I got a chance to go surfing last weekend...and it worked out really well. the waves were small, but shapely and wide, so the learning capability was great. I caught a few, fell off the front of a bunch, and even paddled over to where the surfers arent allowed and got airhorned at by the lifeguard. All in all, a great day. I will probably go back this weekend. An interesting thing happened to me while I was there though. I saw a large sea animal of sorts swimming near me. It didnt come to the surface to breath, but I could see some fin stuff breaking the water surface. I kept my eye on it. It eventually swam over near some people, who didnt notice, but then did, and immediately got out of the water and told the people near them to do the same. Shark? quite possibly. a little annoying to because I missed some waves while i was waiting to see where it would go.
Have you ever been driving down the road and you look over and see a guy driving a small tractor? You think to yourself how funny it is that he is driving a tractor on the side of the rd. Its not as though he is using it like a car, he is just moving it. There is always "that guy" with his tractor on the regular rd. Now, have you ever looked over, and up a little, to see a guy driving in his mammoth tractor? I'm talking the big kind with a steal cage you could wrestle another person in. The kind of tractor that almost goes fast enough to get to the speed limit in most school zones. Ever seen "that other guy," driving the giant tractor? That was me today, as I think I spent close to an hour just driving a tractor from point A to point B, alot of which happened to be on a big road. It was funny to me to think about it as I did it. Thats all you really can do on those things is sit there and think. It was a good respite from constantly burning. Plus, it was apparently 105 degrees today!
stay cool in the heat wave.
--DAlen
PS I heart my secret buddy and peanut trail mix...probably send some fresh mangoes your way along with my backstock of buddy gifts.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
Dalen's cool weather tip
Tip of the day:
So, when it is really hot outside in the sun, and there is no shade around, the best thing to do is create your own shade. This can either be done by forcegrowing a tree to make in instant canopy (very difficult to do) or by simply burning 100s of acres at one time so that your smoke column is so great that is literally creates its own clouds that block out the sun. I would suggest this second option
We burned with the Dept of Foresty again last monday, doing another aerial ignition burn and torching some 600 acres of fire-dependant ecosystem in less than 3 hours. Then, it was back to the Gainsville area for burns on tuesday and wednesday. Because of working until saturday last week and because of burning so much in the beginning of the week, we worked only a part day on Thursday and had today off.
I cant decide if its hotter wearing tyvek and gutting houses, or wearing nomex and setting fires. I feel like I sweat more gutting, but its hard to get hotter than fire. I am learning a lot and enjoying it still, although it is quite exhausting. the workouts have been pushed to the wayside in favor of reading and more restfull activities. My term here is about half way through...and then its back to the lovely queen city. I miss everyone there and look forward to seeing all of you soon.
--DAlen
So, when it is really hot outside in the sun, and there is no shade around, the best thing to do is create your own shade. This can either be done by forcegrowing a tree to make in instant canopy (very difficult to do) or by simply burning 100s of acres at one time so that your smoke column is so great that is literally creates its own clouds that block out the sun. I would suggest this second option
We burned with the Dept of Foresty again last monday, doing another aerial ignition burn and torching some 600 acres of fire-dependant ecosystem in less than 3 hours. Then, it was back to the Gainsville area for burns on tuesday and wednesday. Because of working until saturday last week and because of burning so much in the beginning of the week, we worked only a part day on Thursday and had today off.
I cant decide if its hotter wearing tyvek and gutting houses, or wearing nomex and setting fires. I feel like I sweat more gutting, but its hard to get hotter than fire. I am learning a lot and enjoying it still, although it is quite exhausting. the workouts have been pushed to the wayside in favor of reading and more restfull activities. My term here is about half way through...and then its back to the lovely queen city. I miss everyone there and look forward to seeing all of you soon.
--DAlen
Saturday, July 15, 2006
crazy end of week (HAPPY BDAY JILL!)
Burns to date: 6 (2 at Disney, 1 here, 2 in Gainsville, and 1 near hear with DoF)
Wednesday afternoon:
I got the privelidge of using a brush cutter tractor attachment wednesday to mow fireline here on our preserve. As the day got later, I noticed Matt, my coworker, hadnt come to get me with the ATV yet. I lost my watch burning last week, so i didnt know that it was 6 oclock already. Once i finished mowing, I called Matt on the walkie, and found out he was stuck in a bog with the ATV somewhere in the SE corner of my big map. I drove to find him with the tractor, and sure enough he was deep. We couldnt manually remove the ATV, so we slowly drove the tractor close to the ATV to pull it out, almost getting the tractor stuck for probably eternity. finally got the ATV out, and I raced back to put it on the trailor, tying everything down right before a huge thunderstorm hit. Matt (on the tractor) got soaked. On the ride home, we found out we would be burning the next day.
Upon getting home, we found out we would be driving up to Univ. of Florida, and needed to leave thursday at 4:45...AM!!!!
Thursday:
Met up here at the office at 5 am, way early for any normal job. Then we drove to Gainsville, getting there around 9. Fire was on the ground by 10, and we burned about 150 acres. It was just like GA...wire grass flat wood. It burned very nice and clean. Then we proceeded to spend about an hour or two after everything was done mopping up some. It wasnt so much fun. We finished around 6ish...a long day.
Highlite of the night/trip: our hotel had happy hour, which meant free drinks for an hour. Hello Ms. Margarita.
Friday Morning:
Met up at 9ish for a second day of burning. Another 150 acres went up nicely. I learned a little more about ignition techniques for higher or lower intensities. Mop up took a little longer this time, but we did a lot of it while the burn was going on. All flaming or smoking debris within 30 ft of the fire line had to be drug in or put out.
We went ahead and stayed an extra night, knowing that trying to drive after two really long days probably wouldnt end up well.
Saturday Morning:
Woke up around 9ish again...got some free breakfast and drove back. My weekend didnt start until 1:00 pm on Saturday. But then again, you could argue that everyday is like a weekend when you love the work you do...and whats not to love about burning the forest?
Other highlite: yesterday during mop-up, i got to live the fantasy of every young boy out there. I sat on top of the water pump truck while it was driving and sprayed burning and smoking debris with a waterhose...the big fire hose kind. It was tons of fun and can put out a lot of water that turns to steam when it contacts white hot burnt pine. Pretty cool.
Remember kids...only you can grow up to prevent wildfire by setting Prescribed fire!
--DAlen
Wednesday afternoon:
I got the privelidge of using a brush cutter tractor attachment wednesday to mow fireline here on our preserve. As the day got later, I noticed Matt, my coworker, hadnt come to get me with the ATV yet. I lost my watch burning last week, so i didnt know that it was 6 oclock already. Once i finished mowing, I called Matt on the walkie, and found out he was stuck in a bog with the ATV somewhere in the SE corner of my big map. I drove to find him with the tractor, and sure enough he was deep. We couldnt manually remove the ATV, so we slowly drove the tractor close to the ATV to pull it out, almost getting the tractor stuck for probably eternity. finally got the ATV out, and I raced back to put it on the trailor, tying everything down right before a huge thunderstorm hit. Matt (on the tractor) got soaked. On the ride home, we found out we would be burning the next day.
Upon getting home, we found out we would be driving up to Univ. of Florida, and needed to leave thursday at 4:45...AM!!!!
Thursday:
Met up here at the office at 5 am, way early for any normal job. Then we drove to Gainsville, getting there around 9. Fire was on the ground by 10, and we burned about 150 acres. It was just like GA...wire grass flat wood. It burned very nice and clean. Then we proceeded to spend about an hour or two after everything was done mopping up some. It wasnt so much fun. We finished around 6ish...a long day.
Highlite of the night/trip: our hotel had happy hour, which meant free drinks for an hour. Hello Ms. Margarita.
Friday Morning:
Met up at 9ish for a second day of burning. Another 150 acres went up nicely. I learned a little more about ignition techniques for higher or lower intensities. Mop up took a little longer this time, but we did a lot of it while the burn was going on. All flaming or smoking debris within 30 ft of the fire line had to be drug in or put out.
We went ahead and stayed an extra night, knowing that trying to drive after two really long days probably wouldnt end up well.
Saturday Morning:
Woke up around 9ish again...got some free breakfast and drove back. My weekend didnt start until 1:00 pm on Saturday. But then again, you could argue that everyday is like a weekend when you love the work you do...and whats not to love about burning the forest?
Other highlite: yesterday during mop-up, i got to live the fantasy of every young boy out there. I sat on top of the water pump truck while it was driving and sprayed burning and smoking debris with a waterhose...the big fire hose kind. It was tons of fun and can put out a lot of water that turns to steam when it contacts white hot burnt pine. Pretty cool.
Remember kids...only you can grow up to prevent wildfire by setting Prescribed fire!
--DAlen
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
yesterday, fire fell from the sky
We did an aerial ignition burn yesterday. It was pretty dang cool. I think I doubled my acreage also. we burned a little over 1000 acres of property yesterday. Of course, mostly all i did was light some of the borders off, and the rest was lit from above via helicopter and flaming ping-pong balls. It was pretty dang cool. I got some pictures, but I dont know what the best way to get them off my camera is, as my computer is sitting in a closet. might have to wait until august to see the pics on a computer.
we burned for about 2 hours, and guess what happened then...it rained.
hopefully we will burn again today, otherwise i may be spending some time on a tractor.
--DAlen
we burned for about 2 hours, and guess what happened then...it rained.
hopefully we will burn again today, otherwise i may be spending some time on a tractor.
--DAlen
Monday, July 10, 2006
The land of fire/rain
Today I worked on my third burn/rain. Everytime we get to a burnin', and afternoon t-storm comes in, brings gusting winds that shift every whichaway causing high anxiety for spotting, and then it drops heavy rain, putting out our oh so lovely and productive fire. Last thursday and friday we travelled up to Orlando to burn at the Disney Wilderness Preserve (no, Mickey Mouse wasnt there, although I do think Disney world would be great to have a themed section involving wildfire/prescribed fire). We set backing fires (see also, slowest fire ever) and burned long days, but ended up not finishing due to rain. Today, we were burning out a small unit (less than 50 acres) and the rain came in (talk about a case of the Mondays). Hopefully tommorrow will be better though, as we are assisting with an aerial burn. this means that a helicopter will be dropping little flammable ping-pong balls to set the fire, and we just sit and watch, making sure the fire doesnt escape. From what i hear though, it can get exciting if the fire is dropped outside the burn unit. This is called a spot fire and requires immediate action to extinguish. It'll be a long day as well since we might be burning acreage up in the high hundreds (maybe even low thousands).
Last weekend I went to visit my cous Carla in Tampa. She cooked for me and it was awesome. Also, much thanks to Bill for the boat ride and the hospitality. It was nice to get out of Frostproof for a little while, but is also nice to return to this small ville. I am kinda getting attached to it...or maybe its just the fresh mangos getting to my head (or maybe its the chemicals from the orange factory across the street).
--Will
Last weekend I went to visit my cous Carla in Tampa. She cooked for me and it was awesome. Also, much thanks to Bill for the boat ride and the hospitality. It was nice to get out of Frostproof for a little while, but is also nice to return to this small ville. I am kinda getting attached to it...or maybe its just the fresh mangos getting to my head (or maybe its the chemicals from the orange factory across the street).
--Will
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Tommorrow is the first day
"Are we burning today?" Thats likely to be my first question. Apparently the crew here has been really waiting for the right weather and conditions and me to show up so they could get as much burning done as possible. Yeah, my hands may not get clean again until mid-August.
Apparently Frostproof Florida puts on quite the fireworks spectacle. Happy 4th of July everyone!
I've gotten used to the house on paper st., but yet somehow it still feels like I am in an episode of the twilight zone. I usually wait until dark to go for a jog, and I usually run in the middle of the street because its the least worn. There is nobody still awake in this town by the time it gets dark, meaning 9:30 ish. I run down to the lake, then run along it, then back up to the main highway and home. If you go to the center of town, and turn left or right on Wall St. (I find this to one of the funniest things so far, Wall St?), its only about 4 blocks either way to a huge lake. The word lake is used here really to refer to something that seems more like just a giant puddle. I cant imagine it gets more than 5 ft deep anywhere in these lakes, but thats deep enough for gators which means its too deep for me.
Well, time for me to run into the big city (Lake Wales) to hopefully find some cheaper food and a post office box. It might not be until friday that I use a computer again, since hopefully we will be burning as much of the 5000 acre (!) Tiger Creek Preserve as we can.
be great
--DAlen
Apparently Frostproof Florida puts on quite the fireworks spectacle. Happy 4th of July everyone!
I've gotten used to the house on paper st., but yet somehow it still feels like I am in an episode of the twilight zone. I usually wait until dark to go for a jog, and I usually run in the middle of the street because its the least worn. There is nobody still awake in this town by the time it gets dark, meaning 9:30 ish. I run down to the lake, then run along it, then back up to the main highway and home. If you go to the center of town, and turn left or right on Wall St. (I find this to one of the funniest things so far, Wall St?), its only about 4 blocks either way to a huge lake. The word lake is used here really to refer to something that seems more like just a giant puddle. I cant imagine it gets more than 5 ft deep anywhere in these lakes, but thats deep enough for gators which means its too deep for me.
Well, time for me to run into the big city (Lake Wales) to hopefully find some cheaper food and a post office box. It might not be until friday that I use a computer again, since hopefully we will be burning as much of the 5000 acre (!) Tiger Creek Preserve as we can.
be great
--DAlen
Saturday, July 01, 2006
It has begun
My leisure time with Ms Victoria finally ended yesterday and I got in my car and drove south. i stopped once I reached Lake Wales, FL...well actually i drove through Lake Wales and stopped in Frostproof, where I will be living.
Enter house on paper st.
Its not actually as bad as the fight club's house on paper st., but its pretty dang close. The building is old...100+ years apparently. The TV gets 5.5 channels. Its pretty dark inside, but lightens up a lot when windows are opened. I had to choose between two rooms: the one closest to the back door, with the slanting floor that prevents you from sleeping in the bed on your side, or the other room, which has a couch next to the bed. I chose the couch. If I could see past the giant bush outside my window (which acutally is good for privacy), I would be able to see the fried chicken place next door. Now thats conveniance. Across the street, the pungent smell of an orange juice refinery fills the air. Its like a paper mill, but they make the paper out of oranges. The house is a perfect place to retreat to after long days of burning, looking for a place to read and sleep and store my stuff.
Tuesday, frostproof apparently has a big fireworks display. Looking forward to that. Sunday, probably going to the beach. Next weekend, probably go visit my cousin in Tampa (Carla? sound good?).
So far so good. --Leroi
Enter house on paper st.
Its not actually as bad as the fight club's house on paper st., but its pretty dang close. The building is old...100+ years apparently. The TV gets 5.5 channels. Its pretty dark inside, but lightens up a lot when windows are opened. I had to choose between two rooms: the one closest to the back door, with the slanting floor that prevents you from sleeping in the bed on your side, or the other room, which has a couch next to the bed. I chose the couch. If I could see past the giant bush outside my window (which acutally is good for privacy), I would be able to see the fried chicken place next door. Now thats conveniance. Across the street, the pungent smell of an orange juice refinery fills the air. Its like a paper mill, but they make the paper out of oranges. The house is a perfect place to retreat to after long days of burning, looking for a place to read and sleep and store my stuff.
Tuesday, frostproof apparently has a big fireworks display. Looking forward to that. Sunday, probably going to the beach. Next weekend, probably go visit my cousin in Tampa (Carla? sound good?).
So far so good. --Leroi
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