Riddle

Someone told this riddle during OB training, as we were navagating the Bayou Jezzamine in between spouts of pouring rain. I pondered and pondered, and kept coming back to this mind puzzle, when for some reason, while I was out running today, the answer dawned upon me like a complete mistake! Here it is:

"It is greater than God,
and more evil than the Devil.
The poor have it,
the rich lack it,
and if you eat it, you die."
What is it?

PS - If you know the answer, DON'T TELL! It's more fun for folks to figure it out on their own. Thanks y'all.

A Blast from the Past

Thanks to Aaron and Kryn, who kept the address (even I lost track of it)!

http://icabubbles.blogspot.com

Jennica's Jottings, version 1.0. Let's just hope version 2 can be as thrilling! (Unfortantely at the moment my computer is having trouble again, which means not as much time to type on borrowed computers. I wrote a bunch and saved it, and am hoping that somehow I can salvage it from that computer.)

In other news, my Wilderness First Responder course just ended. As my brother so accurately stated, now I can spilt your arm with a stick and a piece of chewing gum. (A foam pad and some tshirts might be helpful as well...). It was an interesting time and I'll write more about it later. Peace!

Addresses and Schedule

So it turns out, I can get mail while on course! There are several times during the river trip where we will see staff from base, and they will deliver mail to us. So, here is my schedule until Christmas and the addresses if you would like to send me any snail mail...which of course I always adore. I will post the addresses first, followed by which base I'll be at when.

Outward Bound Discovery/STEP - Yulee
87692 Bell River Estates Rd
Yulee, FL 32097
_______________________
Outward Bound Discovery/Scottsmoor
P.O. Box 417
3500 Sunset Ave
Scottsmoor, FL 32775-0417
_______________________

For now, I’ll be moving around a bit. In the future (hopefully after Christmas) I might be working more in one place. There are two other base addresses but I’m not going to write those here at the moment because I won’t be there. It is truly a mobile lifestyle here!

My Schedule as an Intern:

9/14-10/2 ………….STEP Yulee Base (WFR course and support work)
10/3-11/6…………..Scottsmoor Base (Intern for a girl’s course)
11/7-12/18…………STEP Yulee Base (Shadow a boy’s course, All staff training)

Hope to hear from you!

New Staff Training (NST) - Part I

Upon arrival in Fairhope, Alabama, I was immediately swept up into the melee of training at the small, one-building Outward Bound base. There were 19 trainees and a number of trainers all moving hither and thither, getting things ready for the beginning of our trip. We split into two teams of 10, with two instructors for each team, packed up dry bags and headed to our first campsite. Our trainers names were Katie and Jinky, and the members of our team were: Kristin, Nicole, Luke, Jesse, Liz, Jo Anna, Emily, Simon, Jim, and myself. (I may reference these people later, so now you know who they are.)

There was so much to learn, and most was learnt through the experience of being treated as students on the first few days of an OB course. In Outward Bound, as at The Adventure Centre, most everything is communicated through the medium of the group circle-up. So we learned a lot of things while standing or sitting in circles. One of the first things we learned was called a GPA. This stands for “Goal, Plan, Action.” Very simple, just as it sounds. Great time-saving mechanism. It turns everything into a timed initiative. “How long will it take us to unload this trailer? Can we do it in 9 minutes? Ok, circle break!” And suddenly everyone is rushing around unloading canoes, buckets, dry bags, and paddles – it was pretty amazing how such a simple thing like a time goal can make a team work together efficiently, or show rifts in the group.
One of the next things we learned was called craftification. In OB, with its focus on excellence, throwing gear around into piles was not acceptable. Since the first night we camped, Katie and Jinky had impressed upon us the importance within OB of do any job with craftiness. After setting our water jugs and gear bags in a line, they looked at us and said “now how can you make it better? Show us a crafty line.” This seemed like an odd request for water bottles, but we straightened them so that the handles were all facing the same way in line with our dry bags. Although it seemed picky, after a time it made sense. Paying attention to the little things and doing those with excellence translated into doing larger tasks with the same outcome – it made a lot of sense for the population we will be working with…or for anyone.

The next day, we took swim tests and headed to the river. We started on the Alabama river, although our journey took us through a number of confluences that eventually led us to Muir State Park, no less than 55 miles down river from where we began…probably more, but we paddled enough that I think I’m missing a couple days in there.

On the way to put canoes in the water, an event occurred that gave our team its name. After being informed by a good Samaritan that our canoe trailer was smoking, we pulled over to discover that the axel was rubbing against the side of the tire, wearing away the rubber. We changed out the tire, and Katie made a trip to one of the many dollar stores to buy a hammer to encourage the axel back into place, which we secured with duct tape for the time being. The next day, we declared ourselves not team A, but the Smokin’ Axels.

The first day on the river was dry and pleasant. At the first campsite we were introduced to the “personal job” rotation for camp duties. These included: crew chief, head chef, sous chef, smoky, environmentalist (responsible for trash and the groover), navigator, journalist, tubby scrubby (dish duty), and water medic (refills water jugs). On course, the students rotate through these jobs. Now, we were responsible for learning them.

We were also introduced to the groover. The groover was a 5-gallon bucket painted black, with a snap-on toilet seat. This was placed about 200 feet from camp along with another black bucket. Are you getting the picture? So we’re on the river, there are no pit-toilets and such, and at most places, we can’t get far away enough from the water to shit in the woods. So we shat in the woods in a bucket. Oh, yes. For de-grossification of this event, I will explain. The bucket with “the throne” is always empty, and you actually poop in a bio-degradable bag, which you then put into the OTHER bucket…so, we end up carrying around a bucket of poop, but you know, you can get used to anything.

More to come...

I-55

Well, friends, I have now toured almost the entire length of I-55, from Chicago to Mississippi. It was a long drive, but as always, I enjoyed going forward. (Although thanks to my dad’s extra ipod, I especially enjoyed going forward with good music this go-around…kept me going on those long stretches of highway.) I stopped in St. Louis after about 5 hours of driving to visit my cousin Paul and his lovely wife Maia…they got married while I was in Vanuatu, so it was actually the first time I had ever met her. They had a cute house in a St. Louis suburb and sent me off with leftovers. Amazing. I also received an email from my friend Tabitha (from PLVC) with directions to her house in Mississippi, a last minute request for some place to stay – I love staying with friends as I move on my way. Consulting the atlas, I drove and drove and drove until I reached Leland, Mississippi. My first time in the state, I was very grateful for Tabitha’s hospitality. I camped out on her pull-out couch and in the morning, headed back to I-55. I noticed that the landscape had changed a bit – the highway was surrounded by trees covered in creeping vines and a few more hills that Michigan. A few roadside stands sold produce, and dollar stores seemed to populate the land. If it wasn’t for Wal-Mart and a mysterious restaurant called “Huddle House,” (I haven’t explored yet), I would say that this area of the county reminds me more of Port Vila, Vanuatu than the Midwest. As I was driving away from Tabitha’s house, I had a curious encounter with a bug. I later learned that this was a cicada that alighted on the edge of my window. It was an interesting sort of creature, and rode along with me for a while, but eventually I wanted to close my window. Thinking the bug was on the outside, I pushed the ‘up’ button. All of a sudden I heard this ear-piercing bug screech, a high pitched buzzing. Loudest noise I’ve ever heard out of a bug. I quickly roll down the window to relieve it of its misery, thinking it would fly away. Instead, this giant bug fell directly INTO my car. Generally, I’m not squeamish about bugs, but this thing was about the size of my thumb and fell almost directly onto my lap. I pulled over as soon as I could to search for the bug and eject it from my vehicle. So the bug disappeared. Where could a giant bug like that hide in such a small space?

About three hours later, I stopped for gas. I pulled out the log book where I keep track of gas mileage on the inside of the door and immediately heard this incredible buzzing noise. There it was, a cicada in the pocket inside my door, still alive. I couldn’t reach my hand in there, and it wasn’t able to orient itself to do anything other than continue screeching. Eventually, I used two folded pieces of paper as a pair of bug chopsticks to lift this screeching, flapping creature out of the pocket and breathed a sigh of relief as it finally flew away to freedom.

Interesting places I passed on my way:

Normal, IN
Herculeneum, Arkansas

Sunflower County, Mississippi

Dry Creek Water Park

Cities in Mississippi: Holland, Vicksburg, Cleveland