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A journey has ended, another is begun
We laugh, live and learn as family
Shaking hands, making friends, sharing love
As the days pass and the world turns.
Our time here is precious; let us use it with grace,
Every moment living life with joy, to celebrate our place,
Our place on this Earth,
Leaving footprints on the moss and our hands in the dirt.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Dear Family and Friends of the Vermont Semester,

Spring is in the air, noticed more and more every day. Warm gusts of wind come from the south, bringing rain to melt the still considerable one to two feet of snow on the ground. The buds on the trees are growing every day before our eyes, getting ready for that brilliant day when suddenly, everything around us, from the smallest plant to the tallest tree shows the life which has been hidden and dormant during our long winter journey. Soon everything will turn green, erupting into color and life to greet the new season.

Here at NorthWoods, we are adjusting to a stationary life again, getting into new rhythms for chores, meals and exercise. We rise early and jump into the morning chores of firewood gathering and splitting, cooking, water duty and leader of the day.

Wood cutting

Before breakfast, we all go out for morning meditation, a continuation of an old tradition with a new twist. We have all chosen a spot to sit or stand or lie on and observe the world around us changing into spring. Each morning we notice new happenings, a new songbird call or the buds on the trees, growing larger every day. By observing this constant change, we are learning to look closer at the world, which holds us with such beauty and grace here in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

To conclude our winter journey, we spent a few long days inside, finishing academic work, tying up loose ends (literally, mending gear) and writing a final winter journey essay. This essay is a gathering of thoughts and personal reflections from the winter trail, the topic: “Human Place in Nature”. Influenced by our recent experience, we have all created a writing on how we see our place in the world, what we would like to see change, and what new beginnings we are excited about and would like to be part of. We are all excited, looking towards the future and thinking of where this amazing experience will take us when we set foot back into “The World.”

We celebrate the completion of our winter journey

We celebrated the end of our journey and our time with Chris, Ashirah and Owen as they prepared to leave, by throwing a big feast on the last day of March. We cooked pizza, baked a cake and enjoyed an evening of telling stories and poems, sharing and remembering the last few months together. It was sad, saying goodbye to the Knapp’s, they have been such a big part of our time here. We are looking forward to seeing them again at the end of May. In the mean time, we are psyched to be working with Andy for the spring.

Andy has been with us only a short time and already he is becoming a wonderful part of the group in every way. We love his good-natured attitude and relaxed yet passionate approach to the life we are living. He has dropped into our routines like a perfectly notched tree felled for firewood. A few days ago, we went on a “field trip” to the land where Andy and Hannah live to cut a few brown ash trees, which we will pound for pack basket weavers.

Andy and Tom cutting brown ash

Andy and Hannah’s animals

We trudged through thigh deep snow, carrying the logs downhill to the van, having a crazy snowball fight the whole time. It was inspiring to see their beautiful little tent home, nestled up in the woods and we came away filled with excitement and ideas for ways to live on and with the land when we all return home.
“Spring Break” started the day after Chris and family left. We had two days for leisure, rest, reflection and writing… our first real days off, and boy did we enjoy them! On the second day of break, Nick returned to the group, feeling much better and happy to be rid of his illness. Break ended in the best possible way, with the arrival of Grandfather Ray Reitze, who came to work with us on paddle making.


Taylor rasping her paddle

Over the next two days, the wood chips flew as we shaped our paddles from white ash boards, bringing to life the tool which will propel us down the Connecticut River next month. All of the paddles are now in the last stages of being finished, each with a personal touch or two added by the maker. In the evenings, when the tools were put away, we sat with Grandfather and listened as he shared stories and wisdom gained from a lifetime of living in the bush and with the land. He left us with much to ponder and an excitement for what is to come.

A very exciting event this week was the conclusion of our winter jobs and the transition into our newly chosen spring big-jobs. The process of choosing our jobs went much faster then last time in Marlow. We have all discovered that any learning can be exciting and very beneficial, no matter what it may be, so we were all ready to embrace new responsibilities. In the spring, we will have more time on our jobs than in the winter and each job will incorporate a research element to help us dig deeper into the different skills. Our new line up goes something like this: Solina has become our Navigator, a job she had been excited about since day one; John is taking over from Jed and is our new Hy-Genie (rub the Dr. Bronner’s bottle three times and he will appear!) and also the Spring Geologist; Eric has passed the duties of Gear Manager to Joey who is excited to “get his hands on the tools” while Eric has become the new Medic; Taylor has taken on with a smile, the complicated job of overall Food Manager which will occupy her every spare moment from now until June (just kidding Taylor!); William is the Treasurer / Chief Coordinator / Wild Greens Guru (he will be responsible for learning and gathering many wild edible and medicinal plants along the river); Nick is now the Photographer and will be snapping pictures with a passion; Celeste has the exciting, hands in the water role of Weather Wise Water Cat and will be informing us of developments in water quality and weather change as we paddle southwards; Jed is our new Pot King Pin, managing the cook kit and will also be Food Maker, in charge of fermenting and baking all sorts of foods for the coming journey. As for myself, Jesse, I have become the Spring Scribe, and look forward to sharing our life with you all for the next few months.



Ash gathering party

I would like to end this update by saying on behalf of the Kroka family, a big thank you to Chris for being such an inspiring, passionate leader for us this winter. He shared wisdom, knowledge and a joy in living the bush life, which has been wonderful to experience. We all appreciate the time and generosity he gave to us and cherish the moments when Ashirah and baby Owen could be with us, making the circle complete, a family whole. As we have learned here at Kroka, family is of utmost importance in creating a healthy world.

Until next time, this is Jesse, the Scribe.

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