Yard Work

I’ve been thinking about yard work … about how I missed the smell of fresh cut grass, about the feel of dirt under my fingernails, about working up a sweat and jumping in the pool. Yeah, every now and then I really miss getting outside and participating in the suburban routine of a well manicured lawn. The thought, thankfully is often fleeting.

Thoughts sometimes, however, linger. So without a yard of my own anymore, I volunteered for trail work. This, I believed, would cure my hunger for the taste of hard work in the out of doors. So, last Sunday I got up early, packed my backpack with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a trail mix bar, some bug repellant, water bottles, several cotton bandanas, and the other outdoor accoutrements in preparation for a day in the park. This time, however, I added some work gloves and safety glasses. I was off to Gambrill State Park in western Maryland.

It’s a little over an hour to the park from where I live, but I trusted “Alice” my Magellan GPS – and went about twenty miles out of the way to the park administration office. I finally found the Nature Center at Gambrill State Park – only about ten minutes late. This was supposed to be a work trip for the Western Maryland chapter of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) – I was looking for a group. It seems that the group turned out to be me and Dave. Dave is the volunteer in charge of the trail in that area. PACT is a sizeable organization with a mission to create and maintain trails including portions of the AT in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and southern Pennsylvania. I joined because I felt I was way over due in paying the toll for all the trails I had used over the years.

Dave had me gather tools and we went to work. I began with an old fashioned weed whacker – no string, no power – just me and a blade. When the weeds looked to be under control, Dave began teaching me how to construct a water break – about looking at the erosion and flow and determining a path for the break, gathering materials (usually a log or timber) and starting construction. Unlike projects at work, there were no meetings, discussions, design reviews – no, just me and my new best friend – something called a mattock. I always thought that thing was called a pick-ax – but then my thinking is often faulty. Well, I swung, dug dirt, chipped away on rock, measured, rolled that log in and out, measured again, and so on. It took a little more than two hours to construct my first water break – but it was done – it looked wonderful – and I was right pleased with myself. Also I was exhausted. It was lunch time and my P B&J was calling.

Gambrill State Park has several CCC structures including lookouts, shelters, and a really enchanting building called the “Tea House.” (See the website: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/gambrill.html)
They all have that lovely stone masonry construction that came out of the CCC era and that I came to know and love in the Carolinas in my youth. These structures can still be found along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Skyline Drive. As it turned out, Gambrill was hosting a reunion of CCC’ers that afternoon. When the ranger told us about the gathering, I commented to Dave that they had to be either really old or dead – and sure enough there were perhaps a half dozen of them – and they were really old! Together with their friends and families, the reunion was a joyous gathering with lots of stories, reminiscing, and some old photos. When they were leaving, several mentioned getting together again next year – that is if there were any of them left to get together. I would rather have stayed and listened to their stories, but I had a job to do and yet another water break to build.

So, for the afternoon I spent my time building another water break. This one was a little longer and more complicated than the first. It needed some channeling as well as the water break and Dave helped with the design – and subsequent redesign. The original design was hampered by underlying rock that I could not begin to break, move, or levitate with mental, physical, or spiritual powers. By mid afternoon, this task was complete and I was exhausted. With at least an hour’s drive before home, I abandoned my buddy Dave and went in search of a hot bath and long nap. Before leaving Gambrill, however, I filled my water bottles with some really wonderful mountain spring water, climbed one of the CCC overlooks, and reflected on my yearning for yard work.