Pride through Strife

cia*This post is from my 'Great Stories' entry to the AmeriCorps Missouri site that I must do from time to time. If the subject matter is similar to other posts or the tone is different, this is the reason.

This program, I have found in my few short months, is not for the faint-hearted. There are many long hours of conditions that in circumstances that you could have chosen to be in, you would never have chosen to be in. Thankfully AmeriCorps decides for you in most cases, and you learn to adapt and thrive in rough circumstances.

Our rough circumstances most recently were on the top of Taum Sauk Mountain State Park blowing and cutting down fireline in a mad dash get the project done before our break. This put is on one of the windier parts of the state in one of the colder times of the year. In the morning we would climb out of our sleeping bags and greet the day. Usually this would include ice chunks in our canteens, sweaty gloves, and old clothes covered in gasoline.

Our work would be equally challenging as we either faced the isolation of a loud blower or the need to keep moving to avoid frozen toes and fingers while swamping. The work was usually at a feverish pace, and that's how we liked it. It kept us warm, and it let us know we were getting a lot done in a short time. Often, though, we would run into obstacles: a massive downed tree, a drainage that was waist deep in leaves, a stretch of trail that we had mis-marked.

Our evenings were mostly spent in our wall-tent huddling around propane heaters and gobbling up as many calories as we could. Our dinners would unfortunately stay hot all of about 5 minutes on the stove, but that was all it took for many dinners to disappear. Most nights ended early, as we made our way to the communal sleeping yurt that held about 12 people most nights. It seemed like more than half of those residents were snorers-- many of which were never much of snorers beforehand. I was suspected to be one of those, but I feel like it was just an echo from our resident cantor of a snorer, Josh, who slept right next to me.

This tough work seemed to go on and on without an end, but eventually we progressed to the Friday before our proposed break. I spent the day, the first semi-warm one-- thankfully, blowing leaves from the Weimer line. This was our fourth of five fire lines, so we could sense the final stretch coming soon. The day ended by being whisked away on a very bumpy UTV ride back to camp and being greeted by a thing of beauty. Bruce had sprung for a cookout for the whole group. The spread was amazing: baked beans, bratwurst, half-pound burgers, chips, coke, cake, and the smorgasbord continues.

I stuffed myself and enjoyed a clear night by the fire with music below and stars above. As I reflected, I realized that in spite of or perhaps because of all of the suffering of the previous 10 days that this was one of the best moments of AmeriCorps thus far. We had worked incredibly hard individually and supported each other as a group. To be rewarded with a great meal and a beautiful night made it seem worth it, but the reward of the pride of having done something hard and worthwhile and amazing made it truly special. l.