Weeks 24 & 25

Up to my waist in bog water, reinforcing a dock structure.

The days are just packed…

The last day of January saw us in the windy cold of an open field next to rows and rows of formerly irrigated trees, soon to be bulldozed to the ground. Our mission was to rip up old irrigation hoses in the ground running to each tree, cutting them into manageable sections that we could load into a pick-up truck to haul away. This task, in combination with cutting back overgrown branches from a vehicle pathway in the field, removing plastic tree shelters from dead or self sustaining young trees, and pulling up PVC pipe markers stuck in the ground to mark sections of trees constituted a day of physically draining labor. Besides being heavy, difficult jobs that required trudging through fields of deer scat, the only pathways being those established by the deer themselves, it was a chilly day that got progressively colder and slightly rainy. Let me paint you a picture:

Ruth & I putting down stakes for new boardwalk.

Carrying the PVC markers near the end of that long, cold day.

Imagine you are exhausted from having struggled with thorns and hoses all morning. Lunchtime arrives, but in the hubbub of getting out the door on time that morning while in competition for making breakfast and packing lunch and taking showers and finding boots with 9 other people, you accidently left your carefully prepared lunch on the kitchen counter, which translates into nothing to feed your empty tummy. Your loyal teammates offer to share their lunches, but knowing they are just as hungry as you are, you decline, vowing to never be so stupid ever again.

My whole team with 2 of our supervisors from the
VA Nature Conservancy.

The temperature descends, and icy rain sprinkles strike your face as you struggle to consolidate as many tree shelters as possible in an attempt to make as few trips across a hilly field of tall grass as you can. The shelters are awkward and become heavy when you’ve been walking with your arms full of them, back and forth, back and forth, with no end in sight. The heavy steel toed boots on your feet do not make this constant journey any easier, and the lack of decent padding inside becomes more noticeable with each passing step.

Jacquie and I on our newly built boardwalk.

Parts of you are freezing while other parts of you are sweating, causing a strange internal struggle of wondering whether you should peel off layers or zip your parka all the way to your chin. As the end of your task seems to be approaching, and your mind wanders to how good it will feel to soon be able to warm up by fireplace with a mug of homemade hot chocolate in your hand, your feet free of boots and your tummy full of nourishment, your supervisor informs you that there are many more miles to go before you rest. More fields to cross, more cold to face, and more heavy tasks to accomplish. If you can imagine all of this, then you have a pretty good idea of how I felt that day.

A people pile is an excellent way to keep warm during
a well earned break.

Other than that, these past two weeks have been great. The Groundhog Day party I arranged for my team was a success. I made a cake with decorated Nutter Butter groundhogs springing up all over the place, Cain drew a Pin The Shadow On The Groundhog game on the back of a Chinese menu, Jacquie and Sarah made stellar decorations, including but not limited to multiple paper chains, and Ruth hooked up her 3G internet so we could watch Groundhog Day (Bill Murray) through Netflix.  This February 2^nd was a day to remember.

Everything had to be cut up small enough to
burn in the trough to the right.

We worked on demolishing and then rebuilding another boardwalk trail through a swamp at the Virginia Nature Conservancy. I got to work on a whole section with Ruth and Ashlyn, and let me tell you, it’s amazing how much three girls in chest waders can accomplish in just a couple of hours. Other highlights include getting to haul a bunch of old boardwalk materials around on a 6-wheeler, as well as getting to chainsaw my first giant fallen tree, which required a pie cut. Truly a great accomplishment.

Having finished our allotted tasks at the Nature Conservancy earlier than expected, our sponsor gave us a day off to go on a fieldtrip to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, where we did some hiking, saw some wild ponies, and explored the information center.

Putting rails on the boardwalk at 1st Landing.

On Friday the 4^th, we headed across the Chesapeake Bridge to First Landing State Park in the Virginia Beach area, where we spent the week demolishing and rebuilding a big boardwalk. It really didn’t take us that long, considering they gave us one day off to go to the Virginia Aquarium, and then we received so much snow on Wednesday night (around 3”) that we were unable to work on the project for an entire day. However, the days we did work, we got so much quality work completed that Ranger John, our supervisor, kept telling us how impressed he was with our work, and that if any of us wanted to come back and work for the park this summer, he’d hire us in a second.

My first 6-wheeler experience. Got it up to 25mph!

We are now back in Kiptopeke for our remaining 2 weeks in Virginia. I can‘t believe we’ve already been here for 3 weeks, and I get sad when I think about that fact that we’ll be leaving soon. We’ve had such a great experience here, I can’t help but wish for a longer term, but Hattiesburg awaits us, so we cannot linger.

One other thing to report is that I got to go with Jacquie to visit her grandma, aunts, uncle, and young cousins last weekend in Maryland (about a 2 ½ hour drive), and we had a great time. Such an awesome family, and I’d like to give a big shout out to Aunt Diane, John, and Emily, for letting me stay with them and play Wii, Grandma Jablonski and Aunt Lauren for a delicious dinner, and all of these people plus Uncle Paul for a wonderfully pleasant afternoon. You guys are such a welcoming family, and I appreciate your sincere hospitality.

Showing the trees who's boss.

What else can I say for this week, except, how ‘bout them Packers?!?!

What's better than a walk on the beach on a
 beautiful Saturday afternoon?