Tree Planting Day 15, June 18th,
(Shift 5, Day Off):
We
woke up late. J Played on
the computer for a bit and then went out to do laundry. When we left the hotel
it was pouring down rain (imagine that! Rain in Grande Prairie, never woulda
seen that comin…lol) so we took off running towards the car. First we stopped
at DQ to grab some lunch and ice cream then we headed to the Laundromat.
There
was a really nice man there. He spoke English but with a very thick accent that
I couldn’t quite place. It was kinda cool because you didn’t need to get any
coins or anything; he let you load the machine and then paid for however long
you wanted. He even supplied laundry detergent and you paid for it all at the
end.
As
we put our clothes in the washer I realized that my phone was missing. So, I
headed back to the car to see if maybe it had fallen out into my seat. Nope. Oh
well, it’s probably at DQ. Nope. As a last ditch attempt to find it, we head
back to the hotel…and there it is. The stinkin thing had fallen out of my
pocket as we were running across the parking lot. I picked it up, dried it off,
and it still works! (The SD card is acting a little funky but we’ll see what
all happens.)
So,
the search being over, we go back to the Laundromat, change our clothes over to
the dryer and head to Wal-Mart for some supplies.
After
all the shopping is done and the clothes have been folded we make a pit stop at
Tim Hortons. (For all you Americans, it’s a really popular coffee shop that
sells donuts and some light foods like wraps and sandwiches.) Then we take a
nap in the car, in their parking lot, before we have dinner at McDonalds.
Once
dinner is over, it’s back to the bush. Richard is still really tired so I drive
the hour and a half back to camp (about 90 km if you feel like figuring it out
lol). I was doing really good on the main paved roads, it was rainy but hey,
I’m from Alabama, I’m used to rain…not on dirt roads. lol Oh man, it was an
interesting ride once we hit the last 30 some-odd minutes of the trip. The road
was full of pot holes (because it had been raining for the past two days), the
dirt was loose and muddy (if we stopped, we were stuck), and I’m still learning
how Richard’s car handles. He woke up when I ran through a big puddle and then
spent the rest of the trip laughing at me! lol He was yelling and cheering when
we’d start drifting or sliding and he’d urge me on to go faster through the
really muddy parts so that we didn’t get stuck. He said he was doing it so I
wouldn’t be so nervous…
We
tried to watch a little of the movie Thor before we headed off to bed but about
15 minutes in, my computer died…so, we just went to bed.
Tree
Planting Day 16, June 19th, (Shift 6, Day 1):
Ah,
the sound of rain…a reminder that we are back at camp and starting another
shift. Here we go! We got up early because no one knew if they were on the
early or late shift…turns out we’re back on the late! (Woohoo! We get an extra
thirty minutes of sleep!)
The
day was slow, all the clothes had been cleaned so I had nothing to do there. I
helped Lesley get the dishes done pretty quickly and then there was nothing to
do. So, I headed out into the woods. I took a nice hefty stick and my cell
phone and took off walking. For about two hours I walked through the woods,
following the road. I went all the way down to the river (10 minutes if you
stay on the road and don’t wander to look at anything) and even went a bit
deeper in the woods and found an old planting block (field, for those of you
not in on the lingo). It was a so much fun, my legs were tired afterward from
having to cross so many logs (remember, no controlled burns), and my boots were
completely soaked through. (It took me three pairs of socks to dry them out!)
I
then decided to have lunch. I tried to write some on this journal but it just
wasn’t working, Hidalgo was more interesting. lol
April
made chocolate oatmeal cookies (oh yes!) and then let me lick the pot (best
thing ever!)…and then we watched The Two Towers.
Not
very long after that, Richard came home (in the helicopter! Oh yeah!). He was
so happy! It seems that he is getting back his rhythm. He’s been planting more
trees in less time, even if the land is bad he’s been doing pretty good. At one
point during the day he was doing a box of 315 trees in an hour! I love it when
he comes back all smiling and happy, it makes my day J
We
took a shower, had dinner, and then went back to our tents to finish watching
Thor (I had charged my computer this time J).
While
we were at dinner we found out that there had been a bear in camp. It had
trampled Rhett’s tent sometime during the day. That night Richard and I heard a
gunshot…the bear had come back and Rhett took a shot at it. It ran off into the
woods so we don’t know if he hit it or not. We’re hoping it doesn’t come back.
Lesley’s
boyfriend called (he’s tree planting in British Columbia, on the West coast…I
think, I’m still learning my geography lol) and told her that just the week
before, one of their friends had been charged by a grizzly while out in the
field. I thought it was interesting that we had a bear in camp the same day we
heard about another close encounter with some other tree planters.
The
reason the bear came into camp is because people keep leaving food and empty
cans in and around their tents. We’ve warned them but they’re not
listening…sigh…we’ll see what happens.
I
finally talked to Rhett, because the out-houses were getting really full, and
nicely reminded him that, though the tree planters only have to use them for a
couple of hours a day, the kitchen staff has to deal with them all day.
Thankfully he agreed that something needed to be done and said he would get on
it. That night, the foremen all got out and dug new bathrooms. Oh they are amazing!
Tree Planting Day 17, June 20th,
(Shift 6, Day 2):
No
rain this morning! It was amazing and warm and sunny….ah…just nice. It was also
nice that we got to sleep in 30 more minutes! hehehe
We
got to the kitchen for breakfast and they were serving grilled cheeses….for
breakfast! Have you heard of anything so absurd!? lol It was interesting,
that’s for sure.
Richard’s
boots were still a little wet from the day before so he tried to dry them off
some more in front of the heater in the dry bus and ended up burning the tops
of them! lol It was kinda funny. They’re not ruined…just crispy…hehehehehe.
I
got him off to work, did the dishes, and cleaned the tent. Then I sat down to
type this out…As I was typing, a spider started crawling across the top of the
vestibule of the tent. So, I slowly lean forward and slapped it. Now it’s
gone…like I can’t find it anywhere…it’s probably crawling around inside my
tent….*shiver*…I checked myself all over and looked around where I am sitting
but to no avail. This spider has gone MIA and its making me antsy…lol…I just
know I’m going to find it crawling on me! *shiver*
I
stopped in the cook shack to drop off my laptop while I did the laundry and as
I’m walking out the door, here comes Bonnie in nothing but a towel. I chuckle
and ask her if she’s missing something. She just smiles. Apparently the heater for
the shower wasn’t working.
Now,
Bonnie has her own shower bag (where you fill a bag with hot water, hang it up,
and open the nozzle at the bottom to get the water flowing) and usually uses
the extra shower stall that we have just for those. But for some reason she
decided today to use the regular shower and it didn’t work. lol So she was
headed for the hot water tap in the cook shack to fill up her bag so she could
take a shower. lol It was pretty funny.
After
that little distraction, I did the laundry, my stitches in his shirts are still
holding (even after being washed in a machine)…yes!...and stuck the sleeping
mat out to dry. Now I just pray it doesn’t rain…
I
ate lunch and then decided to wander around camp (within the bear fence lol).
As I was crossing over the fence one of the woodpeckers flew down and snatched
a moth out of the air right in front of me! If I had wanted to, I could have
reached out and touched it. It was so cool!
Later
I set up our hammock and enjoyed reading as I swayed in the sunlight. I noticed
that the sky was getting darker so I hurried to put up the hammock and grab the
laundry. Now I await my husband’s arrival. J He should be here soon.
*
Oh
man, the planters were in a philosophical mood tonight. We had a new planter
(Chris) come in for dinner and as we were passing him to get in line for the
food I heard him ask the girls next to him if they were “religious”. I chuckled
and knew that as soon as Richard and I prayed over our food we would be labeled
by this new guy.
Well,
we got our food and Richard set us down in front of Chris, again I chuckled,
Richard had no clue about the conversation I had overheard. Then Kelly (an
atheist turned spiritual/intelligent design) sat on Richard’s left. We bowed
our heads and prayed like we do every meal and I noticed Chris watching. lol
As
we were eating I could hear the conversation going on at the table behind us
and I could tell by the look on his face that Richard was listening intently.
(They were talking about predestination, freewill, and couple of really heady
philosophical subjects that I don’t remember.) I put my hand on Richard’s knee,
hoping that he wouldn’t turn around and get in on it (they would all jump on
him together and he wouldn’t get a good word in), he turned and smiled at me.
“You hear what they’re talking about?” I asked. He just nodded his head and
continued to eat, with the same off focus look telling me he was still listening.
I laughed and turned to my food.
I
looked up at the new guy at the table and started talking to him. I asked him
if he was into philosophical and theological discussion, because, if so, he was
in the right camp (you would not believe the thing these planters discuss, I
think they’re trying to be new Platos or something! lol). He laughed and said
that we should all just drink beer and play cards. Then he said that I probably
did like theological discussions because I looked like a very religious person.
I chuckled and told him that I didn’t consider myself religious and explained
the difference between religion and true Christianity (opening the door for the
Gospel if he wanted to pry any farther). At that point though, Kelly jumped in
from the other end of the table and asked if it would be wrong for someone to
call me religious if that was their view point (subjective truth/reality). I
cocked a half smile and watched as Richard’s face lit up; he was ready for this
one. lol
While
my husband got my back on that one, I continued to talk with Chris. Just
talking about anything to try and befriend him. Meanwhile I was listening to
Richard and Kelly to my left.
Kelly
would jump from point to point, use circular reasoning, and invalid arguments
to try and prove that it wasn’t wrong to choose to not to follow God. He had
given us our freewill to exercise so if we chose to ignore Him it was
glorifying to Him, because it showed that He had given us complete free will.
So they were not really rebelling, thus we cannot say that an unbeliever is
rebelling against God; they’re just exercising their freewill.
At
that point, another planter (Dillon) heard Richard trying to explain the
rebelling of sinful man and brought up
the whole child in the jungle who never heard the Gospel scenario. I knew
Richard would try to answer him too, so I fended off that attack from the back.
I just told him that that wasn’t what we were discussing. He shrugged his
shoulders and went to go get his food (he didn’t really want an answer, the
planters just like to argue for argument’s sake. Reminds me of the Greeks and
their rhetoric.)
Anyway…eventually
another planter (Carson, a Mormon-Christian mixed something-or-other) came over
and started asking questions about the reliability of the Gospels and who their
authors were...stuff like that. Those questions we could answer because he
really wanted to know, unlike Kelly, he wasn’t just arguing. Apparently the
questions he was asking us were ones he had had for a while and at one point
said, “What were the other questions I had, now that I can get answers.” It was
great talking to him and I could join in on this conversation.
So,
it was an interesting dinner. lol Oh yeah, Richard planted 6 boxes today! Yes!
He was pretty happy J
Tree Planting Day 18, June 21st,
(Shift 6, Day 3):
No
rain again…I’m getting spoiled. lol Richard was almost late for the truck…what
a fiasco that was lol. He was ready to go on time, saw he had a few minutes
left and ran to do something. As soon as he was gone they decided they were
going to leave early. I ran up to the truck and let David know that Richard
wasn’t loaded up yet, put all his stuff
in the back, and ran off to go find him. He then realized that he hadn’t gotten
his gloves (he needed a new pair) so I ran to the tent, grabbed one glove (the
new one for his planting hand) and then ran to the dry bus to get his other one
(the old one for his shovel hand). I felt like a baton racer as he ran up
grabbed the gloves, verified that his stuff was in the truck, and took off
toward the vehicles. Whew, that was a lot of energy exerted so early in the
morning. lol
I
then went into the cook shack, took a 10 minute nap J, and helped with the dishes. April and I talked about sports and
competitiveness; it was great swapping stories, she talked about soccer and I
talked about Tae Kwon Do.
Now,
the laundry’s been done, the tent cleaned, and lunch eaten. It is so nice
outside! I can’t believe it. I took off my long johns and was contemplating
unzipping the bottoms of my pants so I could wear shorts. I hope the planters
have plenty of cloud cover.
I
found out today that we will moving camp in about 3 shifts to a new place north
of Grande Prairie. That will be interesting. That means that everything (and I
mean everything) has to be packed up and moved. Hopefully they’ll level out the
cook shack a little better this time, we’re tired of everything running to the
back wall of the trailer. It makes for some interesting cakes if the cooks
aren’t paying attention, they get slightly lopsided lol. We’ll also have to dig
new bathrooms. Oh boy.
*
It was so nice
outside that I couldn’t handle being inside for another minute. I took off out
the door and got the football from the car, then I hunted down the four guys who
stayed back from work. They were all sitting around talking and listening to
music so I walked and asked them if they knew how to play football. One of the
guys jumped up saying he didn’t but he had always wanted to learn. We walked up
the path a bit and then I taught him how to the throw the ball. We had a blast
passing for about 30 minutes before another one of the planters came up and
wanted to pass too. Eventually they had to stop…didn’t want to throw out their
planting arms….
So, I was bored
again….I headed out to a flat area by the road and did a nice thorough Tae Kwon
Do work out. It was really funny watching the truckers’ faces as they passed by
and saw me jumping in the air punching and kicking nothing. lol I had a blast!
I worked until my ankle started hurting and getting weak. By then I was
breathing hard and sweating…felt good J
When Richard got
home I was telling him, over dinner, about my day and what all I had done. When
I started telling him about playing football he got really excited and then
when I explained that I couldn’t throw it far it cemented it in his mind that
he needed to show me how. lol So after dinner, as we were waiting in line for
the shower, we passed the ball. It wasn’t long before two other planters joined
us (Tiki and Shane). Tiki was pretty good; she’s from South Africa where they
play rugby so she’s used to chucking a huge ball. lol It was great!
It got up to 68,
woohoo! We also found out that, starting today, they upped the payment to 11
cents a tree. Yipee!
Tree Planting Day 19, June 22nd,
(Shift 6, Day 4):
Happy
Anniversary! (That’s how Richard woke me up this morning J) lol Our first month as a married couple. What an interesting month
it has been. We’ve traveled from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Orlando, Florida to
Birmingham, Alabama, then back to Jackson Hole, up to Coaldale, Alberta and
finally to Grande Prairie. We’ve spent the majority of our married life, so far
lol, in a tent in the woods and the rest in Hotel rooms. Oh man! lol what an
interesting and exciting month it has been J
Everything
here is normal today, although it is really nice outside again. We got up and I
decided not to put on my long johns because it felt so nice and I knew I would
be taking them off again in just a couple of hours.
I
showed April how to use the shower (she normally used the shower bags too). It
took us forever to get the pilot light on the shower lit (yes, the water was
running lol) but after that I think it went pretty smoothly.
It
finally rained. lol In the late afternoon right before Richard came home. I had
just finished watching a movie (Johnny English) and heard the thunder off in
the distance. I ran out and got the clothes that were drying and pulled them
in, with about 20 minutes to spare. lol
From what Brett
was saying earlier it looks like they’re going to tack on another two days to
this shift so they can finish up the spring plant. Then the guys will have
three days off before they begin the summer plant on the 29th. We’ll
see what happens. lol This is the second time they’ve changed the plan today…
*
Richard had a
pretty bad day today. The land they were planting on was horrible, lots of
fallen trees that literally covered the ground.
We went and jumped
in the shower and about half way through the generator ran out of gas! lol This
means that the water no longer flows. So Richard wrapped a towel around himself
(he wasn’t all soapy) and headed out to fill it up. It was at that point that
we found out there was another planter showering in the other stall (oh yeah,
they fixed the other shower so now we have two!) when she started yelling for
someone to fill up the generator. We then find out that there is no more gas in
the gas can so Richard grabs a planter who happens to be walking by and asks
him to fill up the gas can. Then he sits outside and talks to Shane while we
wait on the gas to come back. Meanwhile, me and the other planter sit and talk
about our day through the walls of the shower stalls. It was all pretty
hilarious! lol The gas came back about 5 minutes later and we were finally able
to finish our showers.
After dinner I
started feeling pretty bad. My stomach was hurting and I was shivering like
crazy. So we headed to the tent and relaxed with a movie until my computer
died. Though I must say that we didn’t really relax…we were watching District
9, which we thought would be something like War of the Worlds or Battle Los
Angeles, but no. It’s written like a documentary and it’s very convincing…lol
it really looks real. Anyway, in the movie these aliens end up in their ship
hovering over a town in Africa. After waiting a few months the people of earth
decide that they’re going to cut their way in. When they do, they find these
aliens who are about dead from disease and malnourishment. So, being the kind
people that we are, we created a place for them to stay on earth, District 9.
However, soon the aliens’ population began growing too much and they became
very destructive and aggressive. It was decided that they needed to be moved to
a new location outside of the city and steps were taken to do just that. The
documentary follows the man who was in charge of moving them all out legally
and safely. At one point he becomes exposed to some sort of liquid that powers
the alien’s weapons and it makes him extremely sick. It was really gross and I
have a feeling he’s spreading a plague but the computer shut off right when he
passed out not long after he realized that his finger nails were falling
off….eww. So anyway, after that I was sitting there in bed and had the
stupidest thought, ‘What if I have a plague?’ Then I laughed at myself for
being spooked by a stupid movie.
We sat and talked
for the longest time. Richard couldn’t get to sleep because his legs were
cramping. So I massaged them for a while and put the cream on them and that
seemed to help.
Tree Planting Day 20, June 23rd,
(Shift 6, Day 5):
I woke up warm and
feeling better J
Now I just have to get my throat to stop bugging me. lol I think I’m getting
what all the other planters have/had/are about to have. lol Oh well, it was
bound to happen at some point, I just hope it doesn’t last long and that I can
nip it in the bud. Let’s go immune system, double time it!
We found out this
morning that they are not tacking on the extra days and instead are going with
the original plan of an extra 2-3 day shift. Apparently one of the foremen
spoke up and told them exactly what his planters would think of their 7 day
shift plan and they decided they didn’t want a mutiny on their hands. lol Not
to mention, the land is so bad that the planters aren’t able to move fast
enough to finish in two extra days. Thus it would have ended up as a 7 ½ day
shift…which would not have gone over well. All the guys are sore, tired, and
most are sick. They need a day off to recuperate.
Richard was not
looking forward to work today, the bad land and all, but he set himself to it
and decided that he was going to have a good day no matter what happened. I
love him so much! lol I hope he does have a good day. It’s been overcast and
chilly all morning and now it’s starting to drizzle so we’ll see. Sometimes the
days that are miserable at camp are some of the best in the field.
Oh, we also had a
mosquito/gnat invasion this morning! Somehow they got into the cook shack and it
took us a couple hours of chasing and slapping to thin them out enough that we
weren’t getting bit every two seconds. lol It must have been funny watching us run
around slapping at the air and yelling in triumph when we got one. lol
I’ve got
everything done for today and now I think I will kick back and watch….the
Incredibles. J
Tree Planting Day 21, June 24th, (Shift 6, Day Off):
Our day off was
pretty uneventful. We watched movies and hung out. I got to play fetch with Sawyer
for a bit while we fixed Richard’s boots (some of the sole was coming undone at
the toe). Richard submitted a design for the yearly t-shirt contest; if they
pick your design you win $250. And finally, there is now another dog in camp. lol
David went into town in the morning and came home with a dog that night. I have
no clue what she is but she looks like a really small Australian shepherd and her
name is Misty.
Tree Planting Day 22, June 25th, (Shift 7, Day One):
Back on the early
shift…which means it is cold when you wake up! lol Oh well. I will say that I
am so glad that Richard wakes up to an alarm clock. The reason being: I missed
all of them. lol We normally set 4 or 5 alarms that start going off 30 minutes
before we have to get up so that we can wake up slowly. As each one goes off
Richard roles over, reaches over my head to turn it off, and then tells me how
many minutes we have left. I heard the last alarm this morning and was rather
shocked when he told me we needed to get up. lol He laughed at me when I gave
him a confused look and asked if the other alarms had been set. Of course they
had, I was just oblivious to him reaching over
my head to turn them off. Oops. J
After I sent
Richard off, I headed back to the cook shack to wait for everyone else to leave
so that I can do my chores. As I was sitting there I started talking to Shane
who was on the second shift (lucky man) while he was eating breakfast. Somehow
we got onto the subject of obeying the law…not sure now how that happened…but
he said that we should follow the law unless it was a stupid one that didn’t
make any sense. I chuckled and said, “You’re a Christian, right?” He said yes
and I laughed, “I could so quote Paul to you right now.” He looked at me
confused so I told him that Paul had taught that you must follow the laws of
man unless they directly contradict the law of God. Then and only then were you
allowed to break the law. I heard him mumble under his breath, “You can’t take
all of that literally…” I laughed again and replied, “You can’t pick and choose
what in the Bible you are going to follow.” He just shook his head and said
that he didn’t want to “get into this” right now. So I changed the subject and
we talked about his day off. Interesting conversation, now I know his view of
the Bible.
Once everyone was
gone I did my chores. I so did not want to clean the tent. It always gets really
messy on the day off and I knew I needed to sweep and set out the sleeping mat
but I just didn’t want to. I got up and did it anyway. Once it was done I felt
better. lol
When we went into
town last time, we picked Richard up another pair of pants so he can trade out
each shift. So I had a pair of pants in the laundry along with the usual
t-shirt and socks. Pants take forever because they’re so big and I can only
scrub a portion the size of my hand at a time. But now they’re clean and dry
and ready to be put away.
I went out and
played with Misty for a bit. We went running down the road and even took a
short walk through the woods. She’s such a good dog! She doesn’t pull on the
leash and she stays next to you pretty much the whole time. It is pretty funny
though that she thinks she has to hold the leash in her mouth as she walks.
She also likes to
eat sticks. Earlier this morning I was doodling in the dirt as I sat next to
her and she kept trying to grab the stick out of my hand. When it didn’t work
with her mouth, she would stick her paw on my hand and roll it over so she
could get a better angle. lol We wrestled for a bit and then I had to do
dishes. It is so much fun to have a dog to play with again, makes me miss my
dog, Cocoa. I was teasing Richard yesterday that we should get a dog…he laughed
and said, “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Oh well, can’t blame me
for trying. lol (I know we can’t have a pet, we’re headed to college next and I
don’t think they would appreciate us having an animal in their dorm rooms J)
*
The guys were so
late coming home I thought they might have decided to run away. lol Normally
they’re here by 6:20 ish but today they didn’t come in until around 8! So while
I waited I played with Misty; we wrestled. J
Tree Planting Day 23, June 26th, (Shift 7, Day Two):
Richard woke up at
3 this morning with a pretty bad cough and a sore throat. For those of you who
don’t know him that well, this is not a good thing. lol My husband gets
horrible colds that normally end with him having a cough for a month or two if
it is not taken care of immediately. Thankfully Richard was thinking of long
term as well and opted to stay back at camp.
We got up at normal
time so he could get breakfast and then I doped him up with Nyquil and sent him
back to bed. There he stayed, asleep, until about 11! lol I went back to the
cook shack to finish the dishes but once I was done I joined him in the
sleeping bag. Oh it felt so good to get so much sleep!
We finally got out
of bed in order to have lunch. I made him some lemon tea with honey in it, to
help his throat, and spent the day relaxing and keeping him out of the wind
(which makes it worse).
Around 6 we went
and took a shower, got out….and there was still no one here. So we went and had
dinner. It was kinda weird sitting in the cook shack eating dinner with no one
else, but the cooks, around.
Dinner was Lasagna
but Bonnie loves to modify. She put spinach and carrots in it! lol Then she
somehow convinced Richard to try her soup which looked like really runny baby
food (it was supposedly a sort of puréed salad soup). Neither of us was very
fond of it but he tasted it, which was more than I was expecting! lol -Bonnie
is a vegetarian (one of 7 in camp) so she is constantly making crazy veggie
sides and soups and it seems her goal in life to get us to try them all. lol We
have had some of the craziest foods because of all the vegetarians in camp;
Tofu steaks for instance…I don’t know how they eat half this stuff!-
Everyone else
showed up at about the time we finished dinner so we sat and talked with them
for a bit and then headed off to bed.
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