part. After this we walked back up sat around the fire and went to bed. That night Dryland got tons of rainfall and huge storm set in which was pretty cool to listen to in a old cabin in the middle of the woods. One lightening bolt was so loud I swear it landed next to the cabin.

Bio Dryland Day 2: On day two we were woken up by a very energetic Newman that asked us to pick a letter and he picked a random tree that started with that letter and read an excerpt. From there we went  to breakfast which I ate eggs, bacon and bread and had some orange juice. After breakfast the teachers Ms. Goran, Dr. Conklin and Ms. Ward explained what everyone would need to wear for the their classes. We broke up into classes I went down to the stream first with Dr. Conklin and my group. The rainfall had made it so Sinking Creek was now super deep and the path there was super muddy. The stream actually I think is very fun because you get to catch crawdads. Picking up big rocks and finding little lobsters under them is very entertaining. After this we went back to camp and switched to forest. Forest was the same old thing pretty boring. Later that day we got to go back down to the stream and do some saning. Saning is when you drag a net across the water and see what you catch. Lots of minnows were caught and collected which was cool to look at. However, on the way back from the stream the second time we had to cross this very deep muddy part and I was wearing my dry shoes. Therefore I went back on this obscure pathway in the forest and got lost of a little which was kind of scary. However I retracted my steps and made it back no problem. `Lunch that day consisted of turkey samewhiches and dinner was pasta that was very good. That night my group stayed in so most of the couselors sat around the campfire and played rat screw. A card game in which you slap when there are two of the same cards played or a sandwich. That day probably went by the slowest because everyone was working very had on their packets.

Bio Dryland Day 3: Day three was probably my favorite because we floated down the river just Joe, Jack and Newman and I in order to test the rapids to see if we could have a float later that day. After reporting our findings to Ms. Bahe we ended up having a great float later that day. We sat around at the end of the float on the gravel bar and hung out in the sun. It felt great to finally hang out and give the kids a break that were all working hard. Newman brought some oranges and everyone started throwing them at each other which was funny. Jack Mulligan dared Will Forsen to take a bite out of one after it had been in the creek water which was kind of gross. I told many freshman that if they gave me foot massages I could give them A’s on their packet so Collin Bradley did. After the float I took a freezing cold shower in the Men’s Bathroom. That night we packed everything up while the kids worked on their packets until very late so we could make a quick departure in the morning.

Bio Dryland Conclusion: Overall I am very happy I went on Bio Dryland because it is such a special place and it felt good to help the teachers out in running such a cool biology event down there. Also I had a good time getting to know the Freshman class which is a great class because they are all so nice to each other. Its crazy the amount of effort it takes to get the gear down there, teach a class, and feed everybody so they definitely need a lot of help. Ms. Bahe has also been doing that for so long which I find really impressive. It was also nice to get away and spending time in the woods is a good break after a long school year. I’m glad I got an opportunity to help out the John Burroughs Science Department.

Forest Park Section: At Forest Park I learned a lot about labor. First of all it is not a fun job so it made me want to study a lot harder so I don’t have that job when I’m older. Mulching trees is not a fun job and we had to complete almost all the trees located next to the jewel box. I worked by carrying the mulch in the wheel barrow, throwing it next to the trees and spreading it out. Lunch breaks were nice even though I only went to one with the guys because I worked from eight to eleven. We went to place on the hill that was fun and saw our boss Rus. Rus was a very cool guy and I had fun talking to him. He is from Houston, Texas and I was going to school in Fort Worth so we had that in common. I was happy to be fixing up a park though in my hometown and that I actually use also it was nice to explore and get to know the park a little bit better. Rus had told me that Forest Park had just been ranked one of the best parks in the United States by a recent pull and it felt good to contribute. Working as a group and signing a time sheet also taught me the importance of being on time and taking responsibility for your actions. This is unique because it simulates working in the real world where if you show up late you lose your job. I’m happy I had this experience.