Responsibilities

Most days tend to follow a similar path and by that I mean we get up, have breakfast, do our shift, have lunch, look for horses, have supper and watch TV until bed time. Occasionally, we head to the mainland for supplies of laundry but some days things  occur to make the day a bit more memorable. .

Last weekend we hosted a group of people who arrived well after dark. They set up huge construction area lights run off of a rather loud generator and everyone was scrambling to erect tents and settle the kids for the evening. Someone knocked on our door about 9:15 to complain about the loudness and brilliance of site A21. They were here to enjoy the quiet solitude of the evening, watch some stars and listen to the surf in the distance as it broke against the beach. When we stepped from our trailer, we couldn’t deny both the noise and intensity of the lighting coming from the site in question.

We spoke with the guests, mentioned the complaint and explained how their generator in the middle of the site was extremely loud and suggested they move it closer to the tree line. It was explained to us, in no uncertain terms, how they were hard working folks who lived in the city and had just driven all that way to arrive late. They understood the regulation of quiet time from 10:00PM- 6:00AM, pointing out they still had almost an hour before they needed to shut down the generator. They mentioned they would get the generator out as soon as they got their air mattresses pumped up. Since we could hear their generator from our campsite more than a football field away, we called a Law Enforcement Officer and asked if he could drop by. A few moments later, the generator and lights went out just about the same time the officer rolled up to our site. After explaining what had transpired, he mentioned a 60 db noise rating at 50 feet and would pass on the info to the day shift.

The next morning, around 8:00, an officer pulled up with his noise meter and asked the campers to start the generator. Wouldn’t you know it, it wouldn’t start. Well, by afternoon, the crew flagged us down as we drove by. They had purchased tiki torches to light their site and informed us they wouldn’t need the generator or lights that evening.

I had previously reported the strength of the MD herd and how few members we had come in contact with but I’m happy to report the white pinto with the small black patches,  named Bodacious Bob, has stolen 3 mares. We haven’t seen them yet but I’m sure going to watch for them. And while doing just that, we found another band has moved up from the middle of the island. It’s the beautiful mahogany bay stallion with 4 mares. Last year he had 3 pinto mares but this year he has added another to his family, the palomino and white pinto mare from another band. It’s now clear to me the stallions may fight to keep their ladies but are not always successful in their endeavors. This latest band brings the number of horses seen and photographed on this trip to 27.

Today my friend, Pam, and several members of her kayak group arrived for the weekend. It was fun to see people from home down here and I hope they fall in love with Assateague the way Carl and I have.