Back on the block

I just completed my first shift of treeplanting.
After 5 years from my last planting stint, this week has been a brutal reintroduction to the world of trees.  My day starts at 6:20am, preparing my breakfast, beating my mud encrusted boots on a wall, and grunting intensely while trying to pull on my mud encrusted socks (currently the running time per foot is 3.5 minutes).  The land, having just recently thawed, is a mud pot, each of us returns from the block, caked from head to toe.  This makes it very hard to get any planting done, as digging a hole, the shovel comes out of the ground with a full mud pie attached to the end, boots, get engulfed in mud, closing the hole after planting the tree actually results, in the hole coming off onto your hand, tree included. Day one, very trying. But persevere and it will get better (not necessarily easier, but better). Day two we had traditional northern Alberta weather: rain, hail, snow (in no particular order).  It was coooold, wet and muddy: but there is an end to the day, with a warm bed, hot food, dry socks, and a comfy bed to rest ones weary bones.   Day three of this week, also my birthday, was a rough day, I am working in an area where the grass is as high as I am tall. Suddenly, I am getting in touch with my inner ninja, to kick down the grass so I might possibly get a tree in the ground.  Near miss nearly came when a blade of grass went up my nose while bent over, maybe one of the most unpleasant feelings to date, luckily no damage was done.  Day four proved to be a far better day, as I finally hit my stride.  This is key, once the rhythm has returned, then it is, more or less, coasting. Though I am still struggling to get my tree numbers up, muscle memory has kicked in. Phew! That's half the battle right there.
Tomorrow is our first day off. I'm pretty happy to have a day of rest, the first week is always the most challenging, so the rest will be much appreciated, with a trip to the hot springs in the mix to soak away some of the aches and pains that come with the job. Maybe do my laundry, to wash away at least two layers of mud, and that my socks slide on easy....for at least the first day next shift.