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