Hi Ho, Hi Ho

It's off to the new job today. This will be day two. Yesterday was quite entertaining. I've gone to work for Charlie. When he started his own consulting and design firm last September, the last thing I thought I would do is go to work for him. But really it only makes some sense, as my name is on all the bank papers; it's my company too!

So, here's the backstory: Charlie left the design/build world of landscaping and went off to consult with and design for the big, bad wolf developers. His goal was to convince them that sustainable development was not only good for the environment, but good for their pocket books (that's how you convince them that limiting the amount of disturbance to the land is good for them). Luckily he came across several clients that were like-minded. He's pushing organic methods for home-sites and vast tracks of undisturbed land for the enjoyment of all. He now has projects in Virginia and North Carolina, working mainly with preserve and resort developments. We have upcoming projects in New Hampshire, the NC Coast and Florida. He had asked several times this past winter if I wanted to come work for him and I always said "no", fearing I would become an office manager or secretary. While I hold no disdain for these jobs, I think I've made it clear over the last several months that I cannot sit in an office or at a desk all day. So when Charlie proposed that I take over a lot of the field work, I thought, "Yes, I can do and would enjoy doing that!"

Yesterday I spent my day on site, meeting the managers of vast acreages, driving over very scary roads up and down mountains, and talking to a couple of guys from the NC Wildlife Commission about reestablishing and protecting native brook trout. Today I'm off to look at more property holdings and meet more people. I'm sort of hitting the ground running and it's very exciting.

The perks of this job are that I only have to work three days a week (which gives me lots of time in the garden), I get a hip office downtown and the work environment is ever-changing. I also get to buy a bunch of new clothes! My summer wardrobe has been limited to dirty, torn shorts and old t-shirts. Now I need nice, neat outdoorsy clothes. All those cute skirts for school are just going to have to hang in the closet.