April 29th 2010
This week has been awesome, everyday different and hard work. Before I get into this week I’ll do a little recap of last week…last week was a lot of ditches. We did ditches everyday. Part of the Silver Lake Ditch runs right behind our house so we hiked back there in order to fix a few areas that were leaking by adding a bunch of rocks and dirt. Tuesday we laid some seed stuff along one of the trails in order to make the soil better for growing vegetation. That was something different and kind of exciting because there were cows put in the area to “cut the grass” and when our bosses truck drove up they thought she was feeding them so twice they all came jogging towards us in hopes of food. I have never been that close to a cow before, wow they are big animals. Friday Megan and I had our first Capping event. We went to Fairview High School here in Boulder and talked to about 25 kids about Americorps NCCC, we figured about a third of them would actually apply, which was a pretty good number. We set up a table during their lunch periods in a common area and people would walk up to our table. We found it so interesting to sit and watch the kids in the hallways. It was like a movie, in many funny ways.
Last Monday we had training for this ISP we did with Climate Smart this past Saturday. We were put in pairs and given a rolling cart full of energy saving tools and supplies (drying rack, low flow shower head/hose nozzle, CFL’s and many more things). Then Claire and I were given a route of houses to go to. We went up to the door and asked if they were interested in this free service of changing out up to 20 light bulbs from old ones to new energy saving bulbs. Most of the homes we knocked on were not home, or not interested. We were able to go into one home of a very appreciative older couple. They were so nice and even gave us presents of frames with words in them. We were pretty discouraged before getting to their house, but they really made our day. What I thought was going to be nerve racking and stressful, turned out to be really fun.
Saturday was the light bulb volunteering and then Sunday Megan and I walked in the Boulder Earth Day 5K which was a lot of fun. I really miss being able to walk everyday, and the scenery was beautiful as it always is here. We then went to the Earth Day fair thing they had down town and were able to meet up and get lunch with some of our friends from the team that is based in Denver. After a relaxing movie afternoon at the mansion Paul and I went for a walk and then to The North Face store… my weakness to the max. I bought this really nice jacket that was on sale which I love. But, I also got a lunch bag and a laundry bag (I had neither) that were made out of old tents that were defective and factory mishaps. They are so awesome, and a dollar goes to a kids organization aimed at giving kids more knowledge about our natural world. They were also surprisingly really cheap (surprising coming from North Face).
And that brings me to this week…as of now I am sitting in my bed because we were planning on leaving at 8:15 but we woke up to it snowing so we aren’t leaving until 9 now. Crazy Colorado and its’ weather, yesterday after work we ran to the store and I was in shorts and now… snow!! This week has been a lot of hard work. Monday was one heck of a day. We worked with the IPM team removing Mediterranean Sage, which is what we did more of at the beginning of the project. We walked a few miles that day in our steel toes, with a shovel in hand and our back packs on… not to mention a mile back to the car up and down hills. The ground was also very uneven which made for people on my team to get blisters like whoa. Man oh man were we tired at the end of that day. Oh and we saw five rattlesnakes and one non rattle snake snake. Only one rattled because they said they were sleeping and sunning, so they moved slowly which made for a good view on our part.
Tuesday we built a rock wall made out of railroad ties, cement, all sizes of rocks and our sweat J. We carried the massive railroad ties, 60 pound bags of cement and all of the tools down the trail over and over again. It was another very tiring day, we even worked a longer day by choice in order to get the job done. The outcome was great and the wall will hopefully keep the expensive houses belong the ditch from getting flooded for ten years. So the soreness of our bodies continued. It was a beautiful day weather wise in Boulder which made it a lot more bearable carrying the 60 lb backs of cement on a trail for about a half mile over and over again. It was a great team bonding day that's for sure. I am going to miss people on this team so much next round when we go back to our original teams a week from tomorrow.
Yesterday was amazing, we FINALLY got to work with the FEMP team which works on forest restoration. They cut down trees and do controlled burns to control the size of the forest in Boulder. It was another beautiful day here and thankfully it was pretty high winds to keep up from overly sweating. We hauled a bunch of scrap, that they had cut prior to yesterday, into piles that we later hauled to the chipper which was so cool. It was raining wood chips and smelled wonderfully. We also cut down a bunch of smaller "only" 25 year old trees with hand saws and hauled those up to the road to be later chipped and returned to the forest floor. It was an amazing day, hard work but still a ton of fun. Not to mention all of us ladies were excited to work with the good looking FEMP crew... none as good looking as Paul thought :-) Jocie and I then made 5 amazing homemade pizzas for dinner with a dessert of course (they all know my sweets addiction). After dinner Michelle and I dropped people off at the Internet and YMCA before setting off to many different stores to find the perfect presents for our TL Daniel's bday tomorrow. I really like to plan these kind of things so I took it under my wing to collect to money and find the perfect gifts, which we were able to do. I love knowing that the present receiver will love their present and can't wait until tomorrow to give it to him and decorate the house.
Well, here I am... now at Barnes and Nobles since there is still snow on the ground we are not leaving the house until 11:30 to head to a tour of the National Center for Atmospheric Research which should be pretty interesting we hope. Then one of the OSMP staff we have been working with (Bob) is giving us a presentation at 1:30 and we are calling it a day!!! So wonderful, then tomorrow is Daniel's 24th bday so we are getting a cake and heading to dinner with him. After dinner most of the team is heading to Denver and staying in the dorms since Saturday we have the Walk MS volunteer day long event. It will be a long day but should be a ton of fun!!
Well, I need to use the rest of my Internet time to look at jobs, places to live, and canine friends.
Miss and love MN,
Nicole Marie Burg
p.s. I can't believe: I am almost 23, how amazing/challenging this experience has been, how fast it has gone by, it's almost time to head back to MN for an amazing Burg wedding!!!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
April 25th, 2010
I still think its mighty crazy that it’s already 2010… can’t believe how fast life is moving. Especially this amazing experience, since it has only a few months left. Coming into Americorps I was nervous for being away from home for ten months, it seemed like such a long time. Now we are almost done with our third spike and finding it hard to realize it’s almost over. This last week was really hard in the sense that we are all really burnt out of the whole cleaning ditches job. I wish they would throw in some invasive weed removal, and when I am hoping for a day of weed picking you know it’s getting bad. I’m excited to be back with my original team, but love this one too. It sure will be weird heading back to Denver in July thinking we are back for another transition week then off again, just to realize that we are graduating and they are sending us home. I don’t want to think about not knowing the next time I will be seeing all of these people… my “Ameri-Family”. I just can’t wait to tell everyone I know about this amazing/challenging/life changing experience and recommend it to all.
Well, I'm not feeling the best... think it was the tacos for dinner. I'll be writing hopefully tomorrow then posting it next time we get to internet.
Funny/creepy things recently:
Today I was playing a whole lot of Tetris on Super Nintendo (I just may have played for a few hours…no regrets) and Max was going upstairs so I asked if he was coming back down and he said yes
So, naturally I asked if he would bring down my Blankie and phone from on my bed.
He comes back down with my phone and my whole bed spread… I laughed so hard I started crying. Haha I attempted to tell him in my hysteria that I meant my little Blankie and he was like “Oh, you mean your yarn?” haha he went up again and came back down with… so nice of him!! J
The other day Michelle saw these pretty “yellow flowers” which were, of course, Dandelions (I guess they don’t have those in NOLA).
When we were working on Thursday it was really bad weather outside and we were working in the afternoon in a ditch that was right beside many cows. The sky was really creepy, it was windy, raining off and on and can’t forget about the cows. To of course we began talking about scary movies. I'm not a big fan of watching scary movies but we ended up watching The Shinning that night and then Identity yesterday afternoon. Well, Saturday night all of my teammates and I left either to drop people off or go out on the town. Well four of us stayed in a watched a movie. When we got back to the house Daniel was surprised to see me come in the door cause he thought I was upstairs since he kept hearing noises. SO CREEEPY!!!
lovelovelove
Nicole
I still think its mighty crazy that it’s already 2010… can’t believe how fast life is moving. Especially this amazing experience, since it has only a few months left. Coming into Americorps I was nervous for being away from home for ten months, it seemed like such a long time. Now we are almost done with our third spike and finding it hard to realize it’s almost over. This last week was really hard in the sense that we are all really burnt out of the whole cleaning ditches job. I wish they would throw in some invasive weed removal, and when I am hoping for a day of weed picking you know it’s getting bad. I’m excited to be back with my original team, but love this one too. It sure will be weird heading back to Denver in July thinking we are back for another transition week then off again, just to realize that we are graduating and they are sending us home. I don’t want to think about not knowing the next time I will be seeing all of these people… my “Ameri-Family”. I just can’t wait to tell everyone I know about this amazing/challenging/life changing experience and recommend it to all.
Well, I'm not feeling the best... think it was the tacos for dinner. I'll be writing hopefully tomorrow then posting it next time we get to internet.
Funny/creepy things recently:
Today I was playing a whole lot of Tetris on Super Nintendo (I just may have played for a few hours…no regrets) and Max was going upstairs so I asked if he was coming back down and he said yes
So, naturally I asked if he would bring down my Blankie and phone from on my bed.
He comes back down with my phone and my whole bed spread… I laughed so hard I started crying. Haha I attempted to tell him in my hysteria that I meant my little Blankie and he was like “Oh, you mean your yarn?” haha he went up again and came back down with… so nice of him!! J
The other day Michelle saw these pretty “yellow flowers” which were, of course, Dandelions (I guess they don’t have those in NOLA).
When we were working on Thursday it was really bad weather outside and we were working in the afternoon in a ditch that was right beside many cows. The sky was really creepy, it was windy, raining off and on and can’t forget about the cows. To of course we began talking about scary movies. I'm not a big fan of watching scary movies but we ended up watching The Shinning that night and then Identity yesterday afternoon. Well, Saturday night all of my teammates and I left either to drop people off or go out on the town. Well four of us stayed in a watched a movie. When we got back to the house Daniel was surprised to see me come in the door cause he thought I was upstairs since he kept hearing noises. SO CREEEPY!!!
lovelovelove
Nicole
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sunday April 18, 2010
It’s such a bummer I don’t get many chances to write these “blobs”. Well, I just got home from a wonderful hike on the path across the street from us. I have gone to the top before but dang it didn’t get any easier… It is such a beautiful day and on my few stops for water on my way up I turned around to take in the view and saw three groups of deer in three different directions of about ten deer each. It was breathtaking and makes me so grateful for this project even though at times it is very monotonous during the work day.
Last weekend was really fun when we went to the Rockies game. They lost in extra innings and we didn’t get to stay to the end because people came to the game for different reasons than watching the game and wanted to leave… lame. Also, we had to get the van back to Boulder by it’s curfew of midnight. The day was a little chilly and by the time we left the game it was mighty cold but it was my first MLB game in an open field and WOW it was amazing. With the mountains to the right and the cityscape in from of us, it made me even more excited to go to a game in the new Target Field. Friday Paul ad I went on a date to Old Chicago down on Pearl Street, he had never been and I was really craving pizza. It was really fun and nice to have some time with just us. Sunday a few of us went to and ISP with Ecocycle which is a nonprofit that focuses on recycling. We cleaned a park in this nice neighborhood, which was not far from an airport. It was constantly dropping sky divers so made for great entertainment. The rest of the day was filled with a wonderful nap and the gym/laundry and Internet.
This past week was a long one to say the least. Monday Paul Avi and I went to the Mexican restaurant right down the street from our house to watch the Twins beat the Red Sox… me in my Twins jersey and Paul in his Boston shirt which made it funny. We got to walk the water down on of the ditches we had been cleaning; which was an amazing experience, along with hard work. 1/3 of the team walked the water each day while the rest of us cleaned ahead of the water. I got to walk the water on Tuesday which turned out to be the longest and most intense day. We figured we walk about four miles with the water nonstop for 8 hours. We used pitchforks to remove the leaves and clogs of stuff from the water. During our day the ditch went where we hadn’t cleaned so it was a carpet of leaves, but it was neat because it was in the backyards of some VERY wealthy people living here in Boulder. We got to get very close to some of the biggest and most unique houses I have ever seen. We also climbed over bridges, fences to follow the ditch. One time Megan and I were in a backyard and had just ducked under a fence when we saw a deer within fifteen feet of us and were surprised it was by itself, to find out a few minutes later there were about ten other deer fenced in the yard we were working in and the one lone deer was trying to get back to its’ friends. Right after work a few of us went to REI to get a few things and I get a Bladder for my backpack which was the best 20 bucks I think I have spent in a very long time. I drink way more water now during work than I had before. The four of us who walked Tuesday were so drained that we all went to bed right after dinner to read and relax.
Wednesday was spent working, going to the gym/Internet making pizza, watching Meet the Deedles (a movie about P-Dogs) J and bedtime. Thursday was a rough day, our supervisor was in a horrible moods/it was really hot out/we had a lot of work to do. All of those things did not make very an enjoyable day at all, although we did get to feed and pet a horse and I played fetch with a dog so that was great!! After work the majority of the team headed to Denver for the training for the Walk MS we are volunteering at on Saturday May 1st for the whole day. The training was a lot of fun; we got Texas Roadhouse and our volunteer t-shirts along with meeting our crew leader. The day of the walk we have to be there at 4:45 a.m. and probably won’t get back to Boulder until around 7:00 p.m. It will be a long day but lots of fun and very rewarding. There is also a Wag MS and a Pooches Place which is where I will be any chance I can!!
Friday we went to the YMCA and then came home to shower and get ready. We headed back to the Y a little later for a free showing of Food Inc. which is a crazy movie. I had to look away for a lot of the animal parts and really think I am going to consider what I eat/might stop eating red meat and maybe someday become a vegetarian. I would love to eat only organic foods but it gets so expensive and that’s a problem considering the 13 dollars a day we make. From the movie we walked to Applebee’s for half off appetizers and when we found out it was BINGO night we were even more excited. Being it was a Friday night in Boulder it was pretty empty so our table of six won most of the games (I won once). Then we walked about a mile and a half to where the rest of the team was then took the bus home around midnight. It was a really fun night with the team.
Saturday was girl’s day for Megan, Ashley and I. We went to the Farmer’s Market then headed about twenty minutes to this amazing mall. It was so beautiful inside and had basically every store you could think of. I knew I didn’t need to buy anything but it was so great to be at the mall just shopping around. I didn’t end up getting much but it was a lot of fun. Megan and I went to see The Bounty Hunter, which was really cute. We came back for a relaxing night in at the house. And that brings me to now, after a hike, sitting on a comfy couch.
Today I think we are doing laundry and maybe the Y, then we are heading up to Nederland (a little town in the mountains) to eat dinner with a fire management team that is up there. Should be a good day, although we only have one vehicle due to the truck getting a flat tire last week which Paul put the spare on and then it got another one Friday so it had to be taken in and won’t be done till Monday (what a load). Haha so it may make it difficult to get around today.
I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do with my Life after Americorps but it is just so stressful. As of today I am thinking I will just be moving back to MN because it would be a lot easier. At this time in my life all I know is that I will be getting a dog where ever I am. Besides that I have no idea, which is scary and very exciting. I am just going to try to take in the last few months I have being in Americorps and try to not think about past that.
Update on next round: we found out last week that the teams that are down in NOLA this round got moved from their housing and are living in Camp Hope for now. They are not working as far as we know right now. This is all because of them having to leave work early due to gun shots and about 30 homicides with 7 being around their housing. People have also found a body at on of their worksites and someone was caught (on security camera) trying to break into what might be my house for the next two months. Due to all of that information we are not sure if we are even going down there anymore. But, we’re hoping they will just find us new housing so we are still able to help with the rebuilding effort. I probably won’t know until right when we are leaving what’s going to happen but I will write when I find out.
Love and miss all from home,
Coley
It’s such a bummer I don’t get many chances to write these “blobs”. Well, I just got home from a wonderful hike on the path across the street from us. I have gone to the top before but dang it didn’t get any easier… It is such a beautiful day and on my few stops for water on my way up I turned around to take in the view and saw three groups of deer in three different directions of about ten deer each. It was breathtaking and makes me so grateful for this project even though at times it is very monotonous during the work day.
Last weekend was really fun when we went to the Rockies game. They lost in extra innings and we didn’t get to stay to the end because people came to the game for different reasons than watching the game and wanted to leave… lame. Also, we had to get the van back to Boulder by it’s curfew of midnight. The day was a little chilly and by the time we left the game it was mighty cold but it was my first MLB game in an open field and WOW it was amazing. With the mountains to the right and the cityscape in from of us, it made me even more excited to go to a game in the new Target Field. Friday Paul ad I went on a date to Old Chicago down on Pearl Street, he had never been and I was really craving pizza. It was really fun and nice to have some time with just us. Sunday a few of us went to and ISP with Ecocycle which is a nonprofit that focuses on recycling. We cleaned a park in this nice neighborhood, which was not far from an airport. It was constantly dropping sky divers so made for great entertainment. The rest of the day was filled with a wonderful nap and the gym/laundry and Internet.
This past week was a long one to say the least. Monday Paul Avi and I went to the Mexican restaurant right down the street from our house to watch the Twins beat the Red Sox… me in my Twins jersey and Paul in his Boston shirt which made it funny. We got to walk the water down on of the ditches we had been cleaning; which was an amazing experience, along with hard work. 1/3 of the team walked the water each day while the rest of us cleaned ahead of the water. I got to walk the water on Tuesday which turned out to be the longest and most intense day. We figured we walk about four miles with the water nonstop for 8 hours. We used pitchforks to remove the leaves and clogs of stuff from the water. During our day the ditch went where we hadn’t cleaned so it was a carpet of leaves, but it was neat because it was in the backyards of some VERY wealthy people living here in Boulder. We got to get very close to some of the biggest and most unique houses I have ever seen. We also climbed over bridges, fences to follow the ditch. One time Megan and I were in a backyard and had just ducked under a fence when we saw a deer within fifteen feet of us and were surprised it was by itself, to find out a few minutes later there were about ten other deer fenced in the yard we were working in and the one lone deer was trying to get back to its’ friends. Right after work a few of us went to REI to get a few things and I get a Bladder for my backpack which was the best 20 bucks I think I have spent in a very long time. I drink way more water now during work than I had before. The four of us who walked Tuesday were so drained that we all went to bed right after dinner to read and relax.
Wednesday was spent working, going to the gym/Internet making pizza, watching Meet the Deedles (a movie about P-Dogs) J and bedtime. Thursday was a rough day, our supervisor was in a horrible moods/it was really hot out/we had a lot of work to do. All of those things did not make very an enjoyable day at all, although we did get to feed and pet a horse and I played fetch with a dog so that was great!! After work the majority of the team headed to Denver for the training for the Walk MS we are volunteering at on Saturday May 1st for the whole day. The training was a lot of fun; we got Texas Roadhouse and our volunteer t-shirts along with meeting our crew leader. The day of the walk we have to be there at 4:45 a.m. and probably won’t get back to Boulder until around 7:00 p.m. It will be a long day but lots of fun and very rewarding. There is also a Wag MS and a Pooches Place which is where I will be any chance I can!!
Friday we went to the YMCA and then came home to shower and get ready. We headed back to the Y a little later for a free showing of Food Inc. which is a crazy movie. I had to look away for a lot of the animal parts and really think I am going to consider what I eat/might stop eating red meat and maybe someday become a vegetarian. I would love to eat only organic foods but it gets so expensive and that’s a problem considering the 13 dollars a day we make. From the movie we walked to Applebee’s for half off appetizers and when we found out it was BINGO night we were even more excited. Being it was a Friday night in Boulder it was pretty empty so our table of six won most of the games (I won once). Then we walked about a mile and a half to where the rest of the team was then took the bus home around midnight. It was a really fun night with the team.
Saturday was girl’s day for Megan, Ashley and I. We went to the Farmer’s Market then headed about twenty minutes to this amazing mall. It was so beautiful inside and had basically every store you could think of. I knew I didn’t need to buy anything but it was so great to be at the mall just shopping around. I didn’t end up getting much but it was a lot of fun. Megan and I went to see The Bounty Hunter, which was really cute. We came back for a relaxing night in at the house. And that brings me to now, after a hike, sitting on a comfy couch.
Today I think we are doing laundry and maybe the Y, then we are heading up to Nederland (a little town in the mountains) to eat dinner with a fire management team that is up there. Should be a good day, although we only have one vehicle due to the truck getting a flat tire last week which Paul put the spare on and then it got another one Friday so it had to be taken in and won’t be done till Monday (what a load). Haha so it may make it difficult to get around today.
I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do with my Life after Americorps but it is just so stressful. As of today I am thinking I will just be moving back to MN because it would be a lot easier. At this time in my life all I know is that I will be getting a dog where ever I am. Besides that I have no idea, which is scary and very exciting. I am just going to try to take in the last few months I have being in Americorps and try to not think about past that.
Update on next round: we found out last week that the teams that are down in NOLA this round got moved from their housing and are living in Camp Hope for now. They are not working as far as we know right now. This is all because of them having to leave work early due to gun shots and about 30 homicides with 7 being around their housing. People have also found a body at on of their worksites and someone was caught (on security camera) trying to break into what might be my house for the next two months. Due to all of that information we are not sure if we are even going down there anymore. But, we’re hoping they will just find us new housing so we are still able to help with the rebuilding effort. I probably won’t know until right when we are leaving what’s going to happen but I will write when I find out.
Love and miss all from home,
Coley
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Living in a Boulder
April 8, 2010
Just got done eating and cleaning after dinner… today we worked on cleaning out the ditches with pitch forks, getting the pine cones/needles out of it. The ditch we have been working in this week is so beautiful I can’t even explain. Well I suppose it’s not the ditch but the surroundings. After work I was convinced to join most of my team in Hot Yoga. Which for starters I am SUPER inflexible and am not really a fan of yoga, let alone yoga in a room that is 95 + degrees. Oh boy was it an experience, one that I will not be partaking in ever again J. I am happy I tried it though and gave it a shot. This week we have been working on the longest of the ditches, clearing the bushes from around it/and in it. It is pretty repetitive but being surrounded by beauty and great company makes it worth it.
Last week we worked in fields pulling Mediterranean Sage with shovels. It was pretty mind numbing and the scenery wasn’t much but it was okay… kind of got to be a lot 3 days in a row but we made it. Thursday there were only eight of us since some people went home a day early. We worked in the mountains, on the side of the mountains I should say, hand pulling Murtal Spurge. This invasive species has the same effect as poison ivy on skin but worse so we wore long pants and shirts, protective glasses and gloves. A lady was pulling this weed in her yard and the milk of it got in her eye and she went blind for three days so it was kind of a big deal.
Thursday night I got to go home again… I had planned while in Texas to surprise my momma. It worked since she had no idea I was there and I just walked up from have a sleepover with big brother Dave. It was really fun to be home again and see family and friends. Friday after some running of errands my sister, dad and I took my parents boat out for the first time ever which was really exciting and a little chilly. Makes me sad to think about all of the fun that will be had on it this summer but glad I will be home for the end of boating season. Friday night I was able to go to a buddy’s house that had a lot of people over from high school which was really nice to catch up with a lot of people. I also did some shopping with my mom and sister Friday and Saturday but didn’t end up buying much. I think it was just nice being able to drive wherever I wanted whenever I wanted to. Sunday was wonderful; my dad’s side came to my parents and then I was able to head to my mom’s side so I was able to see most all of my relatives.
It’s so weird being home… kind of feels like what I am doing here is unreal/dream or something. I get home and not much has changed, making it feel like that is not where I am supposed to be, which is true because I am right where I belong. As always I am still trying to figure out what I will be doing after this experience and also where I will be. Who knows J… What I did find out is that my team next round will be in New Orleans doing rebuilding from Katrina. Not sure how I feel about that but I just have to deal with it. Since I will be there for two months I really hope I am able to see my aunt and uncle who live down there. It is going to be very hot, which I am not overly looking forward to but it will be fun to go swimming and stuff. Personally I like environmental projects better than construction (this round and my first round in AR). But, I am very glad I am learning so many new skills about housing. There is so much I want to do while still in Boulder that I have to start fitting in… so many amazing trails I want to hike.
I really need to go shower, from the gallons of water I lost during Hot Yoga. Tomorrow I think we are walking to the near by Mexican restaurant to sit on their patio and eat some chips and salsa, then Saturday we’re headed to Denver for a Denver Rockies game which I am so very excited for. It is supposed to be beautiful out that day so we are going to head there early, grill and hang out at a park before heading to the game. Then Sunday we have some ISP and then I am hoping to go on one of the many hikes around this beautiful city.
Love always,
Nicole Marie Burg
Just got done eating and cleaning after dinner… today we worked on cleaning out the ditches with pitch forks, getting the pine cones/needles out of it. The ditch we have been working in this week is so beautiful I can’t even explain. Well I suppose it’s not the ditch but the surroundings. After work I was convinced to join most of my team in Hot Yoga. Which for starters I am SUPER inflexible and am not really a fan of yoga, let alone yoga in a room that is 95 + degrees. Oh boy was it an experience, one that I will not be partaking in ever again J. I am happy I tried it though and gave it a shot. This week we have been working on the longest of the ditches, clearing the bushes from around it/and in it. It is pretty repetitive but being surrounded by beauty and great company makes it worth it.
Last week we worked in fields pulling Mediterranean Sage with shovels. It was pretty mind numbing and the scenery wasn’t much but it was okay… kind of got to be a lot 3 days in a row but we made it. Thursday there were only eight of us since some people went home a day early. We worked in the mountains, on the side of the mountains I should say, hand pulling Murtal Spurge. This invasive species has the same effect as poison ivy on skin but worse so we wore long pants and shirts, protective glasses and gloves. A lady was pulling this weed in her yard and the milk of it got in her eye and she went blind for three days so it was kind of a big deal.
Thursday night I got to go home again… I had planned while in Texas to surprise my momma. It worked since she had no idea I was there and I just walked up from have a sleepover with big brother Dave. It was really fun to be home again and see family and friends. Friday after some running of errands my sister, dad and I took my parents boat out for the first time ever which was really exciting and a little chilly. Makes me sad to think about all of the fun that will be had on it this summer but glad I will be home for the end of boating season. Friday night I was able to go to a buddy’s house that had a lot of people over from high school which was really nice to catch up with a lot of people. I also did some shopping with my mom and sister Friday and Saturday but didn’t end up buying much. I think it was just nice being able to drive wherever I wanted whenever I wanted to. Sunday was wonderful; my dad’s side came to my parents and then I was able to head to my mom’s side so I was able to see most all of my relatives.
It’s so weird being home… kind of feels like what I am doing here is unreal/dream or something. I get home and not much has changed, making it feel like that is not where I am supposed to be, which is true because I am right where I belong. As always I am still trying to figure out what I will be doing after this experience and also where I will be. Who knows J… What I did find out is that my team next round will be in New Orleans doing rebuilding from Katrina. Not sure how I feel about that but I just have to deal with it. Since I will be there for two months I really hope I am able to see my aunt and uncle who live down there. It is going to be very hot, which I am not overly looking forward to but it will be fun to go swimming and stuff. Personally I like environmental projects better than construction (this round and my first round in AR). But, I am very glad I am learning so many new skills about housing. There is so much I want to do while still in Boulder that I have to start fitting in… so many amazing trails I want to hike.
I really need to go shower, from the gallons of water I lost during Hot Yoga. Tomorrow I think we are walking to the near by Mexican restaurant to sit on their patio and eat some chips and salsa, then Saturday we’re headed to Denver for a Denver Rockies game which I am so very excited for. It is supposed to be beautiful out that day so we are going to head there early, grill and hang out at a park before heading to the game. Then Sunday we have some ISP and then I am hoping to go on one of the many hikes around this beautiful city.
Love always,
Nicole Marie Burg
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)