Adventuring Again

While this is a rather self-indulgent blog since I'm only gone for two weeks, I figured I'd let y'all know what I'm up to now that I'm out of school for the summer.

School finished on Friday. Well, technically Monday, but I go out of it to go planting. Jordan had heard from Brad Geleynse that the crew we planted for last year was going late, and they needed more planters. So Saturday night I booked a flight to Thunder Bay. Very last minute, very unplanned, very adventurous. And very unlike me.

I arrived early Monday morning, and after a few hours, one of the tree runners who was in town for the weekend picked me up at the airport. Barnes was our tree runner last year too, but I didn't know him very well. He had nicknamed me "The Nazi" because of my strict kitchen rules, and quite frankly, I thought he was a bit of scary dude. But we chatted for all four hours of the drive into the bush, and I think he was just glad to have another planter to help finish off the trees.

When I got to camp it was great to see some of the planters from last year...although everyone kept asking "So you're crazy enough to come back, eh?" Everyone was pretty low on morale, since the land had been shitty, the plant was going long, and they'd been far from civilization for a month and a half.

I got set up in a tent from Dave, and while he warned me that it leaked, I brushed it off--I wasn't here to stay warm and dry! I didn't have a mattress, so I slept on the ground, and when it stormed the first night, I found out Dave was right about the leaking. I woke up next to a small lake. I ad enough dry clothes to plant, and heaped all my stuff on the dry side of the tent before heading out for the day. Apparently I'd showed up for one of the crappiest days of planting this season--it rained all day long, and not the nice kind, but the cold kind that gets in your bones and makes you shiver and shake if you stop and stand still. And the land was a little wild--basically were were planting a forest within another forest.And I tweaked my knee within the first three hours. We planted late, and I was soaked to my underwear, but I survived just fine; there was no way I was gonna start complaining after having been there only a day! I got back to camp to find out that my tent had blown over during the day, and that the lake on the floor had been poured onto my sleeping bag and clothes in the process. I'd shown up with one sweater and one pair of pants and after one day I was out of dry clothes. The planters took care of me real well though--Dave fixed me up with a dry sleeping bag, Eric with a sweater and pants, and Brad lent me a dry pair of shoes. After a drink and a smoke on the porch with the boys, it was all better!

That night it was freezing, and although I slept with a t-shirt tied around my head to keep the heat in, I woke up every half hour, wishing it was morning so I could get up and get moving. It finally came, with sun shining, and we headed out to finish off the terrible block. Instead of cold rain, it was really hot, so the bugs were out in full force. I'd forgotten about the bugs... After another late day of planting we got back, and I fell into bed, exhausted. The t-shirt had fallen off last night, so this time I bobby-pinned a pair of underwear on my head like a toque. It worked like a charm! When I woke up in the morning, everything was a bit fuzzy. When I rubbed my eyes I started to see a bit better, but I could only half open my left eye. I felt my cheek, and it was hot and swollen. Turns out I'd been bitten quite a bit by deer flies the day before, and now my face was puffy and swollen. Time to get out the sunglasses!

Thursday's plant was supposed to be our last long day. It was a hotter day, but we ended up finishing quickly, since the land was a lot better(although I got to plant a forest in a forest again). We got back to camp around 4, packed up, jumped in the lake to cool down / shower, and loaded up on the bus. I think swimming in a cold lake after sweating buckets all day ranks on my list of "Top 10 Favourite Things To Do"--such an incredible feeling! The bus ride was long, loud, and bumpy, but we finally rolled back into the shop at midnight. It seems almost everyone had a place to go, but apparently I'm on a kick where I don't plan anything, so I just found a bunk house at the shop that was unlocked, moved around some of the equipment, and had a decent bed for the night. This morning I snuck into the shop to shower, and here I am, sitting in the office waiting to see if I can get a ride into Thunder Bay for food.

Planting is incredibly frustrating, and after some of the stories I heard, I'm glad I wasn't here for the whole contract. But I'm glad I'm here. There's forests and fields everywhere. There's different people. There's very little stress. There's very little planning. I'm sore, but in a good way. I don't care what I wear. I dont' care how I look (although the fact that my face is lopsided bothers me a little bit). I don't care how I smell. I love being covered in dirt! I like the ridiculousness of riding to work on bus that's about to break down. I like working with people who are young and full of enthusiasm. I like the shared misery. I like the laid-back attitude. I like sleeping in a tent.

I don't like planting, but I like being here.

Back at it!

The land

Despite duct-taping my fingers, they took quite a beating on Day 1