Been a long day, and tomorrow starts early, so I'll have to make this short.

Had another meeting in Thermop today. They're talking about cutting these down to one every two years, rather than yearly, and it used to be twice a year. Would miss the long, scenic drive. Especially through the Wind River Canyon. High, steep limestone walls (with two nesting pairs of peregrines!), a couple bona fide tepees, and a little place that sells home-grown apricots in the late summer.

But it is kinda hard to argue for six and a half hours of driving for a four hour meeting.

Number one bossman was first on the agenda. Does your #1 boss come around to explain to everyone what is happening, and why they did what they did?

Ours does.

Fellow who had a can of bear repellant blow up and remove his truck windshield last month offered his opinion on one issue (which I happen to agree with, as does bossman), but in a fairly direct way. Bossman bounced back with a retort that happened to mention exploding cans of bear repellant.

It's a small outfit. Word gets around.

Fellow says either the smell in the truck is going away, or his nose is getting used to it. At least the sneezing has stopped. Sat next to him at lunch, and could have sworn I caught a couple whiffs of capsaicin. Figures he will do without the bear spray from now on... thinks the bears are safer (this from a man who conservatively has had more than 50 close encounters with grizzlies in less than 10 years).

Orphan season is in its peak. Had some kids come by with a baby grackle yesterday, which I promptly sent back to leave near where they found it. Then this am, as several of us were approaching the Wind River Canyon, dispatch called to report a woman with an "abandoned" antelope fawn back home. Found it in her horse pasture and, like an idiot, brought it inside to keep the horses from stomping it.

Hey, how about just shoving it outside the fence, lady? Then its mother can still find it and care for it. Now its chances for a normal life have gone "poof" in the wind. Most likely a candidate for disease research, like chronic wasting disease ("mad deer disease"). Of course, I believe Mexico is still looking for pronghorn fawns to raise and use in their attempted surrogate mother breeding program for the Sonoran subspecies. If this one was female, that might not be a bad captive life.

Got home just in time to do another route of phone books. And then made the call on the antelope fawn. And on the road by 0530 tomorrow for another meeting, in Lander this time. (Just noticed, that's in only five hours.)

Gotta get sleep to drive.

At least we got rain.