Mischief Managed - 8/17

Here we are; over 50,000 words, around 500 pictures, and almost a year later, this blog is coming to a close.  Tomorrow marks my final day of service with the Emergency Response Team here in St. Louis and it is very bittersweet.  If there is one thing that I will not miss it is the scheduling.  Not knowing where you are going until the night before or how many hours you will be working each day is very taxing.  We needed to serve 1700 hours according to our contract—I served more than 2200 and I didn’t even go on a disaster where one expects to work long hours.

But that is just a minor thing, one that is eclipsed by the awesomeness of the year as a whole.  The views, our crew, the people we met, I feel like I just crammed a lifetime into our term of service.  I am healthier, stronger (debatably), and more confident than I have ever been and for that I extend my thanks to my fellow AmeriCorps members.  This year has not been easy and there was a time or two that I doubted my ability to succeed in the rigors of this program, but you all kept me going when times were tough with a healthy dose of encouragement and light heartedness.  To my friends and family back home, thank you for all of your support.  AmeriCorps St. Louis’s unpredictability and limited time off made it nigh impossible to get to see many of you and for the few trips I managed I was spent to the point that all I wanted to do was sleep.  Will have to make up for lost time and catch up soon! 

Anyways, thank you all for following along my journey.  As will always be the case, feel free to ask me about my time in AmeriCorps, the places I’ve been, anything.  I love answering questions be it here or elsewhere.  Until we meet again friends!

Forest Park - 8/14

*static* 7 days… is what I was going to say on Monday before I got distracted.  My group this week was assigned to the Forest Park project right here in St. Louis.  Coincidentally we’re working the same grounds as last time where we put in the trail.  I’m happy to announce the trail has held up pretty well!  The areas where we had removed stumps have kind of concaved into small craters and the plants on either side are crowding it due to a lack of use, but these were minor touch ups that we quickly dealt with.  We primarily worked along the waterfront, clearing it out of woody plants and invasives so folks using the trail will have a more pleasant view.  There was sooo much poison ivy in the vegetation we were swimming through that it gave Shawnee a run for its money.  I’m itching pretty badly but am uncertain as to whether or not it is bug or ivy related—if it is the latter than I consider myself lucky to have avoided it this long.

Anyways, things have been going great!  I took down a complicated tree with only a minor hiccup (hill threw off my angle) and you can definitely see the progress we’ve made this week.  Everything seems so much clearer and cleaner along the riverfront that it is hard to imagine what it even looked like before we began.  Hope all is going well in your parts of the world! 

Panther's Den - 8/7

We have come full circle.  Today as we were driving out of our campsite I realized why the area seemed familiar: the campground was the final mile of Quest for my team.  Fond memories ensued after that epiphany and the good times carried on throughout the day.  There was one point that we had to hike out of the woods to avoid a thunderstorm and we managed to do so without getting so much as a drop on us.  Don’t worry, Mother Nature made sure we got our dues.  After returning to work on the trail for the remainder of the day we were caught in a sudden downpour.  All of us were soaked through in a matter of seconds because of the surprise attack.  Most of the trail before our maintenance turned into a moat to complicate our return, but we overcame the obstacle with ease.

This is the first time I have gone through all of the clothes I packed.  I have to wear a damp A but the rest of me will start off the day dry tomorrow.  I’m hoping it stays that way as 5 wet people in a prolonged car ride can get a bit… fragrant.  Good night all!

Panther's Den - 8/6

Our conquest at Panther’s Den continues!  We switched from invasive removal to trail building with Kelly, our contact.  I really like her as her pace is nearly identical to my own.  Anyways, our trail looks top notch!  We have a long way to go, however, so it will be interesting to see how far we will get with the time allotted to us.

Missouri is hot!  Wait… we’re in Illinois, I keep doing that with Shawnee!  Illinois is just as hot!  I felt like I jumped into a pool—nay, a Jacuzzi—and then got back out to work.  I was able to wring the sweat out of my shirt…disgusting.  It sounds like there is a 70% chance of rain tomorrow so we are going to be soaked one way or another.  I’m curious as to how effectively a trail can be constructed during a downpour.  We shall see I guess!

Hmm, other than that, I made a reference to Lord of the Rings and only one of my teammates got it.  Granted it involved Shelob and her name isn’t really tossed around much, but still, I was shocked.  Bed time!  Catch you all later!

Panther's Den - 8/5

Back to Shawnee only instead of being trounced on by a St. Bernard I am tenting it up somewhere near Panther’s Den.  This tent is starting to feel more like home than my room in the Doah.  Pretty sure I’ve spent more time in this portable shelter now.  Anyways, we started off our week pulling a new invasive.  You know me, I tend to have trouble with dates and names on the first go so I will have to get back to you on what it is.  The unnamed weed is fairly easy to dispose of compared to every other invasive we’ve tangled with as a slight tug pops it right out of the ground.  The only issue is it likes to grow around poison ivy sooo, yeah, the plant may get me yet.

After that we went back and set up camp.  Liz and I set up a tarp canopy while Dan and Liana prepped dinner.  It’s a good thing we did because a thunderstorm rolled out of nowhere.  The wind pierced our improvised shelter’s defenses, but Liana’s dowsing in her short trip to the truck showed us that we stayed 85% dryer under the tarp.  If only we had a bigger one.  Regardless great start to a short week!  My record for storms while camping is still perfect!

Here and there - 8/1

Instead of another day of service the Fellows surprised us by taking the whole Corps on a journey.  We followed Lewis and Clark’s footsteps from way back when and were asked to reflect upon our own personal adventures this year as we did so.  I didn’t know where to start so I wandered into the wilderness.  As I sat in contemplation a doe wandered through the tall grass not more than 40 yards ahead of me.  It was graceful, silent—it was the embodiment of my year in the Emergency Response Team: I entered this program quietly and in all likelihood I will leave the same way.  I waited until the deer wandered out of view and in its wake I saw a member from AmeriCorps, followed by another.  This made me smile.  While I was never the most vocal of the bunch, like this reenactment of sorts people came to understand and appreciate my contributions and followed my lead as I spearheaded ideas on projects. 

Next, well, I wouldn’t want to spoil the whole experience for future members so feel free to ask me about the event in person.  Consider what I’ve provided as a sneak peek as that is all you’re getting out of me in this blog!  I will only add that another instance occurred that summarized how I took action in the program: I was rarely the first person to reach our destination, nor the last, but I ensured that I always provided high quality work.

Now we are enjoying each other’s company.  Kelly Kaufmann and I made each other tear up… It was very emotional. I don’t know how we’re going to pull through for another 2 weeks after tonight, but as is always the case, we’ll find a way!  Tonight there are some festivities planned that will lighten the mood.  I’m not sure this will be the proper place to discuss such things, but feel free to ask!  Talk to you all soon!

Ruby Creek Trail - 7/30

I found a moose!  It was just standing in a stream watching a beautiful sunset before we rudely stopped nearby to do the exact same thing.  At least Chelsea got to see it before it stomped off as she had yet to see one in Montana.

We also found two of our elusive teams.  The mountains are rather maniacal when it comes to communication devices, especially our radios, so Bruce sent us out to check on their status.  Thankfully everyone was all right, but their projects have encountered a number of setbacks—the big one being no pack mules.  They were charged with the task of building a fence but numerous creeks and streams prevented vehicles from transporting the materials.  Cue pack mules… or an ATV… apparently.  The four wheeler couldn’t make it beyond the first body of water so our crews had to carry it all over and install it themselves.  They looked beat by the time we found them, as did the team of two that was sent over the mountain to clear the trail in those hard to reach places.  16 miles in 2 days; it makes our work at Gilbert seem like child’s play.

We cleared another trail today… but it wasn’t the one we meant to do… BUT it was on the list of trails that needed maintenance.  In short, our day was indirectly productive.  There were no downed trees, just some overgrown branches and two patches of trail that needed leveling.  While our work was easier than previous days we had to cross a number of streams and we all had our own methods of doing so.  Chelsea would take off her boots and socks, I would jump on rocks, and Dan kinda did a half and half as his fire boots were remarkably water proof.

All in all it was a fun day for us, I just feel bad for our other teams as they seem to be having a much rougher time.  They’re tough though, we all are, and it sounds like tomorrow promises to be a day to cure the ails of all recently endured hardships.  Until then, good night!