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.