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.
Tree Planting Day 24, June 27th, (Shift 7, Day Three):
Ugh! I hate being
on the early shift. lol It always seems you’re getting up at such a horrible
time, maybe it’s mental but that extra 30 minutes are amazing!
By the time we went to bed last night,
Richard’s cold was pretty much gone so he went to work today. Thankfully this
is the last day of this shift and the end of the Spring Plant! Now we get two
days off! Woohoo!!!! (We plan on going into town for the day tomorrow or the
next and spend it at the pool and in places that have free wifi so we can get
online. lol Maybe we could even see a movie….hmmm…I wonder what’s out…)
It is so windy
today! It almost blew the awning that was covering the gas cans over. April and
I had to run out and straighten it. lol I finished the dishes and cleaned the
tent so I guess now we’ll see what the rest of today holds…
*
They were home
late again! lol
Tree Planting Day 25, June 28th,
(Spring Break Day 1):
We got up and
headed out first thing this morning. Oh man my stomach was hurting so bad, and
had been all night. Poor Richard, it was kinda funny listening to him try to
breathe with a stuffed up nose. lol I can’t tell you how many times he woke me
up and I just had to giggle because he sounded so funny and yet I felt so bad
for him. J
But, we needed to get some stuff done in town, so after a small breakfast
(neither one of us was very hungry) of cinnamon rolls we loaded up into the
car.
On the way into
town we saw either a brown bear or a small grizzly on the side of the road! I
don’t know which it was because we only saw it briefly as it turned and ran
back into the woods. I saw it sitting there staring at us and normally I’m
pretty good at making sure Richard knows about any animals on the roadside but
for some reason “bear” wasn’t registering in my mind. I just stared at it for a
minute and then turned to Richard and said, “I think that’s a bear.”
First things
first: laundry, we went back to our favorite Laundromat with the sweet East Indian
man. Then we went to Tim Horton’s for coffee and a snack…back to change the
laundry over…over to McDonald’s to access the internet...pull the laundry out…and
off to go swimming!
We stopped at the
Rec. center in Grande Prairie and, oh my gosh!, it is amazing! It had two
indoor water slides, an Olympic sized swimming pool, a kids play area (complete
with slides, huge water guns, and buckets on the ceiling that dump water on
your head), a sauna, two hot tubs (one for families that wasn’t so hot, and one
of adults that was pretty hot), 5 diving boards, and a surf pool.
Unfortunately, that last one cost an extra ten dollars so Richard still hasn’t
checked surfing off his bucket list…one day. J
We hung out in the
hot tub for a while and then took a couple trips down the water slides. They
were actually pretty good. lol Then I challenged Richard to a race in the lane
swim area. That was fun. J
I won! lol I swam the lane about five times before my arms started burning and
I was ready to stop. lol
Eventually we
decided to check out the sauna. It was pretty cool…well hot…you get the point.
lol (That was horrible but I couldn’t help myself! lol) There was another guy
in there for a while but once he left, the fun began. We realized that the room
echoed like crazy so Richard began doing some sort of Gregorian chant, which
sounded really cool. Then I joined in with the tunes from some Lord of the
Rings songs and it sounded so cool! We stopped abruptly when the lifeguard
opened the door during their periodic inspection. Once she left we giggled like
crazy and started up again. J
We swam for a
couple of hours before we decided that we needed to run some more errands
before we headed home. As we were leaving the Rec. Center I realized how hungry
I was…starving, my stomach was growling! lol I asked Richard if we could go get
some dinner, he kinda brushed it off, “Yeah, we’ll get some soon. Can we do the
shopping first?” I chuckled. “Umm, I’m really hungry…my stomach is growling.”
He gave me this incredulous look, “You’re hungry!? I guess we better stop and
get something then.” lol My husband is under the impression that I never get
hungry (because I normally don’t) and finds this absolutely crazy seeing as I
eat so little (or so he believes, compared to him…yes but he’s twice my size!).
lol So, when I say that I’m hungry he normally gets food right then and makes
some sort of crack about marking it on the calendar. lol
We had dinner at
A&W and we shared a Root-beer float. J
hehehe Then we got the shopping done and decided that, instead of spending 20
bucks on one movie at the theater, we would spend it on 4 movies that we could
watch throughout the next month. We got some good ones from the $5 bin at
Wal-Mart.
Back to McDonalds
one more time, to make sure that everything was covered, all emails and
messages went through and then off back to the woods.
We got in the car
to leave town and I was surprised that Richard jumped in the driver’s seat (he
had said earlier that he wanted me to drive on the main road back to camp) but
I figured he had changed his mind. We had some great conversations on the way
back and saw a momma black bear with a cub (that makes 3 bears in one day!).
Then all of a sudden Richard looks at me and says, “I can’t believe it!” I just
stared at him. “How did you get me to drive the whole way?” I laughed…”I didn’t
really think that much about it, you jumped in the driver’s seat.” He laughed
in return, “You sneaky woman.” J
Once we got back
to camp we unloaded the car and pulled out The Last Samurai (one of our new
movies). We found out at that point that, besides Jeremy, we were the only ones
in camp. David left right after we got there. It was so nice, to have the whole
sleeping area to ourselves and to not see any people when you walk through the
camp. J
Tree Planting Day 26, June 29th, (Spring Break Day 2):
I think we slept in until 10….40. J Then we had a brunch
of waffles and then back to the tent to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes,
it’s a good movie and Richard had never seen it. Then we pretty much just hung
out in the tent until we got hungry enough for dinner. Made some soup from our
“off day” storage in the trunk of his car and watched Déjà Vu (another fun
movie).
About the time we
finished the movie was when everyone started showing up. Vans and cars started
pulling into camp and then the truck with the grocery pick showed up so we
helped unload that. We also noticed a lot of people walking around that we had
either never seen before or had not seen this season. Apparently we have some
new people. lol There’s about 11 of them. Six will be leaving after this shift
(they had a week off from their other tree planting jobs in B.C. and decided to
fill that week with work here) but the other 5 are here to stay.
Once the unloading
was done we hurried off to bed so that Richard would get some good rest before
the next shift began.
Oh man the gnats
were so bad. The Canadians call them “no-see’ums” but they’re not like the ones
we have back home. Anyway, some of them were small enough to get through the
mesh on the tent roof and had a blast biting anything not covered up in the
sleeping bag. Once you get to sleep they’re not so bad. J
Tree Planting Day 27, June 30th, (Shift 8, Day 1):
First day back to
work and we’re on the late shift. YES! We woke up rested and ready to go,
slightly cold but it’s been worse. I got him ready about ten minutes early so
we sat and talked for a bit then I headed in to get my chores done.
They’ve switched
up the cooks’ shifts now so instead of Lesley cooking breakfast and April being
in there during the day, it’s Bonnie cooking breakfast and Lesley on day shift.
I really missed my conversations with April; they always made the dishwashing times
fun.
Lesley’s boyfriend
is here (he’s got 6 days off from tree planting in B.C. and decided to join
her), so he was hanging out in the kitchen making almond milk…interesting
stuff. lol He, like everyone else, was shocked to hear that Richard and I were
married, and that we had only been married for a little over a month. lol
There wasn’t much
laundry to do. I had forgotten to hang out the towels and stuff from when we
went swimming so I made sure to rinse them out really well and then hung them
in the sun. I cleaned the tent up and put everything back in its place, so now
I feel ready for a new shift. Everything is ready to go and set up so that we
know where everything is and we can get to it when we need it. Thankfully
Richard likes to have a system too, so I set it up and he stays with it. J
Well, now I need
to study. lol In order to keep money coming in while we’re in college I’m going
to try to work with the school bus system there in Wisconsin. Apparently NTBI
(the college we’re going to) has partnered with the bussing system so that its
students can drive the busses during the school year as they take classes.
They’ve even made the class schedules conform to the bus schedules so that
students won’t miss any. It’s pretty cool and it makes good money. What I
didn’t know is that they would send you an entire book on bus driving and then
expect you to take a test on it when you got there. I guess I should have
expected that…but I didn’t. lol The bus company sent it to my parents’ house in
Alabama and it would take three weeks to send it to me here through the mail
(the Canadian postal service really is snail mail lol). So my parents’, being
the wonderful people that they are, scanned each page of the workbook into the
computer and sent it to me via email (one of the things that I had to get to
town for). Now that I have it, I must study it…here we go!
So, after studying
for a bit I thought it would be nice to watch a movie. I grabbed out Spiderman
3, one of the ones we bought the other day, and cut open the wrapper. I did
this only to find out there was no disk in the case! lol So, for 5 bucks we
bought an empty movie case…what do I do with it now? lol I would normally take
it back to the store but we won’t be going into town anytime soon…I’ll ask Richard
what he wants to do when he gets home. Oh man..lol
Oh yeah, it seems
that something has happened to Misty. She was in camp this morning but as soon
as David left for work she ran off and didn’t come back. The last few days
she’s been allowed to run loose because she doesn’t really leave camp for any
period of time, or at least she didn’t used to. I saw her this morning while I
was doing the dishes but come 2 we still hadn’t seen her. Lesley headed out
with her boyfriend to try and find her but I haven’t seen them since then. I
wonder where they went…
*
Richard got back
around 7:15 and we had dinner. Afterwards I saw David and asked him if he’d
seen his dog. He told me that he had heard she was gone. As we were walking out
of the shower later we saw David with Misty. Apparently she had been stuck in
his tent all day! She had scratched or chewed her way in and then couldn’t get
out…oops. lol He took it well though; didn’t get too upset.
Later we were
trying to go to sleep and one of the squirrels kept jumping out of the tree and
onto the roof of the tent. It was pretty funny. lol Richard and I sat inside
laughing as the whole thing shook around us.
Tree Planting Day 28, July 1st,
(Shift 8, Day 2):
Happy Canada Day!
lol We woke to rain again, that hasn’t happened in a while. lol Well, I traded
the stomach problems for a sore throat. I think I got it from Richard. lol
Shame on him. J
After he went off
to work I went in to do the dishes. I was so tired that I fell asleep while
they were cleaning up. lol Lesley came over and woke me up so I could wash.
Once I finished I did the other chores that needed to be done and then went to
bed.
As I finished the
clothes I realized it wasn’t raining anymore and the sun was shining. I looked
at the sky trying to figure out how long it would last (I wanted the hang the
clothes up outside because it doesn’t take as long but if it was going to rain
I would just put them in the dry bus). The sky seemed clear on the horizon so I
decided to leave them outside and went to bed.
I woke up 3 hours
later and it was raining, figures. Oh man. lol I rolled over and headed out to
get the clothes expecting them to be soaked. Thankfully it wasn’t raining too
hard so they had just gotten sprinkled on. I hung them up in the dry bus to
finish drying.
Then I had lunch
and helped out in the kitchen. I shucked corn (felt like I was back at my
Grandma’s house back when she had the garden) and peeled and chopped potatoes.
After that I
really didn’t have anything to do so I made phone calls. lol I hadn’t talked to
my family in a while. It was a blast to hear from them and to hear about how
everything was going at home. I got the
recipe for the Kentucky Pie that is a favorite at our house and gave it to
Lesley. We’ll see if she wants to make it or not…I hope she does, I love that
pie!
Now I’m just
waiting on Richard to get home. Yesterday I ran up to him from behind, he
turned around and saw me at just the right time to pick me up and spin me
around…J
it was great! hehehe
*
He came home at
about 7 with a hole in his pants again! That man, I don’t know what I’m going
to do with him. lol If I keep having to patch his clothes I’m going to run out
of thread soon! (I told him so, he just laughed at me J)
He was so happy
when he came home! Morgan (one of the tree checkers) had showed him how to area
plant, instead of the straight lines that they normally do. After Richard
implemented this technique the planting started going a lot faster and he
almost passed his season’s personal best! J
We went and had
dinner and then off to take a shower. It was really warm and felt great to me,
Richard was a little hot but once he went to sleep he said it felt great. lol
The gnats got in again, we have an idea on how to keep them out but I’m not
telling you what it is until we know whether it works or not! lol J
Tree Planting Day 29, July 2nd, (Shift 8, Day 3):
It was really nice
and warm this morning when we woke up. We both had so much energy! lol I really
don’t know where it came from but I was wide awake by the time we needed to get
up and felt happy and energetic (as long as I didn’t stop moving lol). I got
Richard ready for work and then headed in for mine.
Thankfully, my
cold is just about gone. My throat doesn’t hurt anymore and the stuffy nose is
clear. I’m hoping it stays that way. J
I think Richard’s is clearing up too, but with the way he is (he’s always got
something in his throat or nose lol) it’s hard to tell. lol
The dishes took a lot
longer this morning. There were so many! Oh man I don’t where they all came
from! lol I finally got those conquered and headed off to finish the other
chores.
Speaking of
chores…Max (a veteran planter) came up to me right after they came in the other
day and asked if I charged by the kilo when I did laundry. Apparently he’s
pretty jealous of Richard’s clean clothing…hehehehe J (slightly proud lol) I don’t
know if he was serious about me cleaning his clothes or not because he dropped
the subject and walked away…but, it’s still pretty cool.
After the clothes
were washed I sat down and listened to David Platt while I stitched up the hole
in Richard’s work pants. I hope it holds! lol He’s so rough on his clothes…he
says it’s the job but I don’t know, I think it’s partly him…lol J
I was talking to
Lesley earlier and she had a pretty funny story. Richard and I have been
praying that the planters here would notice a difference in us. More than just
our words but in our actions as well, we want them to see the love we have for
each other and to reflect the relationship that Christ has with the church.
Well, you remember when I ran up to Richard and he spun me around?...Lesley
told me that she and Ananda (her boyfriend) were sitting talking as they
watched me run up to my husband. The next day Ananda comes back from work (he
decided to go planting because he was bored…weird guy lol) and heads to their
tent. Lesley had gone in to take a nap and he found her in there. Apparently he
woke her and asked her why she didn’t greet him like I greeted Richard. lol He
said, “Isn’t that how the couples around here greet each other?” lol She
laughed at him and said that when she married him, she might greet him like that.
Other people have
made remarks on how much dedication I must have to follow my husband up this
far. I figure, we’re married, I follow. lol The girls have also commented on
Richard’s chivalry saying that it’s a rare thing nowadays. (I know J ) So, they’re noticing
but I hope it leads them to ask questions. There was one person (Jeremy) who
didn’t know we were married (Richard can’t wear his ring during the work week because
it goes on his shovel hand and would bruise his fingers really bad) but we’ve
tried to make sure that it’s common knowledge that we’re married. (“Avoid even
the appearance of evil”…and all that stuff.) We don’t want to be pushed into
the category of partners (the term they use when a boyfriend and girlfriend
live together) like other couples in camp.
Now I’m debating
whether or not to wash these pants I just mended or leave them…so tempting…lol.
*
I went to go wash
those pants and found another hole…in the butt this time! lol Out comes the
sewing kit again. What did I tell you? lol
Tree Planting Day 30, July 3rd,
(Shift 8, Day 4):
The rain is
back…lol…it was so cold and rainy this morning. We got ready quickly and tried
to stay warm. Once I sent Richard off I got the dishes done and then drank some
hot chocolate while I waited to see if the rain would stop so I could do the
clothes. It never did, so I headed out into the rain to get the chores done.
By the time I was
finished in the tent I was shivering and my hands were freezing. I was so happy
to do the laundry (the water from that tap only comes out warm so I got my
hands to thaw out). After cleaning the clothes it was still raining so I hung
them up in the dry bus.
Now, Lesley is the
one who works in the kitchen in the middle of the day (at least for this shift)
and she doesn’t like anyone in there while she’s working so April and I sat in
the Weather Haven (the extra seating area inside a big tent thing). April (the
Canadian mind you) was wearing a winter jacket, a scarf, a hat, and holding a
cup of hot chocolate. We tried to sit and watch a movie but about half way
through we couldn’t take it anymore. We had had to move our chairs once already
because water was leaking through the roof onto the table and my back and now
it was dripping on her. Thankfully, Lesley let us into the cook shack. Oh man
it felt so good to walk into the warmth! I had a glass of hot chocolate and tried
to warm up. The rest of the day we spent inside unless we absolutely had to go
out.
Lesley and Ananda
were heading into town today (he had to leave and go back to work), so as soon
as she was done with her duties they set to packing. I got to show them some of
my wedding pictures and we talked while they finished up. We all said goodbye
and thought they had left when all of a sudden here they come back inside; the
van won’t crank.
I ran out to our
car and grabbed the jumper cables and hooked them up but for some reason they
wouldn’t work. Now, I did have two guys there helping me with this whole thing
and I do know how to jump a car, so it wasn’t that I was doing it wrong…for
those of you who would laugh (like Richard did) and ask me how I did it. I did
it right! lol So anyway…We found another pair of cables and using Richard’s
car, gave them a jump. All this done in the pouring rain…Oh man it was so cold!
After that fun incident Lesley and Ananda left, however, the fun was not over
for them yet. I heard later that they ended up with a flat tire at one point
too. lol They got to town though! lol
It rained all day
without letting up. It wasn’t the crazy downpours like I’m used to from back
home but it was steady and would still soak you pretty quickly.
I was relaxing
with a movie when the kitchen erupts in a flurry of activity. The planters had
come home two hours early! We immediately set to cleaning up the tables and I
helped them get the dinner ready (they had just started the burgers and weren’t
supposed to be ready for another two hours). Once Richard’s van arrived I
headed out to help him out.
I found him in the
dry bus shivering in front of the big heater trying to warm up and dry off (this
tells you how cold it was, I have never seen Richard so cold he was shivering).
So we went out to take a shower and warm him up. Unfortunately everyone else
had the idea as well.
We ended up
waiting about 15 minutes for a shower so we had to find a place out of the rain
where we could watch the showers and thus keep our spot. Brett’s camper trailer
is parked right next to the shower area so we hunkered down under the front lip
(where the trailer connects to a truck). Once the shower was over we headed to
the cook shack to try and stay warm.
Funny enough,
everyone was in there too! lol We stood around and watched a game of Risk while
we waited on dinner to be ready. Richard took this opportunity to explain to me
the basics of the game (I’m still not sure exactly how to play, it’s very
complicated) lol.
As I talked to the
other planters I realized just how miserable it was for them out there! Some of
the guys were borderline hypothermic, they were shaking like crazy, and some
had their feet and hands go completely numb. It was about 38 degrees (that’s in
Fahrenheit by the way; for all you Canadians that would be about 5 degrees
Celsius) outside and they were out there without any cover in freezing rain.
Most had rain gear but the rain here is so sporadic that they don’t take the
time to put it on because they get too hot working with it on. So by the time
they realized it wasn’t going to stop, and put on their gear, everyone was
soaked through.
Apparently David,
in an attempt to raise the troop’s morale, would go around to the different
parts of the block where the planters were working and would take off running
around it screaming at the top of his lungs “You’re warriors! You’re all
warriors.” lol As far as I know, it worked for some. lol
Eventually they
decided to call it quits and everyone packed up into the vans and headed back
to camp.
After dinner we
headed to the tent to watch a movie. We got about half way through before my
computer died. lol So we went to bed and decided to watch the rest tomorrow.
It was still
raining and actually rained harder as we fell asleep. I could hear it drumming
on the roof of the tent. Funny how it kinda sounds like popcorn popping…
P.S. They cut this shift short; today was the last day J made everyone happy.
Tree Planting Day 31, July 4th, (Shift 8, Day Off):
Ahhh…warmth. J It was nice this
morning. lol We stayed in the tent until we were so hungry we couldn’t handle
it anymore and then headed into the cook shack. After finishing our movie we
joined a game of Spades. It really reminded me of all those nights around a
table at a reenactment playing cards late into the night by lantern light. I
think we played for 5 hours, at least that’s what Richard said. lol It was a
blast. We lost twice (lol) and realized that we’re not quite in synch when it
comes to card playing. J
After dinner we
headed to bed, we’re supposed to be on the early shift tomorrow so Richard
needed to get some rest.
Tree Planting Day 32, July 5th,
(Shift 9, Day 1):
This morning was
so cold! Oh man I was shivering but, as Richard keeps telling me, a cold
morning means a hot day. So far he’s right. lol Today has been scorching
(compared to what it has been). It’s supposed to get up into the 90s.
We shivered
through getting Richard ready for the day. Because of the day off and all the
wetness of the last day of that last shift everything is slightly disorganized.
lol For instance, his belt was in the dry bus but his pants were in the tent.
Once we got everything in order we headed in for breakfast.
It was at this
point that we found out that we were not on the early shift. Last night,
sometime after 9 they decided that they weren’t rotating shifts like they
normally do. So Richard and I didn’t get the memo; we were already in bed. But
oh well, we got to sit for an extra 30 minutes in the cook shack and talk with
everyone as they came in. It was kinda nice. J
We finished
breakfast and then headed to the dry bus to get him decked out in his planting
gear. His boots were still wet so he held them in front of the heater while I
dried him another pair of socks and warmed up his hoodie. Thankfully, he was
almost able to completely dry his boots.
As we were
finishing packing up I realized that Richard still had a Nalgene full of
coffee. I asked him when it was from because I hadn’t seen him make anymore
this morning.
“Two days ago” was
his reply.
“Richard.” I said.
He shrugged and
smiled sheepishly, “It’s just coffee and I figured it would stay cold.”
I laughed and told
him that because he put creamer in it, a dairy product, it would go bad and he
couldn’t drink it after it stayed in his bag two entire days. So I ran inside
really quick and made him another bottle full, hopefully he drinks this one.
lol I’m really going to have to keep an eye on him and the perishable foods and
liquids. lol
Once all the
planters were gone, I cleaned up the smoothie table (my new job) and did the
dishes. Then I started on the chores. Today, for some reason, I had a lot of
energy so I really cleaned. lol I rearranged the tent (we’ll see what Richard’s
says to determine whether it stays that way or not) and swept under everything.
I pulled out the sleeping bag, opened it up, brushed it clean, and then left it
in the sun for a while to air out. I also pulled out the sleeping mat so that
it could dry.
As I was moving
stuff around I found two spots where holes had been worn through the floor. I
quickly duct taped them to keep them
from getting worse. They weren’t big and I wasn’t worried, but we don’t want to
get to that point. lol Better safe than sorry. J
Then I headed to
do the laundry. I pulled out Richard’s wet stuff from the day before and
another shirt. This extra shirt was the one I had cleaned already and hung up
in the dry bus. Unfortunately, when planters come home wet they don’t care
where they hang their clothes as long as they’re hung up on the line. So the
shirt was under some else’s and it was all wet and stinky. Thus I had to rewash
it…oh well.
When I picked up
the socks to wash them, I thought they looked kinda weird, the wrong color or
something. Richard’s socks are a tan-ish color and these seemed a light
gray-ish blue, but I just figured it was the dirt and mud. As I continued to
wash and scrub I really began to doubt whether these were my husband’s. Number
one, they were way too dirty. Richard never gets his socks that dirty. Number
two, they were slightly fuzzy and frayed. Richard’s are not. Number three, that
blue color was just getting brighter and brighter. Hmmm…
So, I headed back
to the dry bus to see if maybe I had picked up the wrong socks. Sure enough,
there, crumpled on the floor, all wet and slightly dirty, were my husband’s tan
socks. I headed back to the sinks and, after a moment’s deliberation, decided
to finish that other pair and then wash Richard’s as well (someone got a clean
pair of socks lol). I even washed the sheet covering the sleeping mat.
Man, I was
starting to sweat standing at the sinks. I took off my fleece top and was
considering unzipping my legs so I could have shorts (still considering it as a
matter of fact lol). It is so hot! lol Whew. Feels good. There’s a slight wind
blowing, just enough to keep you from overheating, but the sun is beating down
from a partially cloudy sky and it feels so good! I just want to go swimming
now. It reminds me of my grandma’s house and all those summer days I spent in
the pool. J Ah!
Anyway, enough about the weather…lol.
I wasn’t the only
one doing laundry today. April forgot to take the kitchen towels and washcloths
into town with her yesterday which means they didn’t get washed. This morning
we ran out of towels. So Bonnie rolled up her sleeves and washed them all by
hand with bleach water and a scrub brush. Then she tied a piece of twine from
the gas shelter to the cook shack and hung them all out to dry. It was kinda
cool to see them all hanging there in the breeze. Felt like an old timey movie,
or like hanging out at your grandparents’, who don’t use a dryer. lol
Once all the
chores were done I sat down and watched a sermon while I ate lunch. Then I
started writing on this. Wow, my day is almost done. lol It went fast today;
Richard should be home within the next 2-3 hours. J
*
They came home
just a little late this time. lol Richard was so happy and excited; he had
almost reached 2,000 trees (just 5 away).
We ate dinner
first because it was taco night and if you don’t get in there early all the
good toppings might be gone. After dinner we took a shower and then off to bed.
Tree Planting Day 33, July 6th, (Shift 9, Day 2):
This morning I
woke up cold with a voice that kept cracking. lol Richard warmed me up pretty
quickly by completely wrapping me up in his arms and legs. He was so warm and
it felt great!
We headed in for
breakfast and then out to get him ready to go. The heater was on in the dry bus
so we had that to keep us warm while he changed his shoes and stuff. Once I got
him loaded up and into the van I headed in to do the dishes.
As I as washing
Lesley came in and said she was leaving for the day. She had had a small
circular rash on her arm for the last while but no one she had asked knew what
it was. Finally, today she asked Brett and he told her it was ringworm. So she
decided it was best she head into town, visit the doctor to get some medication
to get rid of it, and wash all her clothes and sleeping bag. So…who’s going to
do the dessert for tonight?...apparently me. lol
Bonnie came up to
me, with Lesley, and asked if I would be willing to take on Lesley’s jobs for
the day. I said no problem. So, after I finished the dishes I baked two cakes with
icing made from scratch (a peanut butter cake with chocolate icing and a
chocolate cake with peanut butter and chocolate icing, both with the Canadian
version of Butterfinger crushed on top), cut up some cucumbers, swept and
mopped the floors, and washed all the dishes I used. By the time that was all
done it was about one o’clock.
I was pretty tired
so I headed back to my tent and rested for an hour. When I got up my voice was
almost back though still strained but my throat was sorer (how does that
work?). Now I need to hop on my chores for the day. Richard’s laundry still
needs to be done, he’s got another hole in his pants that needs to be mended,
and I need to study for that permit test some more (I forgot to yesterday, I
was so busy lol).
Oh, I hope they
like the cake. I can’t wait to have a piece!
*
The planters all
started meandering back into camp around 7 and Richard got back at about 8. He
was so tired he was about to fall over. It had been a hard day but he had made
it and with some nice numbers as well. J
We ate dinner (everyone loved the cake; oh man, it was so good…mmm), had a
shower, and headed back to the tent where we watched some Transformers before
we finally went to sleep….until we were awakened by a certain brother of
Richard’s (*cough*…Brenton…*cough*) sending us a text message at 11:30. lol
I was just about
asleep and far enough gone that when the phone went off I mumbled to Richard, “Please
tell me that’s not the alarm.” lol We got a good laugh out of it J
Tree Planting Day 34, July 7th, (Shift 9, Day 3):
It wasn’t very
cold this morning but it sure is a scorcher of a day (guess that saying of
Richard’s isn’t quite accurate lol). We went in like normal, got lunch, then
breakfast, and headed to the dry bus to get Richard ready to go.
Random cool thing:
Part of getting Richard ready for the day is taping his hands with duct tape to
give them some support and to protect them throughout the day. Well, many times
I make the pieces too long and we have to cut them down. Those little nubs I
stick on the knee of my pants so they don’t end up on the ground and so I’ll remember
to throw them away later. The tape normally leaves a black outline on my pants
after I pull it off. Anyway, today I looked down at my knee and realized that
one of the shapes made the perfect superman symbol! It even almost has an “S”
in the middle of it! It was so cool. lol I pointed it out to Richard and he
laughed. I have Superman pants! lol
Anyway…I got the
dishes done and then got on my chores. I realized yesterday that you really
need more than a couple hours for the clothes to dry outside. The sun starts to
create some pretty long shadows by 5 which cover the area where I normally hang
the clothes. Because I got them out late the other day they weren’t quite dry
and I had to hang them in the dry bus overnight. Poor Richard, it meant he didn’t
have any work socks in the tent this morning but he did have normal socks so he
wasn’t completely without. I just felt bad because I hadn’t gotten them done
before he needed them…
Now I can’t find
my knife! I got back to the tent last night and it wasn’t in my pocket. I
looked everywhere for it this morning and still nothing. Man…I liked that
knife.
I found out today
that we’re moving camp in two shifts…so the proposed date is the 20th.
We’ll see if that actually happens. lol I talked Richard into going into town
for our day off; I need to do laundry. At first he was hesitant until I told
him that the new Spiderman movie was out, then “Ok, no problem, sounds great”.
lol I can’t wait to see that movie, it looks so good!
One more random
thing, lol, my voice is almost back! I have a bit of a cough still and my voice
sounds pretty pathetic. It’s not like when you’re losing it and it’s cracking
like crazy, no, it’s just really high pitched and annoying. lol
*
They came back on
time today! Yay! lol Unfortunately the cook shack had lost its propane
tank earlier in the day and dinner was
so not ready. Something had happened to get the lines clogged or disconnected
and so the propane wasn’t flowing to the stove or even the hot water tank.
There was a lot of scrambling to try and figure out how to fix it.
Dinner still
wasn’t ready by the time Richard got here so we headed back to the tent to sit
in our chairs in the shade of the vestibule. It was great to sit back, prop our
feet up and relax without mosquitoes trying to pick you up and carry you away.
lol
Come about 8
o’clock we decided to go check to see if dinner was ready. Sure enough, it was.
We had dinner then a sponge bath. It was still way too hot for Richard to take
a shower. lol Once we were all cleaned up we headed to bed. It was about 11
before the temperature really started cooling down.
Tree Planting Day 35, July 8th, (Shift 9, Day 4):
We had a good
morning. It was nice and cool but not really cold. I got Richard another jug of
water for the day. Apparently yesterday he didn’t have enough water so he had
started rationing it to make sure it lasted the day. Well, I won’t have that.
lol So I found an empty milk jug and filled it up for him. He said he was going
to bury it so that it got really cold while he was working.
My voice was still
messing up this morning. I could hardly talk at breakfast but a cup of hot
chocolate warmed things up pretty quickly. Now I just need to get rid of this
cough!
By the time I got
all the chores done for the day I was sweating. Man it is hot here and they are
not equipped to deal with it. lol It was supposed to get up into the high 90s
(that’s 32 for you Canadians) I was telling April that it may get hot in the
south but at least they do something about it. lol There would be some kind of
fan or window AC rigged up in a window to keep the cook shack cool. As it is
they don’t even know if there is a fan in camp…lol I suggested we build a pool
but no one seemed too enthusiastic. J
Shelby said I should go to the creek but I’m not quite sure I want to tempt the
bears…
Tomorrow it’s
supposed pass 100 (35 C) and they still have the planters out. Poor guys, they
were so miserable yesterday. Thankfully, after today, they only have one more
day of work before a day off. And…Brett is feeling sorry for them so tonight
they get to party. J
They’re having a
barbeque for dinner and Brett is bringing in some beer and coke for them to
enjoy. I think we’re even having ice cream for dessert. It should be a good
night…if it’ll cool off!
Ok, that’s it, I’m
putting on shorts…
*
We had a great
dinner. It started cooling off as the planters started arriving. Everyone was
sitting around in lawn chairs eating their steak and drinking their beers.
Brett and Marie, knowing that Richard and I don’t drink, picked up two root
beers for us. They’re so sweet. J
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