Current River - 1/23

I had another dream last night.  This one I can only remember two tidbits though.  One, it was my bachelor party.  Two, I was dressed up as the original green power ranger.  The costume was the real deal too; I was pretty excited about it.  All de sads that I can’t recollect any more of it.

Well, the project isn’t done, but it is well on its way.  As we head back to St. Louis, our combined tree count is over the 600 mark—1000 if you count all of the smaller ones we had to clear.  Not bad for 11 days of work, eh?  Brian and Dan were very appreciative of what we accomplished and told us that they had the funds and were more than interested in having either us or another AmeriCorps group sent over to continue where we left off.  That made me feel warm inside, which is really saying something because it was freaking cold out!  Anyways, after having been out on this project for 11 days, I’ve decided I could live a simple life like this.  I could survive with little to no technology, but only as long as I lived with or near the majority of my friends and family.  That’s that until the next adventure!  Later all.

The first picture is my own.  The second two of Team Yellow were taken by Dalton (or at least they were taken on his device).  If you liked the pictures here, there are a couple more in my Current River album on Facebook.  Hope you enjoyed the imagery!

Current River - 1/22

We were all over the place today.  First we traveled to Camp Zoe to move a couple more things for Brian.  In the process of the move one of my teammates found the birth certificate of the son of the former owner of Camp Zoe.  Next we returned to help Jim put some coverings on some broken windows at the gymnasium.  He was not specific as to how though… so we climbed up the hill and fell more Cedars while Brian went to get clarification.  Oh the joys of no internet and phone service—it really makes communication interesting!  After we descended and rejoined Brian we returned to the gym and set about putting plastic on the outside of the windows.  It was a good 25 to 30 feet up the wall and it was more than a little terrifying with the gusts of wind.  Thankfully Dalton volunteered for the daunting task.  Liz and I made certain the ladder didn’t go anywhere.  After the windows were secured we hiked back up that blasted hill and fell a couple more Cedars for good measure.

As of tonight my Cedar count stands at 112 and there is a chance we will be heading up to raise that number tomorrow.  Barring the interception of some smoke signals or carrier pigeons from HQ we will be heading back to St. Louis around lunch tomorrow.  Cedar genocide is fun, but I am ready to return to civilization for a spell.  I will miss the sights though.  Just today we found a herd of wild horses across the pond—a stone’s throw away from our housing.  There were 5 white ones and 4 black, which I took to be us and our contacts respectfully.  I didn’t really read into the potential symbolism further than that.

Well, wish me luck!  All that stands between us is a 0 degree day.  It is insane how much the temperature has fluctuated here.  Anyways, here’s hoping that I will be in contact with you all again soon!

The first picture I stole from Danielle Weiss.  The last three are my own.

Current River - 1/21

I am really tired.  I think I will just throw out some facts and/or discoveries we made for this entry.  For instance, the place we are staying at used to be a resort for rich people.  More recently, some of the camps in Current River State Park used to host the Schwagfest.  From what I’ve gathered it was a hippie-like music festival.  I say hippie-like because the DEA ended up busting the last one here in either 2008 or 2010 and everybody fled in a panic.  In one of the buildings there were a bunch of fake tombstones making jokes about marijuana, the only one I remember is Saint Stephen who was “stoned to death” in 34AD.  That probably wasn’t the probable cause the Feds needed, but with how the stages are still up and tents and personal belongings are strewn about the area, I think they found what they were looking for.  Turns out they were going after the owner of Camp Zoe where the festival was taking place.  They went in on a tax evasion charge and came out with something more severe.  Speaking of tax evasion, that is what they used to finally get a stab at Al Capone who, legend has it, played on the very pool table that now sits in the gymnasium here.  There may be a picture proving that this pool table is the real deal, but skeptics will make things difficult so the Park’s staff hasn’t really looked into it.

I think I will leave you with that as no one wants to read the ramblings of a man whose mind is shutting down.  Night all!

A couple of shots from around the area that I took.  At the very end of the gymnasium is the pool table.  Fun fact, the whole gym including the intricate ceiling was crafted by hand.

Current River - 1/20

Today marks the day I cut my 100th Red Cedar on this project.  It was a great day for it too; there were clear blue skies, temperatures close to 60, and very little wind.  I cut down 15 trees today and the last one, my 100th one, is the biggest fella I’ve fallen to date.  Kind of poetic.  It was around 60 feet tall with a base about the size of my 20 inch bar.  The Cedar fell right where I wanted it to and it was sooo close to being a perfect cut.  I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those meddling kids… I mean, that second quarter cut.  I went in a little tip heavy—there was still holding wood in the center, but thinning it out caused the Cedar to fall a bit sooner than planned.  Still, it fell right on the target Dalton set for me so I can’t be too hard on myself.  Gives me something to work on next time!

As you may have noticed I have pictures in my blog again!  You can thank my parents for that.  They got me a nice camera for Christmas and I am trying very hard to keep it in one piece.  This is probably the worst project it could have gone on in terms of potential damage by tool or tree.  Despite a couple scratches it is taking this 11 day like a champ.  Thanks Mom and Dad.  I’ll try to make it last.

I have a battle scar now.  It looks like I was scratched by something with claws.  Maybe I will embellish the story about the dog and Danielle—make it a mountain lion and I fended it off with naught but a felling axe.  The real culprit is not nearly as exciting.  Bloody thorns…   They like to wind their way up trees in this area and I just happened to activate nature’s trap card when I was preparing the landing zone for my prized Cedar.  There is no good way to bandage it so I will just have to remember to wash it out every night.

Well I am exhausted.  Bucking and limbing that sucker took what little energy I had left.  I had my eye on it all day though so I’m glad I got the opportunity to fell it.  I’m heading to bed happy and satisfied.  Not only did I get my Red Cedar, I reached the hundred mark AND my team has been talking about videogames as of late.  These are good times friends, good times.

Photos of me with the tree.  Dalton took these on my camera.  Awesome work.

Current River - 1/19

I had this rather entertaining dream last night where the ERT decided to redo the Gangnam Style music video.  It is all pretty vague now, but I recall Brad doing all of the singing and that the final scene’s dance was amazingly epic with the whole crew taking part.  Not that it has to be Gangnam style, but I think putting up a music video may garner more attention to our program… speaking of… I’ve yet to confirm if this is true, but it sounds like the Emergency Response Team may be looking for a few new members come this February.  So if you like what you’ve read here and/or want to join me on this adventure let me know ASAP and I can get you more information!

Let’s see, oh yeah, we nearly had an incident in the woods today!  I was swamping for Danielle when I noticed a four legged creature with a light coat of fur moving in the distance.  It disappeared into a thicker part of the forest, but my senses were going haywire as they strained to find what looked like it might have been a mountain lion.  About a minute later it reappeared and was heading straight for Danielle whose back was turned to it.  Closer now, I was able to see that it was a yellow lab and tried to convey this to my partner who was running the chainsaw.  Due to the racket my verbal communication wasn’t exactly working so I started pointing persistently, which I later found out frustrated her because she thought I was indicating there was something wrong with a branch she just cut.  Hilarious.  If nothing else I successfully stopped her from felling a tree just as the dog walked by.  It didn’t even stop; it brushed within 2 feet of Danielle, turned its head toward her briefly as if to say “oh hai,” but it never broke its stride.  Just like that the yellow lab vanished back into the forest.  So yeah, that was exciting!

I almost feel ashamed to mention that I only got 8 Cedars today, but then I remember I only sawed for one tank of gas and two of my trees had limbs that could have used some face cuts.  So not a bad day’s work!  After completing our service hours for the day we headed into Salem to pick up supplies and treat ourselves for powering through.  We went to a pizza buffet at Pizza Inn and let’s just say climbing that hill to our project site tomorrow is going to be a much harder for all of us.  I can feel the food coma coming on now.  Ugh.  So good but so full.  Going to go star gaze for a couple minutes then hit the hay.  Later all!

And me, of course.  Photos were taken by various team mates on my new camera.

Current River - 1/18

We saw an eagle on our way to the project site.  The bird was huge—easily bigger than any of the ones I saw at Roaring River.  It escorted us to the pond and then flew off.  Do you believe in signs?  I’ve found a couple recently.  I found the Egyptian hieroglyph for life constructed out of a couple strands of hair on the wall in the shower.  Sorry.  TMI?  Anyways, today there was the eagle, a bird of spiritual significance to the Native Americans.  There was a third… ah well, can’t remember it.  But what do you think of these two?  Do you think they go together or stand independently?  If I had to piece them together, I’d say it may mean something along the lines of, “Your eyes only see so much, do not forget to look with your heart to bring clarity to life and its many decisions.”

16 trees today for those of you are keeping count.  Kind of surprised I scored that many with how gusty it became.  The wind pushed one of my Cedars right over my back cut.  I got lucky there as I was reaching for a wedge when it decided to go and land right next to me.  It was a smaller tree, but still, propelled by the air currents I could have been seriously hurt.  Maybe the hieroglyph was warning me that my life was in danger.  If that’s so, then maybe the eagle was a sign that someone was looking out for me.  Yeah, I’m probably being a little silly, but as I’ve said before and I will say again, life is more exciting to stroll through if one can entertain the possibility of magic.

The only other development is that we have been informed that our 10 day is actually an 11 day.  We were only given funds for 10 days and they called it a 10 day in the office so we were a little taken aback by this revelation.  The whole team is sore and we seriously considered taking tomorrow off to recover and go back Friday.  After much contemplation, we’ve decided we’re going to try and power through.  This is the second 10 day I’ve been on that has been extended… guess they know that when I’m out in the field stuff gets done!

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!  Night!

Danielle!  My pictures.

Current River - 1/17

Some dastardly otherworldly forces are at work here.  I went to take a shower and despite cranking the hot water valve only frigid waters gushed forth.  After waiting a couple minutes, I turned the knob as blue as it would go.  Presto!  Hot water.  That prank was a little juvenile, but well played mansion, well played.

I only got 11 today.  My body is weakening from the constant felling and swamping—that hike up to the project site isn’t doing me any favors either.  My wrists in particular are making chainsaw work difficult as they just want to give out.  I’ll press on as I know this is good for me.  I mean, I am fatigued but I’ve already noticed my biceps have gotten larger within these past 4 days. Imagine what another 6 will do!

Enough of my woes though.  What do you all think about evolution?  I was toying with the idea of it being like leveling up.  Every so often your species, race, or gender would level up and consult with the DM, let’s say God, about what skills, attributes, or traits they can learn or enhance.  The monkeys claiming the opposable thumbs was a good call—really thought ahead and helped us out… or maybe they just thought the description sounded cool.  Just recently I have been won over by man’s ability to grow beards.  Whoever made that call, bravo, as these colder months would be utter misery without my +5 to saves vs cold.  Those dinosaurs though… choosing to learn advanced magicks… oi.  I hope casting Meteor to show off to that dashing triceratops across the watering hole was worth it.  This whole idea is farfetched, I know, but it is entertaining, no?

With that I will take my leave for the evening.  Good night everyone, feel free to send senzu beans my way if you have any extra lying around!

Following the leader is our leader in training, Liz.  It was I who pilfered these moments from time.

Current River - 1/16

I think I am allergic to gold plating or gold paint (or both).  I had Dalton’s gold scrench secured to my wrist for 15 to 20 minutes and I have since developed a very itchy rash in the same spot.  Non-coincidentally, my dress belt for half an age had gold paint on the buckle and I always had rashes appear in that area growing up.  The thing I’m worried about is that maybe I’m allergic to a particular metal as the metal on my belt out here also produces a minor irritation.  That would explain why rashes tend to appear more often in the colder months as I switch to longer pants that either require a belt or have a metal button.  Hopefully it is just the gold coating.  On the bright side, my shin is doing just fine!

I took down 20 Red Cedars today!  Technically it was more like 35, but we are only allowed to count our trees that are big enough for face cuts (4 inches in diameter).  My jump in production was due to me chainsawing for the majority of the day and I don’t think I will have that opportunity again, but we’ll see!  I’ve developed this interesting ability when it comes to felling Cedars—I call it the delayed fall.  Yesterday I had a good face cut and a pretty good back cut (2 quarter cuts) but the tree wouldn’t budge.  Both wedges were in and I was hesitant to saw anymore of the holding wood as there was next to none left, but it looked like that was what I was going to have to do.  So I had Brad, my look out, go and get my chainsaw more gas while I kept watch on the tree.  Right when he got back with the gas the tree went down.  Same sort of delay has happened to me twice since then.  Weird.  Maybe I am some kind of chainsaw demi-god.

Sorry all, I can’t stop thinking about how itchy my wrist is.  I will part you with this newsflash.  This just in, we have cut over 200 Red Cedars in 3 days.  We are getting things done!  Hope you are all doing well and I will write to you again soon if I don’t gnaw my hand off first.

Next up, our fearless leader: Dalton.  These moments in time were captured by me.  

Current River - 1/15

Tally another 15 trees for me!  Poor Red Cedars are between a rock and a hard place now that we’ve gouged the chinks in their armor to gaping holes.  At this rate I will hit the 100 mark before heading back to St. Louis.  Granted, I’ve been dealing with medium sized trees so far.  I tend to average about 5 face cut trees on a tank of gas; the way you know you have a big one is you go through a whole tank on a single Cedar like my buddy Brad did today.  But yeah, we’re rocking our service project and getting a good work out while doing it.  Life’s good!

My team thinks I am pretty funny.  While I am hesitant to accept such claims, I must admit I love making people smile and humor is a great way to do it.  So, I’ve decided to throw together Chris’ Comedic Clinic to give you a little insight as to how my mind works.  It’s pretty simple—to make someone laugh it helps to gather the 3 pieces of Stauff’s Comedic Triforce: the more you gather the more likely you will elicit a response from your friend.  The first piece is Callbacks; a callback is when you refer to something from earlier in the scene or show.  I had my friends roaring when I found a perfect moment to slide in a reference from our Cards against Humanity game the other night while we were eating dinner.  It isn’t exactly inappropriate, but I feel without the context or being there it wouldn’t be funny to share with you now… which brings us to the second piece, Knowing Your Audience.  For instance, a joke about our President to a crowd of die-hard Democrats might not be taken as well as, say, a Republican dominated audience.  And the final piece is the Element of Surprise.  I find that you need something to reel your targets in and for me catching them off guard has been extremely successful.  I will admit I probably have an easier time than most securing the final piece of my Comedic Triforce because I don’t talk often so when I do the unexpected outburst usually garners the room’s attention.

I guess it is time for bed.  My shin is a little tender due to a nasty prank pulled by the Red Cedars.  Remember those older cartoons or shows where there are two bullies and one pushes the victim over the other bully who is crouched down behind him/her?  Well, that is essentially what happened to me and then a log with a spiky stub of a branch rolled onto my leg.  As far as I can tell it just skinned me, but we’ll see if I develop some color come morning.  Night friends!

I'm going to take the photo slots for the next couple of entries to introduce you to Team Yellow.  This is Brad.  Photos taken by me.

Current River - 1/14

Still alive!  There was one eerie moment where I was looking at a map and several of the dots began to shift, but they ended up just being a bunch of lady bugs.  If I had crit missed on that perception check they would have been flesh eating scarabs so I’m glad the die was in my favor.  Through this skill challenge I also discovered that there is a town in Missouri called Knob Lick… how this will help us on our quest I am not sure, but it is interesting none-the-less.

After successfully navigating our way out the door our rolls took a drastic turn for the worst.  We failed a nature check… twice.  So we were equipped to handle a 60 degree day with an easy trail to our project site when in reality we faced temperatures in the high 30s, a light rain, and an intermediate climb up a 45-50 degree incline.  Being the Emergency Response Team, we made sure to buy and pack supplies that made us nearly impervious to the weather Missouri would throw our way, but that hike was a doozy.  Despite the detours we made it to our site in good time and proceeded to play the forest in a giant game of chess.

The forest of Current River State Park has a very defensive mind; almost every tree is defended by another if not three.  Unfortunately for it, my mind works similarly when it comes to playing such games.  With patience and mobility on our side we were able to take out the stragglers and weave our way through their front line.

The game has only just begun, but I personally put away 15 larger trees and an inconsequential number of smaller ones.  This forest uses a lot more than 16 pieces though.  One may call that cheating, but hey, it will make our victory all the sweeter.  Bed time!  My body is worn from chainsaw acrobatics and my mind has been tried by Cards against Humanity.  I won the card game, I think.  Dalton made a furious comeback, but I think I squeaked by.  Night friends, I wish you all natural 20s in your skill challenges to come.

Getting ready to start the day.  Photos taken by me.

Current River - 1/13

I may not be coming back from this 10 day.  The place we will be staying at in Current River State Park was described as a mansion.  Since when has there been a mansion where there wasn’t something sinister involved!?  Umbrella’s mansion unleashed the zombies via the T-virus, Shinra mansion unraveled Sephiroth’s remaining sanity that, in turn, brought about cataclysmic events…  Tragedy oft befalls the characters who interact with these structures, but we are not mere characters, we are AmeriCorps—a group that specializes in getting things done!  You know what, I take back what I said earlier; I will be coming home, it is just a matter as to what manner I will be returning.  Triumphantly is the hope!

It may seem like misfortune has fallen upon me and the rest of the crew, but that is only due to a lack of internet connection and cell phone reception.  Our project site and HQ are dead zones so we are more or less cut off from the rest of the outside world.  Not to worry though, the place we are staying at is amazing.  We all have our own bedrooms, bathrooms, and enough lounging space that would leave most fraternities envious.  Combined with an awesome crew and superb views, I feel like I am on vacation more so than out serving our country.

We are here on a mission, however.  Our team, team yellow, has been tasked with ridding the Current River State Park of Red Cedars.  This requires traversing and cutting on significant inclines, which is a safety hazard, sure, but I’d take a dry glade with fluctuating temperatures over a wet and cold glade like my last project any day.  I didn’t personally do any cutting today, but I swamped and helped find a bar nut that came off of a chainsaw.  The wielder of said chainsaw was confident that the search was hopeless due to all of the fallen foliage, but I have this knack for finding things… unless I’m the one who loses them.  Think I would be Seeker material in the magical world of Harry Potter?

Couple of shots taken by yours truly around the mansion.

ACSTL HQ - 1/8ish

The past couple of days have kind of melded together.  Dan Burch’s group headed out on Tuesday to Cape Girardeau, but finding a spot for the rest of us with this weather has been problematic.  Sooo, taking advantage of our time in the area we have been cleaning and reorganizing whatever we can get our hands on in the ACSTL HQ.  We’re also regularly taking up shifts at the Warming Shelter, which has been fun.  Half the people staying here have more advanced phones than I do—they’re watching movies on them and everything.  Maybe once I’ve concluded my affairs with AmeriCorps I will finally upgrade… but for now I think the tank of a phone I have is better suited for our rugged work as it is much less likely to break.

I am actually at the Shelter right now.  It is nearing 3:30am and surprisingly I am not the only night owl here.  I count at least 10 individuals that are looking to outlast me.  Sorry guys, I may be getting old, but my time spent in college, not to mention my extensive time spent gaming, has more than prepared me for moments like these.  *flexes*  It is nice to have someone to talk to though so I will settle for a tie if you really, really want to… but I would take advantage of a nice warm bed if I were you as I think I will be doing so when I return home.

It’s about time for me to do my rounds to make sure all is well, so an early good morning to you all!  At the moment it looks like my group will be heading out to Current River on Monday for a 10 day.  I will let you know if that changes.  Later!

The Return to St. Louis - 1/5

I felt like I was being Fus Ro Dahed by an army of Dragonborn all the way back to St. Louis.  My visibility at its best was seeing the silhouette of the 4th car in from of me; at its worst, I couldn’t see beyond my windshield.  It was like I was sailing in a phantom sea with how the snow washed over and slammed into my poor Cadillac.  The snow chased the vehicles in front of me like the great white serpents illustrated on the maps of old and the constant cascade of the white substance resulted in a fitting fog-like setting for the voyage.  This adventure definitely got the adrenaline pumping as I passed a number of wrecks and was even sandwiched between two crashes for what must have been 2 hours, but I managed to navigate my way back in one piece and am now preparing for what new adventures are about to come my way.

From what I have gathered, due to the extreme cold (as low as -30 including the wind chill) and all of the snow, most of our teams are not being dispatched for a couple of days.  I know I am on Dalton’s team and that we will be heading to Current River, but that’s the extent of my knowledge.  Oh, and we most likely will be leaving Thursday or Friday and return the following Thursday or Friday.  In the mean time we will be helping out in the Warming Shelter and around the city as needed.  I will keep you all posted!  For now I am going to head to bed, but before I do, a big shout out to my fellow Spartans that were recently over in Pasadena where we made our first Rose Bowl appearance in over 2 decades AND WON!!  Huge accomplishment guys!  Depending on how the rest of the Bowl games play out we may end up as the number 2 team in the nation—an unfathomable feat for a team that was unranked at the season’s start.  Ok, good night all.  Stay warm and be safe!

Both pictures were taken from the Michigan State Spartans Facebook page.  The first shot is the crucial play that won the game for the Spartans.