At this point I felt the need to clear something up that may not have been obvious in my previous posts. Maybe I made tree planting sound like a prison sentence, filled with endless days of hard work. There's definitely hard work involved, and some longer days may feel like a prison sentence, but planters are given a day or two off every week to relax. So how does a tree planter spend his or her downtime?
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| Fishing on a nearby lake |
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tree planters' weekend spans Sunday and Monday, not the standard weekend format. Generally Saturday night after planting and dinner is spent socializing around a bonfire, usually bigger than it needs to be, sharing stories from the week, having a drink or two and just unwinding after a long week. These evenings can go late into the night, sometimes until early morning.
Sunday is typically the day everyone goes into town on the bus to do laundry, buy food for the weekend and enjoy civilization for a change. Maybe use a real toilet instead of an outhouse for a change. I liked to use that time to call home, since cell service out in the woods is hard to come by. After everyone's ready to go back the bus collects everyone and heads back to camp. By now it's usually later in the afternoon, so most planters will make dinner. Sunday evening is spent much like Saturday evening, with a big fire and a social evening with the entire crew.
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| Have time off? Why not build a boat? |
Monday is the day to totally relax. There's no need to go into town again, so the time is yours to spend how you you'd like. Go fishing, play some volleyball, write a letter to a loved one, etc. Mondays are the most relaxing days to a tree planter. You don't even have to wake up if you don't want to. The latter portion of Monday is used to prepare for the following work day. Gear is packed, boots are cleaned, shovels are sharpened. A sense of the coming work week is in the air. But don't worry, we'll do it all again next week.
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| A tame version of a tree planter bonfire |
Sounds like the down time is a blast... almost like being at camp! Also, that boat is also pretty impressive. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I honestly did not think this would be a fun job, but I think you've changed my mind. Tree planting for the summer sounds like a lot of fun, specially being with the same group of people and kind of camping for the whole summer with a group of friends. AND you get paid to do it! Glad to hear you really enjoy what you do James.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Erika, you've opened up my mind to a tree planters life! I don't know much about this particular lifestyle, although it seems relaxing (on your time off at least) and definitely rewarding. Its something that needs to be done and I do support companies that have the social responsibility of giving back to the environment. For example, the company 10 Trees, that will plant 10 trees for every purchase made.
ReplyDeleteThe job sounds hard, and I doubt I'm wrong, but the down time looks like way too much fun. I haven't been out camping as much as I want in the last year, but your blog really makes me want to get out there.
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