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.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
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.
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!
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).
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.
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.
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