PB Saturday

Saturday was a great day! At one point, I was actually smiling in my piece. That is rare. In the morning the crew was split into two groups--one in the van, one on the bus. (Sidenote--why do you say IN a van, but ON a bus? You get INto both and sit ON seats in both...). Anyways, I was on the bus with all rookies, except Brandon, one vet. We were pretty worried we were being sent out to some shitty land, but we ended up pulling up to a block of beautiful, creamy soil with fresh furrows!


The weather was great. It was a hot day, but there was a bit of a breeze, so the bugs weren't unbearable. And I had my ipod cranked so I couldn't hear them anyways. That's the worst--just hearing them buzzing all over you. At one point our supervisor, Jon, came walking through my piece, wielding a shovel and an axe. We chatted a bit about the land and then he casually added, "Oh, yeah, and there's a bear." Great! He went on and explained, "I saw something moving in a tree so I looked up a thought, 'Oh look a koala!' and then I realized, 'Bleep! There's no koala's here!' and when I turned around there was a huge mother bear standing on her hind legs 20 feet away!" Even better--a mother bear! So I asked what to do and Jon says, "Well, mother's get kinda aggressive if you get aggressive so...just pull your headphones out and listen for screaming." Aw man! I don't wanna get eaten by a bear today! So I did take my headphones out, and I listened to the symphony of black flies, deer flies, horse flies, and noseeums for the rest of the day. My routine changed a bit too--plant a tree, look around, plant a tree, look around... But, no bears in sight!


We planted a long day, and I planted hard, so I ended up hitting 3k! Last year my PB was 2400, so I was pretty psyched to beat that by a bag-up and a half. I found out later that Jon promised ice cream to anyone who hit 3k, so we stopped in Kek on the way home. That was the best way to end the day for sure!


Sunday was nothing special, but it was relaxing. As a nomad I've had to rely on the good graces of others to get around, and the planters didn't fail. I got a ride into Thunder Bay with Dave, had a place to sleep at Leif's, got picked up to do laundry by Ian, and then spent a few hours climbing Mt. McKay with some of the guys. That was a tough climb, but the view was worth it!


I spent a little while today planning what to cook for the end of the contract. Before I left Jordan bet me $10 that I'd be asked to finish the contract cooking, and sure enough, since it's going so long, the cook has made other plans, and Green Mantle needs a cook. So I'm filling in for the last 3 or 4 days, and I'm pretty excited to whip out some of those great recipes from last year! More fun to come yet this week!


Anyways, time for bed. Peace, friends!





Mt. McKay











My fingers after Day 4. And that's after a shower! I guess you don't need a band-aid when you have a dirt scab!