Getting Things Done

Raven 4 and our sponsor at Rehoboth

The Game of Life has continued in a completely different direction than before. As an AmeriCorps team leader, I find myself wearing green and khaki to work every day but that is the only part of the job that is "uniform." After a moth of team leader training and another moth of corps member training, I have finally gotten the chance to begin "getting things done for America" with my fine team, Raven 4. We had our first opportunity to serve together at a black history month swim invitational in Washington D.C. The starting blocks swarmed with Corps Members who worked as the only time keepers for the entire event. The next week, we head down to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware where we rebuilt an old weathered boardwalk and replaced a fence that was in serious disrepair.

Black History Month Swim Invitational

Our cabin in the woods at Kayam Farm

I am currently sitting in a log cabin at a Jewish retreat center/ sustainable farm outside of Baltimore. In the past week, I have worked alongside my team to build a movable chicken coop, inoculate logs with mushroom spores, arrogate the roots of the trees in the orchard, transplant a number of different vegetables, and construct the canvas tents that we will soon move into. Today the much anticipated shipment of baby chicks came in the mail. The animal guy on staff, Josh, picked them up from the post office and walked down with a chirping box of future buffalo wings. We had to take them out and introduce them to their new home in the green house.

Vegetables growing in the green house

It is very peaceful here and I have finally had the chance to stop and sit with my own thoughts for the first time since beginning this program over two months ago. The staff members at Kayam Farm are easy going and knowledgeable with a passion that is inspiring. I find myself constantly learning things I never knew I never knew (as Pocahontas would so eloquently say it). I am becoming more comfortable and confident in my role as a team leader. After spending so much time abroad, I realized that I had become somewhat disconnected from the country that I still call home. I am grateful for this oportunity to coombine two of my biggest passions, travel and service. More updates on farm life to come!!!

Turning the field to prepare for planting