Reflections on My 10-year iNat-iversary.
Gee, I ought to get outdoors more...
My health suffers because of iNaturalist. I spend far too much time at the computer and snack on too much junk food as I try to identify obscure moths for other people. The hours of screen time by day leave me with that visual/biochemical hangover at bedtime that all the doctors have warned us about. I lay awake at night in bed, worrying why I can't identify that fungus gnat that seems so distinctive to me. But I'm up the next day, composing an iNat journal post that will thrill about three people around the World, yet tearing my hair out trying to get the formatting to work, or worrying that my Spanish grammar in the brief resumen will make me look estúpido.
Who will be the next person to block me? or disagree with one of my identifications? or, worst of all, properly correct one of my erroneous IDs? I will be humiliated. No one will like me. I will have alienated 2.9 million other human beings scattered around the globe. I won't be able to show my face anywhere....
Wait a minute! Outdoors! I can go out-of-doors! Into Nature! I won't have to interact with my own species for a time. I can recharge my mental batteries. My lithium batteries are all charged up and I only have to open the door and step out.
Ah, the Fresh Air! The sounds of Nature! What a beautiful trail I'm on. There's birds--and I know all of their sounds--and butterflies--and I can name them all--and beautiful flowers and plants--the entire ecology of which I can expound upon at length...to myself, under my breath. And there's a moth, but it flies away too quickly. "I'll see you at the moth sheet tonight, my friend!" And look at this fancy lichen on the oak branch; I can put a name to this one! And that mushroom over there--I know someone who can help me ID that--and the same for that hoverfly on that daisy, and I think I remember the family name for this creepy little millipede under the log.
Uh, Oops! Aaaagh! I've slipped on the leaf litter and fallen and broken my wrist! Oh, the pain...the agony! The frustration...the hassle...the expenses! At least I broke my wrist in a lovely location. And I was smart enough to break my off-hand, my left. I'm well reminded that the outdoors is a dangerous place!
Boy, will I be glad to get back to my computer and rejoin my Community. Safe, secure, accepted. Nature is so interesting....online.
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Parajulid Millipedes (Family Parajulidae)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Lots of these crawl up onto the walls of my house during rainy days. I assume--just like me--they don't like to get their shoes wet.
Photos / Sounds
What
Straggler Daisy (Calyptocarpus vialis)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Straggler Daisy is still blooming abundantly in suburban lawns and roadsides in the neighborhood--by far the most common native flower at this season.
Comments
OK, @sambiology, you asked for it! You got it!
This is great! You've entertained at least one online naturalist!
Marvelous! Your identification of obscure moths is always greatly appreciated.
The first step is admitting you have a problem, and I'm proud of you for taking that first step! Next I'm sure we can find a local chapter of iNatters Anonymous (iNA) you can join.
Chuck!!! You are the freaking best. The. Best. El. Mejor. :)
💗
😍 You are one of the reasons I am hooked on iNat!
I love it, Chuck! Very funny! 😍
Very entertaining! I hope the wrist is okay! A mothing I shall go...
Too funny, Chuck! So great to have met you through iNat. You have taught me so (or too?) much about moths. By the way, I've proved that one person can block me, disagree with my IDs, and correct one of my (many) erroneous IDs almost simultaneously, so I don't think those are necessarily "or" situations.
See you in the field. Jack
Nice rant. Funny how both of us keep following similar paths well into retirement. Haven't broken my wrist (yet) but that cottonmouth almost got me. Keep up the great work and hope to see you someday soon.
I was going to write:
"A millipede, a moth, and a daisy walk into a bar...."
Oh no! Did you really break your wrist? Hope you're okay.
😂 ❤ Here sits another entertained naturalist! Hope your wrist heals soon.
Count me entertained, as well. You might have a second career in that up-and-coming niche of Nature Enthusiast Comedians. I think you've shown here the audience could be in the dozens!
Anyway, congrats on the milestone!
You get old, the bones get more fragile. I hope you are healing fast. Thanks for all you contribute.
ptexis (Dave)
Chuck, if your career as an iNatter does not pan out, you can always become an entertainer. And don't worry, we all have our iNat humiliation story(ies). Thanks for the laughs. -- James
p.s. The timing of the demise of my left hand, referenced in the account above, can be pinned down fairly closely with this observation, the last I made before the "event": https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/173841634
You recorded a dock and then you needed a doc...
I wish I'd said, "You observed a dock and then a doc observed you".
Count me among the entertained! I second the "Nature Enthusiast Comedian" recommendation, and personally feel we could use more of those. Hmmm... how about a Naturalist's Monty Python Rip-off?
"I wish to make a complaint: This Norwegian Blue Veronica is quite dead! This, sir, is an ex-Veronica! It has gone to that great compost bin in the sky!..."
Brilliant haha!
I volunteer to aid in your time wasting. Plenty of obscure moths in New Mexico. Hope your wrist is healing well.
6 weeks later. Wrist healed? To Dexter, from Sinister.
@dianastuder The hiking accident was actually back in mid-July in the Oregon Cascades. Six weeks in a cast, a couple of months of rehab. I'm mostly healed now; just working on regaining strength and flexibility in the left hand.
Thanks for the amusement!
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