By David Decoteau
Today was one of those days that I love…and everyone else hates.
It was 97° and we were between jobs, and there was rain predicted, so I decided to do some community service work as a change of pace for me and my guy, before we got into any serious client work.
I figured it was about time we finished work on the Hollywood & Vine trail at Hopewell Park in Danville. I started it last fall, put a good deal of work into it, and then just seemed to not get back to get it finished. Things like work and family sometimes get it the way of the important stuff.
It was a sweaty day of weed whacking, trimming, sawing and pulling dead wood logs across the ground. We only got into one yellow jacket nest and only my guy got stung. That's twice for him in two days. Yesterday he got stung in the side of the head...but that's another story.
So we pack-in a blower, weed whacker, chainsaw and wildfire fighter type Rogue Hoe that I use for trail building. I have a Camelbak backpack that can carry the hoe, and a gas can and a bunch of other tools, so that gets packed and thrown on my back for the hike. It's maybe 30 lbs. Another 20 lbs for the chainsaw.
The trail is a little over a mile that needs work, both of us are pretty soaked with sweat before we even arrive. I've brought a gallon of water, and it didn't make it until 2:00 p.
Pestilence
It was hard work, but what made it especially delightful were the bugs. Black gnats in our faces, ears and everywhere else. Swing your arm through the air to chase them away and you might hit 100 of them. They weren't discouraged.
Add to the gnats, a good supply of mosquitoes, horseflies and a type of regular fly that also could bite. They were relentless. I kept thinking of the show "Naked and Afraid" because I was just wearing shorts, and was covered with dirt, insects, spider webs, chainsaw chips, and sweat. The bugs are by far the worse thing about that show, and this day.
We pressed on. Eventually, we got the trail to connect with the existing trail around 4:00 p.m; and that was my goal. My worker starts to head back with the weed whacker. I need to stay and cut in a section of trail on a steep hill using the fire fighter hoe. Maybe 100' or so, and it will take me a while because it's steep and the bugs are making a feast of me. Plus, my arms are now aching. Swinging that hoe in 97° heat will leave you gasping for air. I have no idea what my core temperature was, but I'm betting it was unhealthily hot!
Then it starts to rain...
At first it's just a little, and I can't get any wetter than I already am from sweat. So to me, I welcome the rain. My phone is in a bag in my pocket to protect it from sweat, so bring it on!
I finish cutting the trail into the bank while it rains. It feels good, and the cool drops are bringing my temperature back into a range that feels like it might be suitable for humans again. The bugs are less. Most that are still around are using me as shelter from the rain. I guess I'd do the same if I were them.
I pack up my gear and start to walk out. Me, covered with dirt and debris, wearing just shorts and shining from sweat and rain combination as I hike down the trail. As I walk, I collect some tools that we left along the way and a deer skull that we found while working.
…And then it gets worse
The trees start to sway back and forth. There is lightning and thunder, and the skies open up. There is what appears to be a wall of water coming through the violently thrashing trees in the forest. It literally looks like a waterfall coming through the forest at me. Leaves and limbs are everywhere, being ripped from the trees due to the violence of the storm. I look up, to make sure no "widow makers" are directly above my head. I'm good.
The hard rain hits me like a fire hose. It still feels generally "good", but now the drops are big and coming in sideways with sticks and other debris mixed in. I even see some hail. I think to myself, “What a scene this must be if someone is looking.” I’m in the pouring rain, in a thunder and lightning storm while tree limbs are falling and water is coming out of the sky like a monsoon. I’m standing in all this wearing just shorts, covered with debris and hundreds of small bloody cuts caused by the flying rock chips that are produced in the act of trail making (although it’s starting to wash off, and I’m getting a much needed drink from the water running off of my head and into my mouth). The shorts are beige and about the color of my tan skin, so I might look naked except for my camouflage backpack. The vision of Lieutenant Dan from Forest Gump jumps into my head. I laugh as I look into the sky and I yell, “Is that all you’ve got?!” in my head.
Back at the truck
After a while, the storm passes. I hike out with my gear. I meet my guy back at the truck, where I think he has been sitting in protection. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and he was locked out with no key. As a result, he too had to weather the storm without shelter.
As we rode back in the truck, little was said. He seemed a bit pissed. I didn’t feel like getting into it. Guys don’t seem to need to work everything out. Sometimes silence is the best solution. But, I know how I felt. I felt almost giddy with a feeling I can’t describe. It’s a rare feeling that I have only experienced a few times in my life. It’s a euphoria that you can only get when you come out of the other side of something that seems impossible. It only happens when you know you could have quit…but you didn’t. That there were ways to take the easy way, but instead you chose to stick it out (smart or otherwise) and achieve your objective.
I have personally had the feeling whenever I’m in situations that are causing others to literally go into a fetal position. I’m not a warrior or great athlete, but I feel those two venues are other ways to achieve this feeling. It’s going to the edge…and then past it. It’s doing things that you know put you in a very small percentage of the population that could do it. My particular superpower seems to be endurance of unpleasantness. But the good news is…we all have hidden superpowers. And to unlock this special euphoria of life: all you need to do is find yours.