Today was so special because we found two things that are usually mutually exclusive: Solitude and Adventure. It was so special because I watched David make use of his goalie skills to save the lives of several kamikaze sledders hellbent on becoming one with a Jeffrey Pine. It was so special because, though it was damn cold, as we can all acknowledge as we sit in our warm houses near sea level, not a single one of you complained even once as we crunched through snow straight into an arctic wind along the Sunset and Big Laguna Trails.
Other things that made this day special:
Hot Chocolate cooked on a camp stove
Snowballs (even if one did detonate in my right ear)
The fog bank that rolled in and enveloped us (and the coots)
Taking Ludwig Von Hermes out of dry-dock
Not having to wear a 70 lb. pack.
I ended the day dry (relative to yesterday, at least)
Ah, Solitude: Though an emergency recall nearly turned us back, I knew it was out there waiting for us. It took a hike through rime coated pines along a ridgeline cloaked in fog, but at long last we found it. Before I write another word, I ask that you have a look at the photos. They say more than I ever could about today.
As I fired up the backpacking stoves, I thought about each of you, off writing wherever you were along or above The Water of the Woods, and it became hard to wrap my head around the fact that we only have a couple of days left, that I won't get to go searching for Solitude and Adventure with you guys every day for the rest of the year. It seems a shame for it to end in just two days. The happy reality is that you can make it a priority to get outside whenever you want. Whether it's stress relief, inspiration, or recreation, we often find what we need outside, even when we didn't know we needed it in the first place.
Today was lovely. Not only did we find ourselves on a beautiful journey, but we also managed to truly experience, what seemed like to me atleast, a small taste of what true isolation might feel like. In all, an authentic respite from the tiring and draining forces which to often invade our lives - whether from of school and/our the myriad of other obligations that we are consistently fixed to. My favorite part of the day would have to be the impromptu snowball fight. No mercy. The battle was terrific gentlemen. On a personal level, I really felt that today encompassed, with absolute certainty, the most illuminating and vivid exposure to Nature that which I have ever taken in. Thank you brother Aiston - Mr. Aiston for the honest guidance and steadfast leadership.
ReplyDeleteMatt,
DeleteAs for honest guidance...All that stuff I said about striving to be readable and easily understood, it was simply a suggestion. My earlier journals are filled with poetic lyricism and vocabulary that seems to be pulled straight from "Hot Words for SAT", but over time I've come to be less showy and now try to use just the right word at the right time, nothing more.
My suggestion was to simply tone it down a bit, which you have done, but at a cost. This is a change that should come naturally in your progression as a writer. If my suggestion has caused you to rein yourself in just for the sake of it, I take it back. I take it all back! If that is the case, give me the old Matt! I prefer the exclamations and your profound verbosity to the slipshod errors.
I want my students to find their own voices and this is something that takes time. It takes reading different authors and putting pen to paper and experiencing much life.
If you feel I overstepped my bounds in my suggestion, I apologize. After all, Thomas Wolfe, of "Look Homeward, Angel" fame, became one of the most famous and respected writers of his day by waxing poetic much as you have done. The thing is, he's hardly read at all anymore (though I love him) because people think his prose is too purple.
So if this is indeed a new approach for you, one that you're trying on for size over the last few days of interim, bring to it the same discerning eye you have shown in your other writing. Tighten it till it's ready to snap and polish it to a mirror sheen.
If it was something else altogether, then I suggest you be free, embrace your high lyricism, and challenge us to keep up! In other words, let your clouds to be sunbuoyed again!
Your steadfast leader, your honest guide,
Mr. Aiston
I wrote this while finding solitude
ReplyDeleteIt's cold, windy and my shoes are wet. Oddly enough I don't feel the same cold inside. Standing on a boulder in all borrowed snow jackets and gloves I feel right at home, inner peace. As the wind blows, my visibility of the others fades in and out, except for Mitch, perched on a boulder a few hundred feet away, his outline against the white snow telling me I haven't been abandoned yet. As birds begin chirping around me, the only reminder of civilization is the small concrete dam in the tiny stream that feeds to the ice lake were silent birds lay. The crackling of water can be heard near by, hidden by the snow banks. Here, overlooking the snowy valley I feel a complete peace come through me. As the wind picks up the mist once again rolls in, as if blanketing me with warmth. Here, on my throne I embrace mother nature with open arms, who, in return gives back to me a moment of beauty and solitude. Complete oneness.
how do we upload photos?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to open by clarifying something I started to bring up in yesterday's post; the definition of adventure. In 180 south adventure was classified as the experience that takes place when everything goes wrong. Personally, I think that this definition is a bit too aggressive. I see adventure not as things going wrong, but embarking on a journey that has the potential for things to go wrong. Take today for example, nothing went terribly wrong (minus the destruction of my poor disk sled, which is honestly no big deal) but I don't think that any of us would object to the idea that today was an adventure. An adventure in which we set out into the misty woods not knowing what was going to happen, but greeting the mystery that we faced with more excitement than fear. That is the essence of adventure to me.
ReplyDeleteNow, more specifically on today. Today was the first time in a very long time that I could look out in every direction and not see anything. It sounds grim, but it was an exhilarating experience that I won't soon forget. That mystical moment when the fog rolled in so thick that I lost sight of every one of you and found true solitude. There I wrote this;
The calm out there is unbelievable. It seems as if nothing moves, save the wind. it echoes as it files through the frosted branches and heavy leaves of massive trees. I stand upon a rock, ankle deep in fresh snow, writing. I settle in with nothing but these words to keep my fingers warm. As I slowly turn beneath the cover of the clouds the white expanse shifts about me and I realize; I am completely alone. Beneath the arms of trees and veil of whiteness I know there are others, but I cannot see them. I see a half frozen pond populated by slow floating coots. I see the socked in tree line gobbling up shallow paths. I see into the air; an endless field of white, dotted with rocks, bleeding quietly into the sky.
Thank you all.
Also I'd like to upload a few photos but I have no clue how.
Honestly, I was absolutely blown away by what we experienced today. I am genuinely debating writing my blog post in a manner akin only to Mr. Margulis. That is how intense my feelings are of joy, peace, and gratitude relating to what we undertook as a group today. Today, I witnessed something that I had positively no clue existed. Seeing that pond/meadow/snow beach thing that we hiked to today was a surreal experience. It blows my mind to know that there are simple things like that in the world of which I have yet to become aware. Looking out into the supreme nothingness that existed out there was an exhilarating, terrifying, and above all, immensely gratifying experience. Seemingly alone in the world, with only my thoughts, I indeed found true solitude, and in turn, peace. Aside from scribbling several Haiku's on various topics, I actually didn't get much writing done. Whether it was my state of mind, my perfect position in the universe, or the intense Marxist lecture I received earlier in the morning, I found myself thinking of things that I didn't have the time or the warm hands necessary to put into words. I honestly evaluated my life today, a task that is not feasible on most average school days. But that wasn't the only wonderful experience that made this day special. I too enjoyed our impromptu snowball fights, our perfectly timed hot chocolate break, and the many near accidents we had while sledding. While venturing out into the wilderness virtually alone, I encountered something in addition to solitude; I found camaraderie. I am sharing experiences with people that I have never really talked to up until this point, and that is awesome. So thank you, interim, for an absolutely incredible three days, and for the expectation of two more. I hope that on friday we will encounter more snow to be thrown, more hills to be sledded, and more ravines to be jumped by Jake.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the third grade I read the book Hatchet. It was about a thirteen year old boy who's plane crashes and he finds himself alone in the canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothes and a hatchet his mother gave him. After a long adventure the boy eventually gets rescued. I always loved this story and wished to experience the solitude and scenery the boy enjoys without the tragedy and fear. Unfortunately for me San Diego does not offer that setting... or so I thought. Today really showed me that San Diego is an awesome place with amazing activities, people, and places. I found it unbelievable that as a native San Diegan for the past 10 years I had only once ventured up into the Laguna Mountains. We need to realize the potential that each day holds and try to live it to the fullest, otherwise ten years will pass us by and we will realize we never did anything worth remembering.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I boasted about how I felt as though I conquered nature, how I felt more like a man. Today, I was humbled. I truly felt it to be Nature with a capital N. I identified with a living, powerful force today. I felt her icy wind, her smooth breath infiltrating my own body. She took energy out of my muscles, but replaced it in her own, indescribable way with every clean, cool breath of air I took.
ReplyDeleteI felt a taste of true solitude today. There was a stretch of about fifteen minutes where I was truly alone, the only footsteps in the snow were my own. I found an unassuming outcrop of rocks and decided to climb it, anticipating a decent view and maybe a place to relax for a couple of minutes. What I found took my breath away. A sliver in the trees exposed the pond and meadow below, and I watched and listened as wind whistling through the pine trees carried a thick mist through the forest. I've never felt so small in the grand scheme of things. It's causing me to truly reevaluate my priorities. My usual life doesn't seem so important anymore. I'm realizing that it's ok to stumble and fall every now and then, because even if things seem terrible, there's always solace to be found in the great perhaps that is the outdoors.
Also, sledding kicked ass. Plain and simple.
Watching men sledding
Gabe comes flying down the hill
Oh boy, this might hurt.
I am really proud of all you guys right now.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletelove the haiku dave
ReplyDeleteI also love the Hatchet reference. A truly excellent book. And there can be no doubt that making "Send me on my way" our unofficial official pre-hike bus ride song was an excellent call.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe this interim class still continues to get progressively better each day. There were too many events today to even wrap my finger around. First, I would like to say I am sorry to Mr. Aiston for pelting him in the ear with a snowball. I honestly meant to hit someone else, however my accuracy is not nearly as good as Gabe Harrington's. Yet again, I seem to be the common denominator of disastrous events.
ReplyDeleteAfter hiking in the beauty of the snowy woods and the icy lake and beautiful nature of the mountains I don't think any other hike will be the same. The solitude I experienced on today's hike was unlike any other. There were so many sounds and sights that I felt like my mind and body could all absorb.
Being with my fellow interim peers and friends and Mr. Aiston really made this day that much better. Everything from climbing up a tree in the most unsafe way possible, to hitting Mr. Aiston in the ear with a snowball, to chucking snowballs at floating geese, making hot chocolate, participating in epic snowball fights, sledding the slopes over and over until my body ached, and hiking with my friends. This day was a success.
I love what RB said about Hatchet. That and Tucket's Travels were my favorite books growing up. Both written by Gary Paulson, one about being stuck in the Canadien wilderness, the other roaming the mid west and Indian territory. Today felt like a scene right out of a book.
ReplyDeleteToday was spectacular. It ranged from intense snowball fights and hazardous sledding to complete solitude, blanketed by the snow. Whether it was "Send Me on My Way" on the busride up, or huddling around the stoves sipping our glorious hot chocolate, I felt the whole group really bonded today. Maybe a little too much bonding for Ryan to handle. The snow brought on me a sense of calm. As soon as we got there, I accepted the cold, which didn't bother me much especially when moving around. It felt like we were in a different place and time. The cloud that we were in made time standstill. At one point, I sat on my rock just watching the swirl above me and listening to the wind roaring through the valley. My day could have been complete even without the sledding. That was just a bonus at the end of the day. And then as if it couldn't get any better, we brought a trash bin of snow back to parker to pelt eachother with snowballs. Just as the freshmen and sophomores thought their long day inside a classroom was over and they could go home, they were met by a barrage of snow, a reminder that we got to experience nature at its fullest, while they counted the minutes on the clock. I couldn't have asked for a better day. It's going to be quite a challenge to top today, but i hope to do so, even with only two more days. Who would have ever thought that a whole class would be dreading a school week to end with a break the next week? I don't know any other people that could honestly say that.