We have now successfully completed a full week of work and I have realized that this is the first time in my life when my work has been manual labor. It is exhausting. We work ten hour days, four days a week. The work days seem long, but our team has gotten into a good groove with conversation, working games, and music to keep us going throughout the day.
Carly removing Mistletoe from a Mesquite Tree
This first week our primary tasks involved removing of non-native invasive plant species. First was the Mistletoe, a project that seems never ending and will be our go to task throughout the eight weeks that we are here. This mistletoe is not exactly the Christmas kissing plant that we typically think of. Some of the Birds who live here eat berries off of the Mistletoe plants, then they sit in Mesquite trees, poop on the branches, and Mistletoe grows off the trees, eventually killing the tree. Lucky for us, Mistletoe is fairly easy to remove and does not have any prickers on it. Unlucky for us, the Mesquite trees make up for the Mistletoe's lack of prickers. We all have scrapes along our arms and legs from climbing through Mesquite bushes to reach Mistletoe tucked far away. On Wednesday I spent a solid two hours or so moving deep into one Mesquite bush and pulling out tons of Mistletoe, just to later be told that the tree was dead and was going to be taken out with a chainsaw...darn.
Katie Cleaning Up the Fallen Mistletoe
In addition to removing Mistletoe, we have also been taking out another non-native species: a tree called Tamarisk. Taylor, Danny, and Abby our Team Leader are all chainsaw certified and they have been very busy with the chainsaws taking down the Tamarisk. Many of the trees are young and easily removed, but in the four days of this week we took down 14 trees that needed to be dug out and uprooted.
After digging around the roots, one of the rangers or other volunteers comes in with the truck and pulls the stump out.
While digging out the stumps we have come across some crazy desert critters as well. First off, we found some Kangaroo Rats. Rat is really a misleading name because they are cute and look more like mice. We also found a baby Coral Snake, a lizard, and the most dramatic find of them all, a Tarantula! Maya, an animal lover, proceeded to pick up each of the animals we found. I however, did not pick up any of them and backed away at the initial sight of the large hairy spider, which I later got closer too and decided was pretty cool to look at while it was in someone else's hand.
The work days are long and tiring, but I do like the work. I am glad that we get to work so closely as a team, since on our last project we were so spread out throughout the day. And the location really could not be topped. It is warm during the days, brilliantly sunny, and breathtaking to look at the scenery.
And our location is even that much better on our days off. Yesterday we started the day with a hike to fulfill our weekly physical training requirements, then spent the bulk of the afternoon sitting poolside and reading. I am currently reading the book, Tinkers, a gift from the wonderful Lynda Sorenson, and I am really enjoying it. It is nice to read a book that takes place in New England while I am away from home.
The one drawback to the weekends we discovered last night. This weekend is a long holiday weekend, and the state of the campground definitely reflects that. The place is packed and it feels like our peaceful home has been invaded for a few days. We are surrounded by trailers and it was so loud last night and this morning. There is no sleeping in possible in a tent. But if this is the biggest complaint, life certainly can't be all that bad. We escaped the madness today by heading into Julian for some town time and internet time. Maya, Carly, and I discovered a lovely tea shop in town which I will definitely have to revisit at a later date, and all the girls had a lovely lunch at "Soups and Such." This evening it is off to "The Red Barn" for our first taste of something comparable to nightlife. Pizza and live music is the order of the evening and we are all very much looking forward to it.
My internet time has come to a close, so I will have to fill in more later. I hope all is well with everyone. Send along updates of your lives too!
