Life in the City?!

Porch Gardening

2009-06-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

Broccoli !! Broccoli !!

2009-04-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

After a long cold winter, Spring has arrived at last. And with the change in seasons I've decided to pick up a new hobby - porch gardening. (Since I work at a farm I figure I should learn how to grow something). This week my first seedlings started to sprout!

Forest Art

2009-03-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

From my recent entry to the Land's Sake blog - http://landssake.wordpress.com

There's something incredibly gratifying and beautiful about watching an area of forest transform from from a dense stand of trees into a series of long wall-like stacks of firewood. The process really is a work of art.

Over the past two months Land's Sake has been hard at work harvesting trees from a small section of the Highland St. Forest (Near Wildflower Ln.) If you've taken a walk in the surrounding woods (which I highly recommend) you may have heard the distant echos of chainsaws cutting and mauls splitting. Although the work can be exhausting at times, that rewarding feeling of looking back at the newly cut forest to see trees replaced by stacks and stacks of fresh firewood, makes it all worth the effort.

When Land's Sake harvests trees from Weston's forests we do it with Mother Nature's best interest in mind. Far from the clear cutting methods that leave other forests completely decimated, Land's Sake's operation is sustainable and each tree that we fell is carefully selected. The idea is to leave the healthiest and straightest trees in place and remove competition from nearby trees, which are often unhealthy and crooked. By using this method we do little damage to the forest and provide an abundant supply of local firewood for the Weston community. The forest is quick to recover and within a few years it is often hard to notice that any trees were cut at all.

In fact, Land's Sake has been cutting firewood out of the Highland St. Forest for over 20 years and in most areas it is very hard to notice that the forest has ever been cut. But if you look closely you may see some signs.

Midnight Boiling!

2009-02-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

The first of many maple syrup boils this season.

Sugar Shack

2008-12-31T12:29:00.000-08:00

I spent this morning splitting and stacking wood, which will be used this february to boil own sap into maple syrup. Here's some more info: Land's Sake

And here's the sugar house where we will be making the syrup.

First Snow

2008-12-20T10:46:00.001-08:00

Some snow scenes from JP.

Camping in the Berkshires

2008-08-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Name Change

2008-07-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

It's official, my year on the Cape has ended. It has certainly been an unforgettable year in my life and one that I will always cherish. Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a fun ride. Looking back on all of my posts throughout the year, I am glad that I decided to write about my experiences on the Cape (even though I only captured a very small fraction of the my life there).

My last few weeks on Cape were some of the most memorable of the entire year. I think it was a combination of the nice summer whether and my realization that the year was winding that forced me to be more mindful of the experiences I was having and the wonderful relationships that I have developed.

It will definitely be difficult, at first, to adjust to life after AmeriCorps, but I couldn't be more excited about what the next year and beyond holds. For those of you who don't know, Meghan and I have had a change of plans over the last few weeks and have decided to stay in Boston, rather than move to Denver (though I still think we'll make it out west sometime soon). I am very exciting about the decision to stay - we hope to find a place in Jamaica Plain areas and I'll be looking for that elusive perfect job.

I've had fun writing on this blog, so I'll be trying to keep it up. Here are some topics to look forward to: The great job search, troubles adjusting to all these dang city cars, how life is different without 14 roommates, and much more.

Striped Bass

2008-07-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

These photos are from a fin fish survey about a month ago. This ongoing survey has definitely been one of my favorites this year (even though it required getting up at 5am). We've caught a lot of interesting fish, crabs, and squid, but the most exciting catches are the stripers.

The largest fish was 38 inches.

Unfortunately, since this was a "scientific" study, we had to throw them back after identifying and measuring them and not eat them.

Photo of the Day

2008-07-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

Lots of working, and job searching, and networking, and taking wildland firefighting classes this week, so I haven't had time to post. Hopefully something nice tomorrow though. Here's a photo I took last week in Provincetown Harbot to hold you over:

Considering the overcast background, I'm a fan of the boat's name. And given the state of the fishing industry here, a better name may be "Blue Skies Ahead?"

Lobstering

2008-07-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Mike, a former AmeriCorps member turned AmeriCorp staff, took us (me, Amanda, Austin) out lobstering at Sesuit Harbor in Dennis this morning before work. He has a small boat and a recreational lobster permit for 10 pots.

Definitely a nice way to start a work day - except for the fact that we had to get up a 4:45am, but it was worth it. We didn't get a ton of lobsters but there should be enough for a nice dinner tonight.

Moving Day

2008-06-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Greenhouse moving, that is.

Austin and I spent all day finishing up the last of the roof framing and laid out a foundation in the garden.

Later in the day we recruited the entire house to help us move it from behind the shed, where we have been building it on level ground, to the garden. And here are the photos to prove it:

Lifting...

Moving... (by the way, if you look closely you can see some scaffolding around the house; we are FINALLY getting a new roof!)

In its new home in the garden... with some happy builders.

Early Morning

2008-06-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Started off the day with a very early morning fin fish survey in Truro. And now, I am about to hop in the car and head to Boston for the weekend. I'll leave you with some photos:

5:45 am at Coast Guard Beach, Truro. Nice sunrise.

The fog rolls in quickly (it was perfectly sunny, then 5 minutes later it looked like this)

A little butterfish (at least according to our saltwater fish guide)

Fun with Fire!

2008-06-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

I just got back to the house after a few days on a camping retreat with all 26 AmeriCorps Cape Cod members. The retreat, which was held at a boy scout camp in Yarmouth, was the last of three that we have had this year. I'm not exactly sure what we were retreating from since, for me, this year has been like one nice long and refreshing retreat - but hey, if they want me to play in the woods for three days, count me in!!

The retreat was purposely unstructured and meant to give members from both houses some time to hang out together and reflect on our past year on the Cape. There was far more playing than reflecting. It was basically like being a little kid at summer camp again, roaming from one activity to another all day long, then crashing like a sack of bricks as soon as our heads hit the pillow at night. The week also helped to renew my fishing confidence - I caught a 4lbs. largemouth bass, an ugly-ass catfish (that's the scientific name), and a bunch of pike (or muskie, I can't tell the difference). I should get another shot at catching some bigger saltwater fish this Wednesday - a guy who works in the same office as the AmeriCorp program offered to take me out on his boat at the butt crack of dawn for some fishing and lobstering, so wish me luck (I only have a month left here on the Cape to get one)

Highlight of the retreat: Darlene, the director of AmeriCorps Cape Cod, juggling fire last night (it's a camera phone, so it's shaky) I don't know how we managed to avoid setting the woods on fire.

Easter Egg Hunt, in June

2008-06-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you walk into a Common Tern colony (that's a state endangered shorebird) and start collecting eggs from nests:

Complete chaos! But good narration, Mike.

This was last Friday's service project on Monomoy Island (for those of you who don't know your Cape Cod geography, this is the long series of shifting sandy islands off the elbow of the Cape). We were actually collecting eggs of another bird, the Laughing Gull (not endangered, by the way), but the Terns obviously didn't know that and started flipping out. It was a semi-depressing service project really; we had to walk around the island in a line collecting thousands of laughing gull eggs from nests, some of which had mother gulls protecting them, and then dump them in a big hole - it reminded me of my cemetery working days...kidding. Even though we were doing this because the gulls have been attacking the tern nests and out competing them for food on the island, I couldn't help but feel bad for the mother birds. I guess I'm a softy.

There was one very positive side the project though - ridiculous looking helmets! This was to protect against dive-bombing terns and bird shit. They were ineffective projection against the later.

Awww. Baby Tern.

You guessed it...

2008-06-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

... more shellfishing photos.

This morning Amanda, Mike and I helped Tony "broadcast" quohogs into Pamet Harbor in Truro. Broadcasting is the technical term used to describe opening 110 bags (80 lbs each) of quohogs and throwing them off a boat so that shellfishermen (shellfisherwomen too) can harvest them in the fall when the the area is reopened to the public. It was a great work-out and a ton of fun, except for the fact that we had to where thick waders on a 90 degree day.

Later in the day we headed up to P-town to put in some more work on the upweller, which we are trying to get ready for a delivery of quohog and oyster seed next week.

Cape Walk 2008

2008-06-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

Cape Walk is a 9-day series of hikes that start at the tip of the Cape in Provincetown and head west, ending at Scusset Beach in Bourne near the Cape Cod Canal. The event takes place every other year, and takes walkers and hikers along a network of trails known as Cape Cod Pathways. Its meant to promote the hiking trails and celebrate the beauty of Cape Cod.

I walked the first leg of the nine-day trek over the weekend from Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown to Highland Light in Truro, which is about 14 miles through sand dunes. It was a beautiful, but grueling, hike that passed by some historic dune shacks, Pilgrim Lake, and had thrilling panoramic views.

One of the highlights of the day occurred during lunch break when one of the hikers, an older man named Joel, stood up and begin telling the story of a bag of Cape Cod sand that he has been carrying around with him for more than 30 years. The sand was collected by Joel's mother and shipped to Germany where he was stationed in the military to remind him never to forget is love of the Cape while he was abroad. Joel kept the sand with him for 30 years until Saturday when he returned it to the sand dunes where it belongs. Now a retiree on the Cape, Joel said that the sand had done its job and help him find his way back home.

Upweller

2008-06-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

I spent my Tuesday with Tony cleaning the town 's upweller that has been sitting in the harbor all winter. An upweller is a water pumping system used for growing shellfish in a controlled environment - it pumps the surrounding ocean water through a series of tanks containing juvenile quahogs, oysters, and scallops (it has a flow rate rate about 800 gallons per minute). This allows the shellfish to grow faster than they would in the wild because it replenishes the nutrient-filled water more quickly and protects them from predators.

When we first opened the tanks we found them filled with starfish feeding on mussels and barnacles that had attached themselves over the winter. I also managed to drop a socket wrench attachment into the harbor, which was nice.

Nice Weekend

2008-06-01T19:24:00.001-07:00

I haven't really been writing here too much since the weather has been so nice. But there is a lot going on. I am trying to enjoy every last but of time I have here over the next 2 months until the program ends. And what time I do spend on the computer I have been using to search for jobs in Denver. I don't have anything specific lined up yet, and I have been finding the job search process quite frustrating, but I couldn't be more incredibly excited about the upcoming move. While I am sure I will miss the ocean, the Rocky Mountains should provide a nice aesthetic replacement for sure. I am just trying not to get too ahead of myself and make the best of my remaining time in Wellfleet.

However, I do want to post a few photos to update my loyal readers (all 3 of them) on how the greenhouse is coming along. In between trips to the beach, fish surveys, and 14-mile hikes this weekend we did manage to complete the frame of the greenhouse and get started on the roof.

Here is Austin, the mastermind of the greenhouse, hard at work.

Me, doing some cutting. Notice the socks pulled over the pants. In addition to looking sweet, that is to keep the ticks out. Those little buggers are literally everywhere - it seems like I find a few crawling on me every day. (which concerns me a little since Austin is just getting over a bout of lime disease himself)

Coming soon: photos of the 30+ stripers (one was 36") that we caught during the fin fish survey on Friday and Saturday.

Fin Fish Survey

2008-05-29T16:53:00.001-07:00

This week we've been working on a survey of fin fish that live within a few hundred feet of the shore. The data from the project will be used to provide information about local fish populations to the Cape Cod National Seashore and for more analysis by a researcher at the University of Rhode Island. Here are some photos.

We cast a large net using two small boats.

Once the net is set, we pull it in (ideally with fish in it).

Then we identify and measure the catch. (Yesterday there were a lot of flounder and small bait fish but nothing huge).

And here's a short video of us counting hundreds of small bait fish:

Congratulations Shannon!

2008-05-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

Also, congratulations to Mom and Dad for putting three kids through college. Well, I guess it was really just two kids since Jeff got through on his own. But who's counting?

Red Tide & Fiddler Crabs

2008-05-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

Looks like it might be a while before we can have any fresh shellfish down here due to red tide spreading south from Maine (article HERE). As of right now the water is fine but towns are closely watching the results of water samples to determine if shellfishing areas will need to be closed. Cross your fingers.

And, completely unrelated, here's a photo of thousands and thousands of fiddler crabs that we came across while fishing on Lieutenant Island in South Wellfleet. In case you are wondering, I didn't catch anything - I'll keep trying though.

Photo of the Day

2008-05-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

A view from the shellfish grants in the middle of Provincetown Harbor at low tide this morning.

Construction Begins

2008-05-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

This week we were notified by the Cape Cod Foundation that we have been awarded a $1,500 grant to develop a sustainable agriculture component to the AmeriCorps Cape Cod program, including the construction of a greenhouse (made from recycled wood and fitted with a rainwater catchment system).

Phase 1 - Frame the walls.

In the photo above, the three grant writers (me, Christin, and Austin) pose for a photo with our work in progress during a busy day of work on our property.

Dune Shack Picnic

2008-04-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

The weather is starting to get really nice here. It's been sunny for the past week or so and I have even started to develop a bit of a tan, a lovely farmers tan, that is. At my current pace, by the end of the summer I will look as though someone painted a white t-shirt on my body.

Anyways, the nice Spring weather has allowed for some exploring of areas that I have been meaning to check out all winter. This weekend, Meghan, Suzanne (Meghan's roomie), and I hiked through the Province Lands dunes for over a mile towards several some rustic old dune shacks. These rustic little shacks with no electricity or running water have been around since the 1800's and have been home to many writers and artists over the years. If you want more info on the shacks, click here. Meghan and Suzanne cooked up an elaborate lunch that they discovered on the Food Network the day before, so I was well-fed. I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend.

Whale Video

2008-04-21T17:20:00.001-07:00

A bit shaky, but you get the idea - they're big and like to splash. Meghan, Suzanne, and I got a good close look at the whales this weekend from the beach near Race Point.

Greenhouse

2008-04-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Construction began this week using recycled lumber that Austin (my roommate, who has a pickup truck) has been collecting from dumpsters across the Cape. When completed, we hope it will look something like this.

That's the idea anyways; it should be interesting. I'm sure I'll be posting photos of the process at we go along.

Right Whales

2008-04-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

This week, approximately 70 Right Whales have been spotted feeding in Cape Cod Bay, with most of them located just of the beach near Race Point in Provincetown. I went for a run on the beach after work yesterday and could see dozens of water spouts shooting up just a few hundred yards away. Seeing this many Right Whales together was fascinating because there are so few of this species remaining - there are only between 350 to 400 individual animals left, making it the North Atlantic's most endangered whale.

Due to this "unprecedented" number of Right Whales in the area, the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries has tightened restrictions on boat travel in Cape Cod Bay - vessels are not permitted to come within 500 yards of the animals are are urged to travel under 10 knots.

Here is an article from the Cape Cod times about the whales, Click Here. I hope you find this stuff as interesting as I do.

Enjoy the nice weather.

Sand Circles?

2008-04-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

After dropping a load of laundry off at the laundry mat today, I decided to take a short walk in some dunes on the outskirts of Provincetown. I wanted to check out a trail that a friend had recommended that ascends some of the highest dunes on the Cape. One of the more impressive aspects of this trail is how quickly it transitions from a forest ecosystem into a series of massive dunes. As you may be able to make out from this photo, the forest comes to a point where is basically runs into a wall of sand and just stops.

After exiting the woods and following the trail into the dunes, it opens up into a desert-like paradise of large rolling dune hills until it reaches the ocean about a three quarters of a mile away. Oh, it's quite lovely. And if you come visit me, I'll take you there.

I also came across something I haven't seen before on the Cape. Individual blades of beachgrass, swirling in the wind, had created hundreds of perfect circles through the dunes. Here's one:

And here's a small area of several circles. It reminded me of the crop circles that used to appear on farms around the world (that was all a big hoax, by the way - the discovery channel says so).

Photo of the Day

2008-04-06T19:19:00.000-07:00

I was going to blog tonight, but my eyes are burning after a few hours of searching for jobs online. So, unfortunately, the best I can do is post some very random photos...

Easter Oysters

2008-03-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from last weekend on the oyster flats near Blackfish Creek in Wellfleet. A few of us in the house occasionally work for a local shellfisherman, helping to move some heavy gear around and harvest some oysters. This week I was payed with oysters to bring home to the family for Easter.

The juvenile oysters are placed in bags, and then the bags are placed atop racks that sit about six inches of the ground. Then they grow .

Another common piece of equipment used is called a "Chinese hat" - it's basically a stack of cones that oyster seed (aka very young oysters) attach to. Here Amanda and Caitlin are trying to detach the oysters from the Chinese hats and place them in bags to be placed on the racks.

We still haven't figured out how this piece of equipment got its nickname...

Winter Rules

2008-03-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

When you make 100 bucks a week it's tough to come up with the cash to play golf on the Cape, especially on a course set atop a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean that normally costs $55 per round. That is, unless you are willing to brave the winter cold and wind and hit the links in mid March. In that case, it only costs $10, or whatever you feel like paying.

That's the winter bargain at Highland Links in Truro - $10 per round on the "honor" system, which means there's a slot in the club house door for money. We figured that we would play our round of golf first, then decide how much we thought it was worth at the end. That sounds fair, right? In the end we decided that $5 per person was good enough since we only played nine (also, that's all the money we had).

I played with my roommate Austin (in the above photo) and two guys from another environmental program on the Cape (Dan and Pete). We didn't keep score, but I'm pretty sure that Austin won. Sadly, he beat the rest of us using a couple of rusty clubs that he found near a dumpster. Here's me in the sand.

Apparently golfers on the Cape aren't too concerned about finding their lost balls because the course was absolutely covered with them. Anytime that I hit my ball into the rough I would discover 4 or 5 nice new golf balls. Some were even right in the middle of the fairway. We easily made up for the $5 golfing cost in new golf balls, and we even came up with a nice place to put the old range balls that we found - the beach.

Don't worry, golf balls are biodegradable...eventually.

We also had a run in with a fox...

...made of cardboard.

Four!

2008-03-16T06:55:00.001-07:00

HEY Whale... Lookout!

Fire Crew

2008-03-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

As promised, I give you some photos from a day working with the Cape Cod National Seashore (CACO) Fire Crew.

So here's the before photo, which shows some downed trees posing a huge fire danger. Our job: cut up the dead trees, make big piles, and lastly, burn the piles.

Basically, we're fighting fire with fire - but we can only do this type of work during the wetter winter months, for obvious reasons.

It was a fairly windy day, so we did have some small brush fires start a few hundred feet down wind. To prevent these smaller fires from getting completely out of control we had people walking around with water packs spraying the ground.

And, of course, the fire must be put out before we go home.

Fascinating, huh?

Burn Baby Burn...

2008-03-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

... Disco inferno?

Not exactly, but we did work on a cut, pile, & burn service project with the National Seashore Fire Crew today. We worked at Wiley Park, which is a conservation area in Eastham that suffered a lot of tree damage over two years ago in the December 9th storm. This park in particular was hard hit by the storm; in fact, many people believe that there was actually a microburst during the storm that took down several hundred trees in a matter of minutes (and for those of you who are not weather geeks, read more here). All these downed and leaning trees have the potential to speed up the spread of a wildfire - so we were there to help cut up and then "safely" burn up all this excess fuel. I gave "safely" the air quotes, because I somehow managed to singe by beard and eyelashes during the day... it turns out that fire can get very very hot.

I should have some photos for you tomorrow.

Photos of the Day

2008-03-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

Solar panels at the Mass. Audubon Sanctuary in Wellfleet.

Zoomed WAY in.

And, from afar.

Photos of the Day

2008-02-27T20:11:00.001-08:00

Here are some photos taken last weekend at the Atlantic White Cedar Marsh near Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. The Marsh has a weird Stars Wars kind of vibe (you know, the scene when Luke's starfighter crashes into Yoda's swamp planet of Dagobah. Duh.)

Through the marshy forest runs a series of trails and boardwalks.

And here is the view looking up toward the canopy.

Tuesdays with Tony

2008-02-26T16:00:00.000-08:00

Tony was feeling a bit under the weather today, so we decided that it would be best for me to set up shop in the Provincetown Library for the afternoon, so that he can get some much needed rest, and I can try to avoid getting sick. It will truly be a miracle if I can manage to make it out of February without getting sick since almost everyone around me has come down with something. With 14 people living together in a drafty old house, colds have a tendency to spread like wildfire; all I can do is wash my hands 50 times a day and cross my fingers.

As you can probably guess by the fact that I am posting to my blog on a Tuesday afternoon, I have finished up most of my work for the day. This morning I finished up the last of the maps and documents that I had been working on for the Truro Shellfish Dept. website, which should be up and running shortly. I doubt that shellfisherman will be spending much time browsing the site and admiring my maps, but it should at least be a good resource for vacationers who may want to give the "sport", if you call it that, a try.

Other than the normal service projects, I've been spending much of my free time this week working on a grant to get funding for the construction of a greenhouse on our property. A few of us in the house came up with the idea to use a greenhouse to grow out native plant species which can then be used on restoration projects through the year. Hopefully we'll get the funding, but if not, we'll probably still try to build a greenhouse with whatever scrap wood that we can find (searching for scrap wood - yet another perfect example of how little there is to do on the Cape in the winter).

As promised in my last post, here is a photo from my yurting adventure a few weeks ago. It was a cozy little yurt, but cold. We had one space heater running on full blast for the entire weekend and the room only got up to about 55 at its warmest; at night it dropped into the low 40s. It wasn't too big of a problem though – well, at least nothing that 4 bottles of wine and couldn't fix. Thanks to Rachelle and Steve for making the trip down from NH; next time we’ll have camp up in your neck of the woods.

What I've been up to

2008-02-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I really do think this house is haunted. I just sat down in the common room to let all of my fans (this means you) know what I've been up to over the last few weeks and I can hear what sounds like someone walking around upstairs. But here's the thing: I am absolutely sure that nobody else is home! This house, which is supposedly over a century old, can definitely play tricks on my mind when it starts to creak. Add to the creakiness the fact that the previous owner, Mrs. Le Hac, is said to have died in my bedroom and you've got yourself one certifiably creepy house. And don't even get me started on the mice that run around in the walls at night...

Anyways, moving on... What have I been up to recently? In short: a lot.

One of the great aspects of this AmeriCorps program is that we get to work on different projects almost every day. In addition to my weekly jobs with the P-town Shellfish Dept. and the Chatham Recycles iniative, I've worked with the Cape Cod National Seashore (CACO) Fire Crew on a number of "cut, pile, and burn" projects, with the Dennis Dept. of Natural Resources cutting and distributing fire wood, with various schools teaching kids about energy and water conservation, and with the Orleans Tree Dept. removing invasive plants from conservation lands. Here's me cutting up some fire wood in Dennis.

Outside of work, I've been playing on a local hockey team in a 30+ men's league (shhh...don't tell anyone that I'm "technically" not 30 yet). The level of hockey is actually surprising good (though not great - it's the kind of league where guys pound a few beers before the game to get themselves pumped up). I joined the team, called Wellfleet Steel, about 10 games into the season when they had an impressive 0-10 record. Since that time we've managed to pull off about 5 wins. Coincidence? I think not.

Just look at all those fans. (I'm in the yellow helmet)

And here I am feeling shame in the penalty box.

In my next post, I'll take some time to tell you about my recent yurting experience (yaking to some). I don't want to use up all my blogging ideas in one post. That would just be crazy.

Be Smart, Vote Obama.

2008-02-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

Shipwreck washes ashore in Wellfleet

2008-01-31T05:51:00.000-08:00

Click HERE for the news story.

Photo of the Day

2008-01-29T18:08:00.000-08:00

Seal on beach in Provincetown.

And one bonus photo, at Herring Cove Beach (P-town again), around sunset.

Service Learning

2008-01-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

Today, since our service project was canceled due to a fresh foot of snow on the ground, we were given a day off to do some "service learning," which basically means we can research environmental issues or work on projects relating to our individual placements. So we did some of that, but this is just so much more fun:

Silliness

2008-01-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

I'm too tired to write much tonight (after a long day in Boston at a GIS training), but here's some fun from this past weekend if you are looking to kill some time. As you can see, sometimes we need to be a bit creative to keep ourselves entertained.

Have a good one.

Scallop Poacher

2008-01-15T18:31:00.001-08:00

It wasn't me, I swear. Click HERE to read the latest shellfishing gossip coming out of P-town.

In other news, it was a nice day out on the flats. We conducted a stock assessment at Hatches Harbor, which is right next to Race Point at the extreme tip of the Cape. Here is a photo of the harbor (not mine - it's from the interwebs).

Basically, we scratched around in the sand at low tide and tried to identify how many adult clams and quahogs are in the area compared to seed (juvenile shellfish). It wasn't a scientific study by any means, but we did manage to find enough seed in the harbor to conclude that the shellfish population should stay healthy over the next year at least. And, I was able to score a half bucket of clams for dinner out of the days' work - which ended up making a "so so" seafood risotto (not bad for a first attempt though).

Day Off

2008-01-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

While the rest of New England was digging out from the today's snowstorm, here on the Cape it was just a day of cold rain mixed with sleet and a lot of wind. Thankfully though, that was enough to cancel our outdoor service project for the day, which would have involved cutting down some thorny invasive vines, called cat brier, at a bog in Orleans. Normally I would have looked forward to a day of working out in the field, it certainly beats being inside any day, but the idea of being cold and soaked all day didn't seem too appealing when I woke up this morning, so I have no complaints.

Instead, the group stayed at home and embarked on a massive several hour-long house cleaning effort. The outside of our house may be in complete disrepair (long story - we can't fix up the outside of the house because its a historic property), but after today, the inside has never been cleaner.

It was also a great day to get some reading done for the environmental book club that I will be leading at the Wellfleet Public Library on Thursday. We are reading A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, a classic piece of environmental literature focusing on humans' relationship to nature around them and the importance of conservation efforts in today's society.

It's a good read so far and really relates a lot to the life that I have been living this year. Through working outside for much of the week, and living in a secluded house near the ocean, I have definitely found myself much more "in tune" with the natural world around me and I notice things that wouldn't even cross my mind living in the city - the timing of the tides and the sun, and the types of creatures that prey on shellfish are some examples that come to mind. Here's a quote that I like from the book (he's talking about waking up early to walk around his farm, but it reminds me, in some ways, of the off-season on the outer Cape).

It is not only boundaries that disappear, but also the thought of being bounded. Expanses unknown to deed or map are known to every dawn, and solitude, supposed no longer to exist in my country, extends on every hand as far as the dew can reach.

Hopefully, I'm not boring you too much here, but I spent the afternoon thinking about this book and questions to raise for discussion, so you can understand why it's on my mind. I'm just crossing my fingers that people show up - we placed notices in all local papers and posted flyers in libraries and coffee shops, but we'll see.

Also, one last thing. Thanks to everyone for giving me a great birthday weekend - I have a bruised hip and a week's worth of leftovers to show for the fun.

Sun Setting over Provincetown

2008-01-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

This was the view in my rear view mirror on my commute home from work today (which is why I always have my camera with me on the Cape)

Life is good, eh.

2008-01-07T18:53:00.000-08:00

So, today while I working in the field a mouse crawled into, and got stuck in, my shirt. That was fun. Sorry, that's all I've got today.

Back on Cape

2008-01-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

After a week and a half off the Cape, spending time with family and friends, I am back in Wellfleet trying to get back into the swing of things again.

The break started with a nice leisurely swim in the Atlantic ocean with some of my AmeriCorps friends. When the water temperature on the Cape is in the mid 30's and the air is well below freezing there is nothing better to do then spend a day at the beach (trust me, there is not much to do here in the winter - this is the best we could come up with). You can view the video evidence of our polar plunge HERE.

Next it was back to Boston to spend time with the family. Family parties were great; I ate more food and drank more, um... soda pop, than I thought was physically possible and didn't even feel guilty about it. I also got to spend time with some newer members of the family.

Here I am giving my cousin Boston some fishing tips (or maybe the other way around).

And the newest cousin, Abigail Grace enjoys her first Christmas.

After that, it was onward to Lake Placid for some cross county skiing, downhill skiing (though it was more like ice skating), and snowshoeing with Meghan and her sister Caitlin.

Happy New Years all!

Come on Iowa...

2008-01-03T06:34:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas...

2007-12-24T19:05:00.001-08:00

...wear those ugly shirts proudly!

Snowed in

2007-12-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

Outside...
Inside...

Let it snow!

2007-12-13T19:31:00.001-08:00

Today we had our first significant snowstorm of the season and for some in the group, it was actually their first real snowstorm experience, ever. After work I pulled into the driveway and found Erin (from San Fransisco) and Casey (from Dallas) ecstatically running around the driveway, making snow angels, drilling eachother in the face with snowballs, and asking me to record ever moment of it with my camera.

They had a blast; well, at least until later in the night when they discovered the down side of snow - shoveling. As much as I love how our house is set way back from the main road, our long driveway makes shoveling quite an ordeal; it took 6 of us almost 3 hours to finish. But don't feel bad for us, we managed to have some fun in the process when we turned our driveway into a luge track.

Happy Shoveling. Dad, hang in there. No need to more to bail out and more to Florida just yet.

What the....

2007-12-12T21:13:00.000-08:00

How does a tree grow like this? honestly, man.

Meghan and I stumbled across it on our hike at Great Island in Wellfleet this weekend. The island (actually it's now a peninsula) is a part of the National Sea Shore on the west side of town and is home to some beautiful views. This next photo shows the line of dunes that now connects Great Island to the mainland. At one time this area was an open waterway between Wellfleet Harbor and Cape Cod Bay, but years of shifting sands gradually altered the landscape.

Sorry for my long absence from blogging. I'll try to do better, I promise. Its certainly been busy out on the Cape and I have plenty to talk about.

Crossing my fingers for the first snow of the year tomorrow.

Chainsaws

2007-11-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

I'm back on the Cape after a great long holiday weekend spent with family and friends. And the best part is, I now have a freezer full of leftover turkey sandwiches that should make great lunches for the rest of the week. Thanks Mom. I love free food. (And, most importantly, Utica!)

The week kicked off with the third and final day of chainsaw training, which is being provided to several AmeriCorps members by the Cape Cod National Sea Shore fire crew. Throughout the winter we will be helping the park service with their fire prevention strategy by removing small trees and underbrush around the park - and they wanted a number of people trained to use the chainsaws to help things move faster. If your interested, there was an article in the Cape Cod Times about this. Click here

As you probably guessed, safety was the biggest part of the training and over the three day period we learned all of the ways that we could possibly maim or kill ourselves (and there are many!). We also learned about all of the different techniques for felling trees and spent most of 3 days out in the woods practicing. Despite all this training, I'm not quite ready to cut down that tree my parents backyard. Sorry Dad, knowing me, I'll end up dropping it on the neighbor's house.

On a down note, I have a nasty cold. Goodnight.

Happy Birthday Meghan!

2007-11-18T19:44:00.001-08:00

I can't think of a better way to celebrate turning 24 than an ice cream covered pancake!

And a walk at World's End (it sounds scary, but don't worry its just the name of a park near Boston).

I'm back in Wellfleet for a few days of work before the long holiday weekend. Tomorrow is the second day of chainsaw training, which several AmeriCorps members are taking so that we can operate the saws during projects throughout the year.

America Recyles Day!

2007-11-15T06:59:00.000-08:00

Check out this article that appeared in the Cape Cod Chronicle today:

Chatham Selectmen Endorse Mass Recycles Paper Campaign
- by Tim Wood

CHATHAM --- Today is America Recycles Day, a national effort to encourage more folks to recycle. Last week, the board of selectmen boosted local recycling efforts by endorsing the Mass Recycles Paper campaign, a public-private partnership aimed at promoting paper recycling.

In 2006, Chatham recycled 585 tons of paper, saving $30,438 in SEMASS fees and earning $21,615 in revenue for the town. Paper items constitute a large part of the recycling effort at the transfer station, along with glass, plastics, cans, metal objects and others. Included in the paper category are newspapers, junk mail, magazines and cardboard.

“The more we can recycle, the less gets trucked to SEMASS,” said Kristin Andres, the town’s conservation agent and a member of the 10-person recycling workgroup formed last April to devise ways to increase the town’s recycling rate. “And it can bring in revenue. It seems like a win-win, doing something that’s good for the environment and for the town.”

Each year, Massachusetts residents throw away an estimated 1.5 million tons of recyclable paper. According to the Mass Recycles Paper campaign, that amount of paper would fill Fenway Park 250 yards high, higher than the Prudential Center. The cost of failing to recycling that paper is estimated at $100 million by the campaign, which is a partnership of the state department of environmental protection, MassRecycle, the state’s nonprofit recycling coalition, the federal environmental protection agency, local towns, businesses and citizens.

Several dozen paper items can be recycled, including office paper with staples and paperclips, pasta and cereal boxes and shredded paper. A complete list can be found at the Mass Recycles Paper campaign website, www.massrecyclespaper.org. The campaign is aimed at educating residents and businesses about the wide array of paper products that can be recycled.

Since forming last spring with the goal of informing the public that “it’s still important to recycle,” Andres said the workgroup has launched a number of initiatives, including placing recycling bins at the Lighthouse Beach overlook, putting up new signs at the transfer station, publishing a bi-weekly recycling column in The Chronicle, and creating a website, chathamrecycles.org, with information about recycling locally as well as general recycling information. The website was created by illustrator Bob Staake, who also designed recycling bumper and window stickers that are available at the permit department and the town offices.

A member of AmeriCorps Cape Cod, David Quinn, is also spending one day a week working on the town’s recycling effort. Last week, AmeriCorps gave a presentation entitled “The Recycling Factory” to Chatham Elementary School fourth graders to help kick off the school’s recycling campaign. In October, the Friends of Chatham Waterways awarded a $1,700 grant to fourth grade teacher Stephanie Rae in support of the school’s recycling program. Quinn will be working on the program through July, Andres said, and will work with recycling “stakeholders,” such as trash haulers, businesses and other institutions, to promote recycling.

The workgroup’s goals for the future include placing more recycling bins around town, encourage town departments to buy recycled items when possible, purchase blue recycling bins and make them available to homeowners to help make recycling easier, and produce an education video promoting recycling and air it on Channel 18, the town’s government access channel.

Selectmen voted unanimously to endorse a resolution in support of the Mass Recycles Paper campaign, which will hold a special event today in Springfield at a public-private recycling facility.

Chatham’s recycling rate hovers around 21 percent, which is lower than in the past and below many other Cape towns, said Andres.

“We can do a lot better,” said recycling workgroup member Paulette Fehlig. “We have the people and we have the energy to do it.”

Off-Season in P-town

2007-11-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

Its been interesting to watch the changes that take place on the outter Cape from the end of the Summer into the Fall, especially in P-town, which has transformed from a town filled to capacity with colorful tourists to what feels like a small fishing village.

My Tuesdays in town are mainly spent riding around with Tony, the shellfish constable, to various recreational shellfishing areas, working on nets, harvesting and spreading quahogs and osysters throughout the harbor, and helping with other small projects. When I am not working directly with Tony in the field, I usually head over to the GIS (geographic information systems) office at Cape Cod National Sea Shore in Truro to work on updating all of the town's shellfishing maps. By the end of my time here we hope to have a complete set of maps developed and included in a shellfish management plan (which doesn't exist yet). While I definitely enjoy being out on the flats working with my hands, I think this is the area that I can be of the most help. Up until this point very little data related to shellfishing in P-town has actually been recorded and tracked.

Hanging out with Tony, who spent 25 years as a commercial fisherman, I've had the chance to meet some interesting local fisherman and hear some wild stories. The talk of the town recently has been about the sinking of Provincetown's oldest wooden commercial fishing boat, the Chico-Jess, which was built in the 1920's.

For many this symbolizes the end of what was once a prosperous Portuguese fishing village. Since the collapse of the fishing industry much of the town's fleet have remained in dock while they slowing waste away.

Waves and Whales

2007-11-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't had much time to post here on account of the power going out and then a busy week at work on top of that. On Sunday, the day after the storm, Meghan and I went down to White Crest Beach to check on the surf. It was a gorgeous day and the waves were hung. Surfers from all over showed up on the outter Cape for what was apparently one of the best surfing days of the year. In this first picture you can get a sense for how big the waves were - also if you look closely in the distance you can see a whale spouting (see it?). There was several of them very close into shore (It might have had something to do with the storm but I'm not sure).

And here's a good one of a surfer visualizing his route out through the breakers (At least that's what I imagine he was doing).

As you can see here, the surf was strong enough that it was tough for them to actually get through the first line of waves and out to the ridable ones. We watched this one guy get washed back to shore on his first several attempts. You can also get a good sense on how big the waves looked from ground level...

Hopefully I'll get a chance at some point this year to give surfing a try. One of my housemates has a board and a wet suit, so maybe.

Tropical Storm Noel

2007-11-06T04:10:00.000-08:00

The power is finally back on. We had to rough it with no stove, running water, heat, or Pats game for over 2 days (59 hours)... Time to shower.

Preparations

2007-10-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

The first shellfishing beds in P-town are opening up to the public next Sunday, so today we did some final preparations for the season, which runs through the winter. At low tide we hiked out into the flats to take out some bouyes that have been keeping people out during the summer (at least thats the idea). This was a heavy sucker.

The signs say that the shellfish are contaminated because they were originally taken from a contaminated area near Fall River and then relocated into Provincetown harbor. Once they are placed in the relatively clean waters of P-town harbor the shellfish (mostly Quahogs) can naturally clean themselves by filtering the water as they feed. By the time the flats open to the public the shellfish are all completely safe to eat. However, just to be safe the shellfish constable will be taking some water samples and conducting a stock assessment during this week.

The area that is opening on Sunday is stocked mainly with Quahogs and Scallops. During the stock assessment this week, we are most interested in how well the Scallops are doing since they need large areas of eel grass to protect them from predators and really thrive. Unfortunately, the scallop population in many areas of the Cape have been suffering as eel grass coverage has shrunk.

Based on a quick walk-through of the area today it seems that the scallops are actually doing quite well in P-town. Though, these guys will all go pretty fast once its open to the public. As a way to try and keep the areas stocked longer the town only allows shellfishing on Fridays and Sundays and each person can only take away one bucket per week.

Peace.

Yarrr...

2007-10-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

The living arrangements here in the Le Hac house are definitely tight, but fortunately the guys lucked out and got the best room in the house - "The Pirate Ship."

It was given that name for obvious reasons (i.e. the setup and cabinet look like the inside of an old ship). Of course, we've given it our own personal touch with pirate flags and walking the plank and such...

I've got top bunk - just look at all that headroom...

And if you think pirates are a thing of the past, think again. We still roam the seas plundering for booty. As you can see, we've been keeping busy. Click here

In the News

2007-10-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

Today, after working in P-town with some shellfish I headed down to Newcomb Hollow, one of my favorite beaches on the ocean side of the Cape, for a little workout and late season swim. The water temperature was a bit chilly at around 55 degrees - but this is actually on the warm side for this time of year. I am trying to convince some of my housemates to agree to go for a swim at least once every month of the year - no takers yet, so if you want to take the polar plung with me this winter just let me know. Hypothermia anyone? Don't worry, I know first aid.

Fortunately, I am now back in the warm comfort of the Le Hac house with a nice hot cup of cocoa playing with my new scanner that came free with my computer. I haven't had any reason to use it yet, but this week I received my 15 minutes for fame in the form of 3 appearances in some of the Cape's local papers. As I mentioned in a post last week, I worked at Oysterfest over the weekend as a "shucker." This article appeared in the Cape Codder and shows me (middle) shucking alongside Ethan (left) and Dave (right). Ethan is the guy who has a shellfish grant in Wellfleet harbor and offer me a job working at his booth. Dave is one of his buddies.

And here is another article from a local paper showing the "Shuck N' Run" 5K road race. I am the goofy bearded guy in the middle of this photo. I've been trying to get back into running and have been trying to enter a race every few weeks as a way to motivate myself. I was happy to break 20 minutes, which was my goal for the race, with a time of 19:33.

And finally, here is an article that appeared in The Register last week. The article just gives a short paragraph or two about each member of the Wellfleet house and explains the AmeriCorps Cape Cod program in general. Basically, while we were working on a beach fence removal project in Dennis last Monday we were approached by a reporter who pulled us each aside individually and asked a few questions. Here is the result of those questions:

Oysterfest 2007

2007-10-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was introduced to a little bit of Wellfleet culture in the form of Oysterfest, which is apparently on of the biggest festivals in New England. Before coming to the Cape I had never heard of Oysterfest and assumed that it was just some local event. I was wrong. Wellfleetians take their oysters very seriously. This small town was flooded with thousands of people from all over the country who came to get a taste of this slimy treat.

The weekend included lots of entertainment, heavy oyster and beer consumption, and a shuck-off to determine the fastest shucker (a.k.a. oyster opener) in town. Several of us AmeriCorps members were lucky enough to get a job working as "shuckers" at one of the raw bars. My hands are still sore after opening up several hundred oysters over the course of the weekend. In all, our stand sold about 5,000 oysters. Hopefully I can get some photos of all the fun posted soon.

Virtual Tour of Le Hac House

2007-10-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

Dining room....

Kitchen...

Resource room...

Common Room...

The fireplace (and Tyra Banks)

And, the staircase to the upstairs bedrooms (where we cram 13 people into 4 rooms)...

New Jobs, Weddings, etc.

2007-10-09T18:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week and I haven't had much time to post anything here. Last week was the first week at both of my individual placements. On Tuesday, I met my new boss with the Provincetown shellfish department and was given the grand tour of all the recreational shellfishing spots in Provincetown and Truro. We also planted 50 bags of juvenile oysters into Pamet harbor in Truro. I am still try to gain a better understanding of the entire process of shellfish propagation, but, as I understand it, the oysters are placed in small bags together near the shore for the until they are about 1 inch long (which takes about a year). Then, they are spread throughout the harbor where they have more room to grow until they are ready to be caught (at 3 inches). I'm still learning, but I should be an expert soon. Here is a photo of the oyster bags exposed at low tide before they were loaded onto the boat.

And, here are the oyster bags loaded into the boat that we used to plant them in the harbor.

On a side note, I got completely soaked when the tide came in faster than expected. That was a week ago, and my shoes are still wet.

In addition to helping out the shellfish constable with his daily tasks, this year I will mostly be focusing on developing a shellfishing management plan and website for the public to have easier access to information (i.e. regulations, how to obtain permits, closed areas, water quality, online maps, environmental impact of shellfish and shellfishing, etc.).

Later in the week, I started at my second individual placement with the town of Chatham where I will be working on a recycling initiative called Chatham Recycles! The goal of the program is to promote recycling in the town, and my job will be to figure out the best way to do that. From what I can tell, I will be given quite a bit of independence to pursue any ideas that I feel will most benefit the initiative.

I think the biggest challege for this year will be finding a way to keep my projects running from week to week despite only working 1 day. It could be very easy to lose momentum and spend each day trying to remember where I left off the previous week.

I am fading fast here, but I also want to send a big Congratulations to Katie and Christian who got married over the weekend at the Holy Cross chapel. A great time was had by all!

Camping at Nickerson

2007-09-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

Had a great weekend of camping with some friends (Meghan, Jill, Elizabeth, Suzanne, and Jonathan) at Nickerson State Park in Brewster. Thanks for making the trip down!

I posted a bunch of photo's from the weekend on snapfish. --click here to see them--

Here are the highlights:

I set up the site and camped alone on Friday night and the rest of the gang drove down on Saturday morning. This was the first time that I have ever gone camping by myself, and I actually found it quite refreshing. As much as I love my living situation in Wellfleet, it was nice to get out of the house at have some to myself. The campsite was in a great spot, right next to one of the many kettle ponds in the park. There is not too much to do when camping alone, so I just had a small fire, made some hot cocoa, enjoyed the full moon rising over the pond, then went to bed.

On Saturday after the group arrived, we spent the afternoon getting ready for the night with some grocery shopping and a trip back to the house of some supplies. Then, we all headed down to Brewster Flats to watch the sunset. The tide was almost completely out so we could walk for what seemed like a half mile or so and the water was only up to our ankles. The sunset was incredible and I got some great shots. I think one of the best aspects of living on the outer cape is that you can wake up and watch the sun rise out of the ocean on the east side of the peninsula, then later in the same day watch the sun set into the ocean to the west.

Cooking dinner and sitting by the fire was a blast, thanks to the good company, s'mores, and my buddy JD.

We followed this up with a nice long and lazy Sunday morning lounging around the campsite, a stack of chocolate chip pancakes, and a kayak ride around the pond.

Thanks for a fun weekend guys...

Goodbye Trainings

2007-09-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

This is the last week of trainings before getting into the "real" work with our individually placements. So far we have received training in tool usage, Cape Cod ecology, local government and politics, shellfish aquaculture, marine mammal stranding rescue operations, first aid, CPR, Red Cross shelter management, invasive plant removal, and tick identification. I think that covers it all, but I could be missing something.

I have been on the Cape for less than a month, but it definitely feels like much longer than that. I'm absolutely loving every minute of my time here, but, as I have mentioned before, it will be great to starting working at my individual placements and get some hands on experience with the issues that we have been learning about. Today, in preparation for starting our new jobs next week, the AmeriCorps members had a luncheon with our individual placement supervisors and were able to discuss in more detail the projects that we will be working on and our expectations and goals for the year. My new supervisor at the Provincetown Shellfishing Dept. wasn't able to make it but I did have a great conversation with my supervisor at the Chatham Recycles! initiative.

After work I had a chance to play with my new camera for a bit, to try and figure out the seemingly endless number of settings that are available on the thing. First, here is a photo of the outside of my house from the driveway. Don't let the bad paint job fool you, this is a great place to live; we even have a hammock out front.

And here is the view from the front of the house, which is set back a few hundred feet from the road.

Next, I headed down to Newcomb Hollow, which is a beach on the ocean side of the Cape, to get some shots of the sunset. The sun actually sets into the ocean on the bay side of the Cape to the west, but I figured the huge dunes on the ocean side would make foe some good photos. Here is a nice one of the moon low on the horizon rising out of the ocean with the pink of the setting sun still visible.

This is a photo of a silverside that I found washed up of the shore. There were hundreds of these things lying all over the beach after being washed ashore by the tides.

I walked down the beach and came across several fisherman who were fighting to reel in some bluefish, which are known for there ability to put up a tough fight and snap line (or fingers). It was good fun to watch, especially since fisherman in this photo who was using a fly rod (something that that have always wanted to try).

And here is the end result. Dinner.

After watching all of this unfold, I decided to rush home to get my rod and try a few casts. I had just seen several fisherman each reel in keepers with no problem. How hard could it be? Well, apparently its harder than it looks, because I got nothing. I did overhear several guys talking about how the school had just moved further offshore, so that boosted my confidence a bit. There's always next time.

Fishing in Wellfleet Harbor

2007-09-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today, after a training with the Cape Cod Stranding Network (CCSN) on how to respond to marine mammal strandings, I headed down to Wellfleet harbor for a few casts (On a jetty off Indian Neck Beach to be exact). I've set a goal for myself to catch my own dinner at some point this year. The problem is, I'm really not all that great of a fisherman. I didn't catch a thing, not even a nibble. It didn't really matter though; it's hard to complain when you get to witness a sunset like this:

On another positive note, I did have a chance to talk to some local fisherman at the bait shop and out on the jetty who seemed to have some good advice for a newbie like myself. And, in the process I got to hear a few extremely exaggerated fishing stories.

Also, here is a photo of the entire AmeriCorps Cape Cod group for year IX (both the Bourne and Wellfleet House). It was taken last week at the Barnstable County Courthouse after a meeting with the County Commissioners and various department heads that we will be working with throughout the year. You should be able to click on the photos for a larger view.

Quahogs

2007-09-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

This past week we continued our trainings, starting with our first aquaculture service project in Chatham, MA. We worked with the town shellfish warden to collect quahogs, or hard shell clams, from a protected farming area where they had been growing for about a year. The process was fairly simply, but very tedious and time consuming; we used a special rake with an attached cage and slowly dragged it across the ground until it was full. Given that we we literally raking on top of a quahog farm, it wasn't all that tough to fill the cage. Although filling one cage wasn't that difficult, it was a tough work out repeating this over and over for several hours. It was fun, but it sure would be a tough way to make a living.

The quahog farm was spread across an area about 100 x 200 feet so each member worked on a small area. In all, our group collected about 40 bushels of quahogs. Next we loaded the clams onto a small boat and spread them across the harbor, making them available to recreational shellfishermen. I was surprised to learn that nearly all of the quahogs available for recreational fishing in Chatham are raised my the town; without the use of aquaculture there would simply be nothing to catch.

Here's a photo of the group after a hard days work:

I'm quickly falling asleep here so I'll have to fill you in on the rest of my week tomorrow. Peace.

Retreat Week

2007-09-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't had access to the Internets for most of the past week and haven't been able to post much. Sorry about that. I hope you didn't spend all week thinking, "Man, I wondering what Dave is up to?" Not to worry, I'm back and here to tell you all about it.

Before heading to the retreat house we spent Tuesday morning testing out our service project gear that we will be using throughout the year. Each member receives a pair of hip boots, waders, gloves, and fowl weather gear. Much of this equipment has been passed down through several years of AmeriCorps volunteers and isn't in the best shape so we needed to test it out in the ocean first. Lucky for me, I was given the oldest and leakiest pair of waders possible - so I got a little wet. It was good fun though.

Later that day we arrived at the retreat house at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, MA. The entire AmeriCorps Cape Cod group, all 31 of us (members and staff), stayed in an old Coast Guard station right on the beach overlooking the ocean.

The week was an opportunity for all of the new members to get to know each other better and to give us more of an introduction into the program and the specific types of projects that we will be working on throughout the year. As you can imagine the week was filled with a ton of ice breaker and team building games; good times were had by all. We also had a lot of free time to hang out, read, play beach ultimate frisbee, and have bonfires. Not bad, huh.

For me, the last 2 weeks has really felt like an extended vacation since we are still going through orientation and trainings and haven't yet begun the real work; I am definitely looking forward to getting my hands dirty on some worthwhile projects. Though I did find out this week what organization I may be working with for my individual placement. In addition to group service projects and community outreach, each AmeriCorps member is assigned an individual placement (IP) for the year. This is similar to an internship for the year where members have the opportunity to work for a local organization that needs help while also gaining some valuable experience about a specific field. This week I found out that I am tentatively scheduled to work at 2 individual placements; a shellfish management project in Provincetown and a recycling project in Chatham. I don't have much more detail than this since the member IPa haven't been finalized yet, but it was definitely exciting to get some idea of the type of work that I may be involved in over the next year.

For me, the highlight of the retreat was working on our first group service project of the year. Our service partner for the project was a researcher from the University of Rhode Island who is conducting a study of the fin fish population (i.e. regular fish, not shellfish) in the coastal waters surrounding Cape Cod. Basically, the project involved casting a huge net from the shore using a small boat that surrounded all of the fish within about 100 yards of the shore. Once the net was set, about 6 people took hold of each side of the net and dragged it back to the beach full of fish (at least in theory). Once the net was on shore we documented each fish in the net, measured them, and then put them back in the ocean alive. It took about an hour to cast and retrieve the net and we repeated the process 3 times. The first 2 casts were disappointing since we only caught a few stripped bass and blue fish, but the 3rd cast snagged about 30 fish (strippers, bluefish, and flounder). This is actually not all that many fish when you compare it to the last time he cast his net on this beach and caught over 600 fish.

The results of the research will be used by the National Seashore to help them understand the abundance and diversity of fin fish species on the Cape and allow them to make more informed policy decisions. I was very surprised to find out that this study is the first of its kind on the Cape and that the National Seashore actually has fairly limited knowledge about the fish species in the area. Overall, this project was a great introduction into the type of research that the National Seashore relies on and I hope that there will be many similar projects throughout the year.

On Friday morning, the last day of the trip, I woke up early to go for a run along the beach with another AmeriCorps member who is training for a marathon. As tough as it was to roll out of bed at 5:45am, it was completely worth it. The run took us down the beach a few miles near Nauset Light while the sun was rising from the ocean. (I wish I had a camera on me to capture it, but this photo I found online will have to do. This is the stretch of beach that we ran down with Nauset Light in the distance).

After the run I took a jump into the ocean to start my day. Much better than coffee.

A New Home

2007-09-02T19:18:00.001-07:00

I arrived at my new home in Wellfleet 3 days ago and have been busy learning about my new hometown and 13 new house mates. Wellfleet, Massachusetts is a small town on the outer portion of Cape Cod. If you think of the Cape as a bended arm, Wellfleet is at about the forearm, about 12 miles from Provincetown, which is the clenched fist.

Our house is in absolutely perfect location within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore; the park owns the house and lets AmeriCorps members live here free of charge, which is nice. There is no way that I could afford to live in such a beautiful place otherwise. It sits just about in the middle of the town and is an equal distance from beaches on either the "Bay-side" or the "Ocean-side," both sides are less than 2 miles away. The house is known as the Le Hac House after its former owners and definitely has a "rustic" feel. It needs a paint job bag. It is set back from the road in the woods several hundred feet and you have to drive a long driveway to get to it. It's a big house with 3 bathrooms, 2 common rooms, a kitchen, and a dining room. So far there seems to be plenty of room for 14 people to live here, but I imagine it may get a little tight when the winter comes rolling in.

I've spent most of my time over the last several days trying to get to know my housemates who all seem like fun and interesting people. Our house is made up of people from all over the country. California, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts are all represented here. We've had to attend a few orientation meetings since we arrived, but mostly we've just been given free time to explore the area where we are going to live for the next 11 months. On Thursday afternoon, we went for a swim in the a kettle pond down the street and then at Ryder Beach, which is on the bay side of the Cape, and then went to the town Fireworks. On Friday, we spent most of the day filling out paperwork and playing icebreaker games to get to know each other better. We also met the members of the Bourne house for the first time, who live in a different house at the base of the Cape (at about the top of the tricep). This was followed by some night swimming in the bay which involved me getting pinched by a crab; apparently crabs don't like to be stepped on. I won't go into all the details of the weekend because there is almost too much to tell, but there was lots more exploring the outter Cape, bike rides, and bonfires.

Yes, I get to play all day and then have a beach bonfire at night. I know, I live a tough life. But as great as these last few days have been I am really looking forward to getting my hands dirty and getting some real work done.

Unfortunately, my camera is broken so I can't post any photos of the house or the area - hopefully I will be able to get those up soon.

Ok, I'm done for now. More to come later.

End of Summer

2007-08-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog! If you are reading this you probably know me and know that I am spending this upcoming year serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer on Cape Cod. I hope that this blog will be a good way for people to stay in touch with me during this year. Please post comments, that way I will know that someone is actually reading this and, plus, I would love to hear from you.

Well, here we go. I just arrived in Wellfleet yesterday and can't believe how quickly August passed me by. It was quite a shock to make the change from working full-time and going to grad school full-time to having 3 1/2 weeks of completely free time. I mostly spent my free time hanging out with Meghan and staying as far away from computers and email as possible. I did also manage to squeeze in a few exciting little trips and was able to check a few more items off the "Things to do before I die" list.

First off, I went skydiving for my friend Chris' bachelor party in Maine. It was an absolutely incredible adrenaline rush and I would recommend it to anyone who needs to relieve some stress in their life. I think this photo speaks for itself; the subtitle should read: "Holy Shit, What Have I Done!" Actually I was just trying to do my best impression of the cartoon on the side of the plane, I wasn't scared, seriously.

My next big adventure was a 6-day trip to Colorado with Meghan who wanted to check out a few colleges in Denver and Boulder. Since we had both heard nothing but great things about Colorado we figured we'd make a mini vacation out of it. We spent two nights in Denver, two nights in Boulder and another night at the YMCA of the Rockies near Rocky Mountain National Park.

The highlight of the trip, by far, was our car ride through Fall River Pass in the Rockies. After a day of hiking in the park we decided to take a drive up into the pass a check out the views; we were definitely not disappointed. We ascended a steep and narrow dirt road up to 12,000 feet. At the highest point in the pass there a beautiful expanse of tundra that seems to go on forever. The view was made even more stunning by thunderstorm off in the distance that was slowly creeping our way. Just when we though our day couldn't get any better we rounded a bend in the road a came across a herd of Elk. My camera had broken earlier in the day so all I had was my camera phone (better than nothing). Luckily, a guy taking photos next to us with a very professional looking camera agreed to email his snapshot to us. And here they are:

It gets better! Minutes after these photos were taken the thunderstorm rolled through and wer found ourselves stuck in a hail storm at 12,000 feet. Oh, and we saw Rams too. Not bad for a days work.

I'll like to write more about Boulder and Denver and my first days in Wellfleet as well, but it's late and I'm tired. Peace.