Just for the sake of consistency, let's consider a fossil-hunting season to run from July to July.  Summer is when very little fossil hunting is done, because of the high temperatures.  Late fall to spring is when the weather is most accommodating.

November '05 - We've moved to Bakersfield.  Taking a 5-hour trip once a month was getting old, and expensive.  Plus I need the exercise to get in shape.  By the time we get on the road full-time (in a year or two), we should have an inventory that will last a while.  Hopefully then, we will be able to dig for a couple months each year during the cooler winter months, to replenish inventory.  That's all uncertain though, since digging spots are hard to find and housing developments are working their way toward us at the hill.  That's another reason to take advantage of this opportunity to find teeth while we still can.

December '05 - I've decided to go out to dig EVERY day.  We'll see how long that lasts.  Walking a couple miles up and down hills has been a struggle physically, not to mention the swinging of the pick and shoveling of dirt.  Even though I'm only gone for a few hours, when I get home I'm wasted and unable to get as much done as I'd like.  I'm finding teeth, but the web site work is suffering.  I had hoped to have more work done online by now than I have.  Hopefully it's all worth it.

January '06 - My stamina is improving and I've lost maybe 20 pounds (a good start).  After finding my first meg, it's been hard to balance how much time I should spend digging vs. working on the web site.  Many nice teeth are being found and I've been able to acquire quite a few teeth from other diggers.  I got my hands on a beautiful 2 3/8" Paratodus benidini (EXTREMEMLY rare).  You'll love it.  But it won't go cheap.  When I get it online, I'll be placing a very high price on it, not really wanting it to sell.

February '06 - We've adopted a 10 month old boy and he loves to go out to the hill with me to dig.  Being a Jack Russell Terrier (bred to hunt), he gets worked up at times by the ground squirrels.  He can also be a bit testy with strangers, but has learned to accept the other regular diggers.  He does some digging of his own, but hasn't unearthed a shark tooth yet.

March '06 - Some unpleasant weather, an unpleasant illness and a little vandalism got the month off to an ominous start.  Cheering me up a bit though, were the beautiful colors coming out of the spot I'm working (orange, yellow, blue/gray, black, amazing).  The middle of the month was mostly spent moving an enormous amount of over-burden, but it paid-off later in the month, when the fossil layer yielded some very nicely colored teeth.  My daughter began going to the hill to dig this month.  She went regularly and found several decent teeth, so I think she's hooked.

April '06 - It's starting to warm up, but hopefully there will be a few more weeks of nice weather.  Once it does warm up, the plan is to go out very early and stay until it gets too warm.  I don't want to let go of this daily exercise routine, which has been a great benefit to my physical fitness.  The highlight of the month (perhaps many months) was a day I found a beautiful 2 3/4" Mako and a few inches away, a 2 3/4" Meg.

May '06 - You can feel the heat approaching.  I'm trying to get into the early morning routine, but I'm a Night-Owl by nature.  I was able to acquire some fantastic batches of teeth from Chile, Lee Creek and California.  So now I'll have plenty to do inside this summer during the hottest months.  There were no MONSTER finds this month, but LOTS of beautifully colored teeth.

June '06 - The summer is starting off hot, as expected.  My work at the hill is taking place early in the morning (if at all).  As expected, this has been a good opportunity to get work done inside, that has needed to be done for quite some time.