Day 195 – Chilliwack River

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195/365 (July 14, 2011) – More rain, lots and lots of rain actually. Like monsoon rains. But it stopped for awhile so we could enjoy the raging torrent that it caused in the Chilliwack River just up from the salmon hatchery. This is actually a relatively calm portion of the river. Downstream is rough.

I tagged along on a planned visit out to one of the hatcheries in the Fraser Valley today. Since I’m a new Support Bio, I figured it would be a good idea to get re-acquainted with all the hatcheries I visited a few years ago under contract. I’m in an office downtown, but I’m not a huge “officey” type of person, so the opportunity to have a position with the flexibility to get out in the field when I want really provides the best of both worlds. I’m really looking forward to being fully involved in the program and being a part of something that is so massively supported in this province. I get to work in a program that is positive for the economy, for the environment, culturally, and recreationally. The really nice part is all the support that the hatchery staff are showing to me, when I have been hired to support them. I spent a lot of time at the hatcheries and really got to know a lot of the staff quite well, and I’ve received messages and greetings from some telling me how happy they are to have me back in their midst, but as a fellow employee this time. It feels nice to be accepted. But they are already planning all the cruel things they can do to me. I have already been slotted in for some hard work in the fall, so I’m enjoying the fact that I was a visitor today. I offered willingly, and they pounced on the offer. Come fall I’ll be in full gear, up to my eyeballs in fish slime, in ice cold water and pouring rain, and some of it can be back-breaking and bone-aching. And I am actually looking forward to that part too. But at the moment I am simply basking in the fact that I am now in a job doing something I enjoy, for a program I have a fundamental belief in, and I get to go out and handle fish and enjoy the splendour of our rivers and oceans…..and get PAID for it! To have a job where I get to learn everyday, and I can actually offer something in return for the education. Does life get any better?

The rain ‘almost’ doesn’t bother me right now.