Monday, April 21, 2008

Let's Review, Shall We?

In these days of overly lean staffing, doing my job is, at its best, like herding cats. Tonight, however, it was like herding cats blindfolded: it was only with luck and perserverance that I made it through the shift: paralysis over story placement (A depends on B, which depends on what happens with C and D, but then what about E and F?), missing pieces (where's the copy? where's the art?). I knew the wheels had come off when images of mergansers were turned in as photos of loons. How could something like this happen in Minnesota of all places? Let's review:

Loon:


Not a loon*:

Loon:

Not a loon**:


Everything worked out fine -- can you say 'file photo'? -- I wound up with a lovely picture of a

for a story about how the birds are stacking up on area lakes -- like fishing boats on opening weekend -- waiting for the ice up north to finish going out. Odd thing for such a solitary creature.

The daily miracle occurred yet again and another newspaper made it to the press. Now, as the evening fades in my rear-view mirror, and the alcohol takes effect, it's another war story.

* common merganser
** red-breasted merganser

2 comments:

woolyjooly said...

Sounds like you could've used another staffer -- a journalism graduate who worked for The Nature Conservancy for 19 years perhaps?? I'm available, and reasonably priced. HA!

Pamela M. Miller said...

This was especially funny given that the loon is the most distinctive of birds!

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