Chainsausage and Eggs.

The whirrr of chainsaws and the smell of new fire boots are becoming quickly familiar to me.  I have had more time with both in the last four days than in all of my life combined...which isn't really saying much.

I am very proud to say that I can now one day put into my memoirs that I have fallen a tree.  Yes I, Joshua, took the life of a small douglas pine outside of Lake Tahoe the other day.  Though its death was not in vain as the knowledge I took from it can help save acres of trees when I am cutting protective fire line!  Frankly I am surprised at how well I stepped up to home plate to be the first in my small group to saw down a tree.  It may be cheesy to say but I can already see hints of more confidence shining through most days.  I find myself volunteering and taking on things that I would have shuddered at before.  I am pretty proud of having this training behind me.  I am even more proud of the fact that I am sporting all ten fingers as of the time of this blog post.  I cannot wait to show you pictures of me with my fallen tree.  Hopefully the person in my group who took them will be e-mailing them to me soon.

Do you like my fire helmet?



Andrea sports a chainsaw like no other.



We have also been getting some practice wearing our fire uniforms and gear.  The other day our team went on a hike with another FMT group in Auburn (which is located outside of the aptly named Cool, California where you can get a new doo at Cher's Hair Salon).  Though breaking in those new fire boots isn't easy, we had a great hike and got to see some beautiful sights.

Silver 5 by the riverbed.

Tucker and Andrea chilling by the cove.

The fire duds.

By the river.

Crossing creeks to reach the peaks!

The awesome cove.

I came close to falling in just so you know.

Silver 5 is doing more than just running chainsaws and wearing boots - we're getting some projects done too.  Yesterday we cleared out some space for a new exhibit at the local Space Museum.  I would have been such a happy boy had I got to actually go inside the museum and nerd out for a little while but I ended up just having to be content with raking their leaves outside.  At least I got one cool space-ish picture.

Earth below us, drifting, falling...

So as you can see I have been very busy at work doing my typical awesome Ameriwork.  To add to the awesomeness I am now the official Whimsy Coordinator of Silver 5.  I am not sure if I have mentioned it in my precious blogs but when our group was in Portland I was known to force whimsy into every aspect of our work and living experiences.  This has meant arranging tea parties, playing dress up for debriefings, and today it meant dressing up for PT.  Oh how I love my job.

Ellen looks like she's being teleported into another dimension.



Well folks it is far past time for me to be in bed.  I have to get my rest in as we have a project tomorrow beautifying one of SaSacramento's historical graveyards.  Call me crazy but I'm really excited about this little project.  It should make for some good pictures.

On a side note one of my fellow Silver 5 teammates has become an active blogger as of late.  Check it out!