Manual Labor

I could barely lift it. I definitely didn't run it. 

Once I came back to Earth from the extreme elation I experienced after giving three weeks' notice at my e-commerce job, I realized I would need some cash money in the time that would unfold between suburban office life and Korea life. Luckily my friend's family has a tree trimming business, and they were willing to let me try my hand at helping with all things tree-related.

Equipped with work gloves and boots, old clothes, a hard hat and ear plugs, I showed up for my first day with an open mind. Dragging branches, stacking logs, raking twigs and constantly looking out for falling debris made the hours fly by faster than they ever had when I sat in front of a computer. And I got paid to be outside on the beautiful, oddly warm days we had in October! It was great to get a sense of accomplishment from finishing one job or several jobs in a day, rather than dealing with some of the ongoing, ever-changing, dragged out projects from the office life. What? There are dead/diseased/damaged branches on that tree? Let's clear them out and make it look nice and move on to the next job.

For the "during" picture, just imagine tornado aftermath on the ground. 

So thank you, A-Tree Service, for letting me get out in the fresh air and flex my muscles. It has been great to have a break from cubicle monotony and a chance to try something new before launching into something really really new. I've gotten to practice learning by observation, and also practice admitting when I don't understand the terminology or what people are asking me to do. Yes, my shins are very bruised and scraped. Yes, my work clothes permanently smell like gasoline and sawdust. Yes, my fingernail is getting blacker by the day after an unfortunate run-in between two logs and my poor finger. Yes, I better get to bed so I can get up and do it again tomorrow.