Luck

I heard luck defined as an opportunity that comes when you're prepared for it. If you weren't prepared, then "luck" wouldn't happen. So I was "prepared" to put some poles on the edge of the parking area at CMO, but the logistics weren't working out. I had the one cut in half, but still didn't have the manpower to get it to the site. I could cut down a pole that I have a nest mounted on, but I no longer had the saw or an operator available. Meanwhile, it's getting into busy season and the parking area still isn't finished. A car could back off the edge. I laid a bunch of short, light poles there, but need something substantial.*

So when someone a short drive from our house in Alpine advertised on a local Facebook group that he was giving some away to the first person there, I jumped at the "opportunity" and went over there in Hugh's big pickup. I saw they were too heavy for me to load so I called my son, who came over and helped the owner load them. I'm heading south with them early in the morning. I may figure out how to unload them myself, or I may get whatever birders show up to help. Wish me luck! 🍀

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* In trying to make the parking area more level it leaves a foot or more drop off on the low side after fill dirt is added. I had poles and railroad ties on the low side of the old parking lot where the new tank is now. One vehicle had managed to go over the edge, maybe because I had filled halfway up the diameter of the poles. No harm was done to the vehicle, and it wasn't hard for me to put the pole back in place and secure it, but this time I'm going to leave the whole width of the poles above ground with stakes to stabilize them. (I had to put the stakes in to secure the lower poles in place that hold the fill dirt.) 

If a small car went over, it could get hung up and damage the vehicle. It might even require towing. That would be really bad if that was the only vehicle there. So it's important to prevent it from happening in the first place. We just put the fill in a week or so ago when Hugh was there with his loader. I've been stressing about it ever since. After tomorrow the oasis should be migration-crowd-ready. That's my plan anyway.