The past night I heard 1) a chainsaw 2) a barking dog. Both were a little disappointing, but we were so far away form campus that our sites were quite close to other people's residences. This morning I made quite a nice fire and at a packet of veggie soup ("spring Veggie" to be exact), and a bowl of oatmeal and a couple of crackers and cheese. I decided that it was better to eat and warm up while it was clear and warmer than it was to wait till i was cold and I would have a hard time starting a fire. I realized that while I was eating, I wasn't even that hungry. Goes to show how much I actually eat when I am at school. When I am at home I eat when I am hungry. Here we have regimented meals. I like being away and following my normal eating habits. While boiling a third pot of water to see if i could produce hot chocolate I accidentally spilled some and put my fire out. Ahh well I was warm and had eaten. Hot chocolate wasn't a necessity. To stay in my nice warm state I decided to go and take some pictures. I enjoyed this for quite a bit and should be adding some pictures soon-ish. It started raining so here I am again. I discovered I really liked writing here is a little insight into that.. this is a reflection that I did for field instruction:
"When I first heard that Conserve school did such a thing as
solos I was blown away and at the same time I was quite intimidated! It sounded
like a challenging experience, even though I have previously spent extended
periods of time alone by myself before. My goal before solos I wanted to gain a
closer connection with nature. After being here at Conserve for a while with
all the hustle and bustle, I was finding myself looking more and more towards
solos. I was definitely ready for the solitude and silence. Right before I
left, instead of using solos as a wilderness challenge as I had originally
intended, I decided to use the time to renew and refresh my mind and body.
While I consider myself as a social person, I also like to
be alone in the peaceful wilderness. I was not worried about getting lonely
during the two short days that I would be out by myself. By the day of solos, I
was jumpy and couldn’t wait to get away from the classroom and noise of all the
screechy people. Wanting to get away from a class here at Conserve is a VERY
rare occurrence for me, mind you.
While I was out on solos, I did some of the things I had
planned. I spent a lot of time building a debris shelter which I ended up being
allergic to because of the possible mold growing on the logs I was using. Very
disappointing if I do say so myself. I also snuggled down in my sleeping bag
with my flashlight and read Into the Wild. In addition, I pondered the
universe quite a bit. I, however, did not expect to do all of the writing that
I did over the course of the two days. It was a bit of a shock to me really. I
have never enjoyed just sitting and writing. It’s never been something that I
gravitate towards, but for some reason I felt the need to write out my thoughts
about life and the universe. I guess you would say it’s in the form of free
verse poetry. I don’t know what compelled me to do it, but after solos I felt
almost a weight off my chest. I felt a little lighter having gotten a few of my
many swirling thoughts out on to paper or into the air.
Overall I think that my solo experience far surpassed what I
thought it would be. I had decided to do a lot of the reading and building
because I thought I would get bored, but as it turned out, I think that I could
have stayed out in at Inkpot for much longer! I would have enjoyed being out
there for maybe four or more nights. I wish I had had more time to think and
stare at the sky and write out what was crossing my mind at that very moment.
Overall, I learned more about myself while enjoying the calming nature around
me. Perhaps the solitude, beauty, and silence helped me concentrate even more
on myself internally than on the external goings on."
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