Rathtrevor Beach

Date: March 29, 2007 1:24 PM

Rathtrevor Beach

Curiously, there was a veritable cluster of blue shirts at the kitchen when we arrived to pick up our lunch this morning. In the wake of yesterday’s ‘Sandwich Summit,’ maybe they’d caught wind that the lunches were about to improve! In all of the milling around, it was discovered there were leftover hashed browns and hamburgers which had been cooked already. All that was needed was to reheat them. Crew #2 pounced at this and, with that, our prospects for a good day improved dramatically. 

With the wood chipper now repaired, we headed off under partly cloudy skies to Rathtrevor Beach for work today. Our task was to roam the 195 campsites, collecting and chipping branches that had come down over this winter’s wind storms. Well, we managed to make it to coffee break before the chipper started acting up again, much the same way as before taking it in to get repaired. Our plan for work once again foiled by equipment problems. Oh well. At least we had Hawaiian coffee. Mr. Wight, true to his word, remembered to bring the goods. And indeed, it WAS good.

After coffee break we abandoned our campsite clean-up and focussed on piling branches that were strewn about the parkland adjacent the sandy beach. It was quite something to be in jail, yet find yourself strolling the beach on a breezy, sunny mid morning. Choppy seas, people walking dogs, eagles suspended overhead on the updraft, the smell of sea salt on the nose. Truly unimaginable that this experience could be had when I learned I was going to jail. It is still a life restricted which keeps the enjoyment factor tamped down but, that being said, if I weren’t on the ‘outside crew’ my incarceration would be infinitely more dreary.

Breaking for lunch, we proceeded to feast on a more substantial meal than we’d had in weeks. Topped off with some more Hawaiian coffee. Victory never tasted so good! We’ll likely be back to substandard, ‘dietician approved’ lunches tomorrow because nothing lasts forever, but we were enjoying what it was we scraped and clawed for. Revelling in our victorious foils, we recounted our summit with Mr. Wight from yesterday. One knee slapper after another. Christ, does that Fred have a keen sense of humour! His presence on the crew is making my workdays all the more enjoyable. A hard worker, who isn’t afraid to ride the boss. Toss in his sharp wit, aimed at getting a quick laugh, and it makes the drudgery of our work feel more akin to a tree-planting atmosphere. He is only around for two more weeks but what he adds to the mix of our motley crew I appreciate, as do the others. And that’s not the coffee talking.