Sweatin’ …

The NAWAC Road-Crew ... Part 2! Pictured from left are

Mike Mayes, Blake Kellum, John Dollens, Shannon Graham

and myself; Tod Pinkerton left prior to gettin' this picture ...

     Howdy-do!  This past Saturday ... six members of the North American Wood Ape Conservancy cleaned both sides of our 2.7 miles of Adopt-A-Highway in the Sam Houston National Forest.  Let me tell y’all what; it was friggin' hot!  And let me tell y'all somethin' else ... no real work ever comes about without doin' some sweatin’!  Throughout the previous week, Houston meteorologists had warned that the weekend of July 26-27 would be the hottest weekend for our area so far this year, and they weren’t kiddin’!  Our particular stretch of road runs east/west on F.M. 1375, between Osborn Road and County Road 149.  Needless to say, there wasn’t much shade … so the six of us did some serious friggin’ sweatin’ …

 

     NAWAC Investigator John Dollens, who spearheaded our previous clean-up, supplied a very large Yeti cooler full of bottled waters as well as our trash bags and reflective orange safety vests.  Investigator Blake Kellum volunteered the use of his truck, in which we each took a turn drivin’ to briefly escape the heat while transportin’ bed-loads of trash back to Osborn Road.  Investigators Shannon Graham, Tod Pinkerton and Michael Mayes … the Texas Cryptid Hunter all joined-in to the fray.  I, by the way ... am only an Associate Member.  Call me a probie, a noob, newbie or whatever; but from the look of this pic ... just don’t call me late to the dinner table!  The first clean-up back in February was one of my first interactions with this wonderful group of folks, and incidentally ... I ended-up joinin' ‘em shortly thereafter.  This clean-up is only a very small portion of our team's conservation efforts; extensive field research, documentation and properly educating the public on what's really out there are among some of the others.

 

     Gettin' back to the smaller task at hand, the name of the game was to hydrate, so I drank as much water as possible for the week leadin’ up to our clean-up.  I also trained vigorously (LOL) … optin’ to push-mow our acre and a quarter as opposed to ridin’ it, which is normally about a four to five beer mow!  No beers for fat-boy last week; for my trash-crew warm-up, I broke my weekly task into three evenin’ mows … and stretched real good before and afterwards.  Bein’ short & portly is a personal problem, but bein’ short does have its advantages.  Bendin’ down to pick-up trash every few steps didn’t affect me as much as it did some of our taller members.  But none of us were immune to the Texas heat; and after the 2-hour mark, I definitely felt the swelt startin’ to take its toll.  We were all sweatin’ … but it’s when you stop sweatin’ so much that you need to begin to worry …

 

     I had worn a newer pair of knee-high lace-up snake-proof boots to break ‘em in, some lightweight fishin’ shorts and a t-shirt, as well as a breathable orange safety vest.  I also wore a fanny-pack, and had switched the water bottle out for a large bottle of Gatorade.  I also kept a couple of bottled waters zipped inside as well.  I had bought me one of them fluorescent orange Cool-Towels, and instead of a sun hat or my camo Waffle House cap, I opted to wear a fluorescent orange Flydanna Head-Wrap.  When I finally felt the dangers of heat exhaustion comin’ on, I quickly found me some shade … activated the Cool-Towel with a bottled-water and draped it over my head, re-tyin’ the Flydanna over it.  I probably looked like the friggin’ “sheik of effluvium” walkin’ down that road in my wet orange head-dress, but at least it gave me some relief from that relentless friggin’ heat!

 

     At the end of our duty, a truck full of local passerby’s had stopped on Osborn Road to enquire as to who we were and what we were doin’ out in their neck of the woods.  Grateful of our accomplishment, one of the passengers volunteered to take our photo as we gathered under our bird-shot riddled sign amidst the bags of gathered road debris.  We all noticed that the amount of debris was only a third of what we had gathered on our first clean-up, which lent credence to our ongoin’ task.  In the shade of deep East Texas pines, we chatted amongst ourselves for a bit and then packed-up to leave.  Some members had family or personal commitments to attend to, and one even had to go to work afterwards.  After downin’ a few more bottled-waters and some Gatorades, we all said our goodbyes and parted ways.

 

     John Dollens and I headed to the Robertsons’, who are friends and supporters of the NAWAC and offered us some relief in the form of a dip in their pool!  Their spread is just off the SHNF Wildlife Management Area … and they had hosted us previously for a bonfire and barbeque after our first clean-up.  Beware of Greeks bearin’ gifts; I never show-up anywhere without bringin’ somethin’ … so after firin’-up a grill, we mowed-down on some Chapel Hill sausages coated with Famous Dave’s Sweet & Zesty Devil’s Spit and some ice cold beverages.  No longer sweatin’ … Dollens & I enjoyed visitin’ with the Robertsons and kickin’-it in their 2-acre slice of southern heaven.  Rust never sleeps … ‘cause Dollens was already schemin’ for what-all we could do for the next clean-up, which should be late September or early October.  By then, hopefully the evenin’s will be cool enough to comfortably camp, and we can make a weekend of it out there in them woods!  After all, there have been several credible wood ape encounters in both Walker and Montgomery counties …

 

     The NAWAC has become one of the best groups of folks that I’ve ever had the privilege to become involved with.  Now, if any of y’all would like to learn more or get involved with the North American Wood Ape Conservancy, please visit the NAWAC Web site at http://woodape.org to see what-all else that our group is about; you’d really be surprised at who-all’s involved and what-all we actually do.  From field research to conservation, we are a hands-on group of volunteers who are dedicated to doin’ our time in the grime!  With a diversity of backgrounds and skills, the NAWAC is seriously dedicated to solvin’ the mystery of this yet to be scientifically documented animal.  Hope to hear from some of y’all soon; until then, stay cool … and keep your eyes open while runnin’ ‘round out there in them woods!