Walk Faster!

Today was an exhausting day.  It started in the usual way.  I drove through the park and then to the barn to turn off the faucets.  When I got to the office, I did the paperwork and then headed out for a walk.  The river had risen some more, but it is still slowing down a bit.  The river dock is now under water and the water on the spring walkway has rounded another curve.





I had other things to worry about today than the water rising though.  I returned to my office and finished up the paperwork for the purchases that I had made yesterday.  When I finished, I spoke on the phone to a volunteer who will arriving in March.  Mid-morning, my coworkers and I left to go to Ichetucknee to take our pack test.  In order to participate in prescribed burning in the parks, we have to pass a physical agility test each year.  We have to wear a 25lbs vest and walk two miles in thirty minutes.  We can't run, we have to walk in a very steady, very fast pace.  It is similar to moving along on the fire line carrying all of your equipment.  Hopefully, I will have an opportunity to burn sometime soon and I will talk more about that process then.  The pack test isn't fun, but I passed with a couple minutes to spare.  I am feeling it now.
After the pack test was over, we still weren't done.  Our new buoys had been shipped to Ichetucknee and they had arrived this week.  The rangers at Ichetucknee were kind enough to load them on a trailer for me and I just picked up the trailer.  We secured the boxes on the trailer and headed back to Troy.
When we got back to Troy, we were tired, but we wanted to get the work out of the way.  My coworker and I unloaded all 22 boxes, one at a time, off the trailer, up the step, around a corner, and in to the storage room.  Then we were really worn out.



The new buoys are cool though.  I think they will be much safer and more durable than the old ones.  Now we just have to wait for the water to go down.  Buoy installations require swimming.


I headed home in the afternoon and enjoyed not walking for a while.  I did have to go back and close the park later, but I didn't mind.  Today starts a four day weekend!  I have acquired plenty of time off and now is a great time to use some of it.  The park is not busy at all, and we have plenty of people to cover the park.  I am really looking forward to it.  So... what am I going to do with the blog for four days?  Any ideas?  I will share photos of any outdoorsy activities, but if anyone has any topics of discussion, or questions, feel free to post in the comments.  Come on, what's the question that you really want to ask?  You can post anonymously if you want to...