State Parks!

I now am employed with the Vermont State Parks! I will be working at Smuggler's Notch State Park for the upcoming season until October. I moved into my home for the time being. It's the old ski dorm just down the road from the park, it's great. Though, no internet. But that's okay, I can get used to that.

Bad News: I tore my meniscus playing dodge-ball a month ago. I had surgery a week later and am now on the road to recovery. So, it'll all be okay.

Other than that, things are going well. This is going to be a short one. Just a status update.

Catching up

So first things first: here's something I found from July of 2012 that I would like to finally add in:

So, it has been a long while since I updated. Let me explain; no, there is too much. Let me sum up.

I finished out the spring season in Escalante still working on Russian Olive removal and treatment. The season ended sooner than I wanted. Being on Bruce’s crew (my crew leader for the spring) was awesome. We ended up taking some education hours and went early over to Bryce Canyon for the sunrise, it was breathtaking to say the least. But the season ended and then summer training started.

New crew leaders showed up, and so began the month long training session. From WAFA (Wilderness Advanced First Aid) to soft skills, we did it all. It was quite the adventure. All the while took a 3 day road trip to Fort Collins, CO and Denver, CO. My very own brew tour, that was a blast! Biking around Fort Collins from brewery to brewery was fun, hot, and made me quite thirsty, which was quite convenient that I came across so many breweries! We were one day early from meeting Mitt Romney in some small Coloradan town on our way back to Utah.

Then crew members showed up. Crew member training was only a week long. A couple of us went down to the Ogden Nature Center (ONC) ahead of time to prepare the training sites (fencing and basic trail maintenance). So that went well except for almost hitting a couple people with a rock that I accidentally rolled down the hill. But luckily no one got hurt. It was quite terrifying and unnerving knowing that someone could have been seriously hurt or possibly killed. I sometimes forget I work a hazardous job. Whoops…But the rest of training went well, well other than the small wild fire in the foothills of Ogden. It was put out rather quickly thankfully.

Finally, I got my crew. We’re a crew of four, which is standard for the UCC. They decided to announce the crews the first night everyone got to Ogden. From the first second they worked well together. They were making dinner and doing dishes without direction and whatnot. So, that’s pretty awesome.

Anyway, the rest of training went well and we prepared everything for our first hitch down in Hanksville, UT. So, Hanksville only has about 217 people living there. So, it’s tiny. But nonetheless we were going to work with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). So, I met my sponsor, Myron Jeffs. He is a super cool sponsor and I’m a little bummed that we didn’t get to work for him all season, but the project we’re on now is cool too. So, anyway we get there knowing we have some sort of housing arrangement with the BLM. But we find out that we’re staying in an apartment. It has air conditioning, running water, two bedrooms, the works. For the first three weeks we are working in the Hog Springs Recreation Site that is thirty-five miles south of Hanksville on Route 95. The temperature gets pretty high working in the desert. So by noon it was most likely hitting temperatures in the hundreds. And the chance of precipitation is super low in that area. The work we did was pretty cool. There is a mile long trail that goes up the canyon to the Hog Spring. It is a nice trail, but needed some work done. So, we put in a retaining wall and some other rock structures. Other work we did there was removing of old bbq grills and installing new ones, re-staining the wooden fences and parking blocks, removing and treating tamarisk, and doing some other basic maintenance. Overall, it was a good project. We spent three weeks there and it looks a lot better. The BLM will be coming in next year to some more things like put in some new kiosks and whatnot.

Talk about not completing things because that's where I ended that. Okay, now back to the present, well sort of...

Seasonal work is an interesting life. I have finally entered the realm. I have been doing trail work in the non-winter months for the past four years. Now I have finally finished school in 2012. After I finished my term with the Utah Conservation Crops, I moved onto working at the Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, Maine. I was a valet/bellman. My first impression was a good one. So good that I after working with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, I went up to work at Bolton Valley Ski Area in Bolton, Vermont. And now, after another good winter season it's back to work!

I got to thinking the other day about seasonal work. Seasonal work has an interesting ebb and flow. There's a certain point in a season in which one, like myself, begins to care lees and looking forward to the next thing. When it comes to people with 'normal' jobs, they might look forward to vacations, weekends, or what have you. But in the seasonal world, we look forward to the next thing. It's tough to always be looking on for the next thing. What I try to do is keep my head in the present. But it can drive me crazy when the motivation levels drop and the lack of care begins. I take pride in the jobs I do and sometimes people call me crazy. I think they call me crazy because well...I don't know. When I take a job, I do it. And I do it to the best of my ability. I seek to improve the places in which I work. It's like camping, leave the campsite in better condition than you found it. And that's why I'm crazy. I like to exceed expectations. I like to push the limits of where I am. Sometimes I talk more than I do, it's true. But one of the ideas I spurt out might be a good one. And then maybe, just maybe I might act on it.

For now, I'll keep brainstorming.

Now to sum up my life for the past year and change. Like I said, I worked at Sunday River and moved on to work at the VYCC. I had a good experience. And 2013 treated me well. Late 2012 into 2013 I spent a large amount of time with my immediate and extended family. That was a blast. In November of 2013 I traveled to Norway to visit my brother and his wife. Before that in October I worked on a vegetable farm. I participated in the slaughtering and processing of chickens. All of my experiences were something else. Oh, and I picked up telemark skiing. So yeah, it was a good year.

Now, I am currently finishing out the season at Bolton and thinking about my next steps. I have a good chance at working with the State Parks in Vermont. I'm pretty excited at the prospect and it's something new. So, here's to looking forward to another season. Cheers!  

Sandy (Part 2)

I'm in the Brooklyn Library and things are good. I'm currently working at the Park Slope Armory YMCA with the UCC. It's a shelter for those displaced by Hurricane Sandy.

Not much time to write but just a status update.

NYC

So, here I am just waiting for time to pass and soon I will be in Brooklyn in NYC.  We're starting our help at a shelter assisting those there in need.  We'll see how it goes. My bag is packed, now it's time to do this.  Also, I hope my job prospects don't totally fall through...

Sandy

So, a lot has happened since I've written last but let's talk about the now.

I am doing laundry now getting myself prepped for a four day road extravaganza! My time with the UCC in Utah is coming to a close.  But my time with the UCC isn't.  Starting tomorrow I will be traveling back to the east coast. Why you may ask?

Well, it's simple really.  In Americorps, we devote ourselves to serving our country the best way we know.  Mostly in the conservation world, that's awesome trail work from the high mountains to the high desert.  But occasionally other opportunities present themselves.  Most/all of you are aware of the effects of Super-storm Sandy.  Well, hundreds to thousands of volunteers are being asked and recruited to help with the disaster relief.

I just happen to be one of those volunteers.

So, I will arrive in Maine on Saturday.  Pull myself together and be back in New York on Monday evening.  From there I will be working for some indeterminate time from three to four weeks.

It is amazing how we all can pull together in this time of need.  I have been listening to news reports on various radio stations and I can barely imagine the damage.  I will do what is in my power to help and hopefully soon we can be through this but it will take a lot of work.  Those closest to me were pretty lucky with the storm I hear so I am thankful for that. And I hope to see them soon.  I wish the best of luck to all the families affected.

Time to get ready and hit the open road!

A post is coming...

I am writing a sum up entry, don't worry.  I just keep myself just busy enough. More details to come!

First Long and Well Appreciated Break

I have now got done with my third hitch this season and things are going well.  We are in the Escalante area doing invasive species management.  We are working with the invasive Russian Olive.  We either cut the tree down or we girdle them with chainsaws and apply herbicide.  Girdling is when we cut just enough into the cambium layer or living tissue of the tree.  This is done to kill the tree but also leave it so it can be a habitat for animals and provide some shade.  So overall, it was great! Except for one incident with the groover, but I dare not go into details.  The weather was a little up and down, but it was still good.  We chainsaw all day and the breaks we take during the day are rarely quiet due to all the chainsawing.

After hitch we got our first full length time off of 5 days.  The first day of my break we took the pesticide and herbicide certification tests which I passed!  And for the other days I've been hanging out.  Yesterday I went with my roommate to Snowbird to do some snowboarding.  It's just east of Salt Lake City and it was a powder day!  So to say the least, it was super good.  I've done my laundry, uploaded photos, and shopped for food.  I am once again ready to go back to work!