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.