Jack and Jill 2011

Looking for more dead trees.

This week we spent some time cutting down wood.  It may not seem like it, but that was an exciting prospect to me since it's been a while.  On Thursday we spent the entire workday cutting, splitting, and delivering wood.  Four guys with four chainsaws causing some mayhem.  We only cut down trees that were small and dead.  The idea was to get dry wood that would be ready for throwing into the dining hall and chapels.  A lot of this cutting was specifically so we'd have wood ready to move for the work weekend.

The wood cutting convoy.

And a great Jack and Jill it was this year!  We had about 50 people come up to help us prepare for Winter.  I led a crew of sturdy individuals that accomplished a lot of work.  Our job was to spread topsoil and then seed two different lawns, and to landscape one of the lake trails with water bars to prevent erosion. I've done a little bit of grass seeding and the water bars, so I was looking forward to these tasks.  The grass was rough because the ground was very wet, but we spread out the muddy soil and spread out the grass seed.  The water bars are a great project because you have to sweat a little to put them in, but then you can see your work.  Plus you can come and see them for years after the installation.  

One of the water bars behind the bandshell on the East Side.

We completed those two objectives by the early afternoon and then hustled over to the garage to clean up buses.  We managed to clean the inside of all of them as well as the outside of half of them.  Not only that, but anyone that wanted to was able to go for a 50 foot bus ride with me driving.  I (and everyone at camp) am very thankful for all the work that was done.  Some people sat all day and filled tubes with air for the tubing hill.  Others mowed for most of the day.  I was very thankful for all the people that came out this weekend.

One other side note is that the temps are still dropping.  I'm using extra layers in the morning because it's been below 30 on many of them.  We even saw a flash of sleet while we were cutting wood.  With the cold weather comes frosted windshields.  Some people don't like cleaning off those frosted windows.  Here's what can happen as a result:

Why we scrape our windshields.

See the stump right between the tire and bumper.

It's worth mentioning that I was not responsible for this truck getting stuck, but I did assist with it's removal from the stump.  Most of the burden was carried by the skytrak which simply lifted up the truck.  So yeah, don't try to drive with your head out the window on these frosty mornings!