10/18/02: Golly gee me, it's been nearly a month. As most of you probably know, I did get sent out for disaster relief, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I was there working for two weeks, and enjoyed it a lot. The weather was at times wonderful and at times smothering in its dogged humidity. We got evacuated when Hurricane Lili was due to hit Louisiana. I did good work, helped people, and met some great NCCC folks too.

When I left the South (woo!), I returned to Connecticut, where I joined my team in Bridgeport. We are working with Habitat for Humanity. I've been here a week now, it's fun so far, I'm having a good time. Unfortunately, we don't get to do things like start a house from the ground up, but we are putting finishing touches on several work sites, doing things like priming and painting, installing insulation, even putting in cabinets. The sponsors are great, they are really fun to work with.

In two weeks, we return to Perry Point for the final three weeks of Class VIII NCCC. We have just under five weeks until we leave here altogether. All too soon, Fire 4 will be but a fond memory. No more living with eleven people in one place, no more projects, no more government stipend (and that's the saddest part of all...). It is difficult to think about. I am sad to think of the team breaking up and returning from whence we came. However, it is exciting (though anxious and stressful) to consider Life After AmeriCorps. I'm trying to put some plans together, sending things out into the universe, for my future. We'll see how things develop.

Must run, check out the team site for lots of new and recent photos.

09/21/02: For pictures of the river work, click here.

This past week, in a mere three days, Fire 4 constructed a meditation labyrinth! (Pictures will be up soon, on the team site.) It was a lot of work with gravel and brick. We are all sore from the shoveling and raking. It was also a challenge to figure out how to lay the bricks to make the labyrinth even. Good times. We will be having a little ceremony to "open" it in a couple days.

It's finally Saturday!! I am so happy because we have a two-day weekend at long last. Five of us got up early this morning for ISP, but then got right back in bed once home. Ah. Spent some time in the Wallingford Public Library and so far nearly four hours on the computers. Sigh, aren't I a dork?

Yesterday three of my teammates and I were put on call for disaster relief for Hurricane Isadore, which is roaming the Gulf of Mexico right now. As of this morning, it seemed to be heading for the Yucatan peninsula, so the US Gulf states may not be in danger. But geez, I'm no meteorologist, maybe they are. I wouldn't mind going to coastal Florida to work for a few weeks!
I'm tired right now, so I'm going to stop. I'll add more later this week.

09/17/02: So. It's Tuesday now, except that I keep thinking it's Monday. But I'm glad it's not.

This weekend was...short. Saturday was the Wallingford Family Day celebration at Community Lake park, and our sponsors wanted us to be there to help out. Conveniently, there was a great article printed about us that morning. People at the park thus knew about us and thanked us and expressed gratitude and appreciation for our work. That felt very nice. I did a couple different things during the afternoon. For about half an hour, I got dressed in the giant koala costume and wandered around. I had fun waving at everyone and getting hugs from the kids, and dancing too. It was really difficult to see out of the head, and it was hot in there. So I got out. But I was surprised at how fun it was. Anyway. Mandi and I made sno-cones for awhile, and then helped out at the lake. Some of my teammates somehow found the energy to get in canoes and lead people around the little lake. It was quite popular, and the people seemed excited to be able to go for a canoe ride.

So we only had Sunday off. I had a nice day, I think. Went for an exploratory drive with Geo and Mandi, that was fun. I was not excited about having to go to work the next day. I was excited to sleep in for at least one day, though.

Monday it rained, so we could not work on the labyrinth. The Quinnipiac River Watershed Association is the organization that sponsors our team. They govern the Quinnipiac River Linear Trail, which is in Community Lake park. On the trail, there's a big spot with a couple benches, and one of our missions of this project is to construct a labyrinth, or serenity maze. (Except it's not a maze, it's just concentric circles.) It's for meditation, and according to the books that we saw, walking them is a metaphysical, life-transforming experience. So while we're all a little skeptical, we're excited about getting to build it and do it.

This morning we did get started. There was a big sand pit where the labyrinth will be. In the sand, we practiced drawing the circles and laying bricks. When we thought we had finished, we walked it to see if it worked. It did, and it was neat. Much different than I'd expected. We weren't meditating on anything, so it wasn't life-changing as yet, but definitely interesting. Then we laid gravel on the sand and used a tamping machine to press it down. That took the bulk of the day, shoveling gravel around, trying to get it level. But we made a lot of progress, and it looks good. I can't wait to see the finished product!

09/12/02: It is Thursday, and we have been in Wallingford, CT since Sunday evening. We are having a great time so far, loving the project and the location. By the by, I've been to Wal-Mart three times already. Crazy! Tonight I bought a new camera (my old one, and I do mean old, fell in the river two days ago; the viewfinder was fuzzy with sawdust or something, and the thing was at least seven years old) and I'm really excited. :)

We have been canoeing on the Quinnipiac River. There's a five-mile section of the river that has been clogged with logjams and excessive debris for many years, and no endeavor to improve it has succeeded. In steps Fire 4! It is slow-going and often frustrating. There are so many fallen trees! Some of them have been near or actually impossible to remove or clear sufficiently, but for the most part, we have cleared up a lot of jams. It feels great to leave a site that only a few minutes (anywhere from 10 to over 60) earlier, was impassable by canoe, and now is.

The canoeing has been an adventure in itself. I had been in a canoe once before, when I was approximately seven years old. Incidentally, on that family canoe trip down some river in Michigan, we saw a blue frog. It was neat and no one has ever believed any of us. Anyway, so I was obviously a novice at this canoeing stuff. The Quinnipiac is extremely bend-ridden (to my beginner eyes), so it was quick learning. When I'm in the canoe, my partner and I still end up running into banks and sandbars and debris, but for the most part, the whole team has visibly improved in navigating the canoes in the river. Each night we are more sore, but I can see my muscles getting bigger. Interestingly, my right bicep is both larger and firmer than my left. Each night we are exhausted and can't wait to get to bed, and yet somehow never get to bed early enough.

There is an Irish pub three doors down, and we've gone there a few times to relax and have a nice chat with teammates. The Wal-Mart is another popular destination here in Wallingford, and there is a big public library that I hope to get to at some point. It's a really nice town. We are housed in a homeless shelter (it doesn't open until October, at which time we'll already be in Bridgeport working with Habitat), and it is really nice actually; though communal, it is definitely the nicest accomodation we've had yet. The prestigious Choate School provides us with tasty dinners, and our awesome sponsors make sure everything else is taken care of.

This afternoon, we got to go climbing at a local gym, courtesy of our sponsors and the Parks & Rec people. It was great fun and a fantastic workout. I was altogether worn out at the end of the two hour session. I really enjoyed it though, and I hope that someday I'll get to do more and get better.

In general, things are going really well in all aspects. I certainly hope that continues. Stay tuned for more adventures.

09/08/02: Wow, how time does fly. This morning Fire 4 will be leaving for the fourth round project in lovely Connecticut. The first part of the round is clearing a land and river trail, and the second is working with Habitat for Humanity in Bridgeport. We are excited!!

Sadly, I returned to camp after a mere ten days on disaster relief. The Red Cross sort of ran out of things for my group to do. But I had a fabulous time meeting NCCC people from my campus, and hanging out in San Antonio with them. I really hope to get called out next round.

The third round went okay, it wasn't our best, but it was enjoyable for the most part. We had some team difficulties, but we're working on that. During the last session of camp, I moved into a cabin with counselors in the Woodlands unit. It was great to just sit around and talk about everyone's cultures, from peeing in the woods to African jungle life to Russian swear words to "Donald, where's your trousers?" I really enjoyed it. For the last two weeks of the round, the team moved to another Girl Scout camp, this one on Cape Cod. Our mission there was maintenance work, which ended up being painting/staining work. The sponsors were awesome and so nice. We stayed in platform tents, which were quite nice when there were no skunks in them. It was exciting to see a new place and to explore the Cape. We went on some of the many bike paths, it was very pleasant. We also frolicked on the beach, at the Atlantic Ocean! That was great, I loved that.

Eleven hours in the van later, we arrived back in Perry Point a week ago. Greeted by spider webs and crickets inside the house, but lovely weather that feels much better than the sauna it was two months ago. This week we took a field trip to DC and visited the Corporation for National and Community Service. Very inspirational.

We are all surprised that it's already fourth round and that there are less than three months until we leave. Graduation is Thursday, November 21st.

07/22/02: So the new project is in New Hampshire, at Camp Wabasso, a Girl Scout camp. It is very different than being at Trail Blazers; we live in the lodge with electricity and walls and all that good modern technological stuff! Being camp staff is certainly different than maintenance staff, too. It's pretty fun working with the kids, but it can be a challenge to keep them interested and to stay patient with the bratty ones. But for the most part, the girls are great, I made some camper friends pretty quickly. They were the 9 and 10 year olds, and they are really sweet.

Our job at camp is to be program staff. So we decide on programs for each day, one arts and crafts, one game/physical activity. That part seems to go over well with both the campers and the counselors. We've done things like make paper and the wacky olympics. It's so strange to "work" all day without doing anything like building or whatever. I for one got used to having goals like "build this shelter" or "rake this smallcamp" to be accomplished by the end of the day, but now we just get up and hang out with kids all day. Oh boy, and the dining hall. That is an experience! The volume level can get deafening, especially at dinner, when the kids are all keyed up. There are many songs and little games they all play and sing all throughout the meal. My least favorite one was one of the camper favorites, called Bob the Can, sung to the tune of Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys. Bob the Can, he's not a man, Bob the Can...he's got me scraping and a-stacking, stacking and a-scraping, Bob the Can. Hoo boy is that song annoying after the fifth time in an hour!

In other news...I am in Texas right now! Half the team got called the day we left for New Hampshire, so only six of us made the drive and started the project. I got put on the call list the first day we were there but didn't actually get called for another week. Just enough time to get settled and used to things and stuff. So I took four four flights to get here--Boston to Cincinnati to New Orleans to Dallas to San Antonio. What a long day. We've been here in San Antonio for four days now, and we still don't really know what's going on. They've had massive flooding all over South Central Texas, and that's what we're here to help with. The San Antonio stuff seems to be pretty much under control, but the water in Corpus Christi hasn't gone down yet, so we're hoping to go down there. The team I'm working with is doing damage assessment. Most of them are from the other unit and so I didn't know any of them before. But they're all really great and we're having a fun time here. We've gone out on the town a little bit, seen some Riverwalk life. It is really hot here and oh how we love our air conditioners.

Our assignment is for three weeks, so I'll be here for awhile, and hopefully soon we'll get busy with work. But until then, lots of tv and naps are in my future! Oh, and driving all over the place.

Today our group went out to Uvalde County to assess damage. The girl I was driving with, our car got stuck in some mud on this little back road. Like, really stuck. Up to the fender on one side stuck. Some wonderful folks came by with a big red pickup and saved us. In the process I got sprayed with mud from head to toe, literally. Today was definitely an adventure. Good times here in Texas!

07/05/02: Well. It feels like I've been away from AmeriCorps for a really long time. I miss my team! It is truly strange to not have any of them around me. I'm looking forward to seeing them again in a few days.

In the meantime, I am continuing to sort through my crap. I'm going to have to attempt to empty out my room in the next three days, so that Mom won't have to deal with any of my stuff when she moves her stuff to Spokane. It's a big ordeal, and my energy level has sapped. As much as I've gotten rid of, there's still a whole bunch of stuff I need to keep. Things like photo albums, interesting papers, some clothes and a lot of books. Not to mention the computer and CDs. Sigh. What a process.

It is so beautiful here! I love the trees and the mountains and the gorgeous vistas everywhere. I really missed the scenery when I was on the East Coast; it's pretty enough there, but it just can't compare to the Pacific Northwest. I am not looking forward to leaving the mountains behind for another five months.

My Fourth of July was nice and boring, just the way I wanted. I didn't do anything. I did take myself out to dinner, but other than that, I sat around and cleaned, rewrote an old, kick-ass paper, and watched a movie. I love quiet time, and I figure I should soak it up now, because I won't have any quiet time or alone time for another two months or so. Whew!

It's Friday today, and on Monday I fly back to Maryland. It will be a long, long day; not only do I travel all day, but I'll have to get back, walk back to my house, unpack, then repack for spike, and visit with all my teammates. Oh, and maybe dinner in there somewhere too. But it will all be worth it! I'm so glad that I have my friends to go back to, and that we have this new exciting adventure to embark upon.

07/01/02: Miracle of miracles, I made it. Survived the last week at camp and successfully completed transition week back at campus.

The last week was fairly good, and it sped by, to my relief. The staff had a honorary dinner for the team and presented us with TrailBlazers t-shirts. I say, free t-shirts are the best and never-mentioned benefit of this program! Anyway, later that night we held a special powwow--just the team and two of the sponsors. It was fun and memorable.

Friday morning that we left, we all got up at 4.30 to drive up to Sunrise Mountain to watch...the sunrise. We were exhausted but anticipating the view. Sadly, the sun rose behind a bank of trees and so we pretty much missed it. But it was pretty up there, all misty in the early-morning fog. Arriving back in Perry Point, I was thrilled. I went into my house (my house! a real house! not a cabin or a hogan!) and was practically blinded by the whiteness of the walls and the general neatness and non-forest-being-ness. It was so strange to see real walls again, and have electricity everywhere again. It felt wonderful, as did my bed. Ah.

Transition week was quite boring and uneventful. And really freaking hot and humid. Everyone was worn out and tired all the time. We speculated that being on spike and coming back was a bigger adjustment than we'd thought. Had debriefs and briefings and painted some porches, and then it was time for summer break!!

This past Friday I took the train into Washington, DC and met up with my friend Lesley, who lives in the lively Adams Morgan district. We ate at a cute little Cajun place and caught up on everything. Then back at her place, we drew on the walls, since painters were coming early the next morning. That was a lot of fun. On Saturday we met up with a friend of hers for lunch, then I set out for Dulles Airport. Made it just fine and the plane left sort of on time.

And then I was back! I picked up my car, and that was so awesome. After driving the 15-passenger government van, my little Saturn feels like a race car. Which I love. I love my car!!! Anyway, got to see family folks and talk to some friends. Am trying to arrange schedules to see people but it's slow going. Running errands and picking things up for my return to NCCC. Sorting through my tons of junk and crap and clothes and taking out all that I don't need anymore. One of these days, I'm turning ascetic, I swear. Being in AmeriCorps and living in the woosd really made it clear that loads of material possessions are just unnecessary and take up too much room, physically and emotionally. I'm cleansing my spirit as well as my closet!

June 25, 2002: Last week we finished up work at Trail Blazers. We got the basement of the lodge painted, removed boulders and reseeded the lawn in front of the dining hall, finished the dishes in the boys' side kitchen, raked some leaves, removed old shingles from under the dining hall, removed a small wood pile (well, loaded it to be unloaded at the big wood pile).

Early in the week we did a team initiative. The task was to get everyone from one platform to the other, using the rope that hung between them. Once we reached the other side, Ashley gave us each a secret clue word about our next project. When we were all across and after the reflection, each of us acted out our cluewords and then put them all together to figure out the project. We will be couselors at a Girl Scouts Camp in New Hampshire!

Our last night was Thursday. We cleaned out Farmers and Chimney Corner and had to spend the night in the dining hall. The dinner was a special one in our honor, where the staff thanked us and we thanked them and there was lots of love. Later on we had a powwow in Farmers, where we sang a couple songs and played a couple games and reflected about our time at TrailBlazers. Good times.

Friday morning we all got up before dawn and drove up to the top of Sunrise Mountain to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, the sun rose behind the trees and so the view was not nearly what we had hoped. But still, it was nice. Finally it came time to leave camp. We said our goodbyes to the staff and pulled off. We arrived in Perry Point to a lovely day and soon after left for grocery shopping. I was very excited to be back in the civilized world, with real walls and electricity and all that.

06/16/02: Happy Father's Day!

This is the last week here at Trail Blazers. The staff has arrived, in droves, and so we no longer have any place to go for peace and quiet and alone time. It has been a difficult adjustment. For me, it has served to get me all the more ready and excited to get back to Perry Point. I am really looking forward to seeing the campus and my house and all my stuff (well, not all of it, but a lot more of it for sure), and all the other NCCC folks that I haven't seen for two months. This project really has gone quickly.

We have been living out in smallcamp for a week and a half. It is interesting, very rustic. All the rain we've been having has left several of my teammates' beds sopping wet, so it is also uncomfortable at times. We have to sleep under mosquito nets out there too. But for the most part we are in the dining hall or lodge, we don't spend much time in smallcamp except to sleep. And I've been surprised at how well I've been sleeping, which is a blessing.

In the past couple weeks, we have been very busy. We finished the lean-to that needed rebuilding. And it does look superb, I am very proud of our team. We also constructed a wash-basin rack, rebuilt tipis, painted the body and wheels of seven covered wagons, prepped smallcamps for staff training, cleaned the same buildings a few more times, raked more leaves, finished putting up all the canvas in all the smallcamps, got interviewed for a local paper (the article is pretty dumb, but hey, we were in the paper!), and more. It's been a fruitful project. I am very eager to find out what Round 3 holds in store for us.

I am also extremely eager for my visit home. In less than two weeks, I shall arrive at Sea-Tac International Airport, my home turf. It is going to be great to be in familiar land again. I look forward to the mountains and evergreen trees, and to exploring some of our beautiful natural wonders. Plus seeing my family and friends will be wonderful. I won't be driving back like I'd originally planned, so I'll have over a week to visit everyone and do everything that I want to do. Can't wait!

Only five days until Perry Point!!! And a mere four working days left!!!

June 15, 2002: We successfully moved into Farmers and our hogans...just in time for a whole bunch of rain. Mostly it's been cold, rainy and damp at night, but we have somehow survived.
It's been a busy few weeks, the entire staff has arrived and our two fire guys are finally back with the team. We have been doing a lot of small-camp set up; tipis built, canvas up, mosquito net poles lashed, beds set, more raking. Seven covered wagons got painted and set up in various smallcamps for the campers to sleep under.

Eight members of Fire 4 participated in a ropes course element. Everyone was nervous and scared up there, but I am proud to report that we all did our best to overcome our fears. It was a lot of fun and we hope to do another element this week.

Only one more week at TrailBlazers! It is very strange to think of the project coming to an end. I think we've really gotten used to everything here, which is a testament to our adaptability. Everyone is looking forward to finding our next project and the quickly-approaching summer break.

June 4, 2002: I can't believe it's June already, and that there are less than three weeks to the project left. Strange! Anyway, things are going pretty well.

Last week Fire 4 went to New York City! We were excited. The first day we spent around town. One group spoke to classes at a high school in Queens, and another group tabled at a high school in the Bronx. Both were successful. Later, everyone met up at the TrailBlazers headquarters in Manhattan, where the year-round staff (Craig, Mary Anne, Sherry, Cecilia and Dennis) spoke with us about their jobs and answered our questions about the way TrailBlazers works. They were very friendly and informative, and we really enjoyed talking to them.

We also had some time to play in the city, and of course we loved that. Some team members will be moving there as soon as they can afford it. We also want to return to explore more. Central Park and the Statue of Liberty are on the list of things to see. A lot of time was spent walking around Times Square, where some of us met interesting strangers and made a memorable t-shirt.

So far this week has been very productive. We are thrilled to report the completion of our first lean-to! I must say, it turned out perfectly. Fire 4 is very proud. We have been continuing to get all the small camps set up and ready for staff training. Wagons have been painted and so has the girls' side dock. Lots of things are getting done, and we are having a good time.

Tomorrow we move out of Chimney Corner and into Farmers (one of the small camps). I'll report back soon!

06/02/02: My goodness I cannot believe that June is here. And that our NCCC term has been four months already. Time is so weird!

So yeah, it's been four weeks out here in the forest at camp, only three weeks left until our return to Perry Point and the week after that we have summer break. Everyone is excited to go home! Anyway, the project is going well. The past week and a half, the weather has finally warmed up, we no longer have to huddle under a pile of blankets and several layers of clothing at night. It's been lovely and warm and sunny. I am loving it. The trees and all the green is so wonderful.

This past weekend, Fire 4 went to New York City!! It was awesome. We spent a day doing work stuff--two groups spoke at high schools about AmeriCorps, and we also visited the TrailBlazers headquarters to speak with the full-time staff. They were so friendly and it was great to hear about their jobs and how it relates to camp. It was also nice because they are so thankful for all of the work we've been doing. That helps when the stuff here gets tedious and boring. What we do here really is important.

We had another day and a half to play, woohoo! We had such fun. Hung out a lot in Times Square, eating at McDonald's, walking around, seeing sailors and talking to strangers. Fun times. We didn't get much sleep, but who cares, it was worth it.

May 21, 2002: This week, it will have been four months that we have been in NCCC. Doesn't that sound like a long time? AmeriCorps time is very different than Real Time.

Last week we sent off Seth and Joe to disaster relief in Virginia. We miss you, guys! Could have used the claw the other day on raking duty.

Last week was spent getting ready for Operation Muscle, which was this weekend. Food was prepared. Got small camp canvas and bedding started, got some raking done, got some latrines cleaned and stocked. We finished scraping the girls' side dock. And oh my, that was a terribly exciting job. Some folks also spent some time working on the library, getting all those piles of books organized and shelved. It's going to be a long process, that. Operation Muscle itself went swimmingly, even though it rained on Saturday. There was a lot of cleaning done. We also got bed frames out to most of the small camps. Fire 4 was excited to be joined by most of Fire 2, who visited for ISP hours. It was a great time, to see our compatriots and work with new folks. Yay. Realized again how isolated we are. But really, it's okay. On Sunday, it was sunny but still quite chilly, and we got to do some raking. More small camp set up, more cleaning of buildings. Lots of basic work, but with forty people a lot got done. We felt very good about that. Plus we got to meet more TrailBlazers people, both staff and alumni and boardmembers. What an amazing program this is, I was floored by the depth of people's loyalty to and faith in TrailBlazers Camp. I am so honored to be affiliated with it, even peripherally.

So Monday and Tuesday have been our days off. There were a few town trips and even our first ISP event of this project round. The work was filling potholes to the road leading to the Poconos Craft Center, a few miles away. This week is a short week, and then there's a holiday weekend. Woo!

May 11, 2002: On Friday, the weather was perfect, sunny and warm, cool under the shade of the forest. More progress was made on the docks, pressure spraying and scraping to get rid of the paint. That was the intention, anyway, the scraping didn't seem to work so well. Another group continued clean up the small camps, throwing around bucked trees and branches and the like.

And then it was Friday night! We went out to Milford and painted the town Fire 4 Red.

May 9, 2002: Yesterday, Wednesday, our short work week commenced. We began the task of cleaning up the small camps. Jean taught us all to do square lashings and we re-lashed the camp's kitchen tables. It was great fun. We also raked some leaves. And then we raked some more leaves. After that, we pushed around fallen tree bits with garden implements. We finished up the day with some leaf-raking.

Today it rained, so we split into a few groups and did some random work around the camp. We pressure-sprayed the docks on both sides of the lake, built a fence for the new donkey pen, and cleaned up debris and dead wood from some of the small camps. What a shame, to have an entire day void of raking.

05/08/02: For a more complete description of what I and the rest of my team have been doing, look at our team website journal.

In short, we have been here in New Jersey for a week now. The camp is great, but definitely rustic. It's a short hike just to get to the shower house. We are literally in the middle of the woods, so it's very pretty. It's also very tick-infested. One day four of us found ticks feeding on us in the shower. Gross! There is a bat and a family of flying squirrels living in our cabin (it's called Chimney Corner, who wants to guess why?), not to mention all the little bugs we don't see. So it makes for interesting evenings. It gets really cold here at night, we all have sleeping bags and piles of wool army blankets. Recently we had some nicer weather, it was quite warm.

We are indeed out in the middle of nowhere. My cell phone doesn't get service anywhere except the Wal-Mart and the Shop Rite, so far. Milford, the nearest town, is small but very cute. We've explored it a teeny bit. I got my hair cut there this weekend. There is a movie "theatre" that shows one movie at a time. Even a pizza place.

I like it here, it's definitely an adjustment: Hard work (raking leaves til my brain explodes) and not showering every day, no hot water or heat in the cabin (brr!), a communal food supply that dwindles amazingly fast, daily tick checks. Adventures aplenty, I love it!

May 7, 2002: On Wednesday, May 1, Fire 4 left Perry Point (eventually) and began the arduous journey to the outback of New Jersey, to Camp Trail Blazers, located in Montague and just across the Delaware River from Milford, PA. Upon arrival, we met one sponsor, Jean, a witty Brit. She showed us around part of the camp, including our cabin and the shower house on the 55-acre Lake Mashipacong (I think that's what it's called, anyway). We are living in Chimney Corner, which is the infirmary when camp is in session. There are critters running around it--bats, flying squirrels, spiders--but that just makes it a more authentic experience, don't you think? That evening we met Steve, another sponsor, and his family, who cooked us all a great dinner. Just after dinner we had our first bear sighting! This part of the forest is heavily populated with black bears, so we knew to expect them, but I don't think we figured we would see one right away, and at such close distance. We cannot keep foodstuffs in the cabin or anywhere except the kitchen, because the bears will smell it and break in. And that would not be good news.

Friday morning we had breakfast and met the young people in the Leadership Training Program. These folks are regular campers who came from the city for the weekend to plant the gardens. As the weather was too wet on Friday, our group and their group split up into teams to clean out some buildings and tidy some of the trails. Saturday was a gorgeous day, and we got both the boys' side and girls' side gardens planted. On the boys' side, our group had to till the soil by hand (well, by hoe, really) and put in rows for planting. Both gardens got tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, herbs, squash, cucumbers, corn, and some flowers too. We were very proud of our work at the end of the day.

Sunday morning all of us successfully did the Challenge Wall. We hope to do it again, as a team. After lunch, the LTPers returned to New York, and we started a big list of clean up. More building cleaning and lots more raking. It wasn't the most exciting or fulfilling work, but it looked awesome when we were done. That sense of accomplishment is great. I'm all about tangible results.

Monday and Tuesday were our days off. Just after noon on Monday, seven Fire 4 members set off down the highway for three miles. We finally met up with the Appalachian Trail and hiked about two miles to the lookout on the top of Sunrise Mountain. It was a long, not-exactly-easy-but-not-difficult hike, and the vista at the top made it worth the exertion. It was as amazing as we'd heard from the campers. We are hoping to rise early one day to actually see the sun rise from Sunrise Mountain. When we got back to camp, after hiking about 12 miles altogether, the seven of us devoured four boxes of mac and cheese, and crashed a few hours later. Today most of us are pretty sore but feeling good.

04/29/02: So by now, the entire project round is over, we got through transition week and just returned from our spring break weekend. A lot has happened!

First, we had the last week at school. That was really sad. It didn't seem real that we were never going to see our kids again. On Thursday and Friday, most of us gave little gifts to our classes, and the classes gave us things like letters and cakes. Because of the extreme heat and lack of air conditioning, school was dismissed early on Friday, our last day. So that threw an already delicate and emotional day into complete chaos. We survived and did our best to say farewell to our little friends. It's only been a week and a half since we were there, but it feels like so much longer now. My memories from Harford Heights are already getting fuzzy. But I have some great pictures of my kids, do take a look. I miss them a lot.

Next up was the infamous Transition Week. There was all kinds of stuff to do--the project portfolio (for the just-completed project), the project prep packet (for the new one), the official debrief of the old project, the official debrief of the new one, plus random trainings. Fortunately, our team, being local and having access to the computers, got a head start on the portfolio and so did not have to fight the hordes of other corps members here in the lab. As for me, I missed a lot of the stuff, because I taught one of the random training sessions. I did a Stress Management presentation for the entire Fire Unit (that's nine teams and over ninety people), over a three-day period of time. It was a lot of fun, and it was most definitely a learning experience. All the teams seemed to enjoy the class, and thanked me profusely. Because I did the class so many times, I kept tweaking with it, and that seemed to pay off. I added a guided relaxation at the end, which was a great thing. I wish I had the script and music that I used for my U-HELP presentations, but I did fairly well for off the cuff.

Then it was time for spring break! Woo! I headed to New York City, I was excited; I'd never been there before and had wanted to go for a long time. I was lucky enough to be able to stay with a friend, so I had a personal tour guide. Mostly we just walked around and saw stuff. Went to the Museum of Modern Art, rather quickly. Looked at the van Gogh and other famous names, and a great exhibit of New York City photographs. Got to see the campuses of NYU and Columbia. Met up with some other NCCC folks on Saturday night in Little Italy, that was really fun. I meant to get some gelato, but didn't have time. Supreme bummer. However, I did discover the joy of Italian ice, and had those for a meal-substitute a couple times. In all, I had a really good weekend. It was mellow, not terribly eventful, but pleasant and enjoyable. I love traveling to new places and figuring my way around. I can't wait to travel again.

Tomorrow is the day we have to get all our s*** together, literally. We have to be packed, have a meeting, clean the van and get it ready for the trip. Then first thing Wednesday morning, we head out to New Jersey. I'm getting excited. I'm really looking forward to being in a new place, as well as doing the work. We'll be doing lots of different things to get the camp ready, mostly repairs of facilities and building lean-tos. It will be nice to do physical labor, and to not have to the same monotonous thing day after day. And of course, I can't wait to explore the surroundings and just drink in the natural sights.

Because the camp is so "rustic," I won't be in touch very often with you folks in the Real World. I'll do my best with updates, but I'll probably concentrate on the team website. So check that out, too. I'm going to start writing more letters to all of you, so write to me too, and we'll all be pen pals.