Unburned Fuel between Me and the Fire.

It has been a very busy Ameriweek folks!

First off I am two-thirds of the way to being a certified sawyer.  Before you know it I will be juggling chainsaws with one eye closed while playing the harmonica.  Well, at least that's my PT goal for the end of the year.  Juggling aside it is a pretty exciting deal.  I am going to be spending a lot of time behind these crazy machines in the next seven or so months.  We've seen how much work our team can get done with shovels and rakes...imagine what we could do with chainsaws!  Or gas powered rakes for that matter.  Now that'd really be something. 

The two days of training I have completed so far have all been classroom based.  We've learned mostly about safety techniques and equipment but we have also spent a great deal of time on various cutting maneuvers as well as the mechanical functioning of the chainsaw itself.  I'm pretty proud to say that I can clean out an air filter and remove the entire chain bar like its nobody's business. Come Monday I will be out in the field chopping down some trees (don't worry, they're small ones) to prove my worth to the sawyer community.  Wish me luck and limbs.

Today was the busiest Ameriday I've had yet I think.  Not only did we have a project today but we had to cook dinner for ours and another team, get fitted for and receive our fire gear, and serve on security duty for the night.  Aside from the few moments I'm taking to blog it up I haven't had any real down time today.  It has been a good day nonetheless. 

Our project today consisted of working with another Fire Team at Danny Nunn Community Garden on the southern side of Sacramento.  Not unlike our time spent working at Northridge Elementary, it was a day of many dirty coveralls and tired young people.  Despite the fatigue by the end of the day we got a lot done for the community.  By the time all was said and done the entirety of the plot was weeded, the tool shed had a fresh coat of paint, and several bags of freshly harvested veggies went to the kitchens of our neighbors.  All in all it was a really productive day.  We even got to go play in the park afterwards!

I think I need this weekend more than I've needed any weekend so far.  After having two very lazy weeks at home, jumping straight into the life of manual labor and physical training has me running low on fuel.  I need to make sure to get plenty of mental rest as I don't want to miss out on anything too important in our upcoming wildland firefighting trainings....you know, things like how not to let yourself catch fire.

Time to hit the sack in Sac.  Until next time....