Mid-point check in!

Good evening friends and family! I'm currently sitting at the Coffee Cantina in Frazier Park, CA sipping some hot cocoa and thinking about my childhood visions of California as one big sunny and warm state. We've been working indoors around a big cozy fire all week due to freezing temperatures that give even my Wisconsin blood a chill! California is definitely one big state and I learned that its size accommodates at least 24 different climatic zones (most states have less than four, according to Allan Schoenherr's book A Natural History of California). Working in the mountains, along what's known as the Tejon Pass, has taught me how to be flexible and pack many layers! We have already passed the mid-way point for round one and are starting to wrap up a couple of different projects. Over the past few weeks, we've renovated over 30 outdoor windows and stairwells on the original adobe barracks building and on the reconstructed officer's quarters at the fort. We've also applied wood sealant to several indoor floors and have spent the colder days inside fixing up reenactment clothing and polishing weaponry and accouterment. Today, we worked with another team to weather-seal a new fence at a state natural area called Tule Elk. The park is open to the public and preserves land for a herd of tule elk, a species related to reindeer and endemic to California. (pictures hopefully coming soon) Exciting news: we recently learned the details of our round two spike! After winter break my team will head even further south to work with the River Park Conservancy on various conservation tasks. I couldn't be more pumped for this project! I'd like to work with native species preservation in the future, so I'm really looking forward to gaining some hands-on experience. Time to go. Thanks for reading and happy December!! :)