winter ?

my mom sent me an e-mail today saying that it was -25 with the windchill in sheboygan. i was playing tennis outside today near the harbor with alex in sweatpants & long sleeves & was perfectly fine. i am a little apprehensive about going back to wisconsin at the end of the week!
i have had the opportunity to do some pretty cool things in the last couple weeks. the first was working with the herring river warden in wellfleet. we basically just put on some hip boots and cleared muck and leaves out of the river all day....and it was AMAZING. i had e-mailed the warden prior to our service day with him, not knowing we would be working with him at any point, expressing interest in joining "friends of the herring river", which is a group devoted to cleaning up the river to re-establish the herring river population. i saw a presentation about it and thought it would be a great group to join, as i was looking for some other hands on experience to get while i am living out here. after he made the connection of who i was, jeff (the warden) made me his "right hand man" for the day -- so that was pretty cool, because he gave me a little tour of the river and lots of background info on it. it's probably getting cold soon, so i probably won't be doing much with the group now, but hopefully in spring.
i am also becoming more involved with my IP at the stranding network, which i am very happy about. i recently went on a "treasure hunt" for a dead seal on the beach in wellfleet and was successful (prior volunteers couldn't find it) and photographed for the stranding network. this past saturday i did level a data training with them and learned how to take skin and teeth samples from dead seals and cetaceans (dolphins, whales and porpoises), as well as take necessary measurements. so now i have a toolbox in my car and can respond to any dead animals that i want to! i also got a call tonight after service and have been asked to help with a necropsy on a stripped dolphin tomorrow! so of course, i am super excited to work with more dead animals, especially because stripped dolphins are not that common in cape cod.
the corps has been doing a lot of WET fests at local schools, teaching children about water on cape cod and how to protect it. it can be a little daunting and repetitive, but the kids really seem to enjoy it. we also helped out at a christmas party for children's cove, a safe-haven for sexually abused children, helping make crafts for gifts.
and of course, we are still having fun! for sam's birthday we tried CONTRA DANCING in woods hole. it's a lot like square dancing. we were a little hesitant at first, but it was a great time! because of the abnormally warm weather, we ventured out to the national sea shore one sunday and did some hiking on the salt pond trail. this past weekend we celebrated korinda's birthday by going out in hyannis -- where we were surprised to find a LOT of young people, and a pretty good cover band.
i leave for boston on friday night and fly out on saturday....i am excited to be back in wisco a bit to see friends and family....and will be on a hiatus from blogging.
see you in the new year !!!

much love,
ABBEY


lisa & i at children's cove xmas party....
















meg & i at the top of doane rock in the national sea shore.....















our group clearing out the herring river....

necropsy

i failed to write about my first NECROPSY! (or animal autopsy). i got to assist with a female gray seal necropsy today with the stranding network and it was AWESOME. i really only got to write down information about the different organ systems as the others were cutting them out of the body cavity, but i got to touch a lot of the organs. before we were started they were really excited about some unusal scars on the seals stomach because they couldn't figure out what they were from. but we were in for a TREAT (??) when we cut her open. she had an enlarged lymph node that was rather odd, but as we moved down her body we found a huge tumor mass in the abdominal cavity that was attached to what we thought was the liver.....but it was actually an enlarged spleen that was about 10 times the size it should have been! i was informed that that was probably going to be the most exciting necropsy i was going to experience, as the others had never seen anything like that seal before. either way.....i enjoyed every second of it and i can't wait to do it again and hopefully be able to cut up some stuff! (& i don't care how morbid that sounds!)

all suited up & ready to go!.....

misty & CT starting to cut open the seal.....

thanks.

i have realized that i suck at blogging. i often get caught up in the heat of the moment in the house and by the end of the night i am too exhausted to type up what i have been doing. however, i do appreciate everyone who reads this and then nag me to update!
my turkey break was wonderful. thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday....lots of delicious food to eat....spending time with friends & family.....good conversation....not all the hype & stress of christmas.....& time to reflect on what i am thankful for (i take that part very seriously).
so with that being said, here it goes.....
i am most thankful for my family, especially my parents. we do not agree on everything, somedays ANYTHING, but they have never failed to show support and love in all that i do, especially during my time here in AmeriCorps. which brings me to the 2nd thing i am thankful for....being HERE. each day is different and some days are better than others, but i don't wish to be anywhere else. even though i have only been here about 3 months...wisconsin feels like a dream some days. my fellow corps members have become an amazing support system and i totally feel at home with them, as they accept me for who i am....crazy food phobias and all! life here has also given me time to reflect on the past and what has lead me to this point. if i could have one wish granted, i wish that my grandma woods could see what i was doing. i was not very aware of her lifestyle growing up, but i now realize that she was ahead of her time when it came to sustainablility, and the idea of "buy fresh, buy local". she was an amazing woman, and i regret that i could not learn more from her. i am not a religious person, but in some ways i feel that she helped me get to this place and i have a picture of us next to my bed so that she can enjoy this journey along with me. i am also thankful for my amazing friends who have always respected -- & encouraged! -- my "free-spirited" lifestyle and are almost as excited as me about being here. it was so great to have emily to come out here for thanksgiving and share the holiday with me. i must admit that it was weird to have my two worlds "collide", but i was so excited to show her my life here.
so, i guess that's all i have to say right now. like usual, i am tired after a long day and am at a loss for words. but, if you are reading this....know that i am thankful for YOU!

enjoy your evening....
love,
A

old man's fingers as hair @ great island.....

em & i at the thanksgiving table before we ate....

all of our leftovers....

loppering @ taylor-bray farm.....

loss.

well...there has been quite the happenings within americorps cape cod & the wellfleet house in the last week.
the first is that one of our members, nichole, has left the program to pursue other paths in her life. she lived in the bourne house and had her IP with the red cross. after 2 months she felt that this program was not what she wanted to be doing right now, & made it very clear that it had nothing to do with anyone in the program or her placement with the red cross. she is a very avid vegan and is thinking about pursuing a raw chef degree out west & we wish her all the best. because she left so early in the program, we will most likely be getting a new member at the beginning of the new year, which will be quite interesting!
last monday, we were sad to learn that greg's friend was walking in boston (to school or work, i'm not sure) and slipped on a T track (it had been raining) & was hit by the T. he was put into a man-induced coma to try & stop swelling of the brain, but tragically he died on thursday. even though we didn't know greg's friend, it all made us stop & think of how fragile life is.
which brings me to my last point....today was our last day of chainsaw training. meredith & i were in a pair together and were having some trouble with our chainsaw because the oil kept clogging & not oiling the chain. we had to take the chainsaw apart and clean & oil it a few times and the last time we did it, we apparently didn't place the face plate on properly, therfore making the bar nuts not tight on the chainsaw. i started de-limbing a tree & after 10 seconds the face plate ripped off & sent the bar & chain flying. it happened so fast, that i had no time to comprehend that it could have seriously injured me. luckily i was not injured, & i was wearing all my proper protection equipment, but it did scare me a bit. i did start the chainsaw again after putting it back together properly, but i was a little skiddish. i cannot believe that you can just go to the store & buy them without having to be properly trained! SCARY.
so, i sit here fully intact. & even though this post is kind of a downer, i have been having fun! on saturday 11 of us braved the cold & went camping in YURTS (large, permanent, canvas tents) at shawme-crowell state forest in sandwich. the yurts were supposedly heated, but not one of us 11, college-educated individuals could figure out how to work the space heaters & we froze....but not before we had a litte fun! i am also getting excited for thanksgiving. i am sad that i will not be going home to share the holiday with my family, but am looking forward to having my best friend, emily, come out here to cape cod to share the holiday with me! i am so excited to have a visitor to show "my new life" to, & it will be like a bit of home is here with me.
i hope that everyone else enjoys their holiday!
much love.
-ABBEY


all of us by the fire while camping in the YURTS....















meg, jess & i in front of the YURT.....















meg & i on the first day of chainsaw training showing off our bucking cuts....















me @ W.E.T. Fest....."crabbey abbey"......ahahah.......

more pictures links

again...here are some links to my facebook photos so you can see more of what i am doing!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2243133&l=195be&id=26700157

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2249744&l=e619d&id=26700157


peace/love.

catch up.

my time here is going fast. i can't believe it's been 2 months since i ventured out here to the cape.
last friday we all had the pleasure (??) of going to boston for an AmeriCorps "pep" rally. all the different corps were there from around the state of massachusetts -- about 1,200 people total! the majority of the corps are based in the boston area, so we felt a little like misfits, but at least we all weren't dressed in the exact same outfit like the city year corps kids were! (creeeepy). the governor of mass even came to talk to us to "pep" us up, if you will, about our year of service. basically it was a lot of listening to speakers & cheering. we did end the day with a tour of the state house, so that was pretty cool. i ended up staying the rest of the weekend in boston & hung out with my cousin, meghan.
we had monday off for vetran's day, so that we could have a long weekend, even though the holiday was on tuesday. we did shellfish propagation with the eastham DNR on tuesday for our group service. we spent the morning doing odd jobs around the DNR office. i was lucky enough to be able to go to salt pond and spread some oysters in the river mouth. on sundays, when the temperature is above 30 degrees, citizens can come to the salt pond with their waders and shellfish gear and they collect the oysters for their own. pretty cool. once the tide went down after lunch, we all got to go out to the bay side and help spread oyster seed on exposed fields....i could do that all day! we also removed netting off of steamer clam beds, so that they can grow in the wild.
this past friday was by far the best.....it was the start of chainsaw training!!! i wasn't even sure if i was going to do it at first, because the thought of it scared the shit out of me, but....it was so amazing! we started with some basic safety (& some horrifying stories) and some parts of the chainsaw, but the guy teaching us pretty much just threw us out in the field. i was terrified at first, but it was pretty awesome once we started cutting up some logs. i even got to keep the discs i cut. we will be training again tomorrow & the next monday and then have 9 days set up this winter with the Cape Cod National Sea Shore to help clear brush & trees to reduce the "fire fuel".
it was abnormally warm yesterday, so we decided to have some night time fun at the beach one last time before the weather turns gross, like it is today. hope everyone is doing well wherever they are!


spreading the shells with oyster seed on them....















walking out to the exposed field to spread the shells....



















what happens when you run out of dish soap after 14 people cook dinner.....



















taking a break during the americorps rally in the boston garden.....

i didn't vote.

& not because i didn't want to.
i was unaware that massachusetts did not allow you to register to vote the day OF voting. you must be registered to vote 20 days prior. i found this out late last week.....too late to get an absentee ballot....plus where i am registered (dane county) i have no proof of residency anymore.
ANYWAY.....voting is one of the few things i enjoy about being an american, so i was feeling very UNpatriotic yesterday. however, that all changed while watching TV late last night waiting for the results. i am not ashamed to admit that i am pretty much as left as you can get. i actually believe strongly in socialized democracy. i get upset that people see socialism as a threat & think we are going to go all communist. C'MON. but seriously, i don't care what political affliation you are....we all just witnessed something historic, and you should be proud that you are lucky enough to say someday that you saw it unfold. 8 years ago our country was in good shape.....today bush has a 25% approval rating -- the lowest ever....and i don't need to point out what is all crashing down around us. both men who were running for president were going to be given a broken country and would have been scruntinized by the oppposing party for doing a bad job regardless. let's look past that & realize what just happened. we are getting CHANGE. even if you think obama is full of shit....realize that we just (FINALLY) broke down race barriers. if that doesn't make you proud to be an american...then i don't know what will!

that's all i will say about THAT.


again.....i have been busy (typical). halloween was a lot more low-key than i imagined. also, i just realized that i didn't upload any of the pictures....so that will have to wait. i am going to boston this weekend for "opening day" on friday (a big gathering of all the americorps programs in mass.) and then will spend the weekend hanging out.

time for family dinner......

peace/love,
ABBEY

SEALS !!!

hello all -- sorry that i have been slacking....living with 13 other people can be quite distracting!
i have been busy with group service, my IP and weekend service.
last tuesday i had my first CLOSE encounter with a harbor seal! i had been staring at my computer allll day at the stranding network & at 4:00 we got a call about a seal with some weird lesions. i was extremely happy to finally have some action! we picked up the seal from the P-town DNR and took it back to our warehouse. because i have absolutely no clue what i am doing, i was given the task of writing down info/taking notes while the other two girls restrained the seal and took it's temperature, cleaned it's wounds, etc. it was quite the experience and seals are FIESTY! this past tuesday i had the pleasure of picking up frozen samples of dead seal jaws. later that afternoon i got to PLAY with them. just kidding -- but, i did get to handle them and learned how to distinguish the different species by the shape of their teeth. VERY cool. i also learned how to log the samples in the freezer. TODAY was by far the best !? last night they picked up a wounded harbor seal and it needed to be transported to the university of new england in maine. myself & my housemate, crystal, had the pleasure of transferring the seal in MY car. the seal was in a dog kennel and hung out in my backseat. she definitely SMELLED.....bad, but it was a great experience. we also didn't have to drive all the way to maine -- we transferred the seal in new hampshire in a liquor store parking lot. totally random, an definitely makes for a great story! if you would have told me a year ago that i would be carting seals around in my car & taking them to rehab, i would have thought you were crazy! but....i would not trade what i have been doing for anything.
this past weekend i participated in my last fin fish study. we didn't catch much, but it was fun to be out in the water one last time. on sunday a bunch of us left the cape (gasp!) and traveled to new bedford, mass for a conference called "bioneers by the bay". it was an environmental conference that we thought we would learn a lot from, but it was mainly speakers talking about how the environment has impacted their lives & how they changed to help it. not exactly what we were looking for, but i am pretty sure we all enjoyed the lunch!
this weekend is halloween...and we have NO SERVICE!!! should be a rowdy time!
see ya on the flip side....
MUCH LOVE,
abbey

me & the seal in my car.......

















the seal in her cage.....















all ready to go in my car.....















a striped bass we caught while fin fishing (pardon my gross-ness).....

oyster celebrations.

definitely fall here in cape cod! this past weekend i was involved with the OYSTERFEST celebration here in my town of wellfleet. friday during the day i spent my service time in barnstable on the barnstable county farm hauling branches from the tree nursery area. i was really excited about this project because i have been recently toying with the idea of being a (christmas) tree farmer! we didn't get to do much concerning the actual tree farm on the property, but it was fun to be there working and learning about the different trees they plant. we will most likely being going back in the spring to help with seedling plantings, so i am looking forward to that!
friday nite was the offical start to oysterfest, which was celebrated with a DISCO DANCE at the lighthouse restaurant in "downtown" wellfleet. some americorps alum from last year came back to celebrate and i believe the whole town was out & dancing, because the dance floor was packed! saturday we got the chance to just walk around the fest and check out different booths and music and of course....oyster shucking! i did not actually eat any oysters, but i did have some amazing lobster bruschetta and tried a swordfish skewer (kinda weird, but good i guess). sunday morning some of us biked down to the harbor to cheer on some fellow housemates that were running the 5K "shuck & run" and later headed back to the fest to jam to some bluegrass! in the afternoon i returned to the festival to do some actual "service". i was part of the recycling initative and basically got to stand in the freezing cold by some garbage cans & recycle bins and told people where to put what. i was amazed at how many people just threw their plastic cups in the garbage....sad. we were also "recycling" the oyster and clam shells. the shells will be thrown back in the water to hopefully form a haven that will attract living oysters and clams to come and live in to help successfully produce more shellfish in the cape area, since (as you know from my previous post) most shellfish is now "grown" through aquaculture. even though it was freeeezing cold, we did get a lot of "thank-yous" and comments that people were happy that we were here helping to get people to recycle....so i guess it was worth it to freeze.
today was another chilly day...spent on the beach! it wasn't so glamorous though, as we were with 100 high school freshmen teaching them about dunes, water & land ecosystems and why we shouldn't litter the beaches. did i mention it was cold? the wind was howling & blowing sand everywhere...but apparently the kids had a good time, even if we were miserable. another good reason to freeze.
so the population of wellfleet has now offically lessened and i am sure we will be bored on the weekends soon enough....but i am still thoroughly enjoying myself & my time here!
take care & stay warm!
ABBEY













some trees @ the barnstable county farm....












chapin beach in dennis before the kids arrived....


















ethan (one of our service partners) at his oyster booth....






the recycling team in the cold.....

long weekend.

my long weekend is slowly coming to an end today. it was nice to have an extra day off after a big week this past week! as you know i started my IP with the cape cod stranding network on tuesday and a lot was already happening due to the wandering manatee that swam into cape cod bay. unfortunately, i did not get to help with the rescue, but from reading the cape cod times i learned that the manatee was captured late saturday morning and was going to be driven back to florida with the sea world folks. everything had gone smoothly and the manatee looked to be in pretty good shape. sadly, the manatee died yesterday en route to florida....just one hour away from the rehab facility it was going to. even though i wasn't a part of the rescue, i feel a little defeated, knowing how much work and effort went into saving the manatee. at the same time i am hopeful for my upcoming year, knowing that i am working with such dedicated people.
this past week we also got to work with the brewster DNR helping with their aquaculture program and clearing fire fuel. we had originally learned about aquaculture at the chatham conservation department a few weeks back, but was left rather confused after the man we were working with went off on rants about mexicans taking our jobs and the world bank going into debt. (yeah......) i feel more knowledgeable after our lesson on monday. basically, aquaculture is like agriculture....just in the water! lack of eel grass due to water pollution and overfishing has caused natural populations of shellfish on the cape to dwindle drastically, so towns now have to basically "grow" their shellfish in restricted areas in the surrounding waters. they actually buy "seed" (brewster buys theirs from maine) or veryveryVERY small oysters and grow them in cages in shallow water in the cape cod bay. once the oysters hit regulation size (3 inches long) they can be sold to be eaten. clams have to be 1 inch thick to be able to be eaten. we also learned how to "shuck" or open the oysters and clams. i got to shuck a clam....but did not taste the benefits of opening one. raw, slimy seafood really isn't up my alley. friday was spent in the punkhorn area in brewster clearing what they call "fire fuel", or dead sticks that are littering the ground. they hope that by clearing the area, any fires that happen will be able to be maintained more effectively by the fire department. it was definitely hard work and we are always a little leary of going in the woods here as there is poison ivy everywhere you turn (2 guys in my house -- greg & brian, already have it!) and a high incidence of lymes disease from ticks.
friday night was brian's 22nd birthday, so what other way to celebrate but with drag queen karaoke!? i am positive we will not be let in the next time we go there....we are such horrible singers! but we had a good time, so i guess that is all that matters. saturday, alex, tim, meg and myself decided to conquer the "RAIL TRAIL". it is a bike trail along hwy 6 that runs from wellfleet to the town of dennis....about 22 miles! from our house it takes about 5 miles to get to the head of the trail and then we biked 11.5 miles to nickerson state park in brewster and walked around for a bit. we were all feeling pretty good until we realized that we had to bike BACK. we racked up 33 miles that day! today tim, alex and i thought we would take another stab at biking (thinking our butts had recovered from saturday -- SO not the case!) and rode 19 miles just around the town of wellfleet....on the atlantic coast to the white cedar swamp, where we walked around on the boardwalk and then to leuitenant island on the bay side and skipped some rocks and checked out the view. needless to say....i am EXHAUSTED tonight after biking more than 50 miles this weekend! i will surely be sleeping well tonite, and am looking forward to the short week!
happy columbus day!

view of cape cod bay from lt. island....














the boardwalk at white cedar swamp....














myself & greg measuring oysters in cape cod bay...

a whale of a tale....

SO....big week this week! we have now started our individual placements, or "IPs". as stated earlier, mine is with the cape cod stranding network. i will be working (or "serving") with them on tuesdays and thursdays. the program is located within an organization called IFAW (www.ifaw.org), which stands for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and they are pretty much a big deal! it's also pretty cool that their international headquarters are located here on the cape! the building that i work at is LEED certified gold (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LEED_certification), which refers to the green building rating system. the building is made out of 40% recycled material and is AWESOME. it will definately be fun to be at work...even if the commute is 45 minutes one way! (yikes).
the big news during service today is that there is a MANATEE hanging out in cape cod bay
(http://capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081009/NEWS/810090318)
this is interesting because manatees usually stick to the waters of florida. this is also bad because manatees don't survive in cold water and the water here is definately starting to get chilly. so....as i sat at my computer for most of the day trying to come up with an outline of how to teach town officals how to help a stranded marine mammal before we get there, everyone in the stranding network were on conference calls with sea world in orlando to coordinate them coming up here this weekend to help capture the manatee and bring it back to florida for rehab, or trying to find someone with an airplane to fly the thing back down there. lots of excitement that i was sad i was not a part of.....BUT i did get to go to their warehouse this afternoon to help get their truck and trailer ready for the capture of the manatee that they are hopefully doing this weekend! i told them that i would be around, so if they need an extra set of hands, that i am more than happy to help!
SO....check out the links and enjoy the weekend....mine is a long one!
take care & much love,
ABBEY

the 8th continent.

so, i know that i am writing about what i am doing in americorps...but i would like to share some information about environmental issues, too as i learn about them.
a while ago i learned about a floating mass of garbage in the pacific ocean that was rumored to be the size of texas. i believed that there was a an island of garbage, but i thought that the size had to be exaggerated. after reading a little blurb about it yesterday, i did some research online and was horrified to find that the large swirling mass of garbage is TWICE the size of texas...and there are TWO of them. they are known collectively as the western and eastern pacific garbage patch. a google search about either of the garbage patches yields not much info....& considerably less for the western patch, which forms between japan & hawaii. the massive landfills are formed by ocean gyres....which are clockwise ocean currents that continuously cycle trapping the garbage. the majority of the garbage is plastic....30 meters deep! the eastern mass is located north of hawaii on the way to california near some islands that house a marine mammal preserve. president bush passed a law last year for the islands to be left alone....but now that more people are finding out about the garbage mass, more people want to be able to investigate it. not much sea life lives around the floating land fill....but many passing fish and birds mistake the floating plastic for food. autopsies of these dead animals show stomachs full of plastic...& those that don't die face many health problems. it also poses problems for people like us that eat the fish that have ingested the plastic. researchers state that it will be almost impossible to clean up the mass messes, but we can cut down the size if we cut down on our use of plastic. i know that it is extremely hard....our society today relies so heavily on plastics...but if you just go out and buy some canvas bags to bring to the grocery store to reuse...you are making an effort! just wanted to make you all aware of this problem. knowledge is power!

picture links

for those people that don't have facebook.....here are links to my photo albums that i have put up, so that you can see ALL the fun i'm having :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235840&l=d0bcc&id=26700157

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2238739&l=1bcf1&id=26700157

my 1st month!

it's hard to believe that i have been here for a month. this place has grown on me so much and the people have become so much like family to me....it is quite amazing. one of my best experiences so far was this past wednesdays. the whole corps was "sworn in" at the county courthouse in barnstable. we spent the morning getting to know the county commision and they could not contain their excitement for the 10th year of americorps. it was so humbling to hear these officals praise the program and past members. it made me really excited to FINALLY get to work instead of training. our first real project happened on friday. on thursday we were given a loose outline and told we were getting some alternative high school student volunteers. we essentially had to plan the project and make sure that we had all the tools we needed to do some invasive species removal. so friday morning we met the volunteers at taylor-bray farm in yarmouth. the land was first used as a farm over 300 years ago! there are only 23 acres left....but it is a really wonderful place that i plan on spending some more time at. the corps members were split into 3 groups and given some volunteers. our group was given the task of removing some PHRAGMITES....an invasive grass from australia that can grow up to 13 feet! so...we got out our lopers & clippers & got to work. for the most part the kids were excited to help and it was great to have some more hands-on work to do. after the volunteers left, don -- who runs the farm -- gave us all a tractor ride! fun stuff. that afternoon 7 of us (meg, brian, alex, jaclyn, jenny, amanda & myself) drove down to woods hole to catch the ferry to go to martha's vineyard for the night! our plan was to camp and to see a band entrain, that we had previously had seen. we thought the best way to travel was on bike....so it was quite "fun" trying to drive around on our bikes with huge packs on our backs containing sleeping bags and tents....in the dark! but nonetheless....we reached our campsite & set up camp. the band was very entertaining & we even got a shout out by the lead singer @ the last song. after a chilly night in our tents we headed into vineyard haven for a yummy b'fast/lunch & then set out on our bikes to explore. we decided to head to oaks bluff to check out a "gingerbread" neighborhood. it was a little neighborhood comprised of little cottages painted & decorated in all different colors. we then hit up the main drag and saw the oldest carousel in the country and lots of cute little shops. we all had a great time & will definately be going back when it is warm again. the best part of the whole trip was when we were coming back & had meredith and korinda pick us up at the ferry....it was sort of like a movie in that we all ran to each other to give everyone hugs. & then when we got back to our house, some people were just getting back from a conference in boston & everyone was running & hugging. we all realized that it was our 1st night apart and it was really cute how we all missed each other! i cannot say enough how much i enjoy the people i live with.
well....on tuesday i am finally starting my individual placement with the stranding network, so i am very much looking forward to that! hope you are all enjoying the fall....not too much color here yet, but i hope soon!
keep in touch!
much love,
ABBEY

sunset on the ferry to the vineyard....

boats in vineyard haven harbor....

our camping group on the ferry....

sunset in wellfleet harbor...check out the sliver moon!

americorps on the (taylor-bray) farm!

rain, rain go away

sunday afternoon.
some of us are congregated in the living room watching a movie because there is not much us to do when it has been raining the last 3 days! hurricane kyle has been moving up the northeast coast and dumping a bunch of rain on us. luckily with 13 other people around, it's not to hard to find things to entertain us.
we have been busy with training still. tuesday we went to chatham to learn about shellfish propagation at the chatham conservation department. me and 3 others (jessica, meg & greg) got to put on our waders and were taken out to the area in chatham bay where they "farm" (essentially) oysters. we raked up oysters and collected them in big buckets. i may have found my life calling! hah! by the end of the day we were all raking up the oysters 15 at a time. we also got to see the "upwells" which are essentially big buckets where they "grow" clams before they place them out into the bay. tuesday night was lisa's birthday, so a bunch of us went out to celebrate. wednesday was kind of a "free" day in that we didn't have to leave the house to go anywhere. we got assigned to our individual placements (or IPS) that morning. i was placed with the cape cod stranding network and will be working with them on tuesdays and thursdays starting on october 7th. i will be mostly helping to educate town officals on what to do if they come across a stranded dolphin, whale or seal. the part i am most excited about is helping with actual strandings if they occur. i will also get to help with the necropsies (autopsies) of the animals that we do not rescue in time.....MUCHO excited for that! that afternoon some of us went to head of the meadow beach on the atlantic coast to see some SEALS! when the tide is low, the seals come in and sun bathe on the sand bar. there were at least 50 seals and it was amazing how close they were to us! thursday was spent training for the Water Education Training (WET) Fest that we were doing on friday in Truro. the WET Fest is something we will be doing about once a month in the different schools all over the cape helping teach school kids about water quality. it is a joint effort with the other house in our program. because the town of truro is a few minutes north of us, the bourne house ended up staying with us on thursday night so they wouldn't have to drive over an hour friday morning. needless to say, our house was REALLY cramped on thursday nite with 26 people living there for the time being, but it was very amusing. we had people everywhere. trying to get into a bathroom on friday morning was also fun, but somehow we all ended up ready for the day and headed up to truro to educate the kids! i was stationed at the water cycle bracelet station and taught the kids about the water cycle (obviously). the kids are actually very smart...& it reminded me a lot of when i was a counselor out @ camp. friday night we went back to truro to hang out at a coast guard house where an americorps member from last year lives & works. we had members from both houses there and it was quite the party! saturday & sunday were spent running errands in the rain....which brings me to now. hope you all are enjoying your weekend

peace,
A.

alex & i @ our water cycle bracelet station...















the upwells @ the chatam conservation department...














some of the girls out for lisa's birthday.....














the seals sun bathing @ head of the meadows beach....

chore day.

well....it is monday, which equals chore day @ the house! i had the pleasure of cleaning the front bathroom and happened to find that the toilet seat was....BEMIS! it was nice to have a reminder of home. i hadn't been missing it at all, but this weekend my dear friend laura got married and i wasn't able to attend because i had some service work that i was doing....but i definately felt a little down on saturday nite knowing that all my friends back home were hanging out together, helping laura celebrate her new life. BUT....i am still havimg a fantastic time on the cape & this past weekend definately kept me busy. on thursday we spent all day at the WBNERR (pronounced web-ner) which is located in Falmouth (which is quite the drive from wellfleet) and stands for: Waquiot Bay National Estruarine Research Reserve. we had the opportunity to learn different methods for obtaining data about water quality, which i enjoyed because that is something i am specifically interested in. apparently there are 20 of these research reserves all over the country, and i am definately interested in looking more into them for future employment some day! friday was spent at meetinghouse farms in west barnstable. it is public land that has a greenhouse for public education and also trails to walk through the area. we had crash courses in power tools and loppering/invasive species identification/removal. we were using the power tools to construct some benches to be placed throughout the trails, and i am proud to say that my group got the furthest in the construction! in the afteroon we worked in a small area of the land removing invasive species with the lopers...which was pretty hard work! friday night began with some beers on the beach and then we headed to a "townie" bar called "the bomb shelter" and ended the night with some night swimming (which has become a house tradition) at a kettle pond right down the road from our house. saturday was a little slow-going, but in the afternoon i headed to the city of BOURNE with my fellow housemates: brian, greg & amie (a fellow wisconsin-ite!) to volunteer at the bourne scallop festival. i spent the evening helping people bring their food to their table.....not very exciting, but i got a free meal & a free shirt! that night a band called "entrain" played in the food tent and they were GREAT! i had been bumming about not having a lot of good live music on the cape, but they made my evening! sunday morning began VERY early (5:30 am) at the beach with our service partner, ethan. we got to help ethan with his fin fish study that he is doing for his PhD. we dragged a 250 ft. net out into the ocean and pulled it up on shore and then seperated the different species of sea life and measured them. we mostly captured a variety of small fish, crabs and squid. while throwing a squid back into the ocean, it slipped in my hand and bit me! it was not very pleasant....but overall it was a really great eperience! sunday afternoon the majority of the house drove up to truro (the town just north of us) for a wine tasting and some jazz music. it was a great way to end the weekend! so....now it's back to the grind....hope you are all enjoying the first day of fall!
much love.
A.




from the top.......some of us @ the vineyard in truro, loppering @ meetinghouse farm & the contents of one of the nets we dragged in.

the past week....

WELL...it has been awhile! i am busy enjoying my time here on the cape. last thursday a bunch of us all went out to eat @ MOBY DICK'S, which is just right up the road from the house. i thought i would celebrate my arrival to the cape with a lobster dinner -- delicious! the restaurant was BYOB, which we thought was unusual...but that didn't stop us from going to grab some beer before our dinner came! we also hit up a bar "downtown" after that actually had people under the age of 40 there! on friday we spent the day getting certified in first aid and cpr and celebrated our first week of training by heading up to Provincetown for......DRAG QUEEN KARAOKE...& we had a blast! we sang a (horrible) rendition of "bohemian rhapsody" and then later "no rain" and brian & greg ended the whole night with "puff the magic dragon" !!! it was quite the bonding experience with everyone. saturday some of us headed back up to "P-town" and hit up the farmer's market and checked out the "main drag" which was lined with really cute shops. that afternoon EVERYONE headed to Coast Guard Beach on the national sea shore to stay @ the NEED building for a retreat until tuesday morning. we did a lot of team building exercises with the other house and got a chance to tell everyone why we were here, in cape cod, committing a year to environmental community service. we also got a chance to talk to some alumni from the program and two of them actually did a year of service after Cape Cod for the St. Louis Emergency Response Team, which I was also accepted to. I inquired about their year in St. Louis and they both told me that I made the right decision coming to the Cape and that the St. Louis program was very unorganized and this was probably the last year that they were going to do it. It was such a relief to hear that, because all I could think about before I got here was if I made the right decision and that just confirmed that I did. So....I am here and excited and can't wait to learn more about the area and what I will be doing for the next 11 months! Thanks for the comments and the e-mails....keep 'em coming!

peace/love ABBEY

the NEED house that we stayed @ on the beach....


myself, korinda & meg sitting in the lifeguard chair @ coast guard beach...

most of "the house" @ drag queen karaoke!

coast guard beach in eastham....

cape pictures!

this is a picture of the outside of my house...."Le Hac" in wellfleet


& here is my room......TOP BUNK is me !!!

roadtrip pix.

meghan & i in the boston gardens!

emily & i @ niagara falls, onatario and then acorn alley in boston, which is the smallest road in the US....or something like that.....& it still has the originial cobblestone! (it hurts in sandals)

day two/three

yesterday we met the "other house" -- BOURNE. they all seem like really cool people. we did a couple ice breaker games and A LOT of paperwork. snore, but necessary. some of us decided to take a bike ride in the afternoon in the sprinkling rain & ended up @ the same beach again (on accident), which led to us jumping into the ocean with our clothes on & trying to body surf in the choppy waves. quite the experience. we had a great taco/burrito dinner with brownies & ice cream for dessert & then watched some arrested development! great way to end the evening. this morning we had "orientation" about the Cape, basically to learn where grocery stores, gas stations, hospitals & dunkin donuts are (east coasters LOVE their DD)....& of course where the few bars that stay open year round are! after that we had a little "scavenger hunt" which was really just following a map to where certain things were on our side of the Cape. we had lunch at this fantastic place called Gray's Beach. you walk out onto this long boardwalk over marshy land and it was just very scenic. we also got to make a quick stop @ the grocery store -- stop & shop! -- and learned that there is a trader joe's in hyannis! sadly, it's about an hour away....but close to our headquarters, so i will eventually get there some day! back at the house we got outfitted with some awesome orange raincoats and pants and then went to the beach to test out our waders! (mine don't leak -- awesome!) we also fit another mini bike ride in there somewhere....in which we finally headed "downtown" wellfleet to check it out! lots of cute shops and galleries...& very "hippie-esque", so i am pretty sure that i am going to like it! tonight is another family dinner and then a house meeting, which will be the norm now every wednesday nite. we are doing a program retreat this weekend from saturday-tuesday...so i am looking forward to that! i guess that's it for now.....take care....& thanks for the calls/texts/fbook messages! i promise i will get back to you all soon....just busy getting to know the house & everyone still. peace!



view from Gray's Beach all of us trying out our waders in Cape Cod Bay....