Oh, economy.

This is more of a thinking-out-loud exercise, so bear with me as I do this.

I recently left my job as an arborist with Preservation Tree. I liked the job but wasn't getting as many hours as I would have liked, and with the winter quickly approaching (read: slow pruning season) I felt the need to jump ship to get in as many 40-hour weeks as I could. So I am now with another tree care company, which is fine.

The hard part is that my previous employer is very safe and has very high standards for tree care, where my current employer has slightly lower standards for both -- but does have months' worth of 40-hour weeks scheduled. So here I am compromising my standards (and possible safety) for a more consistent paycheck. What has the world come to? Here I sit, as I'm sure many other people in the U.S. and around the world are right now, not totally happy with my job but needing a steady paycheck, and a lot of people don't even have that right now.

The Morris Arboretum where I was an intern last year found me pruning trees, taking tree-care classes, teaching tree care to volunteers and members, visiting other arboreta, etc. My brain was stimulated, my body was tired, and I got to commute by bike every day. Life was good. Ever since then, the commercial tree-care world is only making me tired every day, and all the other things are gone. The other sad thing for me as a potential arborist is that I mostly enjoy ornamental pruning and tree health analysis, and I don't have a whole lot of interest in the tree work that most people need/want (like removing huge dead trees that are hanging over a $500,000 home).

Anyhow, taking these cues that I'm not very interested in the adrenaline rush/risky tree care business and missing the academic/education side of tree care, I think I will follow that and keep my ears open for opportunities to return to the environmental education field. My 9 years at a nature center and 2 years in Haiti (which was mostly an education position) all have me wired to enjoy sharing my knowledge about the environment. So, until I find that opportunity I'll be hanging out with the trees, hoping the economy rebounds, and looking for greener pastures.

Thanks for letting me vent -- and feel free to let me know of any education positions open!

One Tree and Two Wrong Turns

I was driving around on Sunday looking for poorly-planted trees and hit the mother lode at the Home Depot in King of Prussia. Pretty much every tree there has about 18 inches of mulch piled up on the poor little tree, which causes moisture to rot the trunk. Then fungus gets in and then insects, and then you have a dead tree -- sad, really. So for everyone out there, this is not good. You have been warned.

Anyhow, I made a wrong turn into a carpool parking lot which was also apparently a bus stop. A bike rack was there for all the cyclists, but instead of bikes on the rack there were not 1 but 2 devices to help the mobility-impaired among us. A wheelchair and a walker were both locked to the rack. My guess is that these folks wheel themselves to the bus stop, get off here, and go right to the liquor store which is the only thing around. Crazy.

If you are sensitive to foul language don't scroll down any further, but I couldn't resist sharing. A few weeks ago I made a wrong turn and saw this graffiti:

Apparently I make a lot of wrong turns. Gotta love Philly and the graffiti, although I'm not sure where whores are not supposed to go -- and what if you aren't driving a car with windows* to smash?

*or more accurately, your "window's" what?

Me in a tree

Part of my internship involves putting together a project, and I decided to focus on visitor education. Specifically, education about how and what arborists do. Below is a photo of me  moving around in a tree when the rope is tied-in in a high central location.  I'm trying to illustrate how placing the rope in a high, central position gives a lot of flexibility for moving around in the tree. (Enjoy the image -- it took me a while to get the basics of Photoshop down so go easy on my editing.)

Workity work work work

So, you may remember that I am an intern at the Arboretum, and with such titles they tend to make it a learning experience. With that "learning experience" goal, they ask us to do intern projects. For my project, I'm working on educating folks about what arborists do. This phase is geared at future arborists and potential interns, so the other day I brought my camera and tripod and shot a ton of photos to make a time-lapse video of a tree removal. The guy in the tree is Brian from Schectman Tree Care, one of our contractors, and the acting chief arborist Andrew pops in a few times and then makes the final cuts on the trunk. I am absent as I am pressing the shutter button. Enjoy.