It is a good
thing that I decided to just go for the A certification. I sort of doomed
my B chances from the start. Instead of sawing my face cut about 1/3 into
the tree, I went in about 3/5ths. This left me very little space for my
back cut. With my instructor’s guidance I was able to still fell the tree
within 8 feet of my goal. It just took me about an hour to do it
safely. As it turns out I am a very sound theoretical sawyer. Every
observation and deduction I made was spot on. I just had trouble backing
my words with actions. I’m not too worried though as this was the first
tree I took down. Just need a bit of practice.
Our instructor
is famous. His name is Jim and he has
trained and sawed all over the world. He claims to be on the cover of the
most up to date manual about sawing and I have no reason to doubt him.
Jim also has a very interesting sense of humor. By interesting I mean
surprising: he’s very funny but I’ve never had an instructor use so much
profanity! Anyways, it was huge honor getting my A certification from the
guy who helped write the book.
The test
literally took the entire day. When we got back Steve (the other Eagle
Scout in the group) and I started a fire. We had a nice gathering around
the flames before dinner and treated ourselves to a movie: The Wedding
Singer. Afterward we received word on tomorrow’s activities. Team
blue will be working on some extensive ski trails starting bright and early.
I love the
people I’m with and the places we get to go. The only things that could
possibly make it better would be regular showers and visits from all of
you. Things are pretty close to perfect though and well worth the
blisters and bug bites. Before I head to bed I will leave you with
something to ponder: chipmunks as pets. One came up to my foot before my
chainsaw test and looked like it wanted to be adopted.
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