Like Alice Through the Looking Glass.

On this day last year I packed a backpack and a suitcase and flew out to California. It was honestly the most terrifying experience of my life. Life up until that point had been about going to school and making coffee for a paycheck. To say that I had that life under control was an understatement. If anything I was bored with it. I guess that’s what led up to that terrifying experience part of things. When I first thought about making the big leap it was the thought of leaving my nice apartment and car that concerned me. It wasn’t until I was leaving my loved ones in the airport that the little seed of terror truly began to sprout.

Everything else from that point on is located in the ‘good memory’ file of my brain’s rolodex. But NCCC was more than a series of good memories for me. Without venturing close to hyperbole I can say that it was the most definitive experience of my life. I learned more in those ten months of service that I did in four years of college. I entered into NCCC as a bumbling adult wannabe with little sense of direction as to where he wanted to go in life. And I left as a bumbling adult wannabe with little sense of direction as to where he wanted to go in life. That adult however had something the other didn’t. He had a sense of fulfillment, an appreciation for life, and a hunger for service that exceeded his own expectations.

AmeriCorps hasn’t been about changing who I am. It has been about being a better me through the vehicle helping others. And for this opportunity I will be thankful for the entirety of my life.

Your Time is Running Out.

I think I might be on the very same computer that I was on when I posted my very first blog in California.  If not I am still going to pretend it is just for coincidence sake.

Well here I am back on McClellan Air Force base spending my days doing what I can to close out ten months of service.  You'd think it would just be a matter of turning in our fire packs and getting a pat on the back from our region director but no, it is so much more than that.  These last ten days are chocked full of reflections, social activities, and last ditch chances to say goodbye to all the people we have lived, worked, and laughed beside in this service year.  To say that its a period of time in which you can feel a little overwhelmed and drained is a understatement.  That feels strange to say since so much of my schedule is free to do as I wish on base but I suppose that doesn't mean I'm not busy.  I think my free time is when my mind runs the fastest.  It isn't enough to just sit in my room all day.  It almost feels like a necessity to soak up as much of this experience as possible before time runs out. 

Last night I took a walk around McClellan.  Despite how little time I spent here I believe it is going to be the place I miss the most.  For me I think this base embodies everything Americorps NCCC was about.  I think that my teammates would probably laugh about me saying that though.  While time on base is something somewhat dear to me, I can understand that it is also an excruciating time of meetings, red tape, and inactivity for myself and everyone else.  I can't help but acknowledged that this place is where my journey began and where I got to take a little break in between my adventures and for that I can help but feel a warm feeling for this place.

I think it'll take time for me to miss Eldorado.  Sadly our debrief with our Unit Leader about the project did not go well despite our attempts to do make a compliment sandwich.  We'd say something that was critical of the project and then try to lessen the blow by saying something positive or vice versa.  It didn't work too well though.  I believe that in the end Silver 5 made the mistake of not being up front enough about how unfitting the project was from the start.  Maybe Eldorado was a place that should never have had a team in the first place but that doesn't mean we all regret it.  We worked hard, did the best we could, and have the lean bodies and the belt buckles to prove it.

In the next few days I plan to use my free time to make a list of hints and tips for potential and upcoming NCCC goers.  Just little ideas to make this very unique lifestyle a little easier. 

Until next time.

Burning Faster.

In one week I will be packing up all the junk I acquired in my four month stay in Eldorado National Forest and will begin my return to McClellan Air Force Base. In just two weeks I will be saying goodbye to the people who have been my travel and work companions these last ten months.  In three weeks I will be moving my life to Farragut, Tennessee to being an all new adventure.  An experience that sometimes felt like it would never end and at other times flew by me in a blur is winding down quickly in the way that all great adventures do.  It is hard to put ten months in a little box and wrap a bow around it thus placing it in the closure pile...but blogging seems like a tiny step towards doing so.

To leave Eldorado alone seems like a big leap from something both comfortable and tiresome for me.  I must say that though I will miss many aspects of this place from the moment we leave, it will take time to miss the experience of cutting line for hours under the sun.  As I have said in my previous blogs, Eldorado was a difficult project for me to encapsulate positively at this moment but I am sure that I will appreciate the experience I had here so much more when I can look back in retrospect.  Despite my challenges here I cannot overlook the fact that I had the amazing opportunity to take a path I otherwise would have never even pondered taking post-college all while doing so in the beautiful mountains of Northern California.  One day I will get to tell someone that I was a Wildland Firefighter on the opposite side of the country from which I hail and I will feel good about having done so.

Nostalgia stuff aside my life in Eldorado has been pretty good as of late.  Yesterday we were honored in front the Forest's staff.  We received some pretty awesome belt buckles and a lot of hearty 'thanks'. My teammate Kaitlin does a much better job of chronicling  Silver 5's work than I do.  If I had her blogging skills there would have been more than one single post for June, ha.

I hope to write more as my service year comes to an end.  Until next time.

Come and Go.

I still exist!

As where my Americorps life was once an array of exciting adventures I often feel week to week that I have little more to report to blogland aside from, "We ran a lot this week.  We dropped a lot of trees".  While it is true we do a lot more than that and exciting things have happened since April which was sadly my most recent blog, I guess I have let myself slide on the whole idea of updating my friends and family on what is going on in my Ameribubble.

I believe that when I will look back on my time in Eldorado National Forest I will say that it was the most difficult, frustrating, and challenging but most enriching of all of my service terms.  At least I hope to look back and say that.  As is I believe most of Silver 5 is pretty ready to get our plane tickets back home and mark this experience as being done.  Increasingly difficult PT, a lack of meaningful project work, and the routine of being at the same project for two rounds will do that to a team I suppose.  It is a touchy subject for me as my NCCC experience was so amazing in both Portland and Oakhurst.  Those two experiences alone made joining the program worth it but I can't help but admit that Eldorado isn't the way I wanted to end my corps member year.  These things happen for a reason though.  I joined Americorps to gain more self-confidence. Well, Eldorado has provided me with that more than anything else I've ever done.  I joined to get fit and sure enough Eldorado has made sure that I am meeting my goals in that area as well.  So what can I say?  It has been a lot of discomfort and frustration that has nonetheless paid off great dividends.  I guess I just miss the whimsy and fun that pre-Eldorado Silver 5 provided.

Good or bad we will be departing from the Forest Service in five short weeks to spend our remaining ten days in the program at McClellan to tie up whatever loose ends there may be.  When the work weeks are difficult I get really excited about that fact but I have a feeling that as we get closer to the end I will be wanting more and more to put the brakes on my remaining time.  I can't imagine how it is going to feel leaving the people I have become so close with in these ten months.

Exciting things are on the horizon however.  I have a great job waiting for me in Farragut, Tennessee.  I believe it will be an experience just as important to my development and well being as this one was.  Though moving just a few hours away from home to live alone varies greatly from the reality of moving to the other side of the country to live with a handful of strangers, I believe it will be just as much of an adventure that will provide me with a great stepping stone to the next big thing for Josh. 

Here's to hoping we finish out these next few weeks strong.

Back Cut and Beyond.

It has been a week of falling genetically modified trees, sightseeing, and planning.  I suppose all of that made for a pretty fulfilling set of seven days. 

For work Silver 5 has been dropping trees left and right in hopes of getting our actual A class sawyer certifications.  Most of this testing for the certification has taken place in what is called an experimental forest where genetically altered trees are grown in hopes of eliminating or at least managing problems like disease, infestation, and natural flaws in certain species.  Silver 5 has been using the trees who are not deemed successes as our own test subjects for falling.  So far most of the team has their certifications but Mr. Josh is running a little behind.  I just can't seem to get the knack of my cuts.  Here's to hoping I'll have it all figured out in the coming weeks.

Kaitlin making an excellent back cut!

So many trees...

Jeff making an excellent face cut.

Yesterday was spent completing my 100 independent service project hours in beautiful Lake Tahoe.  While the work itself was nothing to write home about (raking the lawn of a community recreation center) I cannot complain about the setting.  Being at Lake Tahoe was like watching the marrying of the beach and the mountains.

Awesome :)

A lot of my free time has been spent daydreaming about the Americorps State/National position I will be embarking on after my NCCC days come to an end.  Recently I was sent photos of my housing which has only added to my excitement about the job. 

And I think that's about it for this update.

Until next time.

Home is Where My Camera Is.

All Lit Up.

When I go back and look at my previous blogs I cannot believe how much has been left out.  Silver 5 has been working at El Dorado National Forest for a month now and I don't think I've posted more than a few words about it.  Maybe it is because I am less involved and thrilled with this project than I was others or maybe it is just the fact that it is really difficult to go into town for Wi-Fi on a regular basis.  Either way I am sorry about my slow and non-comprehensive posts.  I will try to do better.

Though I'd love to keep good on such a promise about expanding on my Ameriwork the truth of the matter is that I have more to tell you about being in Charlotte than anything else.  When our team was at Sugar Pine I requested all of my time off for a trip home in late March.  For quite a while I had worried it wouldn't pan out but sure enough it did before we left the Yosemite area.  Since then I've been drooling for the time to fly back home for a while.  We here I am now in the Sacramento airport realizing that said time has already come and went.  Though I should be happy I had such a great trip home I can't help but feel a little bit homesick and sad.  I can honestly say that this past week was one of the best of my life.

It felt so nice to live like a normal person for a bit.  It always feels a bit awkward returning home at first after living with a team of your peers in the middle of nowhere.  Sometimes it is hard to readjust to home life, avoid inside amerijokes, and relate to the lives of people who are exploring opportunities very different than yours.  But once I get into the groove of being at the house with my parents, Rusty, and Dug, being away from my current life seems natural and fulfilling.  I though I knew how much I really missed them but I didn't.  That feeling didn't hit me today until I was going through the security checkpoint at the Charlotte airport.

I will try not to dwell too much on homesickness though.  I know that I still have exciting work to do in California before I can file this current path I am on.  July will be here soon enough and I will get another chance to really enjoy being at home for a while before moving onto something new.  This past week was a great refresher for me that will just have to keep me going until then.

I am unsure what to expect when I return to work tomorrow.  The weather had kept my team from previously doing some field work the weeks before I left so I am curious to see if the snow has cleared up a bit.  Snow or sunshine we can probably expect a slow (by certain standards) workpace until next month when fire season starts to ramp up.  It is my hope however that all of this precipitation the area has received in the last few months will make for fewer wildfires in our area.

The end of the month will mark the closing of round 3.  Though it really doesn't mean much for our team as we will be staying in the same location for round 4 I still find it to be an interesting mini-milestone of my time spent in Americorps thus far.  Until that time I have a spring break to enjoy sometime in the next two weeks.  Though it really is just a four day weekend some teammates and I plan on making a trip somewhere.  I'll let you know what I am up to once plans congeal. 

If this blog seemed a little home heavy then it is only because I am fairly fresh off of the plane and my mind is still in North Carolina.  Sitting in the sunlight in my front yard today with my family and friends,  I could have easily been convinced to stay.  Though I know I have a great adventure ahead of me to complete this trip reminded me of all the reasons why I am doing this and all of the reasons why I can't wait to come home again.

Until next time,

Back Burners.

You must think that I ran away and joined the circus.

I am afraid that my excuse for not blogging isn't nearly as enthralling as that.  But no, I am still a service gypsy for the US Government.  A rather busy and internet deprived one.

Since his last blog post Josh has chilled out with some fellow bohemian hostel patrons in San Francisco, ran a few hundred of feet of fire hose down a shoreline, laughed, cried, smiled, and celebrated his time in the El Dorado National Forest, and has done a poor job of documenting it...until now.

To start Ellen, Kaitlin, Tucker, Andrea, and myself hopped on a Grayhound in Sacramento for a trip to San Francisco before we moved on to round 3.  

See?  Here I am in front of the 'Full House' House.  It doesn't get more San Fran than this.

Apparently this is some famous bridge.

Postcard Row.

The Transamerica Building...I had to see it in person.

Pigging out at the Ghiradelli Factory.

After our trip to San Fran Silver 5 made the big move to the El Dorado National Forest.  As many of you know I was not excited about this project as it lasts the rests of my duration of NCCC...but you should know that things are getting better with a little help from my friends on the team.  I'll get by.  I'd love to tell you more about the project but I am pressed for time.  One day I'll get around to posting a real blog though.  If you want to know more about the work we do check out a real blogger's post! 

In other news...Josh is coming back to Charlotte in a week for a little vacation!  I know I'll have time to blog then!

Until next time....

Running to the Whimsy Fire.

After braving an onslaught of snow in Oakhurst, Silver 5 has finally made it back into sunny Sacramento.  Though I enjoyed my time in the Yosemite area so much, I have really missed being on base.  It is nice to be able to look out windows without being faced with walls of snow.

Being back on McClellan also means being able to run again which was something I never had the chance to do at Sugar Pine.  Due to the snow we had to do a lot of strength training indoors.  Even though I haven't run in over a month I managed to pull off a six mile go today at a really good pace.  I was pretty proud of myself to say the least.  All the physical training that we do in the Corps really makes me want to do even more to stay fit in my personal time.  It helps when you have so many friends who are willing to join you in such sometimes painful endeavors.

Things don't tend to slow down even when you're not on spike however.  Just yesterday the team worked at a local high school in a revitalization project.  We did everything from cleaning out their greenhouse areas to painting their bathrooms.  We had the opportunity to work alongside some really great students there and we were all able to look back and see visual results coming from our elbow grease.

The rest of my week will be spent going to meetings regarding our upcoming project while also completing paperwork that archives our time at Sugar Pine.  Sometime this week we have a celebration ceremony with the rest of Silver unit.  Last time we dazzled them with a whimsy show where our team dressed up in costumes and dabbled in a bit of performance art.  No doubt we will turn their heads with whimsy again this time.  I need to help come up with some ideas for it though, I am afterall the Whimsy Coordinator for the team. 

Speaking of whimsy, I threw a really great Tea Party for the team in Oakhurst before we left.  It was pretty amazing.  Check it out!

Us at Oakhurst's main attraction "The Talking Bear'.  I got to choose everyone's costumes!

Tea Time!

The food spread.  This was all thanks to the Cool Bean Coffee Shop in Oakhurst.

The owners even got in on it!

The two edibles.

My personal favorite.

Even the team mascot, Swaggermonkey, came along as we confused many streetside citizens.

The button says it all.

The team eating a nice dinner out.

Caitlin (the most amazing and whimsical person at Sugar Pine who helped me put this together) and I shared escargot!

They love the whimsy I force upon them.

Our time in Oakhurst wasn't all about tea parties though.  Kaitlin got these great shots of me working the fuel pump at the burn pile.

Snow was my main enemy.

Burnin' Up.

I have so many burn holes in my hoodie.

Whimsy, burning things.  It's a good life.  It is even better now that I have another job with Americorps lined up after NCCC.  I will be working as the Water Quality Assistant for the Town of Farragut, Tennessee.  It is a job I am really excited about and I will be sure to tell you more as the information trickles in!

Until next time....

All My Troubles on the Burning Pile.

How are things on the West Coast?  I guess you'll never find out if I don't keep this little blog of mine updated.  I could blame my lack of cyber-voice on my own laziness but I can honestly say that my biggest obstacle has been finding a reliable source of internet.  I could moan about it all I want but I think I'd rather just post a blog right now while I can.

In the long run it is so much easier to post blogs frequently as opposed to blogging just a couple of times a month.  This way it is easier to keep track of what I have already covered in previous posts and what new things I should share.  As I sit looking at this white text entry area I am having a hard time finding where to begin as so much has happened since my first post of February.

First and foremost I have been anxious to tell you about my most recent trip to the valley portion of Yosemite.  Though I knew it was going to be beautiful, no pictures I could have googled could've prepared me for the sights I saw with my own eye.  The sheer enormity of the place is overwhelming.  I will have to push my trip to Multnomah Falls to the number two spot in regards to being the most beautiful place I have ever been.  Never had I needed a working camera more.  Unfortunately though my camera is still on the fritz so the photos I do have were taken without the aid of a viewfinder.

This valley view was my favorite part of the trip.  The terrain seemed like it belonged on another world.



Kaitlin at the valley.

One of the many, many waterfalls.

Our mascot, the Swaggermonkey, by El Capitan (Thanks to Ellen for this one).

This photo is actually from our first trip to Yosemite, but I liked it so much I had to post it here.

Ellen and Andrea snapped these great photos of us watching the sunset over the valley.



The perfect ending for the day.

 Our trips to Yosemite alone were enough to make all of our time spent chopping wood and running chainsaws at Sugar Pine worth it.  Speaking of those two activities, I've done plenty of both in the past few weeks.  It has been quite the experience pulling down hazard trees with ropes while standing up to my knees in snow.  As of late we have been doing a lot of trail clearing which I enjoy a lot second only to running burn piles.  I wish I had some photos of us working in the deep snow but I just have these older ones I'm afraid.



Tibbs adding some fuel to the burn pile



Tuck and Tibbs looking good on one of our firewood piles.

I'll use an axe over a chainsaw any day.

Collecting the endless bounty of fire wood.




The whimsy master and the entrance to the wooden fortress of doom.



And everybody's still working on the weekend.

So yeah, we're getting work done.  But what's more important than work?  You guessed it.  Square Dancing.  Last week Silver 5 got to go to the Oakhurst's Gold Dust Dancers Valentines Ball!  We had a blast.

Getting a little practice in before the big dance!



The whole crew plus the most whimsical person in Oakhurst, Caitlin.





Yum, Yum!

 

Me and my date, Andrea.



Andrea seems a little more confident than I.

Ellen doing her thing.

Okay, I think that just about covers everything I needed to cover.  If not, oh well. 

Now on to new business.

Silver 5 finally knows where they are going for round 3.  We will be working at the El Dorado National Forest preparing for fire season.  You may remember me mentioning El Dorado before as that was where I did my FMT field day training.  When I first heard that this was where we would be spending our next round I was crestfallen.  When I heard it was also going to be where we were going to spend our final round as well, I fell even lower.  You see I didn't really care for the El Dorado staff or the organization itself when we went for field day.  I did not enjoy working with them at that time and I don't foresee enjoying working with them in the near future.  But what choice do I have?  Though I try to keep my blog focused on the upbeat things, I must admit that these past few weeks have been the hardest I've experience in Americorps.  Though I will do my best to choose a good attitude for the next round, I am expecting more turbulence ahead.

Not everything is panic inducing however.  I have taken another position with Americorps starting in August.  I am a little weary about posting details about the position but I can tell you that I am very excited about it.  I will let you know more when I can.

Again I apologize for the waning quality of my blog posts.  Things will get better when I go back to Sac next week.  It's so much easier to post while sitting on my bed than when I'm here sitting outside in the cold trying to get signal.

Wish me luck over the next few weeks.

Sawing, Dancing, and Hiking.

It is a night of cooperative technology and strong WiFi signal...so I shall blog!

Last time I sat down at my keyboard I was so frustrated at my laptop that I just stroked a few keys, uploaded the five pictures accessible on my photobucket, and logged off.  Now I can spend a little more time savoring my internet experience and enjoying what it is worth now that it is being my friend.

Life is good here at Sugar Pine.  The snow has stopped falling but is still making itself very present in our everyday lives.  Not a workday goes by where I don't complete some crazy fall that leaves me flat on my back.  Just today I was on the side of a slope trying to gain enough traction in the snow to lasso trees so that we could pull them down into the road for bucking with a chainsaw.  That kind of work is typical for this place.  Though being on a chainsaw is not my favorite job in the world, I cherish all of the time we get to spend outdoors. 




The view from the lodge.


Sugar Pine isn't all about work though.  As I mentioned in my previous blogs, Silver 5 has taken up line dancing at the community center of Oakhurst.  Though we only have a little experience under our belts we will be attending the dance group's Sweetheart Ball in one week.  Tomorrow is our last day of practice so wish us luck.  Also tomorrow is the day that I muster up the courage to have the most famous of the line dance group members, Grace Lee Whitney, autograph my book I just received in the mail today.  So far The Longest Trek has made for a compelling read.  Here's a little of what our Oakhurst dance nights look like:

Yeah, we're pros.

Kaitlin is making a big whimsy face!

In more old but worth posting again news, we took a trip to Yosemite!  Though we only saw the Mariposa Grove portion of the park, we got to experience some amazing things there.  To name one I got to experience what it feels like to be knee deep in snow for the first time in my life. 

The beginning of a long hike.

The camera doesn't do their size justice.

The view from the bottom.

Walking between fallen trees.

The Grizzly Tree.

I chewed through this with my teeth.

Tibbs in snow attire.

Did I mention they were big trees?

Jeff in Telescope Tree.

Finally at the top.

Tucker enjoying the scenery.

The bird's eye view.

The eye's view of the bird.

The Valley.

Looking over.

I love this picture.

Ah, it feels good to have y'all updated on the goings-ons around here.  Unfortunately however my next few blogs will only be text as the cold has taken a toll on the viewfinder of my camera.

Until next time....

P.S.  If you're more into moving pictures check out my videos from line dancing and Yosemite!