PCR Of Stippled Studfish DNA On Wednesday, I Hope

Wednesday morning I hope to start the first PCR run of extract stippled studfish DNA. From what I can tell I've found everything that we need, for the first run since I moved in to the new lab. I won't be able to order anything off of my grant money until at least Thursday, so we'll do it with some Taq polymerase I've had for a year in the freezer. If it works, great, if not, we'll at least have gone through a dress rehearsal.

Ruth and I went out to Borden Creek in the Sipsey Wilderness yesterday. The creek was high and flowing fast, I'm glad we weren't trying to net fish because it would've been really hard work. With the recent rains everything looked lush, with waterfalls coming off of the sandstone caps on top of the ridges bracketing the creek. The wildflowers were all out, including some that we'd never noticed before. The creek itself was almost a seagreen color from carrying what I'd guess is fine sediment, almost like rock flour in some northern rivers. Fishwatching wasn't an option. We also played with the butterflies which were thick along the creek as usual this time of year, landing on damp soil to lick salts, etc. I'd almost forgotten just how beautiful the Wilderness is.