Kroka Vermont Semester 2014: Vermont Semester Update #9

Sky Meadow, 4/13/14

After a very long journey, over snowy mountains and across frozen lakes, we are here at Sky Meadow Retreat. It seems like it’s been forever since we left Kroka, but the winter expedition seems to have gone by in a flash. We have made it, and the snow is melting!

On leg 4, we split the group into guys and girls, and headed out on two different expeditions. As expected, we arrived at Sky Meadow at different times, but what wasn’t expected, was that the guys would arrive at three in the morning. The girls arrived a day later, on April fourth, to multitudes of stories about the guy’s wild adventures, including one about Adrian falling asleep while standing up. Many more stories were told that night from both groups. It is amazing to be back as a whole group again.

We’ve been really busy since we arrived at Sky Meadow. To make pack baskets, we first pounded ash logs with Chris Knapp, which was interesting and fun. It involved scoring and pounding the logs with hammers until the growth rings began to peel off. The pounding took us two days, but in those two days, we accumulated enough material to make seventeen medium sized pack baskets. Yesterday, we started weaving the ash strips into baskets with Laurel Iselin and “Grandfather” Ray Reitze. It was beautiful outside, so we were sitting and weaving in t-shirts, enjoying the sun.

In between the ash pounding and making baskets, we were involved in many other interesting events. We ate dinner in the retreat barn with the Sherts family on April sixth. The food was amazing, and so was the company. On the night of the seventh, it rained fairly heavily, and the wind was incredible - enough so that the girl’s tent blew down part way and we had to wake up to fix it. The night of the eighth, we had Big Job presentations. There was poetry, charades, acting, reading, and a pair of skiers who skied rather haphazardly out of their clothing. That completed the winter expedition Big Jobs.

We all have new Big Jobs for the spring expedition:

Kevin - Bathroom and trash manager

Finn - Boats and bikes manager

Jazmine - Medic and hygiene manager

Sofia - Energy manager

Cassandra - Treasurer and van and trailer manager

Zac - Kitchen manager

Per - Water gear and safety manager

John - Navigator

Molly - Food and water manager

Meg - Navigator

Maja - Sewing manager

Forest - Food and water manager

Adrian - Tools and repairs manager

Rosa - Tents and tarps manager, recycling and compost, aaand... I’m the new scribe!

On Wednesday the ninth, we had a day-long communications workshop led by Miles Sherts and Nathan Lyczak. I had a lot of fun that day, learning about how to better interact with my peers. After the lecture part of the class, we had ten-minute one-on-one conversations with each other, offering positive affirmations and constructive criticism. Everyone got to talk to everyone, and afterwards, the feeling in the air was serious yet cheerful.

On Thursday and Friday, the 10th and 11th, we started our two-day Wilderness First Aid course. Our instructor, Sawyer, was awesome. She was very clear with the information she provided, and it was quite easy to understand. She also had some really cool stories to tell, about pinching arteries closed, saving lives, and other incredible things. We practiced CPR on dummies, splinted each other's arms and legs, and moved through a variety of simulations as well. In class, we covered a variety of subjects, including the three major body systems (the nervous, respiratory and circulatory systems), the patient assessment system, anaphylaxis protocols, wound classifications, acute stress reaction, bleeding, infarction, and a whole lot of acronyms. The simulations grew slightly crazier each time, so that at the end of the first day’s simulations, we used fake blood. The effect felt much more real, which was ironic. At the close of the second day, we had our last simulation - a “lightning strike,” and “mass panic.” There was a "forehead wound,” a “broken leg," a “shattered knee," a pair of “broken and burned forearms," a “broken shoulder," a “TBI” (traumatic brain injury), four”cracked ribs," a pair of “popped eardrums," two “epileptic seizures,” and a lot of fake blood and Alka-Seltzer tablets. It was crazy, but now, we are now all certified in Wilderness First Aid!

Today, we are finishing our baskets. They are a perfect size for carrying things around, and I fully intend to use mine as a backpack when I return to school. They are wonderful.

Two nights ago, we watched the sunset from the top of the hill in the back field. The glowing color spread as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky, shooting tendrils of pale golds and pinks across the horizon. From thread-like, pale gray clouds and streaky light blues in the north, to fiery oranges and reds in the west, to purple and violet billowy clouds in the south, the whole sky was gloriously beautiful. Even the moon showed its pale face in the east, catching and mirroring the sun’s fading light. We sat, in largely awe-inspired silence, until the sun had vanished completely behind the distant mountains. Then, we returned to the tent for some long awaited cheesecake!

Sunset Poem

The Elder Furnace sinks lowest, wavering at the tightened edge of the West.

It howls its gentility, pleads its vigor - the end of cyclical Creation.

~Kevin

Parent weekend is coming up, and everyone is looking forward to it! After that, we begin the spring expedition. For the first leg, we will be paddling down the icy-cold Lamoille River to Lake Champlain.

We are heading towards spring with the force of melt-water fed rivers, and the speed of the snow’s disappearance.

-Rosa

Reflections on Winter Expedition

Through the winter

I have strived

Through windy nights

And stormy skies.

Through the winter

I have survived.

Nay,

Through the winter

I have lived