Several of my housemates here in Bourne have been keeping blogs for their family and friends back home, and I finally jumped on the bandwagon. I'm going to do my best to use this page to keep everyone updated on the work I'm doing here on the Cape, and to share some pictures.
SO LET'S GET THIS THING STARTED. I realized a lot of people don't actually know what I'm doing here on a day to day basis, so here's a recap of this past week and the types of things I've been working on.
We've been back at service for a week now after our holiday break. I spent Christmas in Media with Aleia, and New Year's here on the Cape, where I enjoyed a relaxed celebration at a friend's house (and endured a pretty fantastic snowstorm).
After the break, last Monday was my first chance to use chainsaws outside of our training sessions. We worked with the town of Eastham's DNR to cut and clear trees and brush at a couple of different sites. A pretty demanding work day (at the end of which my feet were soaking wet) but fun nonetheless.
On Tuesdays I work with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (www.apcc.org), a nonprofit environmental group based in Barnstable. I'm working with their volunteer saltmarsh monitoring program. Right now, this involves a lot of data entry and other office tasks, but once it warms up a bit I'll be able to get out into the field and work in the marshes, which I'm looking forward to.
Wednesdays I am with the Barnstable Land Trust (www.blt.org) working on land management plans and volunteer outreach. This past week I started organizing ideas for a few volunteer projects for this spring, and also am compiling a list of abutters for each of the properties owned by the land trust. Mostly office/computer work at this placement, but I'm definitely learning a lot about land management and property regulations.
Thursdays I work in the AmeriCorps office with a few other members, working on community outreach and education programs. For the last few months, we've been preparing for next Monday's Martin Luther King Day, a big national day of service for all AmeriCorps programs. We're planning a project to renovate a local transitional housing shelter - we'll be painting 17 rooms, sewing curtains, building benches, and generally revamping the whole place. I'm in charge of recruiting volunteers, and I've still got a lot to do before next week, but it looks like we'll have at least 120 volunteers from outside the Corps.
Last Friday was a WetFest, an education festival we put on at local elementary schools about water pollution and conservation. This week I played Twister (with a little lesson about watersheds) and also made edible aquifers (ice cream and soda and 5th graders.... quite the experience).
Saturday I worked with the Dennis DNR doing a firewood giveaway. Basically I spent all
morning loading logs and occasionally small trees into trucks and vans for town residents.
Today we did a beach grass planting in Falmouth. We spent the whole day digging holes and planting the grass to form new dunes and prevent erosion. It was cold and snowy but the day got better as it went on.... and it was great to see real results from the day when we were done. (I'm easy to spot.... check out my awesome yellow pants.) We made the front page of the local newspaper for this one!
After the planting, about half of us did ran into the ocean for a polar plunge. One word: COLD. (This wasn't unexpected, considering there was snow on the beach, but I don't know if my muscles have ever felt that much of a shock.) We jumped into our cars (heated and waiting) and headed back for some hot chocolate and tea at the house. It was a bit chaotic and probably insane, but totally worth it.
SO. this was incredibly long.... But here it is, and I'll do what I can to keep it updated between now and July! Off to bed now, all that grass planting and ocean swimming really tires you out.
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