Snowshoes! 11-29-12

Today in field instruction we learned about animals tracks in the snow anddddddddd SNOWSHOES!!! It was really fun! The tracks were really interesting and we learned about some animals that I've never seen in  real life. We went for a long walk to the athletic fields in our snowshoes to play.... KICKBALL! Quite the experience for me I think. We don't have enough snow here for the shoes to do their job yet, even though we have way more snow than we ever get in Georgia. When we started playing kickball it was awesome, but the moment I had to kick it went downhill. I fell the moment I moved to run, not to mention the fact that I kicked the ball right into Ian's arms! When I fell Chase tagged me out and on his way to get me, he stepped on my hand with the snowshoes. If you didn't know, snowshoes have crampons on the bottoms. OUCH! I have swelling but I'm recommending now not to get in the way of a flying Chase!

Elusive

Throughout the course of the week that I spent with the Yates, we were constantly looking for the aurora borealis. Keller finally got an app on his iPod touch to keep a close eye on them. Sadly but also happily we received snow and ti became too cloudy. Ahh welll

Through the grey

One evening Aaron, Keller and I went outside to check to see if we could see the aurora and we were met with a thick wall of fog. We promptly hopped into the canoe.

sand on sand
rocks grinding
scratching and tearing at the bottom
and then silence
gliding across the surface
dip swing dip swing
the gentle rhythm
the drips from the paddle
the only sounds to be heard
as they descend into the grey fog
blind to everything
except the pale halo of the moon
it glows faintly
the white diffused through the clouds
the water divides at the front
of the canoe
bow slicing through the still fluid
speckled along the shore
long and golden
hazy beams stab the grey barrier
the yellow stirs memories of warm within
suddenly aware
of the chilly air
soaking in
penetrating every pore
stealthy and silent
as a cat on the roof
lost in the blanket
everything is at peace
balanced and still
nothing

Just a typical day

Our days at the Moccasin Lake cabin were pretty regular. Wake up 8:30 to 9ish to the sounds or a dishwasher unloading, the coffee making gurgling, Mattie rolling around on the bed, and the snuffling of Nellie and Mickey in our ears. After a breakfast of toast and homemade peanut butter and strawberry jam. After sustenance, we would all snuggle down on the couches and the chairs and start reading. This would proceed with intermittent googling of foreign words, playing with the poi and Diabolo, and playing/listening to the two guys playing their guitars. After lounging for the better part of the morning we would head outside whether for a canoe on the lake or for a walk (with or without the dogs). Some variations in our days are as follows:

November 17th:

 Today w made the trek out to Ashland to visit Northland College and then to eat lunch with some of the Yates' relatives that Barbra (their grandma) hadn't seen for a good many years. Northland was a really cool place, but I was on brain overload after visiting. I'm almost positive that we infuriated the guy who was giving us the tour because we weren't asking a bazillion questions. The campus has some really cool things on it like a building made out straw, a wind turbine, and a solar panel array! Lunch was really quite delicious. Aaron and I were the only two vegetarians and we had a good laugh at the almost completely carnivorous menu. The restaurant we were eating at was in the basement of a really fancy hotel. Molly something's Inn I believe. The inn/hotel was situated on Lake Superior! Sadly the sky was a grey puddle and everything looked rather nasty.  After we finished eating, Kell, Aaron, Mattie, and I went down to the dock and looked at all the boat names and dreamed about sailing around the world on an energy efficient sail boat. Some of the boats were rather unlucky seeing as how they were things like "The Paradise III." It was very funny to be in the car on the way to and from Ashland. We hadn't been in the car for that long of a time since we arrived. It was absolutely stifling. It's a good thing that we slept all the way there and all the way back. That evening when we got home we went outside and played with long exposure and the LED poi. After thoroughly becoming chilly we headed inside and Aaron made chocolate chip cookies. And then off to bed we went!

And it was quite early I might add. I hadn't gotten as much sleep as I did over the break in a VERY long time. I woke up with no red eyes for the first time since I got to Wisconsin the first morning I was at the cabin. 

Sunday, 11-18-12

It sits there
steaming as though it's a volcano
mist floating out of it
sometimes a string hangs out of it
like that of a climbers rappel rope
trialing down the face of the mountain
it sits there
warm and comforting
the right size for the maker's hands
waiting for him 
to reach out from under his
quilted cocoon

We spent a lot of our time during the break reading. Over the course of a week I managed to read Second Nature by Michael Pollan, 60 pages of Endurance (all about Earnest Shackleton, and our history reading assignment), Ishmael by Daniel Quin, and a bit of Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey.

Back to the throngs of life 11-26-12

Well it was an absolutely calming and relaxing experience that thing they call Thanksgiving break! If you read the post right before this then you know that I was staying a mere 15 minutes away from school in a cabin on Moccasin Lake with Aaron, Keller, Mattie, and their Grandma. We left at 10 o'clock on Saturday November 17th and spent a full nine days in peace. A lot of people went home to loud bustling cities with great big thanksgiving gatherings. We, on the other hand went to somewhere most definitely quieter than school.

When we first arrived at the cabin we were greeted by some creatures that I have greatly missed. Dogs!!!! It's one thing to have dogs that are owned by teachers, it's another when you have a dog squishing you in the middle of the night, taking up half the bed, or making funny snuffling noises. They have two dogs, Nellie the Collie and Mickey the Spaniel.

The Lassie ran away to adventure
that is the Nellie did
her orange scarf around her neck
that is the decrepit holy hat
crack went the silence
that is the deer hunter's gun
rumble goes the road
that is the red hunting Jeep
Lassie is home
alive

Not only was the 17th the first day of break it was also Aaron's 18th birthday! Congrats Aaron! :D

Purr goes the hourglass
glowing red in the sunlight
gliding along 
almost levitating
up and down the string
whirrling with delight
glitch
it spins madly in all directions
the once taught rope
tangled and twisted
immobilizing the once perfectly balanced
measurer of time

Among his birthday presents of firewood, a Forest Lake Country Store hoodie, and book about the history of Land O' Lakes was a Diabolo (the Chinese yoyo equivalent)! We played with it quite a bit and withing the first day, Keller managed to break it, so throughout the entire week were were constantly redoing our temporary fix.

Ah ha avocados
 how lush and green
all hidden by the rhino skin
grerple* in color 
so versatile
toss in hot sauce
cloves of garlic
a dash of lemon
and green mush has been born

It was really nice to not have regulated check-ins and meals and especially nice to be able to eat some homemade food! We had lots of corn chips, guacamole, and bean dip that first day. *grerple is purple and green

Hiss crackle
rumble snap
feathery cracks
spidering their way across the lake
each piece jagged and sharp
the craft
slicing its way through
a parting of the great iceberg
shards of glass glisten as they skitter across atop the frozen surface. 

After a fulfilling and fresh meal, Mattie, Keller, and I decided to go for a canoe on the thin ice. It was great fun and the hissing sound the ice made when we disturbed it made it sound like a flock of birds or water hitting a hot surface. We watched the sunset form the ice.

How humble
my kind of place
not big at all
narrow
in 
places
blankets everywhere
music
the old comforting kind
my kind of soundtrack to life
Mattie snuggled in right next to me
always by my side
warm fuzzy beasts 
at our feets
the pinks and reds of the sunset
on the lake
split pea soup on the stove
my kind of day
my kind of life

Needless to say I was a pretty happy camper that day. We were all so relaxed and tired out from school and having to be places at certain times. We all slept a good 15 hours starting at about 4 in the afternoon.

Chocolate is important
ganache
birthday cake
m&m frenzy
for M^2
Hershey's bars for Keller
Dark chocolate for all of us
peanut m&m's for Barbra
It makes us smile

We had a tasty chocolate zucchini cake with ganache for Aaron's birthday. The ganache was made in a make shift double boiler. The the boiler consisted of an aluminum bowl full of the ganache floating/spinning around on boiling water in another pot. This cabin was extremely lacking in cooking utensils.

The cold is good too
sometimes its good to share
to feel the chilling gusts
blowing through your soul
amongst the hairs on the back of your neck
feel the blasts
stop feeling your toes
sense your face turning pink
cheeks flushed
nose red
feel your eyes stream with tears
not of sadness
but of happiness
but of the stinging of the wind

That night Kell, Aaron, Mattie, and I went out to the dock and sat for a long time just staring up into the sky looking at the stars. Listening to the perfect silence.

A break for me too

Sorry guys for the lack of posts. I am with Keller, Aaron, Mattie, and Barbra (their grandma) at a cabin not 10 minutes away from campus located right on Mocasin Lake. It's been terrific. The house/cabin is tiny and super cozy adn the lake is beautiful (of course)! Keller has limited internet so I won't post until I get back. Until then... Have a lovely Thanksgiving week with everyone at home! :D

Lying in the dark
I rolled over and said
into the pitch black
"I'm glad you came"
"I'm glad I know you"
"I don't know what I'd do without you now"
"I feel like I've known you my entire life"
"Surely it can't have only been three months?!"
And in response I received
The best answer I could have ever heard
Simple and just right
"Me too"

Pink Paper

They are here
those pink sheets of paper
signaling an exodus
a parting of the ways
a departure of friends so close

they are so bright
unavoidable
like the truth of the time we have left
but they also signal a time for rest
a time for separation

so when we come together again
there will be so many things that bind us together
hands held
glances shared
puns made
the jokes that no one will understand
when we return back to the grey normal
the golden sunrise together
silver stars
the yellow moon
orange sunsets
inky black skies
pure white snowball fights
the deep blue of the lakes
it's the love and laughter that will hold back those
crystal tears

So be merry while you are away
sink back into your families
while your rooms are vacant
while the swings squeak with no occupants
while there's ringing silence in the hallways
while the wind whistles across the frozen lakes

Know when you come back the woods will have it's arms open wide
embracing your grateful company
Know I'll be glad to see you
With the twinkle of the eye
a twitch in the corner of our mouths
growing into a gaping grin
we'll be together again
for a short time
once again
in our shared heaven

Harry Potter in English class!?

That's right folks. For my English class, the unit we are working on for the rest of the semester is public speaking. Not a favorite of mine, but what can you do. It should be really fun because guess what we got to do the first day of the new unit? We did tons of improv games and got our first assignment. A dramatic reading in front of the class from a famous piece of literature. From the title, you may or may not have guessed that I am doing Harry Potter. Which one you ask? I will be reading a small portion of the First Task from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. If you haven't read the books (cough cough you should) its a scene where Harry is being chased around by a Hungarian Horntail dragon! Needless to say I'm pumped despite the fact that public speaking is not a favorite of mine.

11-14-12 Harvest Festival at Conserve

Yesterday was one of the coolest experiences that I have had. It was so different form what we normally do here at Conserve. Harvest Festival is kind of like the school's version of Thanksgiving. In the morning you go to three 1 hours classes. All of them had to do with sustainability. I went to Organic Farming, Living Mindfully, and Renewable Energy.

Organic farming was actually taught by Rick Admaski, Genna's dad, which was really cool. He talked a lot about the different methods of how he manages his farm, Full Circle Farm. All the rules and policies etc. It was quite fascinating. The Adamski farm is associated with Organic valley, so if you buy any of their products you might be drinking milk, or eating cheese form the Adamski farm! Their farm also uses a wind turbine and wood burning water heater. All of the cows that live on he farm.. about 100 of them I think.. are really happy. They are essentially free range grass grazers. Genna's family donated a bunch of their beef to the school for the banquet that would happen later in the evening. Being free range and all, I was glad to know that the meat was form a greener source and that it was "happy meat."

Living  Mindfully was probably one of the best classes of the entire day (even though I loved all the classes). This class stood out in my mind. They basically talked about "living mindfully. Some of the things that help with doing this are:

• be intentional
• live in the moment
• think about the "big picture"
• be interconnected
• be creative
• think about the alternative solutions
• openminded-ness
• eating good food
• being happy

These people.. Barb Kass and Mike Miles are wonderful people. They brought two other people who live in their community with them. I can't remember their names. They were all incredible people to talk to. The got us to do this exercise where we would come up with our own mission statement. I definitely want to keep thinking about it. the rules were it had to be 7 words and you had to truly believe in it. The one that I did quickly in class was: "Hug pigs, be joyful, top of the universe." PLEASE PLEASE read more about them here: http://anathothcommunityfarm.org/ I can't seem to say enough good things about them! :D

The renewable Energy class as taught by Doug Stingle. He was a representative from Midwestern Renewable Energy Association. I learned about some really cool things about solar water heating along with the generic solar panels and wind turbines. I got to talk to him about my FIRST robotics team: Team Reboot 4080, and our hopes to power our 12 volt batteries which powers our bots with green, hopefully solar panel, energy. He said it was definitely possible with a trickle charger and was quite encouraging for us as a team!

Our lunch was delicious! Butternut squash ravioli and apple tart! How wonderful! Lunch came after our 2nd class. The third followed it. After the 3rd class we went off into our cooking groups. The whole school was divided into a bunch of different groups to cook the Harvest Festival banquet/feast! I spent the afternoon with MaryAnna (a member of the admin team), Ellie, and Meghan cooking delicious wild rice bread.

The dinner was quite enjoyable I sat with John, Arjen (math teacher), Scott (the new head cook), Sherrie (his wife), Ian, Brian, and Mattie! Each table had one of the school's couples sitting at it except for my table. Suppose Mattie and I were put together because we are always together. Not complaining at all :)

After the dinner was a  really fun dance. it was a called folk dance class-ish thing. We learned basic moves etc, and then we would add the music, and the caller would tell us what to do and when. It was so much fun. I ended up being the guy a lot which was really fun.l I danced with Maeve, Mattie, Dexter, and Maia, not to mention all the partner swapping going on during the dancing though! It was a ton of fun! I wish we could do this more than once a year.

After that we went back to study hours, but it was worth it! I had so much fun with everyone! What an awesome Conserve memory! 

The importance of quotes

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That where  they should be. Now put foundations under them."

- Henry David Thoreau

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time now! It's on the cover of my orange field guide that I write all my thoughts, dreams, and ponderings in. 

"I want to see the universe so I stole a Timelord and ran away..."

This quote is, if you aren't already a fan (you should be), from Doctor Who. It's how I got to know some of the most amazing people here at Conserve. While I think that television very rarely has any benefit, I must hand it to BBC TV and say they brought be some of my lifelong friends! :D

12-13-12 More Northern Lights!

Check this picture out that was taken by Jeff Rennicke my English teacher! This is tonight, though we can't see it with our naked eye the camera can! :)

Taken at the sledding hill by Jeff Rennicke

11-13-12 Dragons!!!

They are rainbows of colors
metallic and shining
glistening in the sun
the talons grazing the water
eyes to their souls
deep and knowing
shedding a tear for you
dripping out of the majestic windows
they feel pain
the sense happiness
long for friends
yearn to be understood
"we are just as real as you"
begging to be accepted

In case you didn't know, I LOVE dragons. I love how they are they the embodiment of nature and its forces. The western culture destroys them, depicting them as flesh slashing mindless beasts, while eastern philosophy holds these creatures in the highest regards. I am a fan of both styles of dragons though. My only dislikes are perhaps the dragons depicted as stumpy, flightless, flesh eaters. For me dragons have kept my imagination soaring and very much alive. I think that's it's very important for people to step away from reality for a bit and unleash their dreams. However, I still believe that you need to stay connected with reality, but there's no harm in a little fantasy every now and then! :)

"Logic will take you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere." - Albert Einstein 

11-12-12 chicken philosophy

Here's another view of the "why did the chicken cross the road" that my friend Kai's sister had with him. I posted it on my facebook wall. I personally think that the phrase is about the journey and not the destination. I just thought the response was funny. :D

This is a following status update by the one and only Kai! I think it proves quite a good point if I do say so myself. It also just put a smile on my face :D

"facebook convos with my sister XD

Haven: Anyway...something else.....i just got the meaning of "why did the chicken cross the road" joke. All these years i've never really got it, until now i realize it's much deeper

Me: Please Elaborate

Haven: When they say "To get to the other side" they really mean the chicken is going to die. it's the "other side".it's really sad"

Huzzah!! 11-12-12

Today has been a good day. It snowed all day! I am wearing a wonderful flannel shirt purchased by Garrett for me at Goodwill (the best place to get comfy clothes). Ceramics was quite productive even though I now realize just how many more boxes I am going to have to ship home! During science with Andy we spent the entire class period outside doing stand removal, basically cutting trees down. That's right I attend a tree hugging school and spent the afternoon killing trees (specifically the balsam firs which prevent old growth hardwoods from thriving).

From science my cohort moved on to field instruction which was taught by Julia the gradfellow. I love all the gradfellows, but I especially love when she teaches because while the class is very informative, it's laid back and not stressful. Julia has created this really cool website/videos with her friend Jessica where they talk about "cool things in nature" which happens to be the name of their program. I highly recommend checking out their website at: http://www.coolthingsinnature.com/. Some of the videos are really funny and completely crazy while some are quite educational. Julia's program is to get people excited to go out into nature. Our assignment was to make a video like her's with the prompt: "if you could make a video to change the world what would you say?" My group which is made up of Ian, Genna, Justin, Zeki, Ana, and I decided that the first step to change in the world is appreciation. We are creating a silly/serious video pointing out some of the things that you can do to appreciate/enjoy nature. I'm really excited. We already have some of the video films kudos my camera! Yay!

Well as it turns out, despite fruitless attempts, that Maeve, Mattie, and I will not be developing film negatives here. We had gotten really excited since Robert (science teacher) had tested all the chemicals and said they worked. When we showed up at the old darkroom he greeted us with bad news. Since we have a special sewer system here, we need a specific filter for the chemicals. We had one, but it was so old that it needed to be replaced and that costs about $50. Ahh well. Maeve's going to get them printed and developed when she goes home for Thanksgiving.

After school, Mattie, Maeve, Dexter and I hung out at the sledding hill to roll down it. What a way to spend an afternoon! Full of laughter, chills, stories about how important orchestra conductors are, snow down our jackets, and frozen fingers and toes. :D My kind of afternoon!

On to dinner which was a cheesy, vegggie, panini fanfare. Quite greasy and so much food. I think that the amounts of food have gone WAY up since we got the new director. I personally think that we are wasting an unnecessary pile of food every meal. After dinner I decided to check my mail, and low and behold I had gotten a package form home. I had forgotten that I had requested peppermint tea, my red warm up pants from swimming, letter writing material, and pens! What a nice surprise! And guess what else was in there!? Peanut butter Oreos and a lovely class picture of Yi-Shan! It made my day THAT much better! :)

The community meeting was held outside in the dark and in the snow. I personally think that our community meetings should be used to do something productive as a community. While hearing everyone's highlight of the week can be amusing it's not too productive. We played some games at the beginning of the year which was fun, but perhaps we could have discussions or work on a project?

I am currently sitting in my room snuggled in the hat Aaron gave me, the flannel Garrett got fro me, drinking hot peppermint tea, snacking on some peanut butter Oreos, listening to Billy Joel pandora radio (which plays A TON of my favorite songs![currently listening to Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel]), and trying to get myself to stop writing so I can work on Michael's history assignment. I guess I should write later....

PEACE

It's funny
I've been here for so long
but not long at all
a blink of the eye
a tiny crease
in time

Even so
I've watched
I've observed
I've experienced
I've marveled
I've smelled
Tasted
Touched
It

I rarely see it when I'm at home
It's a treat for me
Though it is the norm here
Like a shrug of the shoulders

When I walk outside
Spinning
Laughing
A smile stretched across my
cool
flushed
face
I look like a child with a new gift


It rains down from the grey sky
Drifting down
Dusting
and then blanketing
the bare earth
wrapping me in a light sweater of white

11-10-12 early surprises!

On Saturday evening Keller, Aaron and Mattie's older brother showed up with a surprise. Even though it's not Aaron's birthday till the 17th we had a little surprise birthday party for him made up of Forest Lake Country Store pizza! Funnily enough, Dexter, Aaron's suite mate, has the exact same birthday. Want to make it even more amazing they were born at the same time. Even creepier... the time was 11:17am. Crazy right!? I wonder if the person who was doing the room assignments knew about this?

The rest of the evening was spent with Yates clan. Quite a nice evening if I do say so myself. Aaron restrung and played his guitar with Keller while Mattie and I lounged on the dance room floor. Zeki and Maeve joined us later for a quick bought of athletic cartwheeling, flipping, knee sliding (resulting in Zeki melting a hole in his pants because of the friction), hat throwing, and picture taking.We relocated later to the sledding hill where Mattie and I proceeded to roll down the wet hill. I with my rain gear on, her without. The hill was so dark and foggy. It was beautiful despite the pinpoints of light coming from campus. Our laughs pierced the otherwise silent night. Our shadows staggering about trying to find the summit of the hill in the darkness. The whistling wind was incredibly pleasant and peaceful. To add to the beautiful night Aaron started hooting, making the whole night hauntingly beautiful. It's nights like these that I'll remember for a lifetime. Not the busy loud ones, even though they are fun, but the simple ones. They are the ones that make the greatest impression on me.

PEACE

11-11-12 ducklings

Happy Veterans day everyone! I have had one of the coziest days today. it has been raining since last night and though it's grey and nasty I still appreciate the weather. I finally finished my 2nd draft of my phenology map. It's mainly watercolors which was really surprising for me, because I don't typically consider myself a painting type. I'm quite happy with it, but I am glad that it's done with. One more to do before the end of the semester (though I have to admit it has been one of the more fun assignments here). After a morning filled with drippy colors and drippy weather I was about to sit down for an afternoon of homework when Mattie arrived and rescued me!

Puddle jumping and stomping of course. And it should always be down without shoes and rain gear according to to the official hardcore puddle stomping handbook (by Mattie and I). Some other girls had the same idea, but they had rain boots and rain jackets on. We stomped all the way down to the swing set and then proceeded to splash around all the dorms. Aaron and Zeki laughed at us from their windows. Some of he best puddles were around Donahue house at the corners of the building where the water poured off and onto our heads. There's nothing more joyful than getting drenched in the rain with close friends. All the cold and dreariness vanishes and its just you and the quest to find the next biggest puddles to splash around in.

"I feel like a duckling!"  - Mattie (

That's living life to the fullest right there! :D

Hailey, Olivia, Mattie, me, Ella 

11-7-12 Jeff Richter

In our colleges and careers lecture was a speech by Jeff Richter today. A well known nature photographer that has been featured on PBS, Discovery Channel, The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Audubon and in other galleries! He is probably best known for his photography on albino deer in Wisconsin and Michigan. He spent 1 semester in college and look where he is! He's very cut off from technology. He bought his first computer in the past 2 months and just recently switched over to digital cameras. Eveyrthing else is on negatives, film, and slides Needless to say I can't give you a couple of examples of his work, but I can give you a link to his business. I found the speech very cool, and I learned a lot, enjoyed his shots immensely, and was fascinated by his life!

Check him out at: http://naturespressbooks.com/index.html

Smoothies

So Maia and Alex Tutt have become quite a clever entrepreneurs. Food, especially chocolate, is currency here. They have begun a smoothie business. They have all kinds of things to put in them and you can custom order yours. 75 cents a cup.. 25 cents  if you donate 2 min candy bars! Good on you two for taking advantage of our sweet teeth! ;)

11-7-12 jitters and happiness

Today was the big presentation about William Henry Jackson for me. I got really stressed about talking in front of Jeff and Michael today. I usually am never as nervous, but for some reason, perhaps because I wasn't able to stand, perhaps because I was worried about the questions I was going to asked, I got really jittery. I only stumbled a little. I found that I tended to add imaginary words rather than mispronounce or skip words. The one question that Gwen and I got asked I hadn't studied for. Gwen realized that after the fact that she had known the answer. Ahh well. When asked what part of Sylvania Teahelahn thought would be the most valuable to preserve and why. Her answer was "the ground... umm dirt." We got quite the laughs. :D Ahh well, what can you do. I had fun taking the pictures and writing the paragraphs. We stumbled a bit, but overall I think that the fact that I learned something and enjoyed its all that matter.. not so much the grade. Same with my Into the Wild paper. I didn't do as well as I wanted, but I really liked learning about song analysis and I loved listening to Eddie Vedder (especially for a school project!). I mean who doesn't!?

I'm not sure whether I explained this, but here's a refresher in case you forgot. Stewardship in Action is 2 hours of community service to the school that we do every Wednesday as kind of a "thank you for letting us go to this school for free" kind of thing. Anyways, there's this job that is deer exclusion, which is a scientific experiment to basically study how deer population has an effect on the forests. The first time it was offered the sign -up sheet said "deer extrusion" vs "deer exclusion." Ever since it's bee "extrusion" for Maeve, Luke, Aaron, Mattie, and I.

I have taken to carrying this orange journal they handed out to us at the beginning of the year and writing A LOT. I almost never use journals, but I have a feeling that I will be using lots of my empty journals when I get home! Thanks to the cousins for sending the spare journal! :D

I got a major compliment today. I have discovered that I have a hard time accepting personal compliments. Zeki was telling me about my writing and how he doesn't know how I do it but *punches heart with fist and closes his eyes with a smile*. I'm not being dramatic. That's what he did. I can't put into words, but I'm incredibly flattered. :) Thanks Zeki!

Harvest Festival is coming up. It's next Wednesday. It's a day with no regular classes and lots of mini classes about sustainability etc. Genna's dad is actually coming up to talk to us about organic farming and crop rotation etc. One of the things that is being done at night is a folk dance class/session. Not sure whether the whole school is required  but I'm excited. There's a massive dance floor in the LAB now. I have discovered a fellow swing dance partner in Dexter and am really excited. Just today I went form being absolutely terrified of leaving the ground to learning swing dance (specifically Lindy hop) lifts. So happy. I also shared a bit of Chinese dance knowledge. That's for you Ms. Lee! :)

The value of the week has been love. It's quite sappy and all, but its quite a good virtue I must admit. We have all gotten so much closer. The people who I normally sit with at dinner have taken to regularly taking food off of each others plats and over all eating and drinking after each other. Don't ask me how, but somehow I ended up eating spinach and mushroom lasagna off of the same plate with Zeki and Aaron. Needless to the say it was messy. Perhaps a little too close you say? I say.. NEVER!

PEACE

Well guys Obama won! I feel relieved. At least we prevented the downward spiral! On top of all the screaming and crying we also have a smell of toxic waste floating through the entire house. Apparently Ella burned a pot handle and now I can't leave the wings without gagging. I hope it goes away soon. Facebook has turned into a political sounding wall, a pile of memes and gifs making fun of Romney. Enough excitement for one day. I'd rather stick with the simple things in life, like how much snow is sticking to the ground. Have a wonderful evening of either celebration or moping.. whichever you prefer.

11-6-12 SNOW

For some reason I feel like I'm walking through a dream. The snow is falling, at times it comes down really fast. It's sticking to the ground. I have to squint my eyes when I'm outside so I can see. It's been snowing sine I stepped outside Elaine house today. It's quite odd to wake up and already see light outside my window, but I suppose it helps with waking up. I can't believe I live in such a wonderful place!

We recently got a new head of dining services. He has revamped the menu a bit. We have A LOT more food and it often seems to go to waste. Yes we teenagers do eat a lot, but not that much. It's a shame that it can't be re-purposed (the food that hasn't been touched that is). This morning we had cinnamon buns and cantaloupe. It's bizarre to have fresh fruit that isn't apples and oranges.  After I finished eating I went out into the snow with Aaron, Zeki, Mattie, Dexter, and Maeve (who was off wandering). It was so nice. it's still a very thin layer on the paths, but never the less Zeki, Aaron, and Dexter picked up the snow and threw it. Thanks for the perfect shot of snow to my face right as I open my mouth to take a sip of coffee, Aaron! It was nice and cold if you were wondering :P

Last night was spent sitting in my room with Mattie since I was under house arrest. Let me explain... If you go to the health center to lie down and miss a class, then you can't go to the LAB, LRC, or interdorm. It really wasn't that bad 'cause Mattie and I just sat in my room, did homework, and listened to the plethora of CD's that I had checkout out of the library. I am currently working on two major projects. One of them being for English/history. We have been studying the history of national parks and the people who discovered them. William Henry Jackson was the photographer for Yellowstone. I am doing exactly what he did. Taking pictures of a place, Sylvania, and then writing about it so that "Congress" will protect it. My other project is painting a phenology map for my science spot. I started using water colors last night. I surprised myself. I rarely ever consider myself artistic, but as it turns out painting isn't so bad and I turned out quite a nice Hairy woodpecker and Loon!

PEACE

Say what you want....

Judge me how you want, say what you think, but I found CD's upon CD's of Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion in the library. That's right I am currently sitting here listening to the adds for the show at this moment. I am in blissful heaven! NPR and morning radio has been one of the things that I have missed a great deal here at Conserve, but for now I have been remedied! :D

If God meant for us to use cell phones then he would have put our mouths on the sides of our faces."
       
                                                                      --- "Lutheran Air" add from Prairie Home Companion

BUBBLES! 11-3-12

So I found some bubbles in the duty study.. combine them with Mattie, Maeve, and I and a swingset and here's what you get...

Had to add it just 'cause of Mae've face on the very edge

multi bubble!

It's a snowman :D

EAT IT!

Notice how clear the chain looks

bubble frame

Look how the color seems really vivid just inside the bubble

Canoeing in Sylvania

This weekend, I went on a truly awesome canoeing journey with Jeff and eight others into Sylvania. The day dawned crisp and slightly chilly. We were all dressed up for a blustery overcast trip in our coats and mittens. Before we left, we had decided to start at Big Bateau Lake, portage over to Cub Lake, paddle across, and explore Deer Island. We set out in our canoes excited for the paddle across the lakes not knowing what lay ahead.
The paddle started out smoothly with Kaia in the stern steering, Maeve in the middle duffing, and I in the bow, the canoe trucking right along. Right as we set out, we passed a portion of Big Bateau that had frozen. We grouped at the edge of the sheet of ice and started banging on it with our paddles and throwing chunks from the water across the surface. It was a sparkling novelty at this point in our trip. We were excited that it had been cold enough for the lake to freeze and jokingly said it would be cool to paddle through some ice. Unbeknownst to us at the time, we would have to hack our way through half inch ice to get to the cove that contained our portage path to Cub Lake. Mattie and Jeff were the first canoe to test the ice at Big Bateau. It turned out that to break the sheet of ice; you had to bang your paddle all along the surface to create cracks that you could force the canoe through. Though it was relatively thin, the ice made loud crunching and scraping noises. We had to be careful when we whacked the ice because we didn’t want to break our paddles. We also were incredibly conscience of how much the canoes rocked because if one of us were to fall in it would be a very cold bath! Needless to say it was a pretty slow journey. By the time all of us had reached the portage route we were quite invigorated and very proud of ourselves. We emerged over the hill on the bank of Cub Lake only to see an almost completely frozen lake. By the time we had battled across Cub Lake, the shiny glass surface had been crunched into a million pieces. The sound of the crackling ice was music to my ears. This forgeign music was something that I am quite un-used to hearing because down in Georgia we never have frozen lakes! In addition to the cracking ice, when you swung your paddle over across the water, the droplets of water hit the water was frozen balls of ice. This created hundreds of sparkling spots all over the surface of the water. This combined with the glassy ice, the water was an absolutely gorgeous sight.

They always say:
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”
---Greg Anderson

I think that this quote applies to my expedition that day. The majority of the time, I find myself only focusing on the destination and rushing through the actual journey. The canoe trip into Sylvania with Jeff was a different story, and it reminded me that I need to pause more often and soak in the surrounding beauty along the way and not always focus on my destination. While I really enjoyed scouting around Deer Island, I would have to say the ice was my favorite part of the entire day. I believe that by being here at Conserve I have learned to make time to stop and absorb. Though our noisy battle through the ice was rough at some points it captured the sheer beauty of the beaming smiles, the laughs that rang across the lakes, and the crystal clear fracturing of the glassy ice. A memory that will last forever.

 

Big Bateau with ice

Kaia at the stern

Maia and Samir

The next few pictures are from me working on candids with Maeve

Gwen!

Mattie

Jeff.. the awesome English teacher

Sun bathing

Candids with Kaia

Penny (Jeff's dog) getting some love form Mattie

Kaia breaking out the Willow Smith