Today has been such a diverse day.  Normally people tend to stick to one or two somewhat related things during the course of business.  Today I’ve been all over the map.

First thing this morning I worked on preparing a time line and pack of documentation to deliver to an attorney in time for him to read it before a 9:00 am meeting tomorrow.

In the middle of that I had to stop and check on the fence repairs around the barn.

While doing that, I found out there was a herd of about 30 elk down the hill, so everything stopped while we jumped in the truck with binoculars and camera to go check it out. The binoculars worked, allowing us to see the elk on the hillside.  A good thing we had them, because even with my “long glasses” they blended right in and looked like tree stumps.  The camera didn’t work (left the memory card on the desk), so I don’t have pictures.  Since elk tend to move around on the same paths, I expect we will see them again in the not-too-distant future.  My only hope is that the weren’t eating the tops of the 20,000 (yes, really!) baby trees we planted last year after the area was logged.

After coming back, I went back into preparing the legal documents, but ended up in discussions with Donna Maria of the Indie Beauty Network and several others about the FDA Globalization Act of 2009 (introduced as HR 759 last week).   We were asked for our input (and support) of the bill, having had some well received input into the previous verison, the FDA Globalization Act of 2008, that was drafted in the House Commerce and Energy Committee last year.

Before I could finish either the legal documents or getting the letter in response to HR 759 finished, our logger/forestry consultant arrived.  We went over timber cruises, maps, discussed the current wood market and grandchildren.  The current market for wood in this area is WAY down (like 60% of what it was two years ago).  The private companies are digging in to survive, but the public corporations who have to report to shareholders are continuing to log enough to keep their revenue at “acceptable levels” – which means they tend to flood the mills further reducing the prices (law of supply and demand).  After discussions, Bill, his son and I drove out to look at a stand of Red Alder that might result in enough income to pay the taxes and keep the ranch going for the next little while.

Then I came home and had lunch.

By the end of the day, I did manage to get the letter to the House Commerce and Energy completed, signed and sent (it was really a joint effort between Donna Maria and myself) AND get the documentation for the attorney summarized and emailed off.

Sometimes I feel like a tree-frog jumping from limb to limb … or maybe it’s more like a squirrel doing so.  It’s challenging to move complete focus from one thing to something completely different.  In the end, though, it’s satisfying to know that I got everything done; that the people who are relying on me, whether it’s members of the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild or my family who are co-owners of the ranch, can count on me.

And, at the end of today, I got to sit quietly and watch my episode of LOST.

All in all, it was a good day.

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