The audience is landowners, mostly already doing wildlife management, but looking to learn more about how to do it. She invited me because we're in the minority, doing only wildlife management without any farm/ranch income production component, she thinks we're doing a good job, and...those of you who know me will start hootin' and hollerin' the moment you see this--she wanted someone who wouldn't just utter monosyllables.
I did mention, in my acceptance of the honor, that she might want to have a roll of duct tape along just in case I turned out to be more voluble than she expected. I have a lot of things to say about our experience, and about the ways that small wildlife projects can do a lot of good, not just big ones.
The dress code for this makes "so country it makes your teeth ache" perfectly appropriate (I'm there as a landowner, not a state employee, for instance) so I think I'll go with jeans and boots. Sweater? Shirt? Still thinking. I wish I hadn't fattened out of that good black sweater with the suede yoke with fringe and beads...<G> Maybe it's time to get the photographer's vest I've wanted...sort of mix up the outdoor gal messages. Not the big straw hat, no. Not even the red felt with the feathers. But definitely the well-worn, sweat-stained work gloves...
Oh, this is going to be SUCH fun. I'm deciding which pictures to take for show and tell, which data to include...(for instance, the way we capture rainwater and why and how much...) And I'll finally get to meet Linda McMurry and her husband and...so on and so on. Wow. (Oh, and they'll feed me lunch. No mileage, but I do get lunch.)