11:50 Tuesday morning found me laying on the grass. On the front lawn of the state Supreme Court.

Really.

And no, we hadn't broken early for lunch. Well, we had, but we didn't know it at the time. Seems there was a faulty fire detector up on the sixth floor, and about a quarter to noon we were disturbed by the blasting alarm and flashes of intense white light from the little red boxes high on the interior walls.

Facilitator stared at them for a moment, and then announced "I guess we should go outside."

Ummm, yeah. That's why they make this noise and flash the lights.

So, up the stairs we went. Most milled around on the front sidewalk, until some women, presumably folks who work here, went across the street to take advantage of the benches in front of the Court. Soon we were all over there, watching the fire truck pull up front and the young firemen jumping out, in their bunkers with axes in hand, to tackle the non-smoldering building.

And so, to lunch we went. Made a little more difficult for those who had neglected to grab their purses or wallets as they egressed the building.

Upon our return, we noticed one of our habitat guys, who had been feeling poorly, taking a nap on the grass.

On the south side of the Supreme Court building, his head resting against their foundation. And no one bothered him at all.

Don't know what the registration was for our four-day training session, but at one point I counted 57 attendees in the basement room. Fourteen were female.

Interesting how folks clustered. Most of the fish guys from our outfit were in the left center (as was I). The county commissioners all seemed to be front left. The ag folks (That's "ag" as in agriculture. The folks from the AG's office were up with the governor's folks, front right.) were all center right. Right behind them were the water quality type folks. Behind us was an entire row of attorneys, almost all female. (A couple of whom were surprised when I held back traffic during the fire alarm to let them exit their row. Not sure if they did not expect chivalry, or if they just didn't expect such consideration for lawyers.)

Not sure who the people were in the back rows. The Fish and Wildlife Service people scattered about the room, as did our few wildlife folks.

Facilitator/instructor started the day off by stating how happy he was to be here. Left the northeast in a major blizzard, and landed here in 64 degree shirt-sleeve weather.

The instructor from Washington DC felt the same way, remarking the temperature in our cold, western state was forty degrees warmer than when he left DC. Said he loved our state "in the springtime". (Just for the record, winter has returned as of Sunday.)

The DC instructor started the afternoon session admitting he had a handicap. That "deadly combination of well-fed stomachs and the Freedom of Information Act".

He was one of those attorneys who has forgotten how to speak English. Anyone out there know what "deliberative process privilege" is? I don't, but I suppose he does.

One of the ag guys asked this DC attorney (the only instructor I've ever had, that I know of, with a White House email address) a question. He began his response with a smile and "You learn in your first day of law school that there is no such thing as 'Federal Common Law'".

To his credit, the undaunted ag guy immediately shot back. "That's why I'm asking you, because I've never had a first day in law school."

Yesssss.

I was surprised when the DC attorney's cell phone went off during his presentation. Me, I remembered to turn mine off every morning before the sessions started. But to his credit, he simply apologized and turned it off.

I mean, it says something when you work in the White House and yet turn off your phone so you can talk to us.

And certainly better than the old ag guy in back, who had his cell phone set for maximum ring. And practically shouted "Hello!" into it immediately after the second ring. And only after he (and all the rest of us in the room) found out the call was important did he step outside the door to finish the conversation. And this was more than once.

You know the "Aziz, light!" situation in The Fifth Element? Like the artist, I started scratching a tally of this man's calls.

Five the first day.

Man, if you're so important the office can't get by without you for a day...

Stay there.

The fire alarms went off again in the afternoon.

Took the fire truck over ten minutes to respond this time. Firemen were a little less enthusiastic about jumping out with their axes. Gal who coordinated the room said they had false alarms most of last week, too.

Me, I wonder if it wasn't some state employee who wanted to enjoy the record warm weather.