Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Life Block

Life Block: With distracting tendencies similar to writer's block, this disorder seems to be a surreal form of nostalgia that occurs sporadically during daytime hours, peaking in severity around 9 pm. Sufferers first report symptoms after an extended and particularly enjoyable time spent away from real life. Indications of the disorder include daydreaming, erratic episodes of happiness or sadness, continual rambling about the experience, and the repeated phrase "I want to go back". Treatments have limited effectiveness. No cure at this time. 

OK, so I made all that up. It's still a pretty accurate medical description of what I am experiencing at the moment. If you hadn't already gathered, I had a wonderful, amazing, unforgettable time working with WisCorps. Disclaimer: this entry will contain many photos. Sorry, not sorry. If you want to see more, catch up on the WisCorps Facebook page. Here's our good-looking crew on the first day:


After this was taken, we all got much darker, stronger, and more badass. As if you weren't impressed already.

A brief synopsis so as not to bore you with all the awesome things we did...
Week 1: spent in Bayfield, WI building two boardwalks for Wilderness Inquiry. Deet in excess. Beautiful sunsets over Lake Superior almost every night. Power tripping with power tools. Finished products:


Week 2: Two days in Eau Claire, WI. Planted 300 Elm trees with the US Army Corps of Engineers. Cut down an outrageous amount of Box Elder yearlings. Moved to LaCrosse, WI (WisCorps HQ). Set up camp on a bluff with this view: 



The rest of Week 2, 3 and 4 were all spent there working on various projects. Learned about and moved UW-L's vermicomposting system. Helped finish a HoopHouse for Grow Your Brain. Worked with Kane Street Community Garden, Washburn Community Garden, and Clearwater Farm. Did household and neighborhood projects for elderly citizens. Toured Western Technical College's passive house. Made friendship bracelets. Ate A LOT of cheese. 
Don't worry, it wasn't all work and no play. Evenings and weekends were filled with music, laughter, fun, food, and even wine:


Four weeks of living, working and playing with 6 other people definitely gives you time to get sick of each other, but in the end I wish it had been much, much longer. I made great memories with lifetime friends, learned a lot about myself, and developed biceps that have shadows. I couldn't have asked for anything better. 

I know, I know, you're on the edge of your seat waiting to hear about the most important part of the trip- recycling! It didn't turn out as challenging as I had expected. Wilderness Inquiry had a recycling bin provided on site, so we didn't have to pack anything out. The WisCorps offices have recycling as well, so every few days we would stop by to empty our "trash can" (a 5 gallon bucket) and separate out the recyclables. We also kept a bucket for compost, which we added to the pile at the office. With 7 of us sharing food, etc, there was no good way for me to keep track of what I was contributing. Overall, we didn't accumulate that much waste, so I think my impact was minimal.
The City of LaCrosse also has recycling bins next to almost every garbage container, so recycling while we were "out and about" was easy. 
The hardest thing for me to get over was the lack of a bottle bill in Wisconsin. I panicked the first few times I watched someone crush an aluminum can, and was in pain seeing valuable bottles get thrown away. I worked hard to suppress my trash picking urges on every street corner. Instead, I hope I inspired the members of my crew to make small changes to reduce their waste. Our crew leaders should be getting plenty of practice at that right now, since they left this week with another crew for a 5 week session in Isle Royale. You're in my state now guys- don't mess it up!!

Experience is the teacher of all things.
-Julius Caesar

R&R

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