Slash, Mountains, Noseeums, and an Update
Ahhh summer... The sweet sweet joys of sweat-drenched heat, malignant amounts of parisitic flying insects, and Celtic's new contract in Quesnel, B.C. That's right - we've packed up camp and moved further north, into the scenic mountainous country of Quesnel. Our campsite? a miniature gravel quarry amidst specks of forest. It's nothing special, but it has it's quirks. Such as sliding down the steep and loose slope to breakfast, all the while half awake and carrying a coleman. Another one of the complimentary tidbits that our new campsite has to offer is the dredged "noseeums". Think fruit-flies that bite. These lil' buggers are everywhere, and have turned my legs, hands, arms, and face into a lumpy terrain reminiscent of the badlands in Caledon. Nothing like a few hundred itchy souvenirs! But enough of my whining...
This past shift has been a little slow, simply due to the fact that we have had to get used a few crazy changes in both the land and the way our trees must be planted. Rather than the spacey six trees per plot (ie six trees in a circle with a radius of roughly four metres), we've had to adapt to the claustrophobic nine trees per plot. This, however, is rather nice - because you only have to take a couple of steps now to plant your next tree, aside from the previous six. But the real kicker of the new contract is the land. Take zero notice to any of my previous complaints about the Canfor land, because this stuff is the cream of the shit. I've had to plant in slash higher than my head, all continuously uphill at an incline worthy of a triple black diamond ski hill (if they exist). It's ridiculously frustrating when you're trying to space off of one of your trees, and in your path you have a patch slash 10 x 10 metres in your way. The job has literally transformed into a crossbreed of mountain climbing and awkward circus position planting. But it all adds to the adventure, and the scenery.. oh the scenery.. all makes up for it. When your trudging up that slope, barely hanging on with your life by a couple of dead pine branches, and on the horizon you see snow peaked mountains and grassy knolls - it makes you feel like a crazy tree planting hobbit in Middle Earth. I shall have to charge my camera and give you a video tour.
Our crew has seen a couple new faces, one of which, Paul, decided to depart back to the city life after a meager three days of easy-peasy planting.. ahh city folk. The other, Charlie, or "Chocolat Chaud" (pronounced 'Shaw-kaw-lah show'd) - a funny P.E.Islander who cannot pronounce most french words properly. I sorta feel like a vet - especially when these guys complain how hard it was to plant six-hundred trees in a 9 hour day. Heheh it's a nice feeling.
There was a brief and frightening period where I thought my ipod had been stolen. I thought I had left it on the dash in the black truck that we drive around in everywhere, and then a couple days after we set up camp I realized that it wasn't there. I felt pretty sick to my stomach with it's loss, and I could not sleep for a couple of nights. I prayed for it to be found, and like a miracle - the next morning, I spotted a headphone wire.. sandwhiched within "The Curious Incident Of The Dog At Nighttime" - an excellent book. I pulled it out with glee, like a child unwrapping their ipod's at christmas, and there it was - the J-pod, in all it's glory. I kissed it and cuddled with it, and the velvetine rabbit of my generation was found.
So to sum up, I'm still adjusting to the new contract, but things are looking good. I'll be 19 in roughly 18 days, and I'll be home in roughly a month and a half. My frullet has reached greater lengths than I've ever seen before, and my bespeckled face has grown weathered with wind, dirt, and adventure. I'm always happy that I'm not stuck at some low end job in Georgetown, or in some office (even if it's air-conditioned), because my office is the great outdoors, and my water cooler - a leaky 10 litre Coleman. It truly is a kick-ass job.
Anywhodiddly, I plan on spending the rest of the day perhaps at the pool, or looking at the mac computers at the London Drugs complex (yes I know.. I'm a geek through and through). My enrolment appointment to choose my courses at York is coming up, and I pretty much have most of it figured out - I just need to organize my timetable. I sure hope everybody's summer has been as interesting as mine thus far (or Katie and Mel's.. mmm dried lizards), and I can't wait to see y'all again come August!
peace and love,
Screef Mcjones.. err I mean James.
This past shift has been a little slow, simply due to the fact that we have had to get used a few crazy changes in both the land and the way our trees must be planted. Rather than the spacey six trees per plot (ie six trees in a circle with a radius of roughly four metres), we've had to adapt to the claustrophobic nine trees per plot. This, however, is rather nice - because you only have to take a couple of steps now to plant your next tree, aside from the previous six. But the real kicker of the new contract is the land. Take zero notice to any of my previous complaints about the Canfor land, because this stuff is the cream of the shit. I've had to plant in slash higher than my head, all continuously uphill at an incline worthy of a triple black diamond ski hill (if they exist). It's ridiculously frustrating when you're trying to space off of one of your trees, and in your path you have a patch slash 10 x 10 metres in your way. The job has literally transformed into a crossbreed of mountain climbing and awkward circus position planting. But it all adds to the adventure, and the scenery.. oh the scenery.. all makes up for it. When your trudging up that slope, barely hanging on with your life by a couple of dead pine branches, and on the horizon you see snow peaked mountains and grassy knolls - it makes you feel like a crazy tree planting hobbit in Middle Earth. I shall have to charge my camera and give you a video tour.
Our crew has seen a couple new faces, one of which, Paul, decided to depart back to the city life after a meager three days of easy-peasy planting.. ahh city folk. The other, Charlie, or "Chocolat Chaud" (pronounced 'Shaw-kaw-lah show'd) - a funny P.E.Islander who cannot pronounce most french words properly. I sorta feel like a vet - especially when these guys complain how hard it was to plant six-hundred trees in a 9 hour day. Heheh it's a nice feeling.
There was a brief and frightening period where I thought my ipod had been stolen. I thought I had left it on the dash in the black truck that we drive around in everywhere, and then a couple days after we set up camp I realized that it wasn't there. I felt pretty sick to my stomach with it's loss, and I could not sleep for a couple of nights. I prayed for it to be found, and like a miracle - the next morning, I spotted a headphone wire.. sandwhiched within "The Curious Incident Of The Dog At Nighttime" - an excellent book. I pulled it out with glee, like a child unwrapping their ipod's at christmas, and there it was - the J-pod, in all it's glory. I kissed it and cuddled with it, and the velvetine rabbit of my generation was found.
So to sum up, I'm still adjusting to the new contract, but things are looking good. I'll be 19 in roughly 18 days, and I'll be home in roughly a month and a half. My frullet has reached greater lengths than I've ever seen before, and my bespeckled face has grown weathered with wind, dirt, and adventure. I'm always happy that I'm not stuck at some low end job in Georgetown, or in some office (even if it's air-conditioned), because my office is the great outdoors, and my water cooler - a leaky 10 litre Coleman. It truly is a kick-ass job.
Anywhodiddly, I plan on spending the rest of the day perhaps at the pool, or looking at the mac computers at the London Drugs complex (yes I know.. I'm a geek through and through). My enrolment appointment to choose my courses at York is coming up, and I pretty much have most of it figured out - I just need to organize my timetable. I sure hope everybody's summer has been as interesting as mine thus far (or Katie and Mel's.. mmm dried lizards), and I can't wait to see y'all again come August!
peace and love,
Screef Mcjones.. err I mean James.
posted by J-kash at 11:38 AM
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