ACSTL HQ - 11/25 and 11/26

Yahoo watashi wa kattaze!  These past two days I have been taking online fire training courses non-stop.  I guess we had all weekend to get a start on them, but with the move that wasn’t really an option for me.  So, after 24 hours of reading, stressing, and test taking I have successfully completed the S-130 and S-190 courses!  My brain is kind of down for the count right now, so I will leave you with an animated rendition of how these couple of days went down:  Final Fantasy A+.  Check it out on Newgrounds if it isn’t on Youtube.   Final Fantasy A+.

Pinecrest Camp 11/22

We returned to the Riney Tract to perform some Cedar genocide.  When we were done it looked like one of Tinkerbell’s cousins went a little overboard.  The forest floor was blanketed by what appeared to be a fine layer of pixie dust.  That may explain why we didn’t encounter any woodland creatures…  Anyways, the big story of the day has nothing to do with timber or service: today is one of the last day’s I will be living at 2354 Lawrence Street.  It was a great apartment, but in the end it just wasn’t a good fit for Haley and me.

As for where I will be living?  I feel like I need a podium for this announcement-- along with a cap with my future roommate’s name on it.  After much deliberation and a couple of visits to the interested parties I have decided to go with… *dramatic pause* … Dan Burch! *puts on imaginary hat* I will be heading over to the Doah and Haley will be returning to Illinois temporarily.  No worries, we’ll be living together in the not-so-distant future, this just works best with how often I am away on service projects.  Mm, this means that we have a crazy weekend ahead of us.  Glad I have friends in the area to help us move!  …Maybe I will incorporate the Incident Command System.  Later!

Pinecrest 11/21

My parents don’t even know how good of a deal they got when they bought my rain coat.  Its pockets are bags of holding!  For those of you who are slightly less geeky, they are like one of Hermione’s bags, enchanted to hold an impossible number of things.  For example, I thought I had lost my last pair of safety glasses so I was borrowing Dan’s spare.  A couple of days later I was rummaging through my pockets, which I constantly keep my hands in so they don’t freeze, and… they were there.  Maybe my coat has been hexed or something.  It does have a mischievous personality.  Like, I always keep pens in my pockets but I cannot find them when I need them.  But yes, good find!  I only hope it lasts as the brambles we’ve been weaving through are starting to take their toll.

I’m very glad I had the coat today because it has not stopped raining since we left at 6:30am to take our Pesticide Applicator Test.  I think I passed the core part of the test, but the right-of-way exam was extremely difficult.  Many of the questions touched upon things that were only briefly mentioned in our study materials.  Will have to wait and see; it’s too close for me to feel comfortable about it.

After the tests my group went to Riney Tract Conservation Area.  It was a long haul, but we were determined to at least put a dent in the Cedar population there because we didn’t want to let Marcus down—so that is exactly what we did… not let Marcus down, the other thing: put a dent in the Cedar numbers.  We had very little time when we showed up on site, but we made sure those Cedars understood who was in charge.

And now we’re here.  Tomorrow is our last day together.  Richard, Chelsea and Dan will be scattered to who knows where.  I guess I will be too.  I’m going to miss Richard and Dan bantering and Dan tormenting Richard and Chelsea about how great chain stores are.  We were a great team.  Night all; got a long weekend ahead and I need my rest.

Photo taken by Dan Burch.

Pinecrest Camp 11/20

A highway.  We went there.  We killed stuff.  Found a dying deer.  It was very sad.  Studying… so much studying.  Sleepy.  Going to pass out.  Good night.

Pinecrest Camp 11/19

Pinecrest!  That is the name of the camp we are staying at.  Very nice place.  I am currently sprawled out on the queen bed scanning my room.  It’s very spacious and… white.  The sheets are white, the walls are white, the blinds are white, the lights are an incandescent white, the towels are… brown, actually.  This is as good a time as any to let you all know that I am colorblind.  I guess they have modified the term to “color deficient” in the past decade or so for people like me.  I will leave you to speculate what that means.

To complete our service project of the day my team returned to Thompson Ford to tackle a Bush Honeysuckle insurgence.  We left none alive.  From the tallest peak to the dry and still-watered river beds below we hunted the invasives.  To our horror we came across a couple of Privet emissaries mingling with the Bush Honeysuckle.  They had formed an alliance.  Well, we couldn’t have that.  Though we were horribly outnumbered we charged their lines with shear and saw in hand.  Their defenses quickly succumbed to our persistent blades and by the time the sun had set we were the only ones still standing.

Good news!  Tonight is taco Tuesday!

Bad news!  I have to go study some more!

Miscellaneous news!  I almost got run over by a group of deer!

And in other news, I really should be going.  1 day until the test; I got this.  See you later!

Picture taken by Dan Burch.

Pinecrest Camp 11/18

We are getting the royal treatment this week.  The room I’m staying in has a queen size bed, a bunk bed, a futon that folds out into a bed, and a bathroom.  Oh yeah, there’s one more thing: I have this room to myself!  We could easily fit both the red and the orange team in just one of these rooms, but we were given 6 so we are making the most of it.  As for where we are… I know it is a Nazarene Camp of sorts but the exact name eludes me.  Something to do with Pine.  Anyways, the camp is gorgeous and our sleeping quarters are the equivalent of a 4 star hotel.  This is going to be a good week.

To kick things off my team went over to a local river and eradicated any Bush Honeysuckle we could find.  For extra credit we took down a fair amount of Privet too.  While walking our impromptu grid I came across a natural stone formation that could have passed as a fort.  It vaguely reminded me of Weathertop.  In place of Ringwraiths there was Bush honeysuckle assaulting the ruins so I assumed Aragorn’s role and came to the rescue.  Other than that the day went on to be a pretty normal day.  I’m just happy we are all in one piece as the insane wind storms and tornadoes that ripped through Missouri and Illinois yesterday made a mess of things.  I lost count of how many widow-makers and fallen trees we had to work around.  We did it though!

After we returned to camp, Dan Burch cooked us up some of his fries, which were delicious.  Kelly was giving Dan a hard time about them, but even she went for seconds.  And now we’re here.  I got to go though.  I need to study for this chemical applicator exam I have in a couple days.  Somehow I need to cram a couple weeks’ worth of a course into a couple days.  A time turner or a visit from the Doctor would be handy about now.  Talk to you later!

Picture taken by Dan Burch.

Cape Girardeau 11/15

It dawned on me that the rules in Zombieland apply rather well to the Emergency Response Team.

Wear your seat belt – Of course.  This is a requirement of the program whenever we travel.

Double tap – We chop trees down then limb them up.  We sever invasive species then spray the stumps.  Double check.

Beware of bathrooms – Well, to be honest the bathrooms should beware of us.  When we are all sent on a project those gas station bathrooms go through their own disaster of sorts.

When in doubt, know your way out – ALWAYS know your escape routes when felling a tree.

Enjoy the little things – This rule is a must with how harsh conditions can get out in the field.  Taking in breathtaking scenery is one of my favorites so far.

Be a hero – Everyone’s a hero in their own way according to Captain Hammer!  I’d like to think our service can be considered heroic.

Limber up – A number of us are with Tallahassee on this one, we don’t believe in it… but we are starting to sing a different tune.  My wrists are sore from all of the chainsaw work we’ve been doing.

Pretty good right? 

Before heading home we did more invasive work over in the Cape Woods area.  There were new species that we were dealing with…but I cannot recall their names…  Winter Creeper and some kind of thorny plant...  Anyhow, we were only able to do so much because it started to rain and using chemicals when it rains is a huge no-no because of the chance that it will run off and tamper with things we don’t want it to.  We’re on our way back to St. Louis now so I am going to leave this entry short to match the shortened day.  Until next time!

Random find on the interwebs.

Cape Girardeau 11/14

MoDOT is starting to freak me out.  You can find their signs plastered all over the highways in Missouri.  “MoDOT  thanks you for driving,” “fasten your seatbelts, MoDOT cares,” “use left lane or slow down for stopped vehicles, MoDOT cares.”  Isn’t that kind of creepy?  It is like we have some sort of overlord or something. 

Man I’m loopy.  I don’t think I drank nearly enough water today.  I know we’re supposed to, but it is such an inconvenience when you have to battle brambles to get to your water.  The cold doesn’t help either.  That’s no excuse though.  Will continue to work on my intakes I suppose.

We continued our highway patrol again today.  There were a surprising number of rabbits in the brush on the edge of the road; this lead to an epiphany.  I’ve never seen a bunny strewn out like I have deer, raccoons and just about every other woodland creature.  Are rabbits secretly smart?  Anyhow, we cut and sprayed a score of Pear Trees and Autumn Olives.  One Autumn Olive in particular was a monster; it had trunks as big as my thighs, which is huge (from what I’ve seen) for this invasive species.  Richard took it down.  I was preoccupied fending off the thorny bramble barrage so our group could safely navigate the area.  We won the battle, but at a price; one of my bootlaces will not be returning from the line of duty.  

Both groups also received a couple of books with details about the chemicals we have been using.  The information they relay includes, but is not limited to, how to mix them, what to apply them to, where to apply them, and what they do.  We have a test next week to become certified applicators so we need to hit the books a bit before we return to Cape Girardeau.  If I pass, does it mean I could go around calling myself an alchemist?  Who deals with poisons?  The Apothecary?  Are those guys alchemists?  I really just want the alchemist title…

What a mess of an entry!  I apologize to anyone who comes across my actual journal; all these chicken scratches everywhere.  Going to go watch some Dark Knight Rises and hit the hay.  Good night.

Picture taken by Dan Burch.

Cape Girardeau 11/13

Z bars—the ERT equivalent of lembas bread.  I’ve lost track of how many of these delightful bars I’ve consumed since I joined the program, but I expect the number to be well into the hundreds by the time I leave.  Make no mistake; they do not starve us in AmeriCorps.  Whenever we go out on project we get $4.00 per person per day of service, which doesn’t sound like a lot but when you pool the money together it adds up to some nice meals.  Taco Tuesdays are always a high point of the week but team red has also grown accustomed to the deceivingly delicious potato bar.  We’ve also made stir fry, chili, pasta, and burgers while we’ve been out here in Cape Girardeau.  I think Z bars are just a favorite of mine because, like our dinners, they taste amazing, are semi healthy, and, in addition to these pluses, they are extremely portable.

We cut down the remaining Sycamores at Friends Farm to start off our day.  With those trees felled and the fire line started we have completed both projects Marcus assigned to us in the area.  Just in time too.  After lunch (sandwich and a Z bar for me), Marcus showed us the ropes on what to look for in terms of invasive species along the highway and how to combat them.  He turned us loose for a little over an hour to wreck some havoc on some Japanese honeysuckle before calling it a day.

From what I gathered we will be working the highways all day tomorrow, but why worry about tomorrow when tonight is a cause for celebration!?  Sean Kerr, the fellow I keep borrowing pictures from, had his birthday today.  To celebrate the occasion we went to Lambert’s whose motto is “if you leave here hungry, it ain’t our fault.”  At this restaurant you order a meal and are constantly treated to sides like macaroni, cooked potatoes and okra.  Be careful if you raise your hand to get the waiter’s attention though as you will find a very warm roll flying in your general direction.  Even if you are right by the wandering bread distributors, they are forbid to hand it to you—they will toss it.  I found it highly entertaining and caught 4 out of 4 rolls.

Due to the late hour we just put on Jurassic Park.  The Batman movies are a tad long for sleepy folk so we thought it would be better to save the conclusion of the trilogy for tomorrow.  Tomorrow… hmm.  Time to retire, but before I do, what do you think of the nickname Wheels?  Richard gave it to me today and I’ve yet to figure out how I inherited it.  Night!

Cape Girardeau 11/12

We worked at Friends Farm again today.  We encountered a couple of farmers who told us a bit of the farm’s history; such as that it was once entirely swamp and that the farm has belonged to the same family since the Louisiana Purchase.  That’s a long time!  Our job is to prepare designated acres of the farm for controlled burns so that we can “reset” the landscape.  The MDC is looking at converting some of the fields into a sand prairie and a wetland, both of which are endangered ecosystems in Missouri.  Dan and I cleared a fire line of trees to help make this happen.  The path still has grasses and shrubs littering it, but given a weed wacker, some rakes, and a couple of bodies, I think we could knock the fire line down to soil in a day—2 at the most.

I just received the amazing news that my Spartans beat the number 1 team in college basketball!  This is greater in significance than you may realize.  Tom Izzo is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to March Madness, yet, for some reason top recruits always choose other schools.  Warmer climates or something.  Traditionally a weakness of Michigan State’s basketball team is coming out with a win against the nation’s best in early tournaments and match ups.  That is why this game was huge.  I’m hoping it will attract some more talent to the banks of the Red Cedar.  If not, MSU will just continue recruiting decent players and transforming them into great ones.

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself turn into a villain.”  I love movie quotes.  Who knew?  This one came from The Dark Knight, which we just finished watching.  It was superior to its predecessor, but I believe that could be the result of a couple factors.  One, Batman Begins had the arduous task of telling Bruce Wayne’s back story.  While interesting, there was a lot to cover and it made the movie seem like it was progressing through the plot slowly.  Two, Heath Ledger’s performance.  Incredible.  Just about our whole group was captivated for the movie’s duration… which is more than can be said about last night.  Everything ties together in this trilogy though, so I would highly recommend watching all three if you want a more fulfilling experience.

Life is good.  Wish I had a camera to show you our progress here in Cape Girardeau as we have completely transformed some of the landscapes.  Working in nature conservation is kind of like working on a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.  The first piece is a solid color, nearly indistinguishable from several other pieces.  But, each day of work is like fitting together a couple more pieces and only after a couple of weeks of work does the puzzle’s picture begin to take shape.  Going to go pass out now.  Bye!

Cape Girardeau 11/11

Looks like somebody has a case of the Mondays.  That somebody is me.  I can’t explain it, but I’ve been tiring much quicker than usual.  Part of it may be that I have grown closer to my teammates and the members of the orange team over the weeks we’ve been together.  I’m so comfortable that I’m sleepy.  There are other factors I’m sure, but yes, very sleepy.

We went back to LaCroix Bluffs to deal with the Autumn Olive pests.  Being more than a little distracted I elected to stray from the chainsaws and stick to the sprayer.  Much less dangerous for one who can’t keep his eyes open and his mind from wandering.  We got most of it in the area we have been touching up in prior visits.  One more trip should suffice in the eradication of the invasive unless Marcus and Bob find something else for us to do. 

I’m going to go crash.  Oh yeah, we’re in Cape Girardeau again.  Forgot to mention that.  We also started the Dark Knight trilogy.  I liked the “why do we fall?  So we can pick ourselves up” quote.  Very positive outlook.  Good night friends!

Cape Girardeau 11/8

I smell like campfire, which is better than the alternative I suppose.  By this time in the week I can only imagine what aromas are floating around for those with noses good enough to smell them.  But yes, we did our burn today!  Accompanied by some staff from the MDC SE we safely controlled a fire through a field at Friends Farm.  If I had to guess the flames peaked at about 10 feet, but they didn’t last very long.  Wildfire crews term grasses as 1 hour fuels to indicate that they combust easily and don't burn for very long.  With the wind’s help the waves in the sea of flames didn’t last more than a couple of minutes.  While I admit I was distracted a couple of times, I was vigilant on my watch and didn’t let any embers cross the fire line.  I did let two bunnies get passed me, but they weren’t on fire so it was ok.

Afterward I got the green light to head back to St. Louis and check out the home front.  Going to call it until next week all.  Until then!

Pictures were all taken by Sean Kerr.

Cape Girardeau 11/7

Yesterday started with water and today started with fire.  We’re well on our way to having a day involving each of Aristotle’s elements.  Only thing is today didn’t really start off with fire.  It was supposed to.  We were all prepped in our Nomex at the burn site when we got the word that there would be no prescribed burn today.  Instead, we would be felling trees in the Friends Farm area in preparation for a future burn.  I primarily dealt with Black Locusts, but I also tried my hand at an Ash and a couple of Sycamore trees.  We were given clearance to bring down everything that wasn’t an Oak tree.

The sawing went very well; surprisingly I walked away from the spiky invasives without a scratch.  Black Locusts have bigger thorns than Autumn Olives, in case you were wondering.  The second years were telling me horror stories about Black Locusts and how they tend to give as good as they get, but my biggest issue was the thorns on the ground.  Thorns were unavoidable unlike their tall, pointy, doomed brethren.  They tore chunks out of me and my clothes.  Oi.  Why do thorns exist?  Do they produce fruit?  What is their contribution to nature?  I tried to be nice and weave my way through nature’s barbed wire but it decided to try and go all Gandalf on me.  Unfortunately for them, this Balrog had a chainsaw.

Life is still a bit off for me, for lack of a better term.  That “Fly Me to the Moon” song has been stuck in my head.  Only the chorus though so I have slowly been going insane.  My best guess for this development was Pacific Rim triggered a tie to Evangelion, which has the song play in its closing credits.  We haven’t seen that film in over a week though; tonight we watched The Purge where America’s government decided to designate a 12 hour span to do whatever you wanted.  The hope is that people will kill off the non-contributors in our society, but some people use it to take out competitors at work among other things.  According to the movie this 1 day resulted in only 1% unemployment and the elimination of our nation’s debt…  I don’t think that would actually happen.  Kudos to the script writer for thinking outside of the box in trying to solve our nation’s ever increasing problems though.

 Tomorrow we are supposed to do the burn we were scheduled to do today.  We also have to pack out and clean, which means an earlier start than usual.  So, time for bed.  I wish you all the best.  Take care of yourselves.

Cape Girardeau 11/6

The heavens were weeping this morning, probably because someone felt bad for us having to pick up trash along the Sand Prarie.  We toughed it out though because that’s how we roll!  Now that I am a trash expert, let me give you a couple of tips in case you are in ever in a picking up trash competition.  Glass bottles and crushed cans are great in terms of the weight they provide for how much space they take up.  Your gold mine, however, is rubber.  Blown out tires are surprisingly heavy.  Most car parts found along the roadside are good finds, but tire remains are one of the few that won’t tear your bag.  Oh, and pick up any trash you find along the way.  Not only is it good for the environment, the additional items may also add up to that extra pound that will lead you to victory!

After having completed my first Missouri road side clean up, I have reached a conclusion.  Missouri should have bottle deposit.  Over half of the litter we picked up were soda cans and beer bottles.  If there was some reason to not chuck them out your car window aside from being responsible, I feel like Missouri’s road sides would be in pristine condition—at least in comparison to what it is now.  Sure there will still be McDonalds bags blowing around like tumbleweeds, but hey, they are made of paper and are thereby biodegradable.  As for whoever’s bright idea it was to tear up a huge Styrofoam cooler and spread its entrails along the road.  Please don’t?  Shepard Book said there is a special layer of hell reserved for child molesters and people who talk in the theatre.  The layer for polluters is one level below that.  So yeah, get on that bottle deposit!

After we thoroughly cleaned the entire road side next to the Sand Prairie we got word from Marcus that he had another task for us.  We traveled to the MDC and then tailed Marcus all the way to Juden Creek.  Upon arrival we were met by a pile of gravel, shovels, and some rakes… Marcus too… AND a tractor.  Thank goodness for that tractor as we had to take several loads up a hilly path and spread them out to give the ground some traction.  Marcus thought this project would take up the rest of our day but we’re AmeriCorps!  Our team finished more than an hour early, which was great because we needed to pick up more supplies before returning to HQ.

My mind is rushing.  Combined with exhaustion my mind’s eye is viewing a colorful montage with the occasional fleeting image.  We just got done watching Warm Bodies.  I wonder if what I am experiencing right now is similar to what the zombies were feeling as they were coming back to life?  Everything is out of focus.  There are two currents in my life right now that may or may not be causing this abnormality.  I’m trying to make the most out of the hand I have been dealt though.  The last time I saw this film I was with Haley.  She was skeptical, as I recall, but we both ended up enjoying movie.  The snacks we had were another matter.  Haley told me that she would treat me to a real… what’s-it-called sometime.  Can’t remember the name.   It involved marshmallows though.  Hmm, think I will buy Warm Bodies one of these days.  For now though, it is time for some rest.  Night all; I wish you well.

Cape Girardeau 11/5

Remember, remember the 5^th of November gunpowder, treason and plot.  Tonight we watched V for Vendetta.  Great movie.  Couple of fun quotes like “a revolution without a dance is a revolution not worth having.”  Immediately my mind jumped to Dance Dance Revolution.  I’m sure V would have been a fan… aside from the constraints that are inherent in all video games.  He was a big fan of ideas as ideas are bulletproof and unhindered by most boundaries.  Well, I’m sure he would have liked the name at least.

Another good one is “the people should not be afraid of the government, the government should be afraid of its people.”  After all, what is a government?  It is an idea created by the people, for the people.  As it is an idea the government is essentially bulletproof, but that only holds true so long as the people continue to believe in it.  I don’t think the United States has merited a march against its capital, but I am kind of in shock that our Congress is only able to agree about 10% of the time.  It would be nice if they could find a way to function a bit more fluidly.

For our service project of the day we started off by returning to the LaCroix Bluffs and finishing up our work with the designated Maples and Autumn Olive.  I was on a team that focused on the Maples so those Autumn Olives should consider themselves lucky for the brief reprieve.  Afterward my team drove over to Friends Farm and helped Marcus and Bob set up some Barn Owl houses.  We didn’t get to see the owls, but we set up some nice perches so I’m hoping the next time we visit we may catch a glimpse. 

Mixing concrete and building 12 foot skyscrapers was fun, but not nearly as fun as what came next.  We got to clear a prescribed burned area of Black Locusts.  It kind of reminded me of Dynasty Warriors where you just run through basic infantry and take them all down with a swipe or two of your weapon.  I’d say I put up video game numbers in terms of how many trees I cut down today.  We left the place looking like it had been hit by a windstorm, which we are normally not supposed to do, but our contact said this helps with quail habitation and not to worry about it.

All in all it was a great day.  Wish I could be home with Haley though.  I know my service is valuable, but my fiancée is priceless.  Only a couple more days right?  I’ll make it.  I’m very happy we get cell phone service at Charleston’s Baptist Camp as that makes things a bit easier.  Hope you’re all doing well.  Good night.

Cape Girardeau 11/4

I don’t pray as often as I once did, but for those of you who believe in the power of prayer or the sending of positive energy, St. Louis could use a hand.  Chelsea Evan’s husband, fellow ERT member Justin, is undergoing surgery today to repair the tendon in his hand.  I overheard it is going to be a 3 hour process and it will be a good 3 to 4 months before he regains use of it.  I’m wishing him a speedy recovery.  Also, Haley has been having a hard time with her class.  Lend her your strength and support as this week has been particularly tough on her.

Well, here we are again.  Cape Girardeau.  I can now spell the place with ease but saying it is another matter.  Our first service project was over at the LaCroix Bluff Conservation Area.  The place put on a vibrant display of fall colors… made me mourn the loss of my camera but at least I got to see the spectacle for myself.  Imagine a picture frame of red and yellow leaves of varying hues surrounding a downhill glance at the Mississippi.  It was gorgeous… Then there were those pesky Autumn Olive plants trying their best to photobomb with their green and silver leaves.  As much as I love those colors, I’ve been pricked by one too many of their thorns to show the trees any kindness.  Tomorrow, a red dawn will rise for the invasive species.

I’m trying to determine which is worse: barbed wire or thorns.  Both are in abundance in our service locations and I’ve had the “privilege” of having both wrapped around my legs.  You know?  I think the thorns actually hurt more than the wire.  Granted the barbs were so old I broke a couple by unknowingly moving through them.  Still, Mother Nature 1, Mankind 0.  Think we will stop the tally there as Man is competitive and Mother Nature deserves a fighting chance.

That about rounds up our first day.  No movies tonight although we have a special movie picked out for tomorrow.  It’s going to be great.  Sending all the well-wishing I can muster back to St. Louis.  Night all.

Cape Girardeau 11/1

This area has some interesting radio stations.  Just the other day we heard the Ghostbusters song remixed with Gangnam Style.  And today, remember that commercial where a camel is walking around an office all excited about it being Wednesday because it’s hump day?  Well, they turned that into a remixed piece as well.  It was weird.  Look it up on YouTube as I have no idea how to replicate the experience.

Our objective for the day was to get rid of Black Locusts at one of the last sand prairies in Missouri.  Once we arrived Richard’s keen eye picked out a couple of hunters on the other side of the field.  He brought to our attention that they would have guns and dogs, both of which we didn’t want to mess with.  So we called Marcus and he gave us the ok to head over to Charlie.  Back to battling Autumn Olives.  I chose to just  swamp today because I was still riding a high from the cedar I cut a couple of days ago.  Whitney and I took down a nasty gnarly tree that reminded me a bit of Fern Gully.  She was very good at communicating what she was doing and what she wanted done and, as a result, we cleared a grove.  As is protocol, I sprayed the remains of the Autumn Olive with Pathfinder II and a dash of Milestone to ensure that they wouldn’t just sprout back.

Aside from cleaning up the Baptist Camp that’s all we really did today.  We worked until lunch and then packed up to head home.  Sounds like most of us will be back here next week to continue what we started.  So until then!

Cape Girardeau casualties:

1 pair of safety glasses

1 water bottle

1 pair of gloves

The first picture is a shot of us in Cape Girardeau's sand prairie while the next two were taken in Charlie-- all three of which are Sean Kerr's work.  The last one I found on the internet.  It is how I was feeling after messing up a rain coat my parents just got me and destroying some of my PPE.  The coat is still functional so it did not make the obituary.

Cape Girardeau 10/31

I underestimated the power of the beard.  I of all people, a native of Michigan where come November every man (that matters) locks away the razor to help the Red Wings.  I mean, just the other day when we met our contact, Marcus, he was talking to me as if I was the leader and I knew what we were doing.  Guys.  It’s the beard.  The Red Sox discovered its powers and used it to eliminate both my Tigers and my Cardinals.  We must find a way to restore balance as I feel they tapped more than their fair share of bearded glory.  Until then, I feel it has come time to shave.  I predicted that whoever won game 5 would go on to win the World Series with my beard reaching its potency.  This is just too much power for any one man to bear alone.

Thor and Zeus did their thing.  We worked at Holly Ridge today in strong winds and fluctuating downpours.  For safety’s sake we didn’t use chainsaws.  Instead, our weapons of choice were shears, rakes, and blowers.  Our teams cleared the areas around snags of debris and natural fuel for fires so that when we (or someone else) goes through on a prescribed burn they will be less of a danger.  It went pretty well.  We finished the trail before lunch so we were able to return to base for food and dry clothing before continuing on with the day.

After lunch we drove to the Missouri Department of Conservation SE and watched some videos about the state’s history and what to look for in terms of invasive species.  Slightly more educated, we were then turned loose on the building.  The place was nice.  I got to hold a two headed snake!  According to one of the workers they aren’t all that uncommon, but they don’t last long in the wild.  Two brains and one stomach causes issues in terms of fighting over food and over eating, not to mention it makes running away from predators incredibly difficult.  Uncommon or not though, this was the first one I’ve ever seen.  Since we were assisting the MDC they also let us into the back where they kept their venomous snakes.  The copperhead took particular interest in me.  As I tilted my head to the right, it mirrored me.  Same with the left.  I did this for a minute or so before I realized I was the only one left in the back room.

Oh yeah, Happy Halloween everybody!  To celebrate this holiday (my favorite, by the way) we indulged a little.  There was a huge bowl of candy that we didn’t even get a fourth of the way through, some cider, and a scary movie.  Tonight’s film was Orphan.  It specialized in suspense.  Of the three horror movies we watched I’d say Zombieland would win the best overall movie, Orphan would win the scariest and American Psycho… I still don’t really know what was up with American Psycho.  I get that it was all in his mind so maybe we should be terrified because we never know what is going on in our co-workers heads.  Don’t know.  Wasn’t really our kind of film.

The tension and jumps have subsided now that everybody is preparing for bed.  It was a great night and an even better week.  My one regret is not being home with my fiancée to help her pass out candy to all of the trick-or-treaters.  Gives me something to look forward to next year!  Tomorrow is our last day in the Girardeau area.  As usual, our schedule is tentative, but it sounds like we will either be combating invasives or fixing up fire lines like we have been doing.  Can’t wait to catch up on what the rest of you all and the world have been up to!  Talk to you soon!

These pictures were taken a couple of days ago, but they are at the same location.  The top shot is Clare sharing her opinion about a cut with Fatima.  The bottom two are Fatima reenacting the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with some snags.  All three were taken by me.

Cape Girardeau 10/30

Cardinals need a win tonight.  As you have probably heard by now, my home state Tigers were knocked out by the Red Sox and now my current state team, the Cardinals, are on the verge of losing.  Will has this theory that if one gets his or her bad luck out of the way early then one only has good luck to deal with.  For this reason he buys a lottery ticket every time we are about to go on a big trip.  If he wins, he plays again.  He plays until he loses just to get the bad luck over with.  So far this tactic has worked splendidly!  Except for the trailer tire blowing out on the way back from Montana… we’ll blame that one on Eric though.  The guy just couldn’t lose when it came to lottery scratch offs.  Anyways, today I lost my safety glasses, participated in the losing of a nut for a chainsaw, and the orange team’s truck got stuck in soft soil.  If Will’s theory is correct, I think the Cardinals are due a win.

For our service project of the day we headed over to the Riney Conservation Area and dealt with invasive Cedars.  I cut down a tree twice as big as the largest I’ve tackled thus far!  It was about the size of the bar on my chainsaw, so about 18 inches wide on any side you looked at it.  The tree was a beast.  I ended up needing to bore into it because my quarter cuts in the back didn’t quite connect.  It fell right where I wanted it to too!  I tried to take a picture to document the moment but it seems I am still stuck in Silent Hill. I settled for finding an angle that just made it look blurry instead of foggy.  Overall I am very happy with my felling today, particularly my analytic abilities.  Our leader, Dan Burch, tested me by seeing if I would cut down certain cedars before the beast and, after taking several moments to look them over, I made the correct call to flag one and let the others be. 

The movie of the night was Zombieland.  Everyone watched it and loved it.  I think Richard took particular interest in the film because John decided that if the zombie apocalypse happened he would be Tallahassee.  We were laughing at the similarities between our Tallahassee and the movie’s just as much as we were at the film’s quirky moments.  If someone were to walk in on our viewing, the person would probably assume this was the first time we’d seen the movie by our reactions.  We would have been an awesome midnight premier group, just saying.  I love Zombieland.  The movie gets me like Bill Murray does Wichita.

It just occurred to me that I haven’t told you all where we’re staying.  We're staying in the mess hall of some kind of cool church camp.  I believe it is called Baptist Camp.  It has a nice kitchen that we have been taking advantage of, a pool, a small playground, a big pavilion, and lots of open fields.  There are dorms too… but they smell a little funny so we avoid them.  By Odin’s raven, Zeus and Thor came through for us today… although it sounds like there is some tension building between the two.  Rumor has it there is going to be some throw-down tomorrow.  Egos or something.  But yeah, the place we’re staying at is heated, spacious, and has electricity.  AmeriCorps is really spoiling us this week.

Before I turn in, I just wanted to say how happy I am to be in this program—reiterate, if you will, as I am sure I have muttered something similar before.  When the Blue Hulk got stuck in the soft soil, everybody jumped out and helped get the vehicle free.  Each night when we return to the Baptist Camp, everybody volunteers to help prepare our fantastic dinners.  Everyone is so kind and generous… it’s just incredible.  I get to go to awesome places with awesome people to do awesome things.  Well, good night all and Happy Hallo’s Eve!

A shot of my stump with a felling axe to give some idea of its size.  The second two pictures are the last two I managed to take before the mist took complete control of my camera.

Cape Girardeau 10/29

There be werewolves here.  Last night when Sean and I were cleaning our chainsaws we heard what sounded like humans making wolf noises.  They were laughing.  As time went on the howls became more and more animalistic to the point that I was left questioning whether they had ever sounded human at all.  They may have just been coyotes, but it was a nice touch for the time of year.  Tis the season.

So the movie last night was pretty good.  My only critique would be that it sort of dragged on, but the dragging resulted in more awesome fight sequences so I can’t complain too much.  I felt bad for the pilots though.  To share every thought, good and bad, with your co-pilot and having to navigate through two minds to control the last hope for humanity seems too daunting a task.  I don’t know about you, but my mind loves to wander.   I would need a very special co-pilot to put up with me.  Anyways, definitely worth a watch if you like action or any of the several Japanese shows involving giant robots.

Today we ventured to a couple of Conservation Areas to ready them for some prescribed burns.  We chopped down A LOT of Autumn Olive and snags along the routes.  Autumn Olive is an invasive species and the word snag is used to describe dead trees.  I started off with the chainsaw and fell a score of trees varying in height and difficulty.  I believe I am becoming a better sawyer!  My worst enemy right now is my safety glasses.  They keep fogging up making it nigh impossible to make an accurate cut.  I will need to experiment a bit to rid myself of this problem…hmm.

Service projects aside, life is also going great!  The leaves are changing colors and the temperature is perfect.  If the rain would just hold off for a couple more days that would be awesome.  Zeus, Thor?  I’m lookin’ atchu. 

I apologize.  We just watched American Psycho and that movie along with exhaustion has made journaling very difficult.  What even was that movie?  It was like… Batman trying to method act in order to get a taste of what goes on inside the Joker’s mind.  You should have just listened to your butler.  Some people just want to watch the world burn.  Although it was amusing to see you running around naked covered in blood and wielding a chainsaw.  Just… what?

I’m heading to bed.  Hopefully I can get my camera to function a little better.  Like my safety glasses the fog seems to have taken possession of the lens.  It is making every shot look like it was taken in Silent Hill.  Let’s see, my feeling before attempting a voyage to the land of dreams is awesome.  When talking about Zombieland my Halloween costume was brought up and I was given compliments on how realistic the wounds were.  Some of my teammates were shocked to learn that I made it all from scratch. Yeah theatre skills!  Ok, seriously.  Why haven’t you guys told me to go to bed yet?  Night!

Couple of shots of my Halloween costume taken by Haley.  Viewer discretion advised?

Cape Girardeau 10/28

The Fellows cheer as I cross the finish line—completing the pack test.  The scene transforms into a classroom.  I sit transfixed as I learn that Missouri is the number 1 state in the US that produces crystal meth.  Our fire instructor paces back and forth as he tells us of the booby traps we may encounter in the wild including, but not limited to, shot gun shells filled with nails, fish hooks hanging from branches, and trip wires that spring deadly spikes.  The classroom fades and a living room appears.  Haley and I are beaming at each other over our first carved pumpkin.  Zoom in on the grinning jack-o-lantern: the light in the pumpkin’s mouth transfigures to a porch light.  As the door to the apartment opens we are met by Chelsea Bodamer who has a look of horror on her face as she notices my zombie victim costume. 

And now, your feature presentation.

This week I am a member of the red team along with Whitney, Chelsea Evans, and Richard under the leadership of Dan Burch.  We were assigned to the Cape Girardeau area for this week’s service projects along with another team… team orange, I think.  Our primary duty over here is to battle invasive species.  Today’s operations took place at the Trail of Tears State Park.  With a chainsaw, a blower, a buzz saw and some physical labor we were able to clear almost a football field’s length of trail for the rangers.  Afterward we got a start on weeding out the Autumn Olive but the drive over was a bit longer than anticipated and we had to call it as the light was fading.

As we will be unable to celebrate Halloween in St. Louis, we bought a couple of appropriately themed movies to watch in honor of the upcoming event.  Tonight we’re going to watch Pacific Rim, which isn’t exactly all that scary, but we found it in the truck and I haven’t seen it yet.  Big robots and humanity hanging on the brink; it’s rather Evangelion-esque.  I think I will enjoy it due to my large exposure of anime at a younger age.  For the next three days we have American Psycho, Zombieland, and Orphan lined up.  I love scary moves and am looking forward to the up and coming viewings.  For now though I hope you all have pleasant dreams!  May they be filled with mischief!

The first picture is of the first year ERT members after completing the pack test.  It is brought to us by Chelsea Bodamer.  The next three are shots of the sights we saw while creating a path in the Trail of Tears State Park.  The bottom shot is Chelsea Evans hard at work with a blower.  These pictures were taken by yours truly.