Day 4 – Amigo Centre

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Wieland and I met Cheryl at 7:30 am to load some dry firewood, fill buckets with ” magic dust ” and sweep up some sawdust in preparation for making more magic dust later by adding used oil to it and mixing it with an old paddle.

At 8 am we went to the dining hall to have our traditional breakfast. After breakfast Wieland and I drove to town, got our Covid tests so that we could return to Canada, picked up some plumbing supplies and also picked up some diesel fuel for Lynn’s skid steer. Shortly after 10 am we were back at Amigo Centre and I helped Lynn top up the fuel in the skid steer.

Wieland finished the work for the generator wiring and disconnect, as well as, all of the wiring in the cabin where he had been working.

Lynn and I cleared up some trees and brush in one of the areas near the pavilion, made three fires and then returned to the meadow area to clear one of the paths that was littered with trees.

Some of the volunteers raked leaves in neat piles so that the could be hauled away and burned.

Before lunch, Cheryl took a group picture.

Lynn and I hadn’t made it back in time for the picture, so Cheryl took a separate picture of us when we arrived at the dining hall. The dining hall is well equipped and can handle very large groups.

After lunch, we returned to our job sites and most of the volunteers continued to cut and move the logs and branches.

A few volunteers repaired the edging for one of the roadways.

I had a bit of a mishap while working in the meadow. It was an unusually warm day for this time of year, reaching 12 C ( 54 F ), so I put my jacket on the ground under a large tree, with the diesel fuel, gas, chainsaw oil, magic dust and a small butane torch, shortly after starting a fire. I filled my chainsaw with oil and gas and then proceeded to the far side of the meadow area to cut the trees so that Lynn could move them out of the way.

When my chainsaw ran out of gas, I returned to the tree to fill it up with oil and gas but I couldn’t find the oil. I checked the ground and realized that my jacket was missing. As I looked closer, I saw that there was only charred remains of my jacket, the butane torch, my hunting cap. I checked the debris and found the chainsaw tool and what was left of the butane torch with remains of my nylon jacket melted on to it. The torch had been laid on my jacket so that it wouldn’t be lost among all of the leaves and twigs and it was most likely still hot from starting a fire.

I also noticed that one water bottle and the bucket of ” magic dust ” each had a small melted hole on bottom but the contents of the magic dust hadn’t burned. Neither the gas, nor the diesel tank had been affected. Fortunately, there was no other damage and there was nothing valuable in the coat, so I texted Cheryl to see if she could bring me some more chainsaw oil and then I returned to the path to continue cutting the fallen trees. Shortly afterwards, Cheryl brought the chainsaw oil and by the end of the day Lynn and I had almost cleared the path of the large fallen cherry and locust trees.

At 4 pm, my chain slipped from the bar of the chainsaw, so Lynn and I returned to the dining hall for supper and on the way back, Lynn put more wood on each of the fires we had started. After supper, Lynn and I returned to each of the fires and he again pushed some more wood on the fires, so that most of the wood could burnt up before the morning.

Meanwhile, Cheryl and Wieland put the charger on the orange Kubota to charge it up. By 7 pm, we returned to our dorms. It had certainly been an interesting day, but overall, a lot had been accomplished.