Another Youth Project

The Youth Crew Leaders from Bozeman and Billings met in Livingston, MT to work with some local high schoolers in rejuvenating a park that was in serious disrepair. We spent two days with the youth, played games, painted, sanded, raked, planted trees and grass, and repaired tables and benches. The finished product was amazing.

Mishaps by way of Bicycle

I've recently been biking to work. Saves money on gasoline, and reduces my impact on the environment by way of emissions and what not, and guarantees me at least 30 minutes of activity each work day. Lots of good reasons to bike to and from work.

There is a problem, however. Bicycles and I have somewhat of a sketchy past. As if it were yesterday, I can recall my first mountain biking experience with my Wal-Mart Huffy. Handlebars spinning around uncontrollably, rocks, steep descension, thorns, and blood. Need I elaborate? And then there was the time in college when I would ride my Trek bicycle everywhere: to the grocery, to class, to the ice cream shop, to the Gas City Zoo. But the Trek and I, though it was my favorite bike, we had some issues too! Two trips over the handlebars in the street, my hands and face acting as brakes in the gravel. On one such ocassion, the president of the university, Jim Barnes, witnessed my fall, stopped his cadillac in the middle of the street, rolled the window down, and inquired as to my condition. Embarassed? Oh, Yes!

So, you see, I've had quite a time with bikes. My last Trek, I gave away before starting the Appalachian Trail. But when I got out here to Montana, I realized it would have been nice to have a bike. As good fortune sometimes pops up, a bicylce was lent to me for my use, whilst I reside in Billings. And I've been happily riding it to and from work for a few weeks now.

I've lost two things while commuting to work on my two wheel transport. One, was my wallet. The other: a pedal.

Wallet: I still haven't figured out how I lost my wallet out of the side pocket of my backpack, but it happened even without my understanding. Thankfully, a lady found it, called the YMCA when she saw my card in there and the YMCA contacted me to tell me to call the lady. All in all, a great day. I lose my wallet without knowing it, I get a call from the YMCA to tell me to call someone who has found my wallet, I pick my wallet up at the lady's house. Very pleased with that scenario.

Pedal: On my way to work. Pedaling fast and furious. On the downstroke of my right foot, pedal flies off of the bike, clattering into the middle of the street. Car almost runs over my runaway pedal. Retrieve the pedal from street but can't get it to screw back into the shaft. Still two miles from work. Ride to work pedaling with one leg. Charlie Horse in the worst way. But made it to work on time! Fix pedal. Two days, it is great. Today. Pedaling home from work. Pedal flies off in the middle of a street. This time it is not funny. One-legged pedal all the way home. Charlie Horse, again! This scenario, I don't much like.

Bikes! Why do I continue to love thee?

Emerald Hills Fire Restoration

Last year a fire swept through part of Yellowstone County, burning up hundreds of miles of forest, some houses, and out buildings. Emerald Hills looks more black than it does green these days. Our crew has been doing fire restoration for a few weeks in this area, re-seeding, doing erosion control, and planting thousands of ponderosa pine tree sapplings.

The Wild Places

There are so few wild places left in our country. Thanks to Theodore Roosevelt for focusing on future rather than present, we have Yellowstone National Park preserved forever, as our first National Park. If you haven't visited this unique geothermal area, you should find a way out here. It is beyond your wildest dreams. I've borrowed these pictures from a friend of our trip to Yellowstone a few weeks ago.

Montana Conservation Corps Youth Crew Leaders

These fine folks will be working with Montana youth out of the six regions of MCC: Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls, Helena, Bozeman, and Billings. We just finished our seven day Youth Supervision Training, and Wilderness First Aid Training. Can't wait for showers!

National Youth Service Day

Part of my job description as a Senior Youth Crew Leader for the MCC was to organize a National Youth Service Day. I have no experience organizing events, and being new to a community with little to no connections was quite daunting. But I managed to pull off a rather successful Youth Service Day at one of the local State Parks. We had forty kids and a few parents volunteer with us. Our main task was to resurface a nature trail with mulch. But we had some side projects as well. All in all we had a great time, the weather was great, and we developed some partnerships with a few school organizations and Lake Elmo State Park.

Indians and Their Names

I love meeting new people because new names are so interesting to me. After teaching school for near 6 years I've learned to enjoy the creativity of the individual namesake. Never have I enjoyed learning new names as much as I have here in Montana. And there is one reason why.

Montana has quite a few large Indian Reservations. One of these, the Crow Reservation is right outside of Billings. Because of the proximity to the city, we have a large population of Indians in town. Indian names are incredible, they have normal first names, ie: John, Sara, Dorothy, Brian. But their last names are a combination of an adjective and a noun, or they are a phrase of some sort. I have been making mental notes of some of the Indian names that I am hearing around town. My list is partly from the Billings phone directory, as well. Last names only, below.

• Bad Bear
• Bad Horse
• Bearcomesout
• Bearquiver
• Big Hair
• Bigleggins
• Birdhat
• Old Elk
• Oldmouse
• Left Hand
• Littlehead
• Real Bird
• Runsabove
• Shoulderblade
• Spottedelk
• Stalkingcat
• Stiffarm
• Talks Different
• Hedoesit
• Headdress
• Greathouse
• Good Luck
• Falls Down
• Fasthorse

In Case You Thought You Lived in a Small Town

Back in Billings to Catch my Breath

How great is it that for two weeks of this month I tented in the Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness Area, tucked away in wild Idaho, with the rest of the Montana Conservation Corps? Sharing cooking responsibilities, sharing a pit toilet, sharing the fresh mountain air (a far walk from the pit toilet), but most importantly sharing a very unique MCC funded training. Technical Training (the official title) was compilation of three training sessions. Each session was taught by a staff of outdoor professionals for a three day period of time. Two regions of the MCC were paired together for each training session, for example: Billings was paired with the MCC Crew Leaders from Kalispell. We traveled through our three sessions with the Kalispell group. It wasn't long before we began to know their favorite lunch choices, their corny jokes, and their interesting life stories. The three sessions that we completed, in the order that we completed them, were: Trail Work, Chainsaw/Crosscut Saw, Backcountry camping/hiking.

Though there were no shower facilities at the campground where we stayed or at the nearest town, we rarely thought about how dirty we were becoming. Each day was a day of hands-on learning, in addition to the honing of skills we are sure to use over the next couple of months. Most nights we could barely stay awake to enjoy the campfire and occasional s'mores. Our exhausted minds and muscles beckoned us to finish the day tucked cozily into our sleeping bags, listening to the sounds of the night.

We made it back to Billings last weekend, enough time to catch our breaths. On Monday the Youth Crew Leaders are headed to Belgrade, MT to enjoy another couple of training sessions on the MCC dollar. These seven days will be spent learning the all important skills of youth supervision, as well as a few days of Wilderness First Aid. Should be another incredible experience. We even get a recreation day on Friday for a trip into Yellowstone National Park. This organization rocks! Who wouldn't want to be involved with the MCC?

A Contractor's Trash is Now My Treasure

I went dumpster diving yesterday afternoon.

It was Good Friday, I had the day off, I was in need of a footprint (ground cloth) for my tent, and I decided that Tyvek was the material that would best suit my needs. Tyvek is the waterproof wrap that contractors put on houses during the framing stage of construction. It is light weight, water resistant, and free (if I'm willing to dig through construction site dumpsters).

It was cold, windy, and just barely snowing, so I bundled up in my carhart work pants and an old sweatshirt and began the search. I knew the west end of town has a growing residential area, so that was my target spot. As I drove to different sites, I realized I had to find a house in the correct stage of building. If the plumbing and electricity were being installed, I was too late, no extra Tyvek. If the siding was going up, I was too late, no Tyvek. Driving slowly, my eyes searched the developments for the perfect house. Unbelievably, it only took three dumpsters, and a few conversations with contractors, before I came home with a FREE piece of Tyvek that I could cut to the exact size I needed. Project accomplished. Check "dumpster diving" off the list!

It doesn't get much better than that!