Starry Night.

...and I'm back. as I type (shout out to blackberry) I'm perched on a rock wall next to a dam. Both I climbed. Its 11 here and very dark...except its a half moon and very starry. After collecting my moxy and a small (ok maybe large) need to prove I'm not a sissy, I climbed across the dam down the other side and found myself on my back staring at the stars over the cascade of the dam. There were tree silhouettes which looked exactly like dinosaurs and critters scrambling in the tall grass. It was absolutely serene. The air was cool, small breeze Stirred from the pouring water and I was drinking it in. The Santa Monicas will always hold a special place for me.

Work has been so good this week. Ill admit mulching, weeding and carrying hundreds of gallons of water isn't my favorite. Although I do know at least ten Native and ten invasive species as well as why restoration and trees are such a huge piece to wildfire prevention nd water conservation. This week though we did some other fun stuff. Tuesday I went with JJB to Malibu high school and talked to three classes of Eng Srs (boy do I miss that) then we we went to the office. TreePeople is such a wonderful office; we worked in their "community garden" nd helped w a staff scavanger hunt (for ice cream)! Thursday we worked with the Park to weed whack and plant some Nucella. Then we went out to Topanga. Its my favorite site but it needs so much work. Today was the best! We went out to Toms screenhouse and potted plants all day! This meant lots of playing in the dirt. Everyone was covered; Sara smeared mud all over her arms, legs and face; Sophie got. Great beard stache; Iman had a rocking fumanchu. We sprayed eachother w hoses and threw soil and sang and danced nd played.

No matter what emotional/personal undercurrents threaten to drown Gold 1 at times times like today restore my faith in us and remind me how well we fit together.

So many things have happened in the last eight months that I never would have done w/o my team or this program. I climb rocks (including the rock peninsulas at the Grand Canyon), I lived iin Nola, learned to navigate public transportation, camped six weeks, learned bout Mold in a post Katrina world, was in six states in one week and so much more.

I LOVE MY JOB!!!!
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