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Cabin Fever Highlights Winter of ’08 -’09 in the Northeast Team

Submitted by Dave Kreft, District Conservationist, Colville

Misty Seaboldt tries to escape through the back door of the office.

What happens when a team of energetic and dedicated conservationists are snowed-in and chained to their desks? Cabin Fever, that’s what.  Beginning in mid-December the snow began to fall, and fall, and fall.  The roads were bad, vehicles were buried under three feet of snow and no bare ground was visible anywhere.  Oh sure, we had the open obligation audit workload to keep us entertained.  But that was done by the change of the New Year.  And then there was preliminary Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) planning, but no ranking program or money to obligate new contracts.  Now what?

The tapping of frustrated fingers on keyboards took on the same annoyance factor as the tedious dripping of many faucets. There was no field work to check, no 20-30 minute drives through beautiful mountain scenery to see a land owner. Normally friendly office relations were being tested to the limit. How to keep from going insane? How to maintain a level keel in an out of balance world? Why, of course! You shovel snow!!

NRCS vehicles snowed in at the Colville Office.

When things were at their worst, NRCS staff took up the  shovel to help clear snow from vehicles and doorways when the roof was cleared by a contracted crew. Ah, the rush of cool winter air! Oh, the freedom of seeing further than three feet from the end of your nose! Wonder of wonders, the world was indeed larger than a 22-inch diagonal LCD screen! And, finally, the quiet satisfaction of looking back and seeing something accomplished – we could walk out our back door.

To some, this may seem a bit over the top. Perhaps it appears that we lost our sense of perspective. Well, yes, that’s all true. But it’s almost springtime and these things are just unpleasant memories, tickling now and then at the back of our consciousness. And as I look out my office window in mid-March I see…I see…I see snow flakes, falling thickly from a dark gray sky. Excuse me, I have to go find my snow shovel and stop the tapping of my neighbor’s keyboard.
 

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