PT and Project Prep

11/10/10
Today my team played football for PT. Probably the most awesome game of football I’ve ever played. Its great being on a team where not only the best players are passed the ball! My PT coordinator (who was QB) mentioned to me that he was trying to pass to everyone. Because he’s awesome.

For project prep today I drove my team to the library and they all got library cards, and I checked out some books about No Child Left Behind, for a Service Learning discussion. The school that we are going to be working with was restructured after they failed to make proficiency, and since the restructuring is doing great, and have hosted several Americorps NCCC teams, which have also helped improve the education there.

The Nerd Herd

Since the last post (nearly a month ago) much has occurred. I have not posted on the blog for various reason. I could not talk about my project in a public forum because until yesterday it was kept secret from the Corps Members. I couldn't really talk about Corps Members because 1. Confidentiality, and 2. We switched temporary teams every week. I will admit that for my last two temporary teams I did drop the teambuilding ball, because I no longer saw the point in teambuilding a team that ultimately would disband. However today I teambuilt the crap out of my CMs. I will talk about my CMs here, using names minimally, and often just referring to whole team activities.

First I will admit that I have the ultimate nerd herd. (Yasi's team is a close second, however in the Pokemon duel they have challenged my team to they will be destroyed). My team has the nerds. As a nerd myself this is not an offensive term. Nerds.

For our first round we are going to be a local team, working at the Garden Place Academy helping classroom teachers, and running an after school homework help. We will be tutoring students one-on-one, and possibly teaching larger lessons. After talking to my team yesterday and discussing our project, our team, our goals for the round and for the year and our viewpoints in general my team was so pumped and enthusiastic. I have never seen a team so pumped for a local project. I am so proud of my team and pumped that they are so awesome. I have been waking up early every day since teams were announced full of excitement and energy because my team is so great!

Today was our teambuilding day. It was fabulous. We spent time at the park we discussed dreams for the year, did a team charter, talked about service learning and set up a KWL (know, want to learn, learned) chart, and had a one-on-one conversation. For the one-on-ones I drifted from pair to pair as each teammate sat with a teammate they felt they knew the least and tried to find as many things in common as they could. During the year I want to have one-on-ones with all my CMs at least once per round, if not once per month. And at least this first round I want everyone on the team to have a one-on-one with everyone else. We also spray painted team t-shirts (Patrick sprayed his running shoes red). And Hannah got bit by a squirrel.

We went to Subway for lunch where we discussed our Project Prep Packet, and worked on filling it out to get ready for our brief on Tuesday. Not the most exciting thing to do, but now we do not have to worry about that Monday. Then we headed to the Denver Art Museum, which had free admission because it is the first Saturday of the month.

After returned to campus, and exchanging stories with the other TLs my CM, Corwin texted me to come over and play Munchkin. (Nerd alert). So a few of my nerds started our nerdy game night, and were quickly joined by nerds from other teams, and from other units. Now I've got nerds who want to be called for future games, and want me to arrange shuttles to nerdy game stores. (All of a sudden I'm a nerd girl socialite). Corwin wants to organize a Firefly RPG (role playing game). Yasi's team wants to fight my team in a pokemon battle, much of my team cant wait for the project round to start so I'll bring my super nintendo system over to their dorm, and I'm hoping that I've explained well enough that we cannot form a nerd clique and that we often will have game nights with non-nerd games like "Cranium" and "Bananagrams." Leave a comment if you have nerdy or non-nerdy suggestions for team and me.

super huge biceps and job excitement!

9/16/10
Yesterday I joined the YMCA. Today I tried their taekwondo class. Needless to say I now have somewhere to go after work on Mondays and Thursday. It was a really ego-boosting experience to be at that class. And I think I really impressed the other students. Yesterday I did the “Body Pump” class with some of the Americorps girls (which was a whole body weight lift class) and today my arms are super sore, but not much else.

Yesterday we were issued our government cell phones and laptops. I set up a very professional voice mail which says my name and that I’m a team leader and leave a message ect. (Nothing about dragons) however by my voice I sound about 8 years old. Oh well.

Today we learned about project work and our different duties while out on spike. Today made me really excited for this year. I cannot wait until we find our our projects, meet our teams, and get to work!!

My Shirt is Green

Yesterday was day one of Team Leader Training. Mostly it was a rundown of the schedule for the next month, and filling out some in-processing paper work. Nothing too exciting. We are starting to get to know everyone, doing a few introduction exercises. Everyone seems very nice, very excited about Americorps and extremely energetic about life. Its so much fun so far. When we introduced ourselves we had to say our likes and dislikes, so I told everyone that I like reading books about dragons, eating burritos, and riding bikes. Then I sat down and Noel yelled "What do you dislike?" And I drew a blank and couldn't remember anything that I dislike. So I yelled "Noel!" and everybody laughed. At the end of the day Noel, Liz, Yasi and I visited Melissa and Alisha in their new apartment, very classy space for some classy ladies. Melissa is working for Habitat for Humanity in Denver, and Alisha is working at the local United Way. Alisha says the United Way is currently handling all the phone calls that come in about the Boulder fire, people volunteering to help, people wanting to make donations, etc. and that their are beyond swamped trying to handle all the phone calls, so we may get the opportunity to do some volunteering with her.

This year I have not only a few year long goals, but a personal challenge for myself every month. September is no fried food month, which theoretically shouldn't be too challenging for me (ok I cheated at home and ate the eggplant parm at Rosemary's Labor day picknick) because most things that are fried are meats (which I don't eat anyway) but the cafeteria has some form of fried potatoes at every meal (and while usually disgusting they do make a mean tater tot).

As far as long term goals go I have a list:
1. Be able to run ten miles without having to stop to walk. (The most I did last year was 6)
2. Be able to run 1 mile in under 8 minutes (The last time I recorded a mile it was 8:50)
3. Create a to do/to see list for each place my team visits.
4. Apply for a job with Outward Bound.
5. Do a different monthly challenge each month.
6. Learn to knit (I can make the inside part of a scarf if someone else starts and finishes it for me)
7. Watch for the opportunity to do a Relay for Life with my team.
8. Try to find different classes in communities that offer a free beginner session, like yoga or different cardio dance fads for my team to try out.

Well thats all for now. I have to go drink alot of water so I dont get pee shy for today's drug testing!

last few entries of my fire journal

6/25/2010
Yesterday we dug more line. But to get to our starting point we had to hike an hour up hill. Honestly that hike was the hardest part of the day. The hill was at least a 100% grade (45 degree angle). We swamped out about an 80 foot path, and dug our line straight down the hill.

6/26/2010
Yesterday we swamped more. By the end of the day not only did my feet hurt and my back and shoulders ache, but I also felt like I’d had an arm workout. After dinner Jessica asked us if we’d be willing to stay if the crew got extended. We all said yes, but secretly I hope we get demobed and can go home.

6/27/2010
Yesterday we cut more trees and moved more sticks. We were pretty tired from the fire. The day went by ridiculously fast. I totally kicked butt when swamping. I hope that keeps up.

6/29/2010
Today we are demobing from the Medano fire and headed back to Canon, then Lake George. Our 2 week deployment is over!

Yesterday we did more swamping (glorified stick moving). However while working we got to see a helitorch do a burnout. A helicopter, carrying a flamethrower lit a mountain on FIRE! It was awesome! The line we’ve been cutting all week set the parameters for the land to be burned and by dropping fire they were able to speed up the process before the fire spread there by itself. It was totally amazing!

6/24/2010

Yesterday entailed more cold trailing along the fire’s edge, then putting in line along a ridge. Putting in the line was a whole crew effort, with saws going and swampers swamping. My squad alternated swamping materials and digging the actual line, based on where we were needed, and how close we were getting to the sawyers. And at the end of the day I got a shower! My legs were covered in a Capri pants of dirt! It was so disgusting, I had to scrub my body so abrasively and watch the water run off my like mud. Even after the dirt was gone I kept scrubbing dirt spots until I realized that the majority of my legs are covered in bruises! But not I feel human again and do not look like a “gargoyle” as Alex remarked. I believe today is day 10 of the deployment (I may be wrong) so the end is in sight! I’m excited to be able to get more than 7 hours of sleep, and to shower with girly smelling soap not men’s 2-in-1, and to wear clothes I haven’t been living in for 2 weeks, and to sleep in a bed, and to read books, and have a fully charged cell phone, and actually have time to talk on it!

6/23/2010

Yesterday we got to direct on the fire! It wasn’t raging when we got there, more of a smolder, but there were flames in several spots. We cold trailed the edge of the main fire and the perimeter of a nearby spot fire (which was maybe 20 acres). By touching the ground and feeling the ash we looked for the hot spots and then put a quick scratch line around it to prevent the fire from starting up again. It was awesome to be close to the fire and doing hard labor all day. Yesterday included tons of hiking! My feet were incredibly sore by the end of the day (as well as the rest of my body from wearing my pack and bending down to feel the ground). But I can definitely tell I’m getting stronger. All my muscles feel stronger, except my abs, which seem flabbier (no ab workouts!) but the whole group complains of similar results.

6/22/2010

Yesterday, after swamping out limbs around the radio tower our crew did a few structure protection assessments. We sized up three structures, detailing what they consisted of, nearby fuels, and what measures should be taken to protect them if the fire starts heading toward them. It was an easy day, but very interesting and educational.

6/21/2010

The Medano fire is in the San Isabel National Forest. Where we worked with Alfonso previously. We are camping at a park in Westcliffe, the town we stopped at every morning for gas. This fire is not full suppression, is it a wildfire mitigation effort, which means they will allow it to burn, but try to control it and keep it from areas they don’t want burned. Yesterday the crew cut materials around a radio tower to prevent the fire from burning it. My squad worked on swamping out the cut materials, and by the end of the day even the sawyers joined us in swamping and we had a giant line of people passing branches to each other, down a ridiculously steep slope away from the radio tower. It took all day because the trees were so dense, and our specs kept changing. At first we were supposed to move every thing over 2 chains (66 feet to a chain) away from the tower, but by the end of the day when no progress had been made, it was changed to 1 chain.

I don’t like this fire as much as the last one. Reason 1: Less sleep/ I’ve had less than 5 hours of sleep for the past two night. Another reason: I am hungry. There is nothing for a vegetarian to eat. Yesterday’s lunch I traded my sandwich for a banana. I’m not kidding when I say that yesterday I ate nothing but granola bars and bananas. And at dinner I asked if I could just get the vegetable (which were loathsome green beans, possibly the only vegetable I hate with a fiery passion) the waitress told me that the fire command pays per person so I should get the whole meal and let someone else eat what I didn’t want. The mashed potatoes were covered in gravy. So my dinner basically consisted of a side of green beans, which I had to dip in Ranch dressing to make tolerable. Now I’m at breakfast, which is biscuits and gravy. So I’m eating sad dry biscuits. It will be impossible to sustain 17 hours of work without some kind of nourishing food.

6/20/2010

Sunday
Yesterday we got demobilized form the Tecolote fire. After checking out, resupplying, gasing and washing vehicles we headed back to Canon City. Out of a possible 14 day deployment we were there 5 days (travel days don’t count). I was really bummed. Camping and working is really exciting and energizing. I never felt tired or worn down even though I should have. I was also just at the point where I was getting comfortable with the crew, and starting to come out of my shell, and was looking forward to continuing the deployment. On the way back to Canon City we stopped at a rest stop and Alfonso told us that we had been reassigned, and that after a night in Canon we would be heading out to another fire. Today we are going to the Medano fire, which started near the Great Sand Dunes and at last measurement was 4,300 acres. Since its in our district we’re hoping for some really great assignments.

6/28/2010

Friday? The days of the week all kind of blend together. Yesterday was another red flag warning day. We started cleaning up another dozer line, this one headed into the fire in preparation for a possible back burn. Watch out situations present during the endeavor include #9: Building fire line downhill with fire below, #11: Unburned fuel between you and the fire, # 14:Weather becoming hotter and drier, #15: Wind increases and/or changes direction, and #17: Terrain and fuels make escape to safety zones difficult. We of course have mitigated these dangers by keeping our situational awareness up. Our squad boss, Jessica is constantly asking us to identify our escape routes, and we are in constant communication with Trish, our lookout, who gives us hourly weather reports and heads ups on the fire behavior. Today we started cleaning up that dozer line, then, shortly after noon we bumped down to the bottom of the hill and started digging hand line, up from the creek until we tied in to the dozer line.

Today Alex was sawing and Brendan was swamping. Clay was taken off the squad to shuttle hotshots to and from their work assignments. Today was just an amazing day! I hiked harder than ever, kept up the whole time, and while swamping, just pushed it! I was sweating hard all day, breathing hard, heart beating just kicking butt! It was so awesome.

We just heard that we might get demobilized and sent home tomorrow. :(

6/17/2010

Today is Thursday, 6/17. We left Lake George late Sunday night to drive to Canon City where we met our crew early the next morning (I’m talking 3:30). Then we traveled to Las Vegas, New Mexico where we’ve been deployed to the Tecolote Fire (Tecolote means “owl” and one of the objective for the fire is to save the owl habitat south of the fire (Mexican spotted owls) as well as protect the watershed to the north). When we got here the fire was about 700 acres. Yesterday was a red flag warning day with high winds and low RH (relative humidity), so heavy fire activity was predicted. While fire activity was not as extreme as predicted we did see flames at the end of the day, where previously we could only see smoke. Our first night in New Mexico we camped down at the base camp. I discovered that the sleeping mats Americorps provided were meant to provide insulation from cold ground, not a comfortable cushion. Wish I had a Thermarest! Since then we’ve been spiked out at Johnson Mesa, about a mile from the fire along with several hot shot crews. We wake up around 5:00 each morning, pack up camp, eat breakfast and then hike to where we’ll be working for the day. So far we’ve been cutting line and cleaning up after a dozer comes and rips a line through, creating a contingency line in case the fire jumps over the line already dug below us. We work until after 8pm, then back at camp we prepare for the next day by restocking out water, sharpening tools, and refilling the siggs with gas and oil (for chainsaws). After that, dinner, setting up our tents and then falling asleep for hopefully 7 hours before getting up and doing it again. All day, while working we are carrying our line packs (over 20 lbs), our tools, and fuel for the chainsaws. So by the end of the day my feet are unbelievably sore, my shoulder muscles are tight, my back twinges with discomfort, and my hips are bruised from the hip strap, pulled tight to take the pressure of my shoulders and back. It doesn’t help that we are sleeping on the hard ground.

But it is awesome to be out here, camping under the stars, seeing sunrise and sunset everyday with the backdrop of a burning hill in the background. It’s a wonderful feeling to drop to sleep exhausted everyday, and to wake up and be in the wilderness seeing the beautiful countryside and having this exciting job and unique experience. Its hard. I hurt. But I love it.

My week at a glance

Monday: Traveled from Denver, to Lake George, then to Black Mountain. I did not recognize the place without the 7 feet of snow. It is not as much a Black Hole of Despair that it was in March. Also the showers no longer spit poop at you.

Tuesday: We went to a prescribed burn. Only 50 acres this time. I got to light it though. It was physically difficult to wear the ~25lb pack, carry a drip torch and a tool while walking back and forth across a steep and densely wooded area. I lit for 4 hours before asking to switch with someone who was holding the line. After lighting I patrolled the perimeter of the burn, watching for spot fires. After the fire was lit we left.

Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: We have been working with Alphonso’s seasonal crew cutting, piling and chipping trees on Black Mountain preparing the area for a prescribed burn they will do this fall. While working with Alphonso’s crew we played the “phonetic alphabet game” which consists of each person saying the next word in the phonetic alphabet down the line, over and over again, and doing pushups if you don’t know it. By then end of the day Brendan and I knew it.

Saturday: The team went to the Great Sand Dunes for a service learning trip. We learned about sand dunes, the different geological structures present in the area, as well as the surrounding grasslands, different ways the sand dunes are formed, and the effects of sand, wind and water on the environment. The wind was terrible. There were gusts up to 40mph. The winds blew sandy bullets at my legs rubbing my skin raw. Eventually I just walked along the nearby creek, where the sand was not able to sting me continuously.

Here is a poem I wrote:
Sand
Blowing in the wind
Not Blowing. Shooting.
Shooting tiny sandy bullets at my legs.
Ankles, Calves, Thighs.
My mind can see a body
Soon a skeleton scoured clean.
Scouring Sands
I fear my legs will soon be bones.

Team Highlights: Round 3

·Russ, our Fantastic supervisor
·Using chainsaws
·Excelling at face cuts when felling trees.
·The time Jeremy made a little girl cry.
·Getting to know our teammates better.
·Seeing beautiful Leadville, Colorado.
·Meeting friendly, welcoming people in small towns.
·Warm weather in Kansas.
·Running in Kansas, where the altitude is low and the land is flat!
·Seeing buffalo, farms, and deer in our yard!
·Finishing assorted projects such as clearing the tornado blowdown area, and clearing out the Tunnerville Work Center.
·Working with Alphonzo in Black Mountain!
·Doing PT with the seasonals in Woodland Park.
·Traveling to different project locations.
·Getting to see different amazing views.
·Relaxing at “home” in Lake George and Manitou Springs.
·Exploring and adventuring.
·Mountains and Lakes! We got to see so many amazing sights this round, including Crystal Lake, Leadville, Pike’s Peak and Black Mountain.
·Getting to light a prescribed fire.
·Seeing a lot of fire behavior (especially torching trees).
·The way Brendan’s shirt smells after two weeks of PT and work.

Team Accomplishments: Round 3

·All members of the team are certified as Class A sawyers.
·In Black Mountain the team spent time preparing an area for a prescribed burn.
·The team hand cut, limbed and piled a two mile, 20-30 foot wide stretch of line.
·The team chipped 90% of the cut materials.
·The team dug a quarter mile of hand line for the unit that is scheduled to burn this spring.
·The team also spent time in Black Mountain training.
·We learned how to make chain for a chainsaw, and how to use a grinder to sharpen the chain.
·We also refreshed our knowledge on maps and using compasses.
·In Woodland Park the team spent two weeks working with the fuels crew limbing and bucking 10 acres of tornado blowdown.
·We also constructed a barbed wire fence, by digging post holes, installing wooden and metal posts, stringing barbed wire around it, and constructing a gate.
·In the Cimarron National Grasslands the team spent two weeks landscaping at the Tunnerville Work Center eliminating fire hazards and improving the aesthetics of the area.
·In Leadville, Co the team cut, limbed and scattered an 18 acre unit, thinning the materials and providing firewood for members of the community.
·The team participated in a 100 acre prescribed burn by lighting, holding the line and mopping up.

Reflections on Round 3: Haiku

BLACK MOUNTAIN BEAUTY
COLD SNOW UP TO MY EYEBALLS
ISOLATED LIFE

MUDDY AND STEEP SLOPES
HIGH FASHION- CHAINSAWS AND CHAPS
CUTTING AND CHIPPING

DESOLATE HOUSING
PLUMBING MALFUNCTION LEADS TO
POOP IN OUR SHOWER

BACK TO WOODLAND PARK
THE SNOW IS GONE. WE ARE HOME.
STILL CHAINSAWS AND CHAPS

KANSAS TUMBLEWEEDS.
WE MOVE AND PILE THEM ALL DAY.
I HATE TUMBLEWEEDS.

KANSAS OXYGEN
I CAN RUN FAR AND BREATHE WELL.
KANSAS: SUNSHINE, WARMTH

BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT!
BIKE RIDE TO OKLAHOMA.
ONLY SEVEN MILES...

A DRIVE TO LEADVILLE
BUT A WEEK LEFT OF THE ROUND
BEAUTY ALL AROUND

LODGEPOLE PINE TREES MUST
DIE. THE TREE GODS HAVE CHOSEN.
I STRIKE THE DEATH BLOW.

AWAKEN EARLY
RUN TILL IT HURTS. SO PUSHUPS.
WORK MUSCLES ALL DAY.

Fire

4/9/2010
Yesterday we traveled back to Denver for Transition Week. I got sunburned walking to the library.

Friday our team participated in a prescribed burn. Brendan, Ayla and Noel got to help light the 100 acres using driptorches. The rest of us held the line, and watched for spot fires. There was a spot fire near me when an old punky log caught fire. We were on the east side of the burn, and the wind was blowing the smoke e right at us the whole time. After the east line burned to black we mopped up by moving burning logs a chain (66feet) into the area, spraying water on flames too close to the edge, and mixing the water, and spreading the embers to put out the smoking embers too close to the edge. When we finally went home we were soo exhausted!

After a week spent in Leadville it was amaxing to return to my bed in Lake George! The “girls cabin” in Leadville was an unfinished cabin that had little more than a bathroom. The beds were rickety bunkbeds that were nailed together out of driftwood. Needless to say the ricketyness forced Noel and I to move the mattresses onto the floor, and have a slumber party. Our room looked like we broke into the cabin and were squatting in our room. We had our backpacks half unpacked, computers plugged into the wall so we could take care of paperwork and watch movies. The mattressed felt like they were made of cement, and encased dead bodied. We didn’t really get a good nights sleep that whole week, so I am psyched to sleep in a bed!

In Leadville we spent the week cutting down lodgepole pine trees to fight the mountain pine beetle infestation. Brendan and I had a good time Thursday, putting targets where we wanted to drop our trees, and making as many pairs of legs as possible. We made the legs out of trees with school marms (one base, which then splits into two trunks), and chopped off the trunks and stump the base.

4/23/2010

4/23/2010
This week we have been working in Kansas…doing a landscaping project that mostly involves clearing the Tunnerville Work center of tumbleweeds. There has been some limbing and cutting, but mostly we have been herding tumbleweeds. When I use a pitchfork, I imagine I am a giant eating giant dry Ramen balls using a giant fork. Needless to say my imagination has been running rampant with the tedium. Yesterday Russ found two baby rabbits under some tumbleweeds. The guys wanted to feed them to the snakes they found, but Clay released the rabbits near a den he found.

Yesterday and today, after lunch we loaded up in the trucks and went to a “fire.” There was a private prescribed burn next to the Cimarron land and we were going to go watch the guy light the field on fire. However today it didn’t happen, and yesterday as we were driving to the site there was a brief thunderstorm with hail, which extinguished the fire before we got there. It was almost very exciting.

There have been no tornadoes. However I remain hopeful that we will see one. Not to worry, Mom, there’s a well in the backyard we can jump into if there is one. Just kidding. The forest service guys out here say if there is a tornado they’ll come get us and take us somewhere safe.

4/19/2010

4/19/2010
Today we drove from Lake George to the Cimarron Grasslands in Kansas. We are staying about 3 miles from Elkhart. LOVE LOVE LOVE it here! The drive was about 6 hours long, and we took a reststop in Sringfield (the closest town to the Comanche grasslands, where we worked last spike). Elkhart is a small town. Springfield is a ghost town. Noel and I brought our bikes down here, and I am sooo glad! After we unpacked the trucks we went for a ride into Elkhart. Its beautiful here! It is warm and light. The air smells good, there altitude is gone. The town feels comfortable and the roads are easy to ride. No longer do we live in a black pit of despair. We live in the glorious Elysian fields, where sunshine rules and joy abounds! Its after 8oclock, and its still light out! And its warm. GLORIOUS! We are going to take nice rides after work. We could easily do distance rides and be back before dark.

4/16/2010

Today we finished cutting and piling the tornado blowdown area that we’ve been working on. We finished around lunchtime, then in the afternoon Russ took us on an “adventure.” We drove along some forest service roads until we came to a section blocked by trees that were knocked down. Then we got out of our trucks, fired up the chainsaws, and cleared the road. Monday we travel to Kansas!

4/13/2010

Today we worked with Robbie (who took the chainsaw class with us back in January) building a fence. We dug holes, put up posts, and strung barbed wire completing a lovely fence that stupid demon deer will undoubtedly run into. Have I mentioned the demon deer before? There are a whole herd of them that live around our house. Their eyes are completely black, and they watch you with these soulless eyes. They follow you, watch you, and even if you are inside the house, they will move from window to window in their quests for your soul. We had PT with the seasonals this morning (they started yesterday). It was a good workout, running with pushups, pull-ups and squats integrated into the run.

4/11/2010

Today was a gorgeous day of sunshine and warmth. Yesterday I got the second clipless pedal installed on my beautiful bike and today I did a leisurely trip through Eleven Mile canyon, then a quick trip to Florissant and back resulting in an exhilarating 30 mile ride. I’ve been letting Clay use my bike, and the pure adrenaline bliss has begun the beginning stages of converting him into a biker. After that I spent time relaxing in the sunshine reading “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and listening to “Zombieland” as Liz watched it on her portable DVD player.

Yesterday I finished my ISP hours with a “kids in the kitchen” event, held by the Junior League that taught kids about exercise and healthy eating. It was a fun event. We were stationed at the fruit table, right next to the smoothie table. So we spent time chopping fruit, and enticing children into making “fruit kebobs.”

We have one more week here at our beautiful Lake George home before we travel to the Cimarron Grasslands in Kansas. This past week we have been cutting and piling trees that were blown down in a tornado last year, and the last part of the week we worked with the Woodland Park fuels crew because Russ had a fews days off. We’ve been doing PT at Woodland Park as well, utilizing their weight room and the P90X workout videos. The Plyometrics DVD was particularly challenging, and the night after that I went on a killer bike ride, but my thighs and butt were sore for DAYS!

More Chainsawin'

Yesterday Liz and Noel got chainsaw certified! YAY! Now the whole team is ready to kill trees! This week, after a long weekend of snow and no water at the bunkhouses we were moved into an abbey in Canon city. It was nice, hot showers, cell phone service, meals provided at the cafeteria. The commute to Black Mountain was the same length as it is from the bunkhouse too. One day we spent at the forest service office, cleaning chainsaws, learning to use the grinder, and learning to make chains. We also watched some training videos and learned about the local forest service and the BLM. Now we've got another three days to finish sawing the stretch of land we;ve been clearing, then, back to Lake George before Spring Break!

3/20/2010

Yesterday we had a huge snowstorm. Theres snow up to my eyeballs at the bunkhouse. Also Marshall has decided not to rejoin us at our fire management project. He's asked to be transferred to a traditional team. I'm sad because Marhsall was always the most ready with a compliment. Marshall always has something nice to say, particularly when he was telling me I'm a good cook, that he appreciates what I do, or just telling my I'm badass. In other negative emotions, I'm pissed. 5 of the guys left the bunkhouse this morning to go and get internet and phone signal, and didnt even offer the girls house the opportunity to get out of the black hole of despair that we live in. Its blatant sexism to keep the girls segregated then not offer equal opportunities to us. Its too bad Jeremy always tells me to stop complaining when I try to address the unequal treatment. Two more weeks until we go back to Lake George. Where we are still segregated but I can at least make phone calls.

3/17/2010

Our week this week has been tough. We've been preparing an area for a prescribed burn by cutting down trees within 10 feet of the road on Black Mountain. We've been piling it by the roadside, and later on we'll use the woodchipper to reduce the materials. This ordinarily would be no small task. However the difficulty is compounded by the degree of the slope we are working on. At the best spots the slope is about 45degrees. At its worst its like looking over the side of a cliff. Even parking at the side of the road is daunting. Its difficult to try and climb up the muddy and slippery slopes while carrying the large branches. I cannot help but think of the Greek myth of Sisyphus, doomed forever to push a boulder up a hill in Hades, only to have it perpetually slipping down.

Transition Week -Monday

Today after our Unit meeting our team worked on our debrief. The most enjoyable part was creating a list of project highlights. Here it is.
· Seeing a cattle stampede
· Russ, our Fantastic supervisor
· Cutting 60 acres of Ponderosa Pines (40 in 1 week!)
· 565 piles burned
· Using chainsaws
· Living in the beautiful Picketwire Canyon
· Awesome living conditions (2 houses, 8 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, awesome kitchens)
· Seeing “the zookeeper” a tribal artwork on a cliff wall
· Ayla’s reaction to seeing trees on fire “DO YOU SEE THIS!!”
· The time Ayla got lost (across the street)
· Xbox in the guys house
· Katie’s cooking
· The time Josh spilled chainsaw gas on his balls
· Meeting Mr. Strifler aka Striff Daddy
· Good team dynamics/cohesion
· Excelling at face cuts when felling trees

Transition Week -Sunday

Once again we have returned to campus for a week of debriefs, briefs, and all around pseudo-educational meetings. Currently Noel and I are working on the team's portfolio, editing it before turning it in to our Unit Developer. Working on this document has given me a chance to see exactly what we've accomplished over the last two months. So here is a copy of our results:

·9 or the 11 team members are certified as Class A sawyers.
·Replaced culvert along handicapped accessible trail at Vogel Canyon picnic area.
·Repaired several trails at Vogel Canyon picnic area to bolster handicapped accessibility,
·Installed approximately four miles of markers along Prairie Chicken allotment boundary fence.
·Removed 2.5 miles of fence within the Packstring and Carrizo Swing allotments.
·Created a slash pile of wooden fence posts at the Carrizo Work Center.
·Rolled approximately ten miles of barbed wire fences for disposal.
·Cut piles and chemically treated tamarisk along the Purgatoire River: (Cut four acres, sprayed 50 gallons of chemical, and created 20 large tamarisk piles to be burned at a later date).
·Cleaned and maintained the Carrizo Work Center shop.
·Underwent important fire suppression training.
·Received hours of vital chainsaw experience.
·Burned over 565 piles.
·Cleared 60 acres of mistletoe infested Ponderosa Pine trees.

The one thing I'm ecstatic about right now is biking! Before we left Lake George I bought a beautiful Cannondale Mountain Bike! One of my goals for third round is to bike to the top of Pikes Peak. I cannot wait to be able to ride. After this week in Denver we are going to spend three weeks working in Black Mountain before returning to Lake George for Spring Break. By that time I hope it will be warm enough to bike often.

The temperature in Denver is ridiculously warm! Yesterday after we got back to campus I was hanging out outside without a sweatshirt or jacket. Its sunny and beautiful, not a snowdrift in sight.

CHAINSAWS

This week we have returned to chainsawing. Yesterday Ayla, Benn and I got certified as class A sawyers (man status up 10%). We have been working on cutting down 40 acres of Ponderosa Pine trees that are infested with mistletoe. The infection causes the trees to grow like deformed octopi…all the snarls and branches and trunks are ridiculously twisty turvy and intergrown and caught on each other, which makes for difficult swamping because the branches are all intertwined and difficult to get apart except with the chainsaw.

Cutting down trees, and swamping out branches is the best workout I’ve ever had. My arms are exhausted! And my obliques hurt every evening when trying to get to sleep, and in the morning after the soreness has seeped into my weary bones.

Last night the team watched “smoke jumpers” a movie Josh’s mom sent him (I think) which is about a girl who wants to be a smoke jumper, trains for a week then becomes a smoke jumper. The movie was campy and ridiculous, and the team spent the majority of the time making fun of the movie, and looking for firefighting flaws.

Currently we are driving into Colorado Springs with a myriad of tasks to accomplish inclusing internet/coffee, Benn needs to pick up his new phone from the Sprint store, Ayla is returning library books, and Noel wants to try to recruit volunteers for our Day of Service project this weekend.

This coming Saturday we are holding our Day of Service with the non-profit “Mariah’s Promise.” Mariah’s Promise is a dog shelter specializing in taking in Pitt Bulls. Denver, and other cities have breed specific laws (bsl) that prohibit owning pittbulls, and any dogs that are perceived as pitt bulls. You can’t even drive through the city with one in your car. If stopped, police can take and kill your dog. So Mariah’s promise is in an area not covered by BSL and takes in dogs that can no longer live with their owners. Toni, the owner, runs the organization out of her house, and tries to find new homes for the dogs. This weekend we are going to be helping maintain the area by deicing the walkway, cleaning out cages, and any other tasks such as building pens, and moving supplies.

This past weekend we did an ISP with Mariah’s promise and saw the dogs, and learned about BSLs, as well as dug pallets out of the snow, built dog pens, and shoveled out pens. We also did other ISPs, a few of the guys chopped firewood, and Ayla, Noel, Benn and I went to the Teller County Regional Animal Shelter and walked the dogs they had, and I snuck into the cat room and played with the most gorgeous cat named Cassie. She was so soft, and friendly, and her information tag had the “cuddly” personality sticker on it. If I could only find a place to keep her I would go back and get her in a heartbeat (except that eventually I’d have to bring her home and Zelda would be displeased, and then barf on my blankets).

Next week is the last week of this round. After that we are going back to Denver for a transition week, before traveling to Black Mountain to work for three weeks.

more fiya

Now we are partway through our second week of burning. Oh my lungs!!! I'm so glad I'm not a smoker. Each little fire is like the smoke monster from LOST trying to off me like Mr. Echo! (Nerd alert!) Anyway burning is still super awesome...we get to spend all day everyday hiking through the beautiful snow covered mountains, staying warm through the exhilarating physical exertion, and the lovely piles that we enflame.

Fiya

This week, starting yesterday, and continuing today we have been burning piles. As part of a fuels reduction effort we have been burning piles of wood cut down in years past. To burn the piles we take our drip torches, which are flaming containers of gasoline and diesel. Then we light the piles until they are a flaming mountain of heat smoke and flames (of course we are fully equipped, wearing our attractive nomex outfits, boots, and fire coats). Then after lighting several piles (usually 5 or 6 a piece) we go back to our piles and scrape the edges, throwing the outlaying logs into the flames. If the flames are too high you cant get close enough to do this, so you have to wait until the fire recedes to the center of the pile. Then after all the larger logs and sticks are in the center you scrape down the flammable materials still on the ground, such as twigs and pine needles, until the surrounding area is safe to leave and will not catch fire in your absence. Yesterday we burned 60 piles, and today we managed to burn 80! It was pretty exciting!

Right now I am sitting insdie "Wild Wings," a chicken wing hangout in Woodland Park. They had an open mic night tonight and Brendan came and did a standup routine. It was awesome. While most of the fare is fried meat products I did have a delightful meal of salad, and carrots and celery sticks. Ayla gave me such a disgusted look when I told her what I ate because Miss Vegan had fried mushrooms and french fries for dinner.

2/5/2010

2/5/2010
Noel and Liz are now officially part of our team! I’m super excited because I know they are both cool. However now that we are at Lake George the team has to be split into two houses because there is only room for ten in our luxury cabin. So the girls have been segregated back to the brown house, where we originally lived that first week that we were here. The house is fine. It’s a nice house. I loved the house originally. But now we are not together as a team. The guys are going to be all together bonding and having fun, and the girls are going to be here. To go over to the house would just be trying to force bonding to happen. We are going to miss out on all the incidentals and inside jokes that happen when you live with people.

2/4/2010

2/4/2010
Thursday. Our last day of working in the Comanche grasslands. Tomorrow, after a hike up to see the “zoo keeper” rock paintings we are going to travel back to Lake George. And welcome Liz and Noel to our team.

We had independent PT again today. After hiking for an hour I returned to our house and went out to the yard. I practiced the taekwon-do pattern Eui-Am. It needs a lot of work. L During my hike I took a couple of pictures, which I hope to post online tomorrow (along with these blog entries). It is sooo beautiful here. I love the area, the land, the work. The only thing that makes me long for another location is the lack of cell phone service, and to a lesser extent: internet.

We returned to the bank of the river to kill more tamarisk trees. We finished the whole side of the bank we were working on. It was amazing. At our AAR (after action review) Russ told us that it wasn’t expected that we get even that much done. Not bad for less than three days worth of work!

I have three highlights for today:
1. When driving to the worksite we played Lady Gaga using Brendan’s ipod. I was sitting in the backseat, behind Alex (who looks like a hardcore mountain man). I had a perfect view of him in the side view mirror. Watching him sing “ra ra ah ah ah, roma roma ma, ga ga ooh la la” made me burst out laughing every time his lips moved. Lady Gaga is the singer of our team. Every one sings along (except Jeremy), and she is the topic of conversation, at least once a day.
2. Close to the end of the day Josh picked up a chainsaw. Marshall had just refilled the gas and did not close the tank. Josh spilled gasoline all over his lower extremities. Specifically some very sensitive man parts. Apparently gasoline burns sensitive man parts. Josh spent a long time, and a great deal of water trying to stop the burning. And eventually used his neck wrap to cover and cushion said area. (My apologies for finding joy in your pain).
3. I sawed for a long time today (longer than ever before!) and I didn’t feel as tired, or as muscle fatigued as usual. And I wore my fire pack all day. AND we finished the project we came to do. We had originally packed up our equipment and loaded the van at around 3. However once Russ saw how much was left to be done he had us unload and finish the task. He and Strifler sawed the remaining trees and our team swamped all they cut. It was done in less than half an hour!

2/3/2010

2/3/2010
Today Jeremy told us that due to the indiscretions on Coleman’s team Liz and Noel will be joining our team. This was told to us early this morning before the disciplinary hearings occurred. Jeremy drove into town after work to communicate with Kevin (Unit Leader).

This morning we woke up early for individual PT. Everyone had the option to do whatever they want in the area around our house because everyone wanted the opportunity to explore the hillsides in the daytime (usually when we get home from work daylight is limited). I hiked over the hill behind our house and around some rocks until about an hour into my hike I ran into Russ who was successfully able to direct me back to the house. (Ok, yes I was mildly lost).

Today was another day of killing tamarisk trees. Everyone got to use the chain saws. It was spectacular. We cleared a large area and the time went by sooo quickly. I worked with Brendan and Benn, under the supervision of Strifler. We had a great rhythm going when Brendan was cutting. Benn and I swamped by passing the branches to each other to the pile, and Benn manned the chemical solution used to kill the stumps. We rotated the different jobs throughout the day. Brendan didn’t have a fantastic day. Even before the day began he couldn’t find his helmet. (Punishment: 50 pushups). Then while sawing he cut his chaps. (Punishment: 100 pushups). And then 15 minutes before we broke for lunch he realized that he forgot his lunch (Punishment: Hunger).

2/2/2010

2/2/2010
Yesterday we moved from our house 8 miles outside of Springfield to this new bunkhouse, over an hour away. This new housing site is closer to our work destination (we could hike there if it becomes too muddy to drive) but it is farther away from any other signs of intelligent life. Yesterday Jeremy and I did the grocery shopping for the week while the rest of the team started the project for the day. However when we returned we discovered that the group finished all the days work in an hour. They fixed and leveled trails, and rerouted drainpipes. Then we had a while for extra PT, and we hiked around and saw some really interesting Native American carvings on the rock walls. Then we traveled to our new bunkhouse, which involved a great deal of offroading, and a bit of sliding around the muddy paths.

Today was awesome. We started the day with some exhilarating PT. We hiked through the rocky terrain surrounding our lodging carrying our full fireline packs. It was a great workout! The hills were steep, rocky and covered with cacti. I wasn’t EXHAUSTED afterwards, which proves to me that I’m getting stronger. PT really highlights individual characteristics for people. For myself it really shows that I have short legs. Today was not the first time that Jeremy has asked me “how I’m doing with my stubby little legs.” I’m keeping up, even if I do have to run a few feet every couple of minutes. Today before dinner Clay and I hiked up to the top of the hill to see the sunset, and on the way down he offered to help me navigate a rocky area. He assured me that he wouldn’t let me fall. I had just maneuvered sporadically to avoid a cactus (which are particularly nasty here), so I expressed my wish not to fall onto a cactus. To which he of course replied “you don’t have far to fall anyway.” Best short joke I’ve heard all day.

We spent the day cutting down, and piling up tamarisk trees. The tamarisk trees are a noxious weed brought over from the Middle East, originally as a decorative plant. However the widespread root system is killing the plants indigenous to the area, such as willows and cottonwoods. The tamarisk also grow really fast. Brian, one of our supervisors, said that if the stumps aren’t sprayed with the herbicide they grow back 6 feet in one growing season. The herbicide has to be sprayed on the stumps within five minutes of being cut, so today’s tasks not only included cutting down the trees and swamping out the area, but spring the stumps with this blue chemical mix as well. (Its blue so you can see it, and see where you’ve sprayed already).

Our team has a family tradition. Every Tuesday we have tacos for dinner. Even in New Orleans we had tacos for dinner every Tuesday. There has not been a Tuesday yet that we have not had tacos. However that does not stop nearly every person from asking me throughout the day what we are having for dinner. I need only to remind them that its Tuesday to bring great joy to them. Today during lunch it brought cheers to the whole group when I told them that taco Tuesday would include lettuce and sour cream tonight. Great joy was experienced by all. Brendan is our traditional taco Tuesday chef, and it was as always, amazing!

After dinner we have a new activity on Tuesdays. One that’s slightly less loved by the group. “Teambuilding Tuesdays.” Tonight we sat around the campfire and we had to tell the group three things about ourselves that we hadn’t previously shared. One of my things was my middle name. Now mom, it’s a perfectly lovely middle name. But its girly, and not something I readily admit to people. I feel like I was peer pressured into sharing that confidential information. Then we shared things that we had in common with other members of the group. And we ended by sharing things about the group that we think are awesome, and things we think could be improved. And we discussed ways to improve them. One thing mentioned several times was “complaining.” And we all know who the comment was directed at…personally whenever I feel like complaining I sing Brendan’s complaining song to myself: “No complaining, complaining makes your fingers cold.” Which he made up while we were taking down the barbed wire fences last week.

After dinner I prepared tomorrow’s meal. The great meatloaf experiment. Thanks for the recipe, mama. We invited Russ, our boss over for dinner tomorrow. So hopefully it isn’t a fiasco. I also made mashed potatoes, and there’s mixed vegetables, as well as red beans as a vegetarian protein option.

1/30/2010

So now I’m sitting at “La Mission Villanueva” trying to pick up the internet signal from the nearby radio shack. Thus far I’m unsuccessful. The town of Springfield is small. The restaurant I’m sitting in only caught my eye because the rundown sign was marked “café.” I was hoping for coffee. And internet. Though it appears that we are too far away to glean wireless.

Yesterday we worked at the Forest Service work center, doing some chainsaw maintenance, installing radios in the trucks, and cleaning out the work center. Then we watched wild land fire fighting training videos. Not a lot of “getting things done” but we did also go through our fire line packs and make sure we have all the essentials (water, MRE, fire shelter, PPE, compass, fuzees, etc.) and discussed personal items we may wish to include (extra contacts, wool socks, spoons, peanuts, etc).

We have the next two days to spend in the lovely area of 8 miles outside Springfield. Thus far I have visited the local gas station, and this café. There doesn’t seem to be much more of substance in this town. Ayla called the library earlier in the week, and they are supposedly open for a few hours today. However they are currently not picking up the phone, and I don’t have high hopes for that entertainment venue. I’m secretly (ok, not-so-secretly) hoping to find somewhere to buy a couple used books. My book supply is already drying up, and that’s how I intended to entertain myself for another week. Strategy #2: Ask locals. (Strategy # 1 being find internet, use google). I should switch my strategy priorities, I think.

Next week we are relocating to another forest service house for projects in a new area. This new area is even further from civilization. There will be no town like Springfield to seek respite from team living. Russ remarked that we should “stock up on cigarettes before we leave” which leads me to believe there wont even be a gas station within our 25 mile driving distance.

Ok. No spot for used books in town (maybe the library…) I begin to suspect it will be a long weekend.

OH MY! I THINK I’m PICKING UP THE WIRELESS SIGNAL….I’m going to slowly inch toward the door, and hope my computer doesn’t realize what I’m doing…its not working…pretty soon Clay and I will relocate to the truck, which is parked pretty close to Radio Shack.

1/28/2010

Today we were working in what felt like the arctic tundra. It was cold. Very cold. I seriously considered amputating my toes in order to survive. It hurt. The feeling in my feet alternated between pins and needles, and burning fires. And its not like I wasn’t prepared. I wore two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks (one of them wool), two long sleeve shirts and a hoodie, under my heavy fire jacket, as well as a hat, and the face/neck covering Americorps provided. Still cold.

We were working on an environmental conservation project. We were working to protect a playa from grazing cattle. A playa is an area of land that naturally collects water during periods of precipitation. At the playa (which, to me is indistinct from the surrounding area of dead grassland and tumbleweeds) there was a barbed wire fence, with the barbed wire mildly tangled, and the posts leaning in from weathering several seasons in this windy area.

First we unclipped and untangled the barbed wire. (We were also to replace the bottom string of barbed wire with unbarbed wire. This is considered more “antelope friendly” because the antelope crawl under barbed wire fences, instead of trying to leap over them). Then we pulled up the posts, and replaced them with straight ones. We worked at this until the auger broke and we couldn’t pull up the wooden corner posts anymore.

Then we drove to a different stretch of barbed wire fence (seriously the only landmarks differentiating pieces of land) to “prairie chicken proof” it. On the way there was a cattle stampeding along with us. No lie…we drove in the middle of a cattle stampede. This slowed us down until Russ stopped, and he, Clay, and Josh got out of the truck and told the cattle to stampede in the other direction. And by told I mean, shouted at the animals, and stared them down. It was probably the most hilarious thing to happen all day.

At our destination we clipped white pieces of leftover siding to the barbed wire. Apparently the prairie chicken, is in danger of becoming an endangered species, so we are making an effort to save them. The prairie chickens often fly into the barbed wire and decapitate themselves. Stupid chickens. Theoretically marking the barbed wire with the pieces of siding (white) will allow them to see it easier and save them from self mutilation.

Because of all the snow we got today, tomorrow we will be able to burn the pile of wood we collected from our first two days tearing down fences. Yay fire!

Baking Bread: tips and tricks for the little old ladies who stumble upon my blog.

So I’ve started a bread baking learning experience. For my team’s lunches I’ve been experimenting with creating our own bread. After the first two days of experimenting I think I’ve come upon a solution that will make this feasible.
The Recipe:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup honey (substituted maple syrup to make it vegan)
*Mix, knead, oil bowl. Let rise for 1 hour, punch it down, and let it rise for another hour. Shape into a loaf and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. (High altitudes, increase liquids by 1-2 Tablespoons).

So in order to use the correct amount of yeast, triple the recipe. This makes the yeast 3 Tablespoons or 4 packets. The recipe needs to be tripled in order to have the correct amount of yeast using full packets. To proof the yeast I stirred all the yeast with a cup of water and a Tablespoon of brown sugar. Then I let that proof for ten minutes, before adding all the other ingredients, kneading it, and allowing it to rise.

For the bread to rise I put the bowl full of dough in a pot full of hot water, and placed it on top of the fridge, to keep it out of the way.

Now the bread, while delicious is difficult to slice. Especially considering we want to use it for sandwiches. So tonight’s batch I’m going to shape into rolls. These should be perfect to cut and turn into scrumptious sandwiches. I’ll have to adjust the temperature and baking time as well.

1/23/2009

1/23/2009
Last night we moved into a new house. (The water in the other wasn’t working). Is it possible that this house is even better than the last? Yes, yes it is. (five bedrooms, four bathrooms, two ovens, two dishwashers! Four refrigerators, a HUGE common area, and a laundry room that doesn’t flood!)

My tree kill count is up to 7. Yesterday I really honed my skills. I no longer cut through the hinge wood while felling trees! Yay! I’m ready to be certified as a Type A Sawyer, but we ran out of time yesterday, so Ayla, Benn and I are not yet certified. And since Monday we are traveling to the Comanche Grasslands, chances are we wont get a chance to have Russ test us until we return to Woodland Park in two weeks.

Working outside everyday is so awesome. It’s tiring, but exhilarating! Not only is using the chainsaws, and swamping out the limbs exhausting, but I’m weighed down with all the clothing I’m wearing. In addition to our heavy fire jackets, and boots we are wearing copious amounts of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including chaps, helmets, glasses, earplugs (ok the earplugs aren’t heavy), and gloves. I’m deliciously sore at the end of every day; currently stiff in my arms, legs, butt, abs, and the part of my lower back that earlier this week had love-handles. Then after returning home from work we do some awesome PT. In the first house we had a weight room and Josh designed a weekly workout routine that gave us a full body rotation. And Thursday after work the team went on a short hike carrying our fireline packs, to get us used to traveling while carrying a lot of extra weight. Last night I had the sound, sound sleep of exhaustion.

Today, Saturday is our first day off since we arrived in Lake George. So we are going to do some Community mapping, and discover local facilities, and needs in the area. Lake George is tiny…the one restaurant (a pizza place) is also the local wi-fi hotspot…so if you are reading this, chances are I visited it.

1/21/2009

1/21/2009
Today I cut down 3 trees with a chainsaw! Man status: up at least 30 percent! It was awesome! Brendan is my chainsaw partner…he cut down four. And we never cut ourselves, or snagged our Kevlar

1/20/2009

1/20/2009

Last week our team (as well as the other 2 fire management teams) completed the S130 & S190 classes to become certified as Type 2 Wild land Firefighters. After a week of struggling through classes that didn’t exactly mesh with my learning style I found some excellent study buddies (Ben and Noel) and passes the finals with flying colors.

Monday, after the Martin Luther Kind Day Marade the teams packed up and drove to our respective forests.

My team arrived safely at Woodland Park, Colorado, where the Forest Service office is located. We were then escorted to our lodge in Lake George. Our new home is amazing!! Not only is there a well equipped kitchen (tons of pots and pans, a myriad of cabinets, and multiple freezers), but we also have four bedrooms (Ayla and I have our own, no boys allowed space) and a common area complete with a TV and satellite cable. In our basement is a second bathroom, a laundry room, and no lie: a weight room. Our home was built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) back during the days of the New Deal. The CCC was the precursor for the NCCC, and one of our goals/ tasks for the rest of our term of service is to contact old CCC members and conduct interviews and collect and compile their histories.

Then, Tuesday , in addition to getting more fire gear (winter boots, firefighter jackets, tools, etc.) we started S212, the Wild land fire chain saw class. After 2 days of classroom work, tomorrow we are going to fire up the chain saws and cut stuff down!!

A Rambling

Today Bart left. He's been noticeably off lately. Last night I helped him pack and listened to him ramble on about harmonicas, skyscrapers, and different ways to use the Americorps bandanna. So today he went home, and can get taken care of. We are saddened to lose another team member.

Liz has been part of the Rough Riders for about a week now. We still see her all day, everyday, so it wont actually be like she's gone until we get to Lake George.

I'm sad to lose both of them. Bart and Liz were two of our kindest most dedicated teammates. I hope our team remains intact from this point. And that means not only not losing any more members, and that I hope no one needs to be moved from another team to ours. We are down to nine people including our TL. I'm feeling pretty low about the blows to our team dynamics.

We've started our fire management training. Wild fire fighting seems like a really exciting and fast paced job, while on the fireline. Today we learned about safety and the hazards associated with the job.

PT has been stressed to be of great importance. Currently my team is allowing PT to be done on an individual basis. Which is fantastic, because I can get up early and run at my own pace while I'm fresh, instead of trying to run at someone else's pace after a full day.

Last night I didn't get enough sleep. And once again I'm up late. And I haven't studied today's materials for tomorrow's quiz.

Transition Week

Its Friday of Transition Week.
Which of course means there are plenty of people to play nerd games with. Last night we played "Battle of the Sexes" and "Catchphrase." The night before we played Munchkin, then a ridiculously large game of "I'm thinking of a..."

The wireless internet in Walsh Hall is not working. I'm camped out in the cafeteria so I can download some audiobooks.

This week we've done our debriefing and briefing, and have started talking about our future life living in the woods. It appears that there are four bedrooms, not two (yay!) And that there is a weight room in the basement. Internet accessibility seems sketchy at best, so blog posts may be sporadic. However I did manage to convince the team that we should keep doing the team blog, because it was beneficial to our Project Portfolio during the last round. Also Ayla and I (mostly Ayla) created a chore chart. And I definitely encourage everyone to gamble using their chores as currency. (Nerd reference alert).

Next week we begin our fire management training. We have a week of classes with the forest services, before heading up to Lake George where we will continue with on-the-job training.

Liz has been spending the second half of this week with her new team. Alas we have lost her as our ISP coordinator. I know now how we will survive without her. However Benn has set up an ISP for us for tomorrow. We will be going to the Denver Children's Home and painting. Liz will be accompanying us (yay!)

Tomorrow most teams deploy for their SPIKE projects. Which means the dorm is going to be crowded tonight as no one can go out and drink before SPIKE travel. And then tomorrow the dorms will be deserted.