So...  since the Botanical Gardens, BR has kept busy with some smaller projects a bit closer to home.    Last Saturday a group of 6 (Jim, Jen, Emily, Bill H, Patti, and myself) finished up some work at the Olean Family Literacy Center that was started back during our last local service weekend.   The rooms had been drywalled during that event and required some sanding, minor touch ups and paint.   We completed two small rooms and the hallway.  Of not from this work day was the fact that once again, the police showed up, as we set off the alarm when entering the building.   They were nice enough though, and gave us the number for the maintenance man that was supposed to have disarmed the system prior to our arrival.  Also of note, Bill H. and his wife Patti are from Texas, where they met the BR group during their visit/work in Bridge City and Pass Christian, TX (I know, I already said Texas, but it seemed odd to leave the city without the state).

Today (July 3rd) Jim, Jen and myself traveled to Salamanca (Jim rode his bike (see below)) to finish up a paint job for "Rose" that was started some time last year.   Rose and her friend were very welcoming and extremely appreciative.  We fixed what needed fixed, painted what hadn't been painted yet, and mowed the yard.   Rose provided me with supervision as I painted and told me stories from her past.  Very cool, very nice lady...  I hope we get to work there again.   Of note today, the neighbor lady told us she almost called the police while we were waiting for Rose to answer the door (starting to see a trend?)... 

I think this weekend will also include mowing trails and removing some fallen trees over at Bob's Woods, and maybe some additional clean up at storage if time permits.  

Also, here is an excerpt from http://blakewtd.wordpress.com  Blake is the director of a documentary by 4 students call Walk The Dream (www.walkthedream.com).  We ran into them while we were in Millbury, OH cleaning up after the tornado.

"In the past month we’ve gone through two massive cities (Cleveland and and Chicago) and seen three major storms. The beginning of severe weather started in Huron, OH in the middle of the night. We hadn’t been able to find a place to stay, however a local McDonalds allowed us to park our bus in their parking lot to sleep in. It’s an interesting experience to say I’ve had, sleeping in a McDonald’s parking lot. But when trying to shower and get clean in their bathroom it’s hard to not feel homeless. During the evening a storm passed through which was enjoyable as I sleep very well when it rains. The pitter patter of rain on the roof is soothing to me. However the huge siren going off in the middle of the night wasn’t so pleasant. Holly tried to worry us all by saying it was a tornado warning. But I (being from Rochester, NY were we don’t have such a thing) insisted it couldn’t be. Hah, was I wrong. I didn’t know it until the next morning but a horrible level 4 tornado had touched down about 50 miles away from us. It’s probably better I didn’t know that evening or I wouldn’t have gotten back to sleep so easily.

After finding out the tornado had touched down so close to us we decided it would be well worth the time and extra miles to go to Millbury, Ohio and help out cleaning up from the destruction. I have never experienced a natural disaster (aside from an ice storm that knocked out everyones power in Rochester for a week once). The site of what a tornado can do is life changing. While walking into town we started to notice street signs bent in half, some tree branches down, then a completely naked tree. The school was one of the first things we came across. Half of it was untouched and looked as it was suppose to for the graduation ceremonies that were suppose to be held the day after the tornado had touched down. The other half was spread across a field. Insulation clung to a chain link fence, school buses lay in a row missing windows, doors, and hoods. There were remnants of the school for blocks. Bull dozers pushed heaps of school items together to crush them and put them in the dump. The school was condemned. It is now to be knocked down and rebuilt, at an estimated cost of 50 million dollars.

That was only the beginning of our experiences there. However there is a video you can reference on our facebook page about our visit so you can see a little of what we saw. Much like our trip in general the number of volunteers that came out and helped clean up really reminds you of how kind American’s are. It felt great to be the one to lend a hand after how many people have helped us out. "

-Nate

Sunburn season is upon us, and boy did I get a whopper of one over the weekend.   Friday after work, Brian and I mowed Penny's lower 40 for the second time.  It was beautiful weather, so we thought it best to take advantage of it.  After mowing we enjoyed some adult beverages, and worked on organizing her garage; removing a plethora of cardboard boxes, breaking them down and boxing them up.  All told, I'm fairly confident to estimate that we prepped 50 or more pounds of cardboard for recycling.  Penny also donated around 50 pair of shoes to BR's collection for Haiti.  Way to go Penny!!!

On Saturday, Brian, Penny and I drove to Cuba/Rushford to go antiquing and pick up some perennials from the plant lady (another post).  Needless to say the weather was fantastic, so we had the sunroof open.   I've apparently forgotten that I'm Irish, have no hair, and tan like a fork in the microwave.  Top of the head burnt, when we returned to town, I donned a cap and spend 2 hours working on the bank in front of the house.  Raking, digging, planting, more raking, etc. etc. etc.  In the end, the bank showed improvement and I was left with two mountainous piles of soil and degrading mulch on the sidewalk.

Today, I awoke with a brilliant idea.  Necessity is the mother of invention, and it was necessary that I find some other way to get the dirt from the bank out back without having to use my rickety wheelbarrow.  I called Brian, who obliged my request to convert his Hummer into an urban dump truck using a blue tarp and a snow shovel.  We hauled the first load up the hill and the send we took to his house to use as base material for a raised bed.  We then headed to Wal-mart to pick up some potting soil for porch boxes and some topsoil to mix in with the soil at his house.  Dirt delivered, we planted sunflowers and put the cardboard from Penny's to the curb. We returned to my house and dug up some plantings for around Brian's house.  By time we were done his urban dump truck had been refilled with flora for his homestead.  Another side note, Brian donated two monitors and a keyboard to BR's computer drive for Haiti..  Way to go Brian!!!  Unfortunately, I put these both in the back of my car, and summarily forgot about them, so when i opened the back of the Suzuki on of the 25 pounders fell out and landed on my foot.   While my toes remained intact, I have a massive bruise and the monitor was kaput..,

After Bubba left I picked up weeds that we had pulled while plant picking and moved around 100 daffodil bulbs from the front of the house to the built in planter off of the back patio.  When I bought the 5 gallon pail of bulbs last summer I thought they would make a beautiful addition to the gardens, but let me tell you, a 5 gallon bucket of bulbs equals a LOT of plants that take up a LOT of room.  After planting, I weedeated around the house, planted geraniums in the porch boxes and moved some hosts to the back of the house, where I think they'll do better given the shade.

At 2:30 I went to meet Jim and Jen in Allegany to help out with work in Bob's Woods.  For those of unfamiliar with Bob's woods, its a system of trails that BR has made over the past several years.  Its an absolutely beautiful system that I would highly recommend it to any outdoor enthusiasts, including hikers, bikers, runners and walkers.  You can access the trail from several points on the SBU campus, as well as from Gargoyle Park.  There may likely be other areas that I am not aware of, but make the effort to go.  You won't be disappointed. We began at the storage area to pick up chainsaws, mowers, etc, and headed to the West end of the trail, where Jim and I mowed double wide trail paths (think of two snowplows following each other clear a highway).  We then parted ways to mow other parts of the west trail, with Jen trimming back brush and the like as we went.  After mowing we removed a tree that was blocking the path and proceeded to the East side of the system.  Again, Jim and I mowed in a follow the leader formation, and then split off with he heading toward gargoyle park, and myself doubling back to mow the south trail of the East end.  Imagine if you will that go for a 10 mile hike across an uneven, occasionally difficult in a wooded area , and for fun, decide to push the law mower the whole way.  Been there, done that.

We wrapped up the day on the gargoyle Park side of the trail system, and then doubled back to storage to unload.   On that note, I've taken muscles relaxer and smeared myself with lotion, so its off to bed for me.  Great weekend!!!  Congratulations SBU grads!!!!

-Nate