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6/09/2006

Dear Friends, family, and members of the community.

Think back to January 3rd. I remember the snow, cars driving in and the people I would be spending the next five and a half months with come out, and I remember the look that was on all of our faces. We all knew we wouldn’t be the same people in June. I remember our opening circle, the smiling faces of all the friends and family who had come to this day to see us off on our amazing journey. And I remember saying goodbye to you all, and coming back to the big yurt, feeling small in the shadow of what was ahead. Then, for the first time, we circled in the warm yurt, and that was the beginning of the semester. From then on we have lived together as a close knit community. We have traveled through the land, and all of the creatures and elements of the earth have been our teachers. The snow and the wind and the ice and the slush have shown us a way to live and the river has whispered to us, shown us its’ path. Now, we’ve come full circle, but we’re not back where we started, we’re all in a different place.

The past week at Kroka base camp has been comfortably filled. We have finished all our Main Lesson pages, and bound them into beautiful Main Lesson Books. Our big ongoing project has been preparing for our final presentation. This presentation is very important to us. This is where we tell the world what the semester is and what it has been to us. This is where we voice what is in all our hearts to everyone who is interested. It has been fun working on our presentation because everyone is really dedicated to making it good. It is beginning to take a real shape and I am excited to share it with all of you. Despite having to tie up the many lose ends that are inevitable after a program of this magnitude we have had some time to visit and be with each other. We went to the monthly gallery walk in Brattleboro and to a contra dance. It was nice to play, laugh , and dance with my comrades. We have such close connections with each other after sharing this incredible experience. We are all like a big family. We share in each other’s joys and sorrows, and together we have great strength, we lift each other up. It is an amazing community we have formed and I know it will last. We will always be able to go to each other and be understood. We are totally comfortable with each other at this point and I cherish every moment we spend together because I know it will be over soon. I would like to now lift up our love to Tommy, whose great grandmother just died. I admire his strength in his choice to go to the funeral in New Jersey. It will be hard for him to go all that way for such a short time. He will be back on Saturday.

What have we gained from this experience? What has come of it? Why does it matter to us? These are the questions we have been asking ourselves recently. We have all written a final essay on it, so that others might understand and so that it becomes more clear in ourselves. I can’t really say what we have gotten from it because each one of us has gotten something different.

"We hold the skills to live simply and sustainably on the land, while using our hands, hearts, and inner vision to craft our lives into something beautiful, important, and meaningful"
–Hans

"I have found there is magic in living so closely with other people who share a common want for connection, to each other and to the earth and the result of this sharing has filled me up."
-Hannah

"The past five months have taught me more about love then anything else"
–Sarah

"I learned to listen. To hear other people and open my ears and eyes to new languages, not spoken with sound."
–Lily

"I formed a relationship with the life that gives me life. The spruce and the fir are my friends, they have kept me warm for many nights."
–Tom

"It’s the simplicity and straight forwardness that really helped me during the months on the trail. It was simple life and I lived, and I felt the world around me"
–Paul-Ivan

We started as thirteen students and grew into a complex family that will sustain itself beyond June 12th"
–Andy

"I have come to the awesome conclusion that what I truly want is what I need and to get what I need, I just need to be; conscious, aware, and alive."
-Daniel

Doors are flying open everywhere I look. The possibilities are endless, and nothing is impossible."
–Evan

"I know that these changes are permanent, and will be as a spring board for future changes."
–Colin

"I have come to realize how much simple joy surrounds me, and I will carry this feeling, this spark, inside of me wherever I go in life, bringing it out from its’ special place within me. I know it exists in my heart."
–Ilene

Note: The reason Tommy doesn’t have a quote in this list is because he is in New Jersey and we couldn’t find his Main Lesson Book for a quote. We are all different people now but we are all excited and happy to go back to our roots, to spend time with friends, siblings and parents. We would like to send out our deepest gratitude to you, for supporting us and being the firm ground from which to leap. This journey is not just ours, but also yours. You have shared this time with us and our stories are yours. We are excited to share with you.

Now we want to thank everyone who made this program possible. Special thanks to all our families and to Misha and Lynne. Misha’s never ending hard work is an inspiration to us and this program could not have happened without him. Thank you Misha for your clear, strong, vision and constant support. There are no words that can adequately describe the depth of our gratitude towards Chris, Ashirah, and Stefan. They have given us a beautiful life and shared with us their passion. Thank you Ashirah for sharing you caring spirit, your strong will, your love and respect for all things great and small, and for your never ending dedication. Thank you Chris for sharing your enthusiasm about the world, your love for the life we’re living, your sense of place and purpose and your dedication to showing us the way. Thank you Stefan for your patience, your dedication to this program, your enthusiasm for life, and your gouges. We connected to our teachers heart to heart and they give us what was in their hearts. Maktub, it is written.

We all have different paths to follow, different legends to relize, but I know that when we leave each other we will all hold our place and carry in us what we have gained. And what we have gained can be carried to any walk of life. We have lived with the kick of the ski and the stroke of the paddle, the song of the rain and the dance of the sun, the silent presence of the trees and the un-rushed activity of the animals. And we will carry this connection, this peace in the world, to our new lives. Thank you for reading and caring. We will see you soon.

For the Vermont Semester this is Tom.

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