First, have a bird:

Pants has a partial wing amputation with significant tissue damage on her right wing, which, on top of the amputation, is missing both primary and secondary flight feathers. She is quite elderly, at 24+ years, and has arthritis. She has personality to spare, and in addition to being really pretty, she is quite sassy.

She had a near miss with Nelson, the OLC’s 80lb tortoise, the other day, and afterwards she seemed remarkably unbothered. She’s a champ.

Okay, down to business. I’m doing a skills inventory right now, and here are some of the skills I have listed: project management, database management, GIS, natural science illustration, graphic design, basic carpentry (power tools: *chef’s kiss*), raptor daily care and maintenance, research and writing, working at a coffee bar, community outreach.

Point is, you would not be wrong if “Jack of all trades, master of none” came to mind.

It is some comfort that one version of the “jack of all trades” quote goes something like this:

“Jack of all trades, master of none,
is oftentimes better than a master of one.”

(A Wikipedia article on the topic says that the couplet isn’t actually the original version, as many online like to claim, but I like it because it feels a bit less… awful? I’m not going to be able to solve the crises of the world, but I can make you a coffee?)

Believe it or not, even though my skills inventory looks like it’s all over the place, there are some through-lines:

• I’ve worked on a few different newsletters, working on both writing and production — digital and print.
• I enjoy engaging with technology: for database work, graphic design, and front-end web coding.
• I’ve never been a teacher, but I have done a fair amount of training, teaching, and community outreach.
• I gravitate toward environmental education and conservation.

It’s turning out to be an illuminating exercise. It will be interesting to see where it goes.