One minute of work

Last month, Athene Donald was asked to describe a minute of her job.

Most of the minutes of my job would not be all that exciting to watch. Watch Short Geologist scowl at her in-box! Type furiously away! Scribble notes while shuffling between several extra-large pieces of paper!

Even in the field, at any given time I'm likely to be on the phone or taking notes of some sort. Or dragging awkward/heavy objects around. But I do have exciting minutes. For example, when the driller cuts open an acetate liner and there's all sorts of cool layers of soil and bits of unidentifiable metal. Or he shakes out the rock core and there's a vug with giant crystals inside. Sometimes I don't have the joy of discovery, but instead the joy of bushwhacking through thickets or mashing mud around. Sometimes I'm doing boring stuff but there's a territorial grouse or squirrel chattering at me for entertainment. And watching a drill rig in action can be cool if you really stop to look at how all the pieces work together.

When I'm in the field, usually I'm juggling a bunch of stuff at once, and if nothing's going wrong at that minute, I'm probably preparing for the next thing that will need to be fixed. But it's worth taking some time out to appreciate those minutes which are terrific.