Greetings everyone!

The Great Thaw has begun, and while we are ever mindful of what the weather can do in March - we have enjoyed some beautiful warm weather this past week.

On Monday, NJYC pf Phillipsburg began its 3rd cohort for FY 21 - with every seat in the house occupied. It has been an exciting time getting to see new faces and getting to know the new crew. It has been one year since we’ve been this close to ‘normal and we are so thankful to be back.

Over the past week, we met with our friends Corey & Liz from the Warren County Department of Land Preservation to discuss some ongoing maintenance issues, and to look at the development of two trails: one at Port Warren Park and another at Mr. Rascal Preserve in Hackettstown. In total, we will increase the overall county trail system by about a mile - and NJYC is up to the task! We’ll keep you ‘posted’ - get it?

We learned some valuable lessons this past week too. While out on a service project, we got one of our 4WD trucks stuck in the mud. (This is not the first time this has happened.) In a field where there was still some residual snow, we underestimated the depth of the snow and quickly bogged down - not moving anywhere. Try as we might, our Crew had no success in pushing us out.

Fortunately - a complete stranger who happened to be observing us from a distance suggested a few ideas. From their perspective, they could see the bigger picture, and see potential resources when we could only see our problem. Observing some piles of plowed snow, they saw some accumulated gravel that had been left behind in the melt, and some chunks of asphalt that he thought could provide the traction we looking for. “Place that stuff under the tires, and it should give you some grip. But once you get started - don’t stop, ” he said.

“But once you get started - don’t stop, ” he said.”

The crew carted some of the gravel and asphalt chunks across the field, placed them advantageously under the tires, and dug out some snow in from of the tires to level the path forward. Then we put the truck in drive, and lo and behold - we were free from our trappings. There is quite a teachable moment here. Spinning your wheels literally gets you nowhere, and only deeper into a rut. Our stubbornness in continuing what we did to get stuck only made the situation worse. All of this is compounded by a feeling of embarrassment - and to avoid feeling that way, we continue to stick to our guns.

So - lessons learned:

1. Quit spinning your wheels when you have a problem, you’ll only dig yourself deeper.

2. Don’t let embarrassment prohibit you from seeking assistance from people you don’t know. They have perspective and insights you can’t have when you are in the depths of your despair.

3. Sometimes the most helpful items you can imagine still have untapped value to you and your work.

4. The path forward sometimes requires leveling the playing field to make sure we have the best chance for success from all our hard work.

5. Once you dig yourself out of that rut - don’t stop. Keep on moving, maintain that momentum.

Our sincere thanks to ‘Tom’ for helping us out of our jam this week! Next week will bring news of how our new crew is doing in orientation and we hope to have some additional news of some recent graduates!

Until then - we continue ever forward -

Michael