Cape Girardeau - 3/27

I’ve been listening to the Elder Scrolls sound track to get myself hyped up in the morning—particularly the intro piece to Skyrim.  Feels fitting with all of the adventures we go on day in and day out!  I had an instance the other day when we were wrapping things up.  I had to relinquish my handsaw and it felt very similar to Aragorn and his companions having to surrender their weapons in Edoras.  I wonder if they felt as naked as I did…

On a Shakespearian note, out, out damn spot!  My camera’s lens has a mark that darkens the more it zooms in and no amount of scrubbing will make it go away.  If I don’t mess with the distance it just looks like a smudge, which is discreet enough to pass undetected in my photos.  I will have to see if there is any sort of warranty on it; I mean, might as well take advantage of my options, right?

So, not many pictures today, but we did have a change in scenery.  We went to the Riney Tract to fell Red Cedars.  I was a little rusty, but I attempted an open face cut under Steve’s supervision.  An open face cut has two 45 degree cuts so the tree falls further before catching.  Unlike a regular face cut, the back cut comes in right where the two angles meet as opposed to above it.  I ended up cutting too low but a sudden gust of wind pushed the Cedar right over an inch and some change of holding wood.  It went right where it was supposed to—it just did so prematurely.  I navigated that escape route like a pro so no harm done.

To celebrate a good month’s work we had dinner at Lambert’s.  I am so full that if I don’t lie down I think I’m going to be sick.  Does that make sense?  Props to the server trying to pass off black-eyed peas.  He was a hoot.  Ugh, going to go lay down.  Thanks for the great month team orange, it was a blast!  Until the next adventure, take care friends!

Cape Girardeau - 3/26

The AmeriCorps Strike Team—after a day of UTV and trailer training we were bestowed this title by the MDC staff.  Pretty cool, huh?  Jan, the one running today’s operations, also remembered my name while he had difficulty with the others.  I think I left an impression!  I am now certified to operate MDC trailers and UTVs, first aid and AED, chemical mixing and application on Right-of-Ways, chain sawing on federal land AND fighting wild fires.  In terms of the nature conservation portion of AmeriCorps I am feeling pretty well rounded!

That… was the whole day really.  We all had a lot of fun driving the 6-wheelers around.  Practice makes perfect and the MDC staff were all about letting us do a little trial-and-error to figure out the kinks.  I believe the hardest part will be driving the UTVs in the future as we need to go at a snail’s pace to get the proper amount of chemical in the designated areas.  It’s unfair how fun it is to drive those things fast.

Anyways, it looks like the chapter on Cape Girardeau is coming to a close.  Starting next week they are hoping to unleash us on the highways near Perryville, which most likely will mean a new base of operations for the team working with MDC SE.  To think we celebrated Halloween here with those scary movies what feels like another life time ago.  A change of scenery is never a bad thing though!  I’m going to bed.  Night folks!

Cape Girardeau - 3/25

I dreamed that Michigan State was playing basketball at my elementary school.  They lost by 4 because they kept trying to bounce the ball off the floor into the basket.  So, uh, don’t do that on Friday please!

On an AmeriCorps note, we made some nice progress on the Roberts/Sides Property.  It seems like the infestation is primarily focused around the roads and the creek that runs through it.  I still have no idea how far back the property line is, but if the Bush Honeysuckle continues to thin out the further we go, I dare say Wes’s estimation will be close to the mark.

While spraying invasives we made a couple of friends.  There were two horses that were very excited to see us.  They were just trotting along and shooting glances our way to make sure we were watching.  Whenever we got closer to the fence they picked up the pace.  They really wanted to play—same with the dog.  Toward the end of the day a beagle emerged from the brush wagging its tail like it had found dinner.  It was very trusting and a little pudgy—signs that he had a good home.  That made me happy.  Not wanting to lure it from its home I restricted myself to only giving it 2 pats.  The cute thing followed us all the way back to the truck.

Now we’re at home base in Cape Girardeau with Taco Tuesday and How to Train Your Dragon looming on the quickly darkening horizon.  This movie is probably my favorite kid’s film.  If I could change one thing about it, I would change… this *gestures to all of it.*  Kidding, I love the whole package—the subtle actions that you may miss if you’re not looking, Craig Ferguson, Vikings, an amazing sound track accompanying a decent plot, and dragons of course!  Tonight’s going to be a good night.  Catch you all around!

Cape Girardeau - 3/24

The Schriener Property is finished!  Now that our “1 day project” is complete we’re moving to the big leagues: the Roberts/Sides Property.  Just by driving along the boundaries we were able to see Bush Honeysuckle with trunks as big as our thighs.  There is so much of it that upon first glance it appeared to be the only plant growing beneath the canopy.  Wes figures this area will take 1 week… but after working on it for 2 hours we might have cleared a 30 by 30 foot patch.  I think we may need to throw some quotation marks up come Friday.

Speaking of Friday, my Spartans are on a collision course with the Virginia Cavaliers—Dan Burch’s team.  My team is the underdog according to seeding in this Sweet 16 match up, but I have a good feeling.  I think the Cavaliers play very similarly to Wisconsin, a team that we beat on route to the Big Ten Tournament Title.  Trust in your coach and trust in yourselves and you’ll keep on dancing.  Go Green!

Friday is also the day I get to see Haley again.  With fire season picking up this very well may be my last bit of free time for a couple months.  It’ll be nice to spend a little time with my fiancée.  Long distance sucks; not only for Haley and me, but for me and everyone back home.  I’ve only seen my family once since moving down here and it’s starting to take its toll.  I put in a request to have some time off around Memorial Day to see them, but I’ve received no indication as to whether or not it will be approved.  Keep your fingers crossed!

While a part of me is longing for family and friends back home the Emergency Response Team is making life a little easier here.  Great bunch of folks these guys and gals are.  Just last week we all got dirty Valentine/Easter cards in our mail boxes.  Mine said something along the lines of “Boy, I’ll put a cover on your bar ; ).”  All of the messages were similarly themed to go with our line of work.  They were hilarious.  I’m grateful to be around people that keep positive (albeit at times scandalous) attitudes when serving 60-70 hours a week.

Look at me!  I’m rambling!  I guess I should hit the sack.  Good night friends.

Cape Girardeau - 3/21

We were pretty happy with the 3 prescribed burns yesterday, but the one we did today was 6 times bigger than all of them combined: 550 acres!  It was crazy.  For the most part the flames went no higher than our knees again... but occasionally... there would be a gust or a drastic change in the wind's direction.  I was stationed along a road and on one such instance what was just a thin line of fire turned into a wave that washed over the concrete.  While dealing with the spot over the wind changed and shot the flames back in my direction.  The fires weren't very high, but the radiant heat was so intense it singed most of the hairs in front of my face.  Other than that, the fire burned smoothly on my side.  It was pretty cool watching the snags waaaay back in the unit light up.  One kind of looked like the Eye of Sauron.

Anyhow, carrying all of the fire gear, extra water, and the occasional blower has left me rather sore.  Going to head to bed but know that we're all safe and we all loved getting away from messing with invasives.  Until next time friends!

The last photo was taken by Alayna.  The rest were taken by Steve and I on my camera.

Cape Girardeau - 3/20

The burn was a success!  We did three of them, actually.  It was so much fun!  We got to ride in the back of a pickup truck to get from place to place and then we got to play with fire (safely).  How could a day possibly get better?  By the time we were done the land looked like it had been scorched by dragon fire.  The ground was obsidian black and the smoke dancing above it an alabaster white.  The flames themselves rarely reached above our knees and yet they burned so fiercely that it only took a couple moments to singe my “fire proof” gloves.  Our team served 12 hours today and we were ready to carry on when Sherry and her guys said it was time to call it quits.

Now that the adrenaline’s gone I am beat.  Two things before I crash.  1, eye contacts are life savers when fighting fires as they protect your eyes from most of the smoke (they are also very useful when cutting onions).  2, my Spartans won!  Not only did they win, Payne set the NCAA record for the most shots made consecutively.  He also scored 41 points, no big deal, just a school record and all.  Way to go guys!  Don’t get cocky as everyone takes extra preparation when they know they are going up against the March Madness wizard, Tom Izzo.  Congratulations on the record Payne, here’s hoping you and your teammates can break a few more before the tournament reaches its end!  Good night all and good luck on your many endeavors!

Photos taken by me and Steve on my camera.

Cape Girardeau - 3/19

I helped load the truck today!  I’m not much of a morning person so it is hard beating everybody else to the task.  After we drove off I realized how I was a couple minutes quicker than normal.  I forgot to brush my teeth.  At a younger age I would have thought nothing of it, but lacking any sort of dental coverage I found this unacceptable.  SO, when we stopped by the SE MDC office to pick up more chemical, I took drastic measures.  I ran into the restroom and grabbed some soap, mixed it with water, then swished it around in my mouth.  There was only one other instance in my life where I had soap in my mouth and that was when I was being a brat way back when.  After all this time I can say that soap’s taste has not improved—and the awful taste lingers!  On the bright side I’m pretty sure I killed off all the bad germs.

We have all but completed the Schriener property.  All that we have left to do is the stretch along the highway.  We will most likely do that Friday as we are going a prescribed burn tomorrow!  I wish I could give you the details but we don’t even know them yet.  It is like a secret burn or something.  Anyhow, we have to wake up an hour and a half earlier than normal so I’m going to call it a night.  Before I do, a shout out to my Spartans: good luck!  If you can get over all the jitters from the media and get through this first game I think you will go far.  Stay classy, stay healthy, Go Green!

The last picture was taken from the Michigan State Spartans Facebook page.

Cape Girardeau - 3/18

It’s been awhile, but I had a dream last night.  I was living in a castle that was being taken over by a vampire.  One after another the castle’s residents were being captured and transformed into his minions until there were only pockets of resistance.  I’m pretty sure I was a knight because I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt when the vampire got ahold of the Queen.  She was strong and resisted the villain’s numerous attempts to subjugate her, so he turned her into stone through an elaborate ritual.  Just before I woke up I was in a room with a handful of other survivors.  Everyone was in a panic because something was pounding on the other side of the barricaded door.

Our project today wasn’t quite as intense.  We went back to the Schriener property and resumed our Bush Honeysuckle hunting.  We’ve easily dealt with more than 2000 of the invasive at this point and there is still no end in sight!  Wes stopped by and was very happy at what we’ve done.  He admitted he thought that we were cutting “Coral Berries” instead of Bush Honeysuckle, but after walking through our path of destruction he was glad that that was not the case.  He surveyed the area before departing and marked 3 final spots on our map—declaring that once we hit those spots this property will be considered done!

We have 2 ½ days left and finishing it is not beyond the realm of possibility…except we got the exciting news that we may be doing a controlled burn this week!  Wes said it would most likely be tomorrow or Thursday so we have to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.  So long as there is no Honeysuckle in the unscouted area, I think we have a shot at doing the fire and finishing the property.

I’m heading to bed in case we are called for the fire tomorrow.  Taum Sauk is huge so we will be working extended hours.  Night all.  Wish me luck!

Cape Girardeau - 3/17

100!  That’s the number of entries I’ve done!  I remember the first time I tried to keep a journal it lasted all of 5 days, but here I am still going strong some 40,000 plus words later.  This is quite an accomplishment for me!  My one regret is that I’ve not been as colloquial as I could be… you know what?  No!  No regrets!  Today is a great day not only because it marks the day of my 100th blog post, but because it is St. Patrick’s Day AND it is Sean Walsh’s birthday!  Good things come in threes and today that is more than true!  Happy Birthday Sean!  We’ll catch up one of these days although word has it you’re embarking on a new academic adventure soon.  Of course we both know we haven’t seen the last of each other.  I look forward to hearing all about it!

While it didn’t happen today, my Spartans won the Big 10 tournament.  To do it, they needed to defeat 2 number 2 seeds in the NCAA tournament, Wisconsin and Michigan, who most likely would have secured a 1 seed had they been the victors.  Kudos to you guys on this huge achievement!  Stay healthy and we’re going to go far this year!

Nothing really new to report on the service front.  We returned to the Schriener property and cleared a decent chunk of invasives.  The scenery is just beautiful.  Moss covered rocks carved into awesome formations by element and age, deer paths through Cedar groves that make you feel like you are entering Narnia—these are just the tip of the iceberg.  Some very good photo spots to be sure, but work comes before play.  Hopefully I can snag a couple before the week is through!

Well, I am going to go bask in the glory of the closing hours of March 17th.  I hope life is treating you all well.  Good night!

Cape Girardeau - 3/13

The 1 day project has now reached day 3.  It’s like…showing up to take on the Death Star and finding the shields fully operational.  There may have been an underestimation as to how far the invasive had spread, but we’ve made some significant progress!  If Wes has us go back tomorrow I think we can clear everything up to the creek.  Of course… Bush Honeysuckle is completely covering the other side.  We may have an Osgiliath situation if we don’t remedy that.  Let’s hope the native inhabitants can hold off the invaders until we return!

It was a good day!  A great day even!  Have you ever played the game where the floor is lava?  Most kids have, but in the off chance you haven’t it is just as it sounds, you pretend the ground is lava and try to avoid falling in.  There were so many downed trees that I would go several minutes at a time elevated above the soil.  I felt pretty cool weaving my way through and over the skeletons of these natural giants.  It brought me back to my time in the Scouts when we would go out and get ourselves into some mischief in the woods.

Anyhow, all this lava dodging has left me exhausted.  I’m going to turn in—but before I do…Happy early St. Patrick’s Day!  My next entry won’t hit the interwebs until after the event so I thought I’d tell you now.  Celebrate appropriately!  Good night all.  Until next time!

Cape Girardeau - 3/12

We found the heart of the invasives in the Schriener Property.  There was this huge Autumn Olive in the middle of a Cedar grove.  Underneath it there was an assortment of Autumn Olive and Bush Honeysuckle.  The mother tree still stands as our chainsaws were not easily accessible, but I think we managed to take out all of its minions.  There were sooo many saplings.  I suspect we’ll have to spray them again tomorrow after we take down the giant.

Anyways, the temperature took a tumble today.  It was somewhere in the 40s I believe, which suited us perfectly.  The area we are clearing has some very thick vegetation—ideal for wildlife.  Yesterday two of our members came back with ticks and today I found a couple of yellow jacket nests on the ground.  Had it been warmer we would have had quite the bout with both of those critters.  It also allowed me to wear my jacket comfortably—preserving my arms from the abundance of thorns we have to go through.  So yay for the slight chill!

We also found the bones of a deer.  They were remarkably well preserved and very, very white.  There wasn’t really time to set up a crime scene, but the creature looked too young to have died due to age.  As the discovery was made near a creek I’d imagine it was taken by surprise when it went to its water source.

That’s it for today.  Night all!

Cape Girardeau - 3/11

Friends, I believe I am sunburned!  We experienced our first consecutive 70 plus degree day since the summer and it was glorious.  Wes Bucheit, our contact, lead us to a new unit to tackle and surmised that we could knock it out in a day.  The forester who had surveyed the area had only done so from the road looking in… and he missed some… Nah, he missed a lot.  Our crew was ambushed by Bush Honeysuckle moments after we arrived and the attack did not relent.  We ultimately had to retreat because of their sheer numbers, but our counterattack will begin at 800 and we’ll see who gets the last laugh!  We have these really cool sci-fi looking handsaws on our side.  I believe this gives us not only an element of cool but an unbeatable edge over our opponents.  Those sons of bushes won’t know what hit ‘em!

I got to play with the handsaw from the future all day.  It made me very happy.  Despite not finishing the area as our contact had hoped, I feel we got a lot accomplished.  The Honeysuckle hid in dead trees, thick pine groves, and even barricaded itself with brambles, but we all went in after them regardless of the obstacle.  I’d wager this particular project will take two more days.  Wes thought the invasive would just be patchy like it was at our location yesterday, but this unit has carpeted itself with the stuff.  Maybe we’ve found the worst already.  Guess we’ll wait and see!

Good night all.  I hope you’re experiencing as nice of weather as we are!

Cape Girardeau - 3/10

Hey all!  Sorry I didn’t get back to you last Friday.  I’ve been on a video game kick.  I’ve played through Final Fantasy IV and VI and have started up Secret of Mana and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.  Classic Super Nintendo games that I HIGHLY recommend you try out if you haven’t already.  My cousin Dean is also trying to get me to play EverQuest again… and I fear he is succeeding.  Norrath was my home away from home…that I transported to from my home.  I made some great friends in EverQuest and played a part in the server’s progression in its earlier expansions.  Despite how much I enjoyed exploring its many fantastical realms, there is one major drawback to the game: it’s damn addictive.  Back in high school all of the other students were boasting about making the varsity teams or landing their first jobs whereas my biggest accomplishment was defeating Lord Nagafen, the terrible dragon that plagued the Lavastorm Mountains.  If I do go back and explore my old virtual stomping grounds, I intend to do so without forgetting to live on this side of the computer screen.  For me it will be more of a chat room where I can catch up with friends outside of St. Louis while going on some fun adventures—adventures that have the potential to be crafted into stories for the kids one day.

I could talk about EverQuest for days, but I will spare you… for now.  Back to business!  Today we made our way back to Cape Girardeau and destroyed another section of Bush Honeysuckle.  The chemical we use is called Garland, which I’m pretty sure is the first and final boss in Final Fantasy.  I got video games on the brain…anyways, the invasive plants were few but they were very spread out.  It took us the entire day to cover the ground and minimize the threat.  It didn’t help that our truck got stuck in the mud.  We were gathering sticks and larger rocks to help create some traction but every time we went a couple of inches in the right direction, something would go wrong and we had to start over.  Fortunately some of the locals noticed our plight and came to the rescue.  Big thanks to the farmers as we would not have cleared the area of Honeysuckle if we didn’t start when we did!

Oh get this.  It was 79 degrees today.  I know!  Crazy!  We were all pretty exhausted by the time we left and went to pick up supplies.  The temperature explains it!  I think I will leave it at that as my eyes are refusing to cooperate.  Night all.

Cape Girardeau - 3/6

We took care of that Bush Honeysuckle—like a boss!  We all but cleared the invasive from the Hotop/Krielich Property—we even went beyond the Cedar grove and cut out the invasives on the other side of the road for good measure.  Great success!  Dan has been the Team Leader in Cape Girardeau the whole year and next week he is going to be heading out on fire detail.  The South East Missouri Department of Conservation is one of our biggest contracts so it is not uncommon to serve here a month and not see any of the projects through to completion.  For that reason, I’m glad Dan gets to head out on a high note.

Despite SE MDC being one of our biggest contracts, they don’t want us working here on the weekend when there is nobody in the office—something to do with safety precautions, which I understand and respect.  It just means we will probably have to do office work.  I asked for variety didn’t I?  Fancy how these things happen.

As is tradition at Baptist Camp, we’re about to pop in a movie.  Tonight’s choice is Ender’s Game.  Looks like it will be a good one.  Talk to you all tomorrow!

Photos taken by Dan Burch.

Cape Girardeau - 3/5

Happy anniversary to my lovely fiancée, Haley!  Sorry I couldn’t be with you to celebrate, but if all goes according to plan I will be seeing you soon!

We continued where we left off yesterday cutting and spraying Bush Honeysuckle.  This particular area has received very little care so the invasive plant has grown to the size of small trees.  I had to abandon my loppers for a handsaw to battle the nuisances—which suited me just fine as sheathing and unsheathing the blade never gets old!  Uh… yeah, that was pretty much our whole day!  There were a couple of really cool rock formations under some fallen trees that would make a pretty awesome fort or mock-battle site, but that’s the only other thing that comes to mind.

Upon returning to our project site’s HQ I washed and oiled my boots.  The poor things received some nasty gashes from all that work with the barbed wire last month, so hopefully this oil will be just the sort of pick-me-up they need to make it through the rest of this gauntlet of a year.  Now I’m off to hang out with my team and watch some Harry Potter.  I find it fitting that we are watching Harry embark on his journey today, the same day I started my epic quest with the love of my life 4 years ago.  Love you Haley.  Talk to you all later!

Picture taken by Haley.

Cape Girardeau - 3/4

So you may not be seeing pictures from me for a while.  I’ve decided that it would be more beneficial to my team if I were to concentrate my efforts on the projects themselves rather than documenting them.  I’ve been rationalizing my photo bombardments with my injuries and poor conditioning, but the only way I am going to get stronger is if I push through the maladies.  This is not to say I will never take pictures again… let’s just say we’re giving someone else a chance to shine and take some great shots.  I’m hoping someone takes advantage of the opportunity as I’d love to be in more pics!

Photography disclaimer aside, this month I’ve returned to my roots: Cape Girardeau.  The last time I was here I was practically living in Tower Grove Park.  It feels like it has been years since we journeyed through that chapter of my life.  Time is funny like that sometimes.  Anywho, I’ve been informed that this area is under new management so it is hard to say what we’ll be doing.  Today we cut and sprayed Bush Honeysuckle so it is a fair assumption that eliminating invasives will be among our future tasks.  I’m also hoping for a prescribed burn.  For that to happen this snow needs to go ahead and melt itself or go back to Canada… or something.  All I want this week is a little bit of variety.  Good to switch things up, ya know?  Whatever the challenge may be I’ll take it head on.

Lights just went out so I am going to take my leave for now.  While I may not be taking any new photos, there’s nothing wrong with sharing a few older ones!  Enjoy these gems that were taken during Mardi Gras.  If you’ve never been to a huge Mardi Gras event (St. Louis or New Orleans), I highly recommend participating in one.  Night all!