Amost Poetic

The long awaited “transpack ducat” arrived at 2:00 pm and I was more relieved than anything. Thankfully, my 7 month stay in Jamestown was coming to a close. I went to the store before I left and purchased $50.00 worth of items to take with me and also picked up the eight books that my mother sent me.

When I arrived in Jamestown 7 months go, I was carrying two large plastic bags. As I packed on Tuesday, I had 5 large plastic bags. One bag was dedicated to all the mail I received over these past ten months. Three bags were food due to my peculiar eating habits and one bag was clothing along with a hot pot, bedside lamp, and other assorted non-food items. I certainly accumulated a “few things” along the way.

When the ducat finally arrived, as I mentioned I was very relieved. Five large plastic bags sat next to my bunk for the next three hours until I took them over to Receiving and Release. Everything went fairly slowly at this time because I had nothing to do. I said good-bye to the very nice CO who also seemed relieved to hear I was headed for fire camp. One of my dorm mates came over to pass the time and he actually talked for over 2 ½ hours.

At 3 am, we left for fire camp. The last time I was on a bus like this, I was transported with leg chains and handcuffs. This time no one on the bus needed them and we sat completely unencumbered. There were only 2 CO’s as opposed to 3 nor was there a gun pointed from the rear of the bus. It was a very different ride to say the least.

The bus pulled out of prison and headed south which was almost poetic because my journey which started out back in July has always gone in a northerly direction. Now I was headed to a place which was very close to where I lived with my family for 5 years. I also have some very dear friends in this area. Yes, it was poetic and instead of having a sense of dread, I had a sense of calm. After dropping off several inmates to various fire camps, the bus arrived at its final destination some 8 hours later. Two other inmates and myself got off the bus and went into a van where we arrived at Hemet some 2 hours later. It took 10 ½ hours to arrive but the trip was worth it!

As I was filling out paperwork and having my belongings searched, I found out my friend was indeed instrumental in my transfer to fire camp. Also, a very brief letter I wrote about 2 months ago helped to get my transfer. There were also other influences but these 2 seemed to assure my transfer. Whatever the case I am so happy to be here! After my belongings were searched, I found out my hot pot, bedside lamp, extension cord and stopwatch were not allowed. I don’t understand the stopwatch item, but who am I to argue? As I walked to the dorm, I looked around and found that this fire camp is exactly how I pictured it. It is in the foothill of a small wooded mountain. There are all modular buildings in a camp like setting. There is some construction on the recreation area so the ball field, basketball court, track and handball court are all dug up.

Everything was very quiet as I walked to the dorm. There is a waterfall in the center of the buildings and I could hear the water running. My friend as well as the others were out at work. I share a room with one other person and the room is about 12 feet by 8 feet (96 square feet). This is luxurious compared to where I came from where I shared 18 square feet with 5 other people. There is a desk in the room with two spacious lockers. Each locker stores up to 6 cubic feet which is 6 times larger than the last locker I had at Jamestown. Unbelievably, all of my belongings fit nicely into the new locker and I even have room to spare. At this point the difference between Jamestown and here is more than night and day.

When the fire crews came back, I had to see my friend. We greeted each other with big smiles and a big hug. I was so happy to see him and he seemed equally as happy. He told me he was like a “kid in a candy store” when he was informed I was arriving today. He was a sight for sore eyes and I couldn’t get the big smile off my face. We talked until we had to go to dinner. I told my friend my new release date is February 28, 2008 and he told me his is March 21, 2008. We agreed that this was the best thing about fire camp and now that we are together, everything was great!

Everything here is so different from where I came from. Dinner is served promptly at 5:30 and on the weekends it is served at 5:00. There are no locks on the doors and I could go outside anytime I want. There are no fences or barbed wire. The dining hall reminds me of the Wilderness Adventure in Disney World. The food is scooped out individually and the silverware is real SILVERWARE complete with a knife, fork, and a spoon. I haven’t used a knife and a fork in over 10 months so this was quite a surprise.

After dinner I spoke with my friend and we agreed to see if I could get on his fire crew. He has been so good to me and being on his crew would be great! We agreed that sharing a room might be too much.

I called my wife, even though it was 11:30 her time. She didn’t realize I had transferred because she thought the collect call recording stated Sierra Conservation Center. My wife sounded so relieved I finally made it here. She had a peaceful tone to her voice and she gave me some great news about my daughter who was enrolled in the gifted and talented program. I was so happy and proud! She is a special child and I can’t wait to share her glorious future. As my wife talked something sounded a bit off. I decided to let it go and we used the entire 15 minutes. I met with my friend, talked a bit, and we both decided to call it a night.

Here at Bautista, there are 3 mandatory counts during the day. The first is at breakfast, the second at dinner, and we must be in our bunks at 10:00 pm with lights out. Well, this last count is perfect for me since that is my bedtime and I can say that everyone is now on my schedule with bedtime at 10:00 pm. It was a very good day and I could feel the serenity settle into my being for the first time in over 10 months. I am now past the halfway point of my sentence and I am almost back to where I started. Yes, it has and continues to be a poetic journey.