hold your hardhats.

it's been a little while since i've written, but life has been really busy! this is the point when my blog switches from sharing conversations with kindergartners to sharing the amazing experiences i'll have becoming a super buff trail building machine! okay, it won't be that dramatic, but i'm excited to have a shift in my responsibilities.

when i got back from break, we jumped right into trail season. with few hours of sleep and not enough time to unpack and repack, all of us hopped into vans for a 2-day crew leader retreat at this beautiful place called Nobleview. it was a great training filled with fun memories and adventures. we all bonded over the lack of running, potable water (yay outhouses!), and a few of us even slept out on a roof so we could gaze at the stars all night and wake up to a beautiful sunrise over some distant city nestled in the hills.

when we returned to hawley, we had a few more hours of training, some rushed unpacking and repacking, a round of showers at the neighboring state forest since our water situation is a bit precarious, and a night of sleep in our own beds.

in the morning, 6 of us packed up into a minivan (with a trailer!) to head out on some site visits in the central part of the state with the conservation coordinator. these were the sites that the 6 of us would be crew leading, so it was great to get a visual sense of the work we'd be doing and our accommodations. i loved being able to see so many beautiful locations in such a short time! we stayed at a mass audobon site called wachusett meadow. they had adorable cats and goats! it was good practice to cook a meal off site (note to self, never cook sweet potato burritos on hitch! or...minimize the ingredients!) and stay the night in tents. i just bought a new sleeping bag and love it!

my site visit was a little strange...i didn't actually meet the person i'd be working with, so i didn't learn a whole lot about the exact project. we got some insight onto the philosophical foundations of trail work, but that wasn't what i was expecting at all...i think my project will be a lot of fun, but the actual site visit was a tad awkward...

then, this week we broke up into different groups (and were joined by the central and berkshire trail building crews) for specialty skills. while other folks were learning how to wield chainsaws and use a high line pulley system called a grip hoist, i learned how to be a carpenter! we actually build 60 feet of boardwalk in two sections on a boggy/marshy part of a trail at the clarksburg state park. we learned everything from site planning and layout to how to use power tools to finishing up and making sure the site looked like we were never there (except for the amazing boardwalk!). i discovered the joy of a good pair of work pants (there are so many pockets!!) and the importance of dressing in layers. it was really hard work, but it made me look forward to a summer of meaningful work!

: )

by the way, an update on the job situation, i accepted an instructor position at the high trails outdoor science school in southern california for the 2010-2011 school year! should be exciting!!!