#26 The (own) pressure increases

Hello,

don't worry, this blog post is shorter than the last one.

On the weekend, David and I went to a spot again to lay out a new bait, and that's David's favorite spot and I completely understand that. It is really remote (you drive about 10 minutes into the terrain with the truck), and the forest is very close on the right and left, so the animals always have a quick retreat and feel safe, but the spot is very open because the bait is on the lake, resulting in a free background and the focus is only on the wildlife. I am curious to see what the photographers' pictures will look like. Otherwise, the announced weather change came on Sunday, and when I came out of my hut early in the morning, I had a painful lung, so I knew it was really cold. The thermometer showed -30 °C, but it warmed up to -12 °C during the day. Boiling water freezes instantly at these temperatures, but it is not as impressive as at -45 °C 😁

In the night from Sunday to Monday, the sky was clear, so I tried to spot the comet C/E3, which is currently near the North Star and should be best seen at the end of January. However, the moon was so bright that you could only see very few stars and definitely not the comet. Nevertheless, I took some photos and I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can see very faint auroras in the pictures. Here in my area, you can very rarely see the auroras with the naked eye, but they can be made visible with the help of a camera and a very long exposure time, even if we can't see them with the naked eye. Maybe that'll be the moment that makes me cry for the first time here, as auroras (probably) are simply beautiful and also the stars. ❤️

Monday morning started like a real Monday morning. While I was having my coffee, Jenny suddenly came in and shouted: 'Samuel, I need your help, the horses have run away!“ At that moment, I looked up and saw King and Ginger running past the window and I just thought to myself: FUCK 😂 I don't like horses. Although I get along well with Kingsley and Ginger, there is usually a fence between us. First, Jenny lured them to the hay, which is also fenced off by a separate fence, so they could stay there safely while I tried to open the gate as quickly as possible - only stupid when it is blocked by a centimeter-thick layer of snow. In the end, King and Ginger were safely brought back by David and Jenny. My only task was to drive the truck away, which was standing in front of the "entrance" of the other fence, and just stay there - luckily! 😅

After the workshops, Jenny would like to go on vacation with David, so I have to watch over everything and everyone here. But she knows just as well as I do that if the horses run away during that time, I definitely can't bring them back.

Job offer

So maybe YOU feel like taking care of horses for about two weeks here in Canada.

What is required?

• Reliability
• Punctuality
• a flawless and safe handling of horses!!!
• daily feeding of the horses, cleaning the stable, and occasional training
• German or English language skills

What is offered to you?

• two horses + two dogs
• fun and relaxed time with me or absolute solitude if you don't want to be with me
• free accommodation + meals + WLAN
• fair payment with possible bonus
• an awesome nature with possible wildlife sightings

Interested? Then write to me: rettesamuelvordenpferden@gmail.com

On Wednesday, I went out with David again to lay out new bait. On this trip, I also asked him what the most common questions could be, as no one has shown me anything practical yet. He then told me that most photographers don't check their histogram often enough (of course, I now know what that is 💁🏼‍♂️😅) and therefore the photos are not "perfect", BUT he also told me that the photographers are all at a very high level, so I don't have to explain anything to them. That relieved me quite a bit. Jenny always told stories about what happened and what questions could come up and how I should react, and yes, I still read David's guide almost every evening, but that doesn't mean that I could teach something to people who are already at a very high level. 😅 David also said that even after all these years, he still learns something new and it is not possible to understand and teach something so quickly. As I said, that was very relieving because imagine me sitting in the camouflage tent with Olaf and he asks me various questions and I say, "Sorry, I don't know that.", that wouldn't shed a good light on David and Jenny's business, but luckily it seems that I won't be asked that many questions after all. On the way back, we actually already picked up my driver's license, much faster than the announced 60 days.

But on Thursday, I asked Jenny to talk to me about the workshops, because I am putting a lot of pressure on myself. Jenny and David appear to be so relaxed and calm on the outside, and Jenny told me that we are right on schedule. But for the past three days, I've been thinking:

• we haven't sat outside completely for a single day so far
• we have no idea if the animals come during the day or only at night
• we haven't set up any wildlife cameras and no one has been at the end of the lake for three weeks
• we ....

These questions are even robbing me of my sacred sleep 😅 That's why I had to talk to Jenny about it yesterday. The conversation calmed me down a bit, but I still don't feel well enough prepared for the first workshop. I somehow don't understand, for example, that we are still spending most of the time building the house and then Jenny actually wants to "clean" the back area of the house so that everyone has a clear view, and now she has ordered new wood, which is now stored there again. I thought the preparations would go differently to be honest. One thing that also drives me crazy internally is the drive. I have to drive the photographers to their spots, and one spot is 45 minutes away, which means that I have to entertain that person for 1 ½ hours every day. All my social contacts know one of my worst qualities, which is that I can talk without stopping (as you can probably tell from the long blog posts 😁), but I have to speak ENGLISH with them. Oh boy, that will be fun. 😭

TODAY, 5 (!) days before the first workshop, I sat in my camouflage tent all day for the first time, and it was David's favorite spot that I mentioned at the beginning. Actually, David was supposed to spend the day in another tent, but he stayed with me. It's really funny because then you really say "goodbye" before you go into your tent, because then you know that you are sitting next to each other, but you still don't say a word. David also said that if he hears me snoring, he will wake me up. So there I sat, wrapped in my sleeping bag, staring straight ahead. After an hour, I wanted to take out my phone and sort my photos a bit, and suddenly I heard David's camera, and I thought, okay, something must be happening here, and then a pine marten came to our bait. That was pretty cool because you rarely get to see them - for David, it was only the second time in his life. I could also try out "my" camera and my first photo was just white 😂 I'm currently still reading David's guide, and recently I read about exposure and stuff like that, and I tried it on the camera and then I forgot to change the settings back, but that's just how it is. Of course, the pictures are not good at all because today was just about trying things out, but I still want to share a few with you 😅 It's fascinating how sharp the eyes can become. On the other side of the lake, there was a group of ravens, which could only be perceived as black dots without binoculars, but then I thought to myself: Wait, that one dot isn't moving like the others, and with the help of binoculars, I saw a fish otter (later two) and just when I wanted to use the camera, I actually heard snoring noises from next door, as David had just fallen into a little nap for about 15 minutes. There was also a bald eagle sitting relaxed on the other side of the lake, but that was about it, and so we drove back after seven hours. This time I drove to get a feeling for the truck in the snow, and then BAM my first moose ran in front of the vehicle and I couldn't photograph it, but I was so happy. Finally, my first moose, and David told me that it was a small male, but the moose was already so big. How big are fully grown moose then? Amazing!!!! Really, I was overwhelmed!

And with this joyful sighting, this post now ends. Next week, I will report on the first workshop, if I can even manage to maintain this cycle. So don't be surprised if the next post may not be online next Saturday (German time), because I will be very busy starting next Wednesday. I'm curious how I will deal with this pressure and how the time will be. I hope to find a way to relieve my inner pressure by then.

Until then

Samuel

P.S. Pleasant winter break to all students and teachers! :)