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Weekly Update - 1/27/08

Hello family and friends!

It’s hard to believe I’m already sitting in front of this screen again, sharing with you the events of the past week. The days have been whizzing by here at Kroka base camp, and this week has felt the shortest so far. We started off with parent visitor’s day on Sunday. Friends and families of all the students showed up bearing big smiles and even bigger dishes of food. Between the borscht and kasha and salads and 80 different kinds of desserts, we put together a mighty potluck. During the day families were free to go wherever they pleased. Some left camp altogether, and others floated around, touring our dwellings and sledding down hills. In the evening we reconvened to share our potluck feast. Our humble yurt felt slightly claustrophobic with the 40+ people piled in, but the vibe of everyone gathered together was a good one. After the meal the group performed our skit, “A Day in the Life of a Krokian”, and later we shared our hugs and goodbyes and posed for last minute photo opts. The day had a change of pace and carried an interesting feeling, with all the members of our new family, spending time with their own families. The evening flowed gracefully and the task of creating a huge dinner fell together almost effortlessly. Just two weeks prior, a similar potluck occurred with no help from the semester students, so it was a good feeling to put this evening together for the parents.

Despite the success of the parent visitor’s day, it was a relief to get back into the flow of Kroka living. This week has been a week of skiing. Perhaps it’s due to the iciness of the snow at base camp, or maybe we are just eager to get out somewhere new. Nevertheless we went to a new place each day, and focused on a different type of skiing at each one. On Monday we went down to the frozen pond and skied along snowmobile trails. The extended stretches of completely flat land made it perfect for practicing our long strides. At Grafton Ponds we were introduced to skate skiing. It was fun to see the group’s improvement since the last time we visited Grafton. On Wednesday Misha led us bushwhacking towards the Beaver Pond, and later left us with map, compass and a destination. John, our navigator, led the way. The combination of bushwhacking though dense terrain and freely gliding down the open icy stream was harmonious. We followed nature’s frozen highway until we reached our destination, only a few hours behind schedule. The big cheese this week, however, was Granite Gorge on Thursday. We drove out to the downhill mountain with excitement and apprehension. We were the weirdoes of the mountains, being the only ones with cross-country skis, but we were also the freest. We learned and practiced downhill ski tactics such as snow plowing, telemarking, and emergency breaks. Later, we were able to ski freely amongst the few slopes available. From the chair lift I watched in awe as Chris telemarked gracefully down the steepest slope. He danced down the hill with a great deal of speed, and even more control.

This inspired me to practice hard, and by the end of the day it seemed a lot of us were starting to get the hang of it. The energy was high and playful skiing for hours. But the playfulness quickly turned to seriousness after observing a snowboarder fall off a huge jump onto his head. The situation was handled, however, it all seemed very real to us. Days prior, we had learned about wilderness first aid, and one of the subjects was spine and neck injuries, and how to react after someone has fallen. We were able to assess the scenario and later discuss how it could have been handled differently. Ashirah also educated us about minor injuries and sicknesses that are possible to occur on the trail. Some of these were cuts, burns, infections, sprains, mild hypothermia, and frost nip. The lesson proceeded three days and ended with a rather competitive review. Following the review, we made group main lesson pages to reflect what we had learned.

On Thursday the second grade class of the Monadnock Waldorf School visited Kroka. Off in the distance we heard the sounds of shrieks and laughter. We looked up to the farmhouse and saw a bundle of kids slipping down the icy hill. They arrived outside our yurt, formed a semi circle, and sang us a call - response chant. Their little voices sounded beautiful altogether, a petit choir. Later, they broke off into groups and visited our dwellings. We then cut vegetables for our stew, and told them our Kroka stories.

Our lives have been full of singing these past weeks. Katie Schwerin, a teacher from the Monadnock Waldorf School, has been paying us regular visits for singing lessons. We worked mostly on rounds and songs with multiple parts and harmonies. Katie’s visits came always at the perfect time, because it’s always a good time to sing.

The past days we have been hit with the realization of how little time is left before heading for the trail. The countdown has started and now it’s only two days until departure! Saturday was productive and we completed many projects in preparation for the trail. We repaired our backpacks, waxed skis, re glued gators, and completed our knives, which has been an ongoing process. We carved and shaped our handles from a block of wood and attached them to a steel blade. We then made hand sewn beavertail sheaths with leather belt loops to keep our knives protected. Now they are hanging proudly from our belts, going with us wherever we roam. We finished the process with a knife-sharpening lesson, and proceeded forth until we had razor sharp blades. Our finished knives, each uniquely our own, have become a part of us, and they will be our most useful tool on the trail.

Working on projects directly related to the trail life has made it feel real and near. Currently, we’re learning, adapting, and growing closer with each passing day, but our adventure has hardly started. We’re about to begin our journey through Vermont, and dive into a whole new lifestyle that will be so very different, yet every bit as wonderful. “I’m starting to get the trail jitters” Tom shared with us during evening hula. Since then I’m pretty sure the jitters have hit us all and the buzz of near departure is now flowing through us.

For the Vermont Semester,
This is Taylor, the scribe.