Greetings

Welcome to my little corner of the inter-webs! I just wanted to take this space to warn you that my posts will rarely be up to date. Due to the spontaneity of natural disasters and the unpredictability of when AmeriCorps' services will be requested I will be digitizing my journal entries whenever we return to St. Louis. Oh, and most of the pictures you see here were taken by myself. If ever I do use someone else's material I make a point to give them due credit though! That said, come, leave comments and be merry! I hope you enjoy your stay!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

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!

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