Not something I even imagined myself doing as a child.
7 juin 2016 14:58 Laisser vos pensées
Forestry. It’s not something I even imagined myself doing as a child. To be entirely honest I never even realized, while growing up, that it was a career. That someone could get paid for hiking through the woods and hugging trees.
Of course it’s not that simple, and as an adult I would never have expected it to be, but there is certainly a soothing kind of harmony about it, despite the continually strenuous challenges; water filled boots, tripping over trees, pestering insects, rose thrones, spider webs across the face, and vehicles suctioned into the mud. It is exhausting.
And I love it.
I’ve had many jobs, paid or volunteered, and I always find that within a few days I am simply bored silly. The routine always settles too quickly. With this, every day is unique. Every area traveled is different. Every stand had a new setup. I often find myself wondering, as I struggle to crawl over trees that my legs (which at the time feel very short) can hardly reach, what exactly has happened around those trees during their lifetime. I have learned in the past few weeks that it takes around 80 years from the time a tree is planted until they are reading to be harvested. I spend my days walking under my trees. There are hundreds of signs of wildlife that have also traveled under these trees. So during those 80 years, what exactly has that tree “seen”?
I have wondered this same thing many times, in many areas of the world. It always fascinates me. Everywhere is so different. I wonder about the lives of the people who planted these trees, 80 years back, and try to imaging all that they had been through. Whether they had children, or families, if they fought in a war, whether they are still alive. For whatever reason, the forests I spend my days working in, move chains in my imagination.
I’ve never been good at mediation, but I have found, that this job is its own form of meditation for me. Even on the most difficult days, when I’m tired and thirsty, my GPS isn’t working and my feet have been soaking since 10am and it’s started to rain, I managed, somehow, to find a positive outlook on it. I’ve never experienced this with any other job, and it’s truly mystifying and relieving. And then, of course, there is all the new knowledge I have gained. Over the past few weeks I have learned so many new skills and facts that can be helpful to everyday living that I had no idea about. Tolko has also, over the years, hired people from all different background and every time I spend have a conversation with anyone else within the company I learn a huge array of new facts or tricks or skills. It propels my desire to learn and build on the knowledge I have gained even more.
In short, I have found this job very relaxing and exciting. I am particularly looking forwards to being able to soon share images and videos of my experiences. There have already been so many new ones that I still have every intention on catching with a camera to share with the world!