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,