Traffic went smoothly. I assumed this was due to the lack of student commuters. I even had time to stop at McDonald's for a "decent" breakfast.
Mr. Seaman called in sick. I was put under the care of Mr. Ray Baker. One of the other workers whispered to me that he was a "slavedriver". I was not amused.
Besides Mr. Ray Baker and I there were three other people working that day. Richard and Ed were student help. Mike, the third person was serving community service time for a crime.
We hiked into the valley to plant palms.The area we arrived at looked plain at first. After we were done, though there was a marked improvement. Mr. Baker said to come back in a year and the area would look beautiful.
The rain started to pour...again. The hike back was made dangerous by the muddy, rocky ground. We had to cross a stream that was tiny the last time we past it. After the rain started it was a little larger and I had a Difficult time crossing it. I did a lot of slipping and sliding and laughing. Everyone else was very helpful to this novice hiker.Jokes about leaving me there with the aliens ensued. They said the Heaven's Gate people would be proud. HA HA.
We then went to another section of the arboretum to clear a trail.Various trees were tied with a red ribbon to signify the path the trail would take. Some of the men had chainsaws to use on the larger trees. I had a handsaw. Weeds and smaller trees ; taken care of by Mike and I. This was what I call hard work. Trees, whole trees, had to be lifted and thrown into a pile. Instead I would cut the tree in half and then throw it. Mr. Baker said this was all right. This proved to be enjoyable. The people I worked with proved to have interesting conversations. The topics ranged from midterms, the Darwin awards, and snowboarding.
I was getting fond of the Arboretum.