On the Grade

The liquid restriction, especially the no drinking during dinner, continues to benefit my sleep patterns. I believe I can narrow my up-and-down sleeping to the drinks served during dinner. The one drink served during dinner is either sugar-free Kool-Aid or sugar-free iced tea. The iced tea is a no-no for me due to the caffeine content, and the other night I couldn’t stay in my bed for more than one hour before getting up. The Kool-Aid appeared to have the same effect. I have cut out my drinks during dinner, and after last night, I only woke up once during the evening. This is a step in the right direction and has put me at ease. I was getting a bit concerned; however, with these modifications, it appears my sleepless nights are coming to an end.

In keeping with my new-found routine, I was up at 5:00 a.m. and outside before 5:30 a.m. exercising/running. Gone are the days of counting miles and quick paces. The very short, makeshift track is not conducive to counting miles or speed. Additionally, I have added hill running after every fifth lap. I am somewhat enthralled with the hill running because this is new to me. My very first distance race of any type was an off-road half marathon (13.1 miles) not far from where this camp is located. I didn’t enjoy that race because it was very dirty, rocky, and hilly. Things have changed in those five years, and now I am looking forward to running on the hill this morning. The hill is not advanced, but it is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. This adds a new dimension to my running, and although I may not be able to put in the same amount of miles I had been doing at Jamestown, I am enjoying my runs more than ever. This morning was a perfect example of me enjoying my running as I set out to do 90 minutes and ended up doing 10 minutes extra. There are more things I can do during my runs as opposed to going around a track time after time. Essentially, I am still running in circles, but these circles have a higher degree of difficulty.

It appears I am inspiring (not sure if this is the correct word, but I will use it anyhow) my friend/roommate. I asked my friend if he wanted to wake up early this morning so he could get his workout in. Unbelievably, after some convincing on my part, he said yes and actually got up and went outside at 5:40 a.m. so he could hike the hill. I was very impressed, and my friend told me it was me who got him out there. He went on to say that if I weren’t here he wouldn’t be exercising. I have to say I have not put any pressure on my friend to work out. He really is doing all of this on his own. I guess he does feel guilty when he sees me exercising and does want to keep in shape for any hikes which will occur when we are called out to a fire. My friend continues to impress me as he is a few years older (6 years to be exact) than me and has not exactly been a consistent exerciser in the course of his life. He is certainly giving it his best, and I am very proud of him. My friend did put in a good hour on the hill, and he was very happy to get the workout in the morning.

The timing of my workout worked very well as I do have it down to a science. There is more than enough time during the early morning for me to get in a good workout, take a shower, go to breakfast, and be ready for work. Also, today being a Monday meant it was inspection day, so the room had to be neat and clean. My friend and I take turns sweeping and mopping the floor daily so keeping the room neat and tidy is not a chore. The only difference in an inspection day than any other day is everything must be put away. This means the tops of the lockers and the desk cannot have anything on them. My friend did a great job getting the room ready for the inspection. I did put away the items on my desk in my locker. The beds were made as they are every day, and we were ready for inspection. Inspections occur during the day when I am out at work, so I would only know if we had something wrong. The inspections are good because it keeps everyone on their toes and keeps everyone’s rooms neat and tidy.

We squared away the room, and it was off to breakfast. I almost forgot what it was like eating after working out. Over the past few months while I was in Jamestown, I had no choice to eat before working out. Now I am doing what I have been used to in the past. I much prefer eating after exercising for a multitude of reasons. The morning’s breakfast was more of the same for me with two bowls of the hot cereal which are actually served in bowls and not on the tray. This is a very nice touch, and the hot cereal stays very hot much longer. My friend has started to decline some of my food as he thinks he is eating too much. The good part about this is I can give away my food to other inmates, which makes them happy. We made our lunches during breakfast. I made the PB&J sandwich and so did my friend. He gave me his sandwich, and I gave him my two extra slices of bread for his ham and cheese which is served on the grade later on. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to share this journey with than my friend, and now we are sharing a room. I shouldn’t be amazed, but I can’t help it as this journey continues to work out for the best in more ways that I could have ever imagined.

With breakfast over and my boots on, it was time to go outside and wait for the start of my work day. Part of my morning routine is to fill up my camelback with ice and water. These camelbacks (water-carrying backpacks) are a great idea, and I was very happy to have one. I can now drink water on demand, and the camelback holds one gallon of water. My camelback was full, and it was time for work. My first official day on the crew was a training day which was followed by the fire call for two days up in Tulare County. After this, we had two days off, so today was my first official day on the grade. The grade is the project we are assigned to do when not fighting fires. Presumably, a vast majority of my time will be spent on the grade as fires do happen but not as frequently as every day (at least I hope not!)

We take roll as we enter the bus. I was directly behind my friend and sat next to him on the bus. All of us loaded on the bus, and we were off to our grade projects. These grade projects can last for months or can be one-day events. The grade project today was something the crew has been working on for awhile. We departed camp at 8:45 a.m. and didn’t arrive at our destination until 10:15 a.m. Yes, it took 1-1/2 hours because it was a remote location on one of the hillsides in southern California overlooking a very large valley. We were at the top of the hillside next to a fire watch tower. The tower is manned by a volunteer whose sole responsibility is to look for wildfires. This was not our duty for today. Our duty was to clear the area alongside of the fire watch tower of the dead brush which has been cut over the past few months. I understood this would be a very labor-intensive job. In fact, I envisioned it to be all hard manual labor. Well so far after being on the grade, I was right! We piled dead brush on a canvas tarp and carried it up the hillside all day. The dead brush will soon be put through a chipper which will shred it. By shredding, the fire potential is eradicated. Our job, other than to put out fires, is to prevent fires. Today, we were preventing fires.

The good part about being so far away from the camp and being on a time schedule is the hard work doesn’t last long in terms of time. We worked from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. when we stopped for lunch. Everyone (including me) brought their lunches, and I had my PB&J sandwich along with an apple. Lunch lasts for an hour, and today we had a crew meeting. Everyone on the crew is relatively new and I am no longer the new guy as someone started today. This means I already have seniority. Anyhow, the crew meeting was an air-out session, and from what I could see, everyone gets along very well, which is a good thing. Thankfully, the racial issues from Jamestown don’t carry forward to here because we have to get along. Also, there is no telling when someone on the crew may save someone else’s life during a fire. It certainly appears to be a more functional atmosphere.

After lunch, we worked for 1-3/4 hours. All totaled we worked for 3 hours and 15 minutes, which was fine by me. In addition to it being hard manual labor, it is very dirty work. I was filthy, and my friend even remarked that we needed a camera to really catch the essence of filth on ourselves. I had dirt everywhere, and I can imagine what a coal miner goes through as I was breathing in dust all day long. The very nice volunteer in the fire watch tower did have a camera, and he took several photographs of the crew and even one of my friend and me. I’m not sure if I will ever have an opportunity to see the photograph, but now I know there are photographs out there documenting my filth!

The day on the grade came to a close, and the captain told everyone to load onto the bus. Once again, the captain showed me the meaning of being a captain. She is so nice, and she leads by example. She was not afraid to get dirty and was out there just like everyone else picking up the dried-up brush. I can certainly see why the crew respects her tremendously. Unfortunately, she is, in fact, leaving, and this will be her last week with us as her transfer is now official. I only had two weeks with her, but I’m not sure if there is another captain quite like her. Of course, life and the crew will go on, but there will be some adjustments to be made. According to my friend, a captain can make or break a crew, and this captain certainly made the crew. My friend also said she was the best captain he has ever had, and he has had a few. I wish the captain nothing but the best in her new position, and she did make me feel comfortable in my short time here.

We loaded onto the bus and made the long drive back to the camp. It appears tobacco is getting harder to obtain because the smoking on the bus was infrequent. Of course, I like this but will keep it to myself. I have gotten used to my backward riding seat and the loud music. I actually like my seat because I have plenty of room, and the backward motion does not bother me at all. We arrived back in camp at 4:30 p.m., and my first day on the grade had ended. The C/O takes roll as we get off the bus and effectively checks us back into camp. At this point, I pick up my clean laundry before going back to my room. It is so nice not to have to hassle with washing my clothes. The clothes I trained in this morning were all washed and ready. After I picked up the clean clothes, I went to my room and prepared for a shower. There was no doubt I was in need of a shower and couldn’t wait to take one. I got undressed and made my way into the showers. Yes, there are group showers, and there are enough showerheads for 8 people; however, only half are operational while the other half are broken. There was a minor wait for a shower head to be available, and I waited patiently. The showerhead was available, and I showered cleaning off all of the dirt.

I felt very good after the shower and had 30 minutes before dinner. I just relaxed on my bed for this period; however, it was very hot in my room as the air conditioning (yes, we have air conditioning, yet another huge advantage over Jamestown) is broken. My friend has a fan and it helped a little. Dinnertime came, and we went off to the spaghetti and meatball dinner. I had asked the cook earlier in the day if the spaghetti was meatless, and he was hoping to get back to me with an answer. He did not get back to me so when I went through the food service line I asked for spaghetti without any sauce. The inmate serving this stated that this was the first time he had ever seen that. Yes, I took spaghetti without anything on it, and this was one of the better dinners I have had in a very long time. My staple for years has been pasta/spaghetti, and I was very happy to eat it tonight. Along with the spaghetti were beans. I don’t know what I had, but they were very tasty. There were also green beans and garlic bread. I enjoy garlic but usually not on bread; however, there wasn’t too much garlic, and the bread was hot. I did enjoy the garlic bread tonight. Yes, this was a good meal, and when it was over, I returned to my room along with my friend.

We both had received mail, but we had to wait for the mail call. Since the room was so warm, we waited outside for the mail, but this was delayed due to the return of one of the crews from a fire call. This crew was being fed dinner after everyone else which caused the delay for the mail call. Finally, after over an hour of delay, the mail was passed out. I had received three letters, and the mail delivery is certainly the best it has been since my journey started last July. The latest postmark was only five days ago with one which was sent from Florida postmarked three days ago. I am impressed with the mail delivery, and now I have to stay on top of my writing since the mail is so much quicker. I didn’t do any writing tonight due to the late hour. After I read the three letters, it was well after 9:00 p.m., and my friend was already asleep. We both had a long day with it starting with the exercise session. I did go to sleep before my normal bedtime, and it appears my normal bedtime may be pushed up since the days are more labor intense than they have ever been in my life. With that being said, my day did go by fast and was also a very good day.