It's beginning to feel a lot like spring

I can hardly believe I've been at Bear Brook for over two months. We just finished week four in our classrooms, so we're almost half way done with education season. Schools were out for the final week of February so instead of teaching we did training and had a few guest speakers. All in all it was good to have a break out of schools but I'm glad to be getting back into it.

I also am having trouble believing that winter is nearly over. While we still have over two feet of snow on the ground, it's quickly melting due to temperatures above freezing every day this week. I started off March by spending a weekend in Montreal, Canada. That was an amazing, yet fairly chilly experience. We spent Friday night at a friend's house in Vermont and then drove into Montreal Saturday. We spent the day exploring the city and waiting for the reason for our travel, the Nuit Blanche festival. In a nutshell this event incorporates art, music, games, food, and sight seeing into an all night adventure. Most of the activities stayed open til 3 am. I stayed up til nearly 2 am and then walked back to our hostel for the night. I look forward to seeing the city again when I'm not shivering every time I walk outside.

So back to the spring weather. While days here have been increasingly warm, the nights are still quite cold. This has been causing our roads to thaw during the day and re freeze overnight. It's a good thing we have a sander to keep our roads safe. It amazes me that I have yet to see any bit of the ground. The night before I arrived here a snow storm came through and there has been almost no melting since then. With the warmer temperatures also will come a thaw of our frozen ponds. Last week we measured the thickness of the ice at 22 inches, but I suspect that will rapidly decrease. While I'm looking forward to spring and slightly warmer temperatures, I'm not looking forward to a hot and humid summer. I'm sure soon enough I'll be wishing for single digits again so I'm cool enough to sleep by the fire.

For now that's all my updates. Right now I'm enjoying a lazy afternoon in the lodge. Some people are out in town and others are staying in camp. As per usual, I won't see everyone again until Monday morning. But sometimes the quiet is a nice change.

Snow, snow and wouldn't you know... more snow

Well there's only one week left in February. And winter has no intentions of slowing down. Every week I look ahead at the weather forecast and see another snowstorm headed our way. Right now my guess is that we have about three feet of existing snow on the ground. In areas where it's been piled it's at least five feet. For perspective that's about level with my shoulders. Now for everyone who listened to me talk about my expectations for this job, you know that I frequently mentioned wanting lots and lots of snow. While I'm quickly tiring of shoveling out vehicles, walkways, raking off roofs and the constant school delays or cancellations, I continue to be thrilled by the prospect of more snow. However the week ahead promises the threat of ice as well, due to warmer days and cold nights. Luckily schools are on break this week so we don't have too many places to go outside of camp.

Our first three weeks of teaching have been amazing and exhausting and a mixture of many other emotions. More and more I can see myself working in this sort of environment long term. It's quite a change for me from what I've done in the past. I distinctly remember all my years in school being terrified to speak in front of a class. I admit I was nervous before I got into the classrooms here, and I still am slightly nervous at times. But it quickly fades once I get into the lesson.

This is due largely to having a teaching partner that I can rely on. This was especially true for our past week. On Valentine's Day a large number of us volunteered at a winter festival on a farm a couple hours away. The wind chill for that night was -25 and the day wasn't much warmer. By the time we were headed home I knew that I was getting a cold. This cold turned out to be a week long illness. After resting for a couple days I felt well enough to teach on Tuesday, but realized when I returned home that I had pushed myself too quickly. I spent the next two days off work. My teaching partner stepped up and taught alone on Wednesday, but he too fell sick and our Thursday lesson had to be rescheduled. So now I'm finally almost 100% and looking forward to being more active.

I can already begin to see how fast education season is passing by. Mid April we finish teaching in schools and transition to conservation season, which will last until we finish in late October. We have our tentative schedule for the rest of the year and I'm excited to hear about the projects we'll be doing. One event I'm extremely excited about is called All Corps. This takes place in mid July in Massachusetts. Basically several corps including ours come together for a few days to meet and we have competitions. I'm assuming some of these will include things like fire building, races and survival skills. But the specifics haven't been shared with us just yet. One thing we do know is that last year NH Corps took home the silver hammer and we've all got gold in our sights. We are also in the process of designing our flag to take with us. Each cabin will be coming up with their own small design and we will have a large design for the corps as a whole.

For now that's it for the big news. Most likely I'll spend a good portion of my weekend indoors, watching movies or playing board games and possibly watching more snow fall tomorrow. If I get inspired to walk around in the cold I may add some photos later today or tomorrow. Take care.

It's February Already?

Where does the time go? It seems I'm always mentioning this in my blogs, but it's so true. I can hardly believe I've been at Bear Brook over a month. Already I have so many stories and new friends to talk about, I could go on for hours. Last week we received nearly two feet of new snow, another few inches throughout the week, and today through Monday we're due for at least another foot. It still amazes me that it's not just a foot of snow on the ground, it's a foot of new snow to add to everything that's been on the ground since the day before I arrived. So we'll be over three feet soon. And even if you don't like the cold, I can't express enough that what I see each day just sitting on my front porch is some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Sure the negative temperatures at night and only a wood stove to heat our cabin has left us fairly cold in the morning, but when we're having a snowball fight or sliding around the ice on the frozen pond, it's hard to remember how cold it actually is.

Last week concluded our education training. We worked intensely with our teaching teams to create our first lesson and prepare for the upcoming week. Due to our snow days schools were canceled on the days we were supposed to observe classrooms, but we were all able to reschedule. Being able to meet the teachers and students ahead of time was a great advantage. My teaching team consists of me and one of my new friends Brandon. Together we teach three days a week, two lessons a day at two different schools, four 4th grade classrooms and two 3rd grade. We also have three after school programs, one each day that we are teaching. Monday is our usual community day in camp, we teach Tuesday through Thursday, and have Friday in camp to plan for the next week.

So far we've had very few challenges with our lesson planning and teaching. My initial nerves quickly disappeared and we were able to improve each time we taught our lesson. Our basic lesson plan for the next nine weeks will consist of New Hampshire animals, plants, habitats and ecosystems. Basically we could be teaching anything nature based. The purpose of us coming into the classrooms is to add a science lesson that some of the school may not be able to provide. We also do our best to get the kids outside, even if there is three feet of snow. At the end of our ten week program, which is mid April, we will be doing a Service Learning Project in each classroom/school. In the past this has been anything from and outdoor classroom to a mural in the school to a recycling program. It's an opportunity for us to leave a lasting project that the kids can see as they continue in school and it enhances the school program as well.

That's the basic overview of what I've been up to for the past two weeks. There is always something new happening and I'll be sure to keep everyone posted as best as I can. Which reminds me, Valentines Day is coming up next weekend. We drew names for a "secret valentine" who we will leave handmade gifts throughout this week up til Valentines Day. I've got a few good ideas up my sleeve. And Valentines Day we'll be headed to Prescott Farms for their annual Winter Festival, where we will be volunteering but also we will be able to participate in activities such as a sleigh ride, a bonfire, and other outdoor activities. As I said, there's always something going on. =)

Two Weeks

Today marks two weeks since I arrived at Bear Brook State Park. In this time I have met my leaders and fellow members (except for two who have yet to arrive) and begun to make amazing friendships. For the first week we mainly did orientation talks and activities. This week we began learning about what our education season will look like. We will have two more weeks of education training before heading into the schools. We have had guest speakers, many activities, and hours of basic knowledge.

Tomorrow is MLK Day, where we will be doing various service projects throughout the community. At the end of the day we will learn who our teaching partners are. We will be put in groups of two or three people, and these will be our partners through April. As teams we will be assigned certain schools where we will teach lessons related to NH environment and wildlife. I'm very excited to find out who I will be working with; we are assigned partners instead of choosing them for ourselves. The past two weeks have also been observation for our leader so she can decide who to pair together.

The natural environment surrounding our cabins is as beautiful as anything I've ever seen. So far everything has constantly been blanketed in several inches of snow. We've had a few days were more snow has fallen but so far very little has melted. Today is the warmest day we've had so far, with temperatures near 40. While it will be a nice change from negatives at night (or sometimes during the day) I don't want to see the snow disappear. I'm sure that we will receive plenty more as winter continues. I'm hoping for at least one big blizzard.

As has become routine for our weekends, we spent the last two nights staying up well past midnight and sleeping in. So far the weekends are ours to do what we want. I tend to choose the path that keeps my inside to rest and prepare for the week ahead. However in this gorgeous environment it's hard to stay inside for too long. Last night sometime after 10 we got a small group together and took a short hike to one of the larger ponds near our camp. The new moon gives an amazing opportunity to have a very dark night. We walked to the middle of the snow dusted frozen pond, turned off our lights and watched the night sky. The stars were incredible and luckily I've adjusted to the cold enough to not be freezing even in the single digit temperature.

After a bit of a turn around in direction we made it back to our cabin. In our cabin there are eight people, each with a twin bed in the form of four bunk beds. We have a wood stove as our only heat and when properly managed throughout the night, it keeps us very warm. Although most of us don't naturally wake up in the middle of the night to put more wood on and therefore we have had the problem of waking up to a very cold cabin. As has become routine, when we returned just after midnight last night the four of us who were there stayed up til nearly 2 am talking and sharing stories. Every cabin will say that they have the best cabin, but I wouldn't want to change any of my cabin mates.

It's hard to believe that two weeks has already passed. 1/20th of our time has passed. 10 months still seems a long way off, but we've been warned that once the end nears we'll look back and wonder where the time went. I know this feeling all too well. For now I'm doing my best to stay in the moment, but it's hard not to wonder about all the things that tomorrow holds, and this week, and so on. I hope to keep up this blog regularly, although it depends on our internet capabilities. For now, I look forward to a relaxing afternoon inside, watching the rain fall.

Catching Up

Welcome 2015! It's been a while since my last post. I was home in TN for two months between jobs. I am so thankful to have been able to spend the holidays with friends and family. I had a lot of time to relax, catch up on reading, catch up on sleep, and eat amazing food. But as usual, I came home with one foot already out the door.

New Year's day me and my parents packed up the car and headed north. On the 4th I began my new job with SCA NH Corps; which will last through October of this year. Since arriving it has been basically non-stop. The night before coming here the area received apx. four inches of snow, which quickly became ice. So all our packing, moving, site tours, etc have been through the crunch and slush. This week is supposed to be the coldest yet for this winter.

Throughout the afternoon yesterday my fellow corps members arrived. I along with a group of apx 10 others decided to go on a hike to try to find a pond. Throughout the two hours of walking we were unable to find the pond but we had a good time getting to know each other. That night we had our first supper together and spent the night in the main lodge. That in and of itself was an adventure. 26 virtual strangers in one room with a wide variation of board games. It took a while to decide how late everyone should stay awake but we eventually found ourselves in a comfortable sleeping arrangement. Just before falling asleep our 27th member arrived and now there are only two more to come.

Today we had a tour of the lodge and all the mechanics of how the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room work. Then we took tours of the five cabins and decided among ourselves who would be in which cabin. Then we moved in and started our first fire in our wood stove. We have yet to decided on a cabin name but probably will tonight. Tomorrow is another day of orientation; more time outside in the increasingly cold weather. By Thursday the high temperature is supposed to be 6 degrees with a wind chill of -20. I'm not yet sure how I'll respond to this but hopefully I can adjust quickly.

For now that's all the news I have. I'm enjoying getting to know everyone here and settling into a rhythm. Our two more crew members should arrive this week or next week.

That's All Folks

I'm writing this latest blog from my home in Tennessee. I have seen my last of the Colorado mountains for now and have said my goodbyes to my new friends. We concluded our season on Oct. 22 after hitch #10. For this final hitch "Constellation" went to La Garita once more to work on an existing trail. At this campsite we were surrounded by mountains, which caused the sun to be blocked out shortly after 4 pm. The cold mornings were the hardest part of these days, with frost on our tents and ice in our drinking water. But luckily we were able to have campfires and keep ourselves warm.

We had planned to spend three nights working on this trail before moving sites. But when we returned to camp on our last day we found that our rig had a dead battery. Long story short, we ended up spending one extra night and had a member of the office drive up to give us a jump start. Then we drove on to Del Norte and Stone Quarry Trail, the site of our very first hitch. This was Friday morning.

We worked on this trail alongside "Tree" crew, building new tread for a mountain bike trail and a few structures. Each night we shared meals between our two crews and enjoyed time around our campfire. This was a special opportunity for the two five month crews to spend a few last days together. On Monday afternoon we finished our work and headed back to Salida for graduation.

We spent Monday night thru Wednesday morning at Salida Fire Camp, enjoying time with the entire fall crew and staff. We had wonderful potluck meals and shared many memories. On Wednesday we all returned to the office to do a final de-rig, which took most of the day. Then we had a final debrief, said our goodbyes and shared many hugs and tears.

I spent my last few days in Colorado with my parents in Manitou Springs. As much as I enjoyed my summer and fall, I was anxious to return East. The friends I've made and the memories I hold are a strong reminder of the amazing community that SCC offers. In January I start my next job in New Hampshire; where I will have the great fortune of reuniting with a member of "Tree" crew as we work alongside each other for 10 months. For now I will be enjoying two months at home.

Hitch #9

This hitch we were at Eleven Mile State Park in Park County, almost two hours North of Salida. From day one I knew that this hitch would be different from any hitch before. Firstly all the mountains in view were covered in snow. Secondly we were on our first fencing project. We arrived to our campsite on day one and as we unpacked the rain became steadily stronger and lightning rolled in. Before we set up our personal gear we were met by a park ranger who brought us to the office to discuss our project and answer any questions. It was during this time that he had to take off to deal with an emergency call that had unforeseen results for us. Long story short we ended up not staying at our original campsite and instead we were moved to a bunkhouse in a different park of the park.

This turned out to be a wonderful change. Rather than camping outside in the below freezing weather at night, we each had beds to sleep on and a warm house to go back to. I think the best part of this was having a fridge to keep our food from going bad, which usually happens by half way through our hitch. The weather was chilly and windy, especially when we were working near the lake. At night there was a possibility of snow but it never materialized.

On day two our work began. The week consisted of taking out old barbed wire fence and replacing it. Overall we worked on nearly two miles of fence. There were various small injuries from this work, including but not limited to scratches, smashed fingers, sunburn, and wind chilled faces. I think I was the person with the most scratches; apparently I was not as careful with the barbed wire as others.

This hitch gave me the opportunity to learn new skills in a little over a week. Just knowing that I have those skills gives me new confidence. As I prepare for my 10th and final hitch I am looking forward to gaining even more skills. The plan for this hitch is a split hitch; first half back country in the La Garita wilderness and second half working alongside our fellow five month crew on Stone Quarry Trail outside Del Norte. I am very much looking forward to this hitch, especially because our final site will be the same as our very first hitch.