Opportunities Abound: Surveyin'

“Left a fuzz. Right a itty bitty. Ho!”

I’ve always loved southernisms such as “I’m fixin’ to…” But, “left a fuzz” is a new favorite. I think “left a fuzz” might be more of a Guy Walkerism though. The Walker family has been surveying Wayne County Mississippi and the surrounding area for a quite some time. My Paw Paw surveyed until his knees quit working, and then he would go out with the crew just to sit in the truck. I hadn’t actually done any surveying myself until last week.

I went surveying with Aunt Dale, Uncle Craig, and Drew for a few days while I’ve been in Waynesboro. I’m the back sighter, I like it. I stand there holding the “idjit stick” as Uncle Craig called it or as it’s more properly called the prism. I hold it on the nail and keep the bubble in the dot. I practice some yoga while I stand there. I do mountain pose, standing tall, tailbone tucked under, following my breath in and out until they radio me and say “Ok, got it.” Then I walk up to the next spot and do it all over again. Outside all day, fresh air, seeing armadillos, and listening to the birds – surveying is a good place to be.

But, to get the job done right it takes a lot more skill than just standing there with a pretty little prism in your hand. Uncle Craig must have a tape measure built in his head; he always comes really close to the point that needs to be set. Drew works the instrument (that’s all it’s called, just the “instrument” spoken in a long soft drawl). The instrument measures the distances and angles of the points and I’m sure many more things I don’t know. Aunt Dale patiently oversees that everything is done accurately, and after all the points are collected she works her magic on the computer and a map appears! Despite the briars and prickly holly bushes I’ve really enjoyed being out in the field with family and now have a much better understanding of what it means to survey.