Idiosyncrasy

Why idiosyncrasy? Because people call me strange sometimes. Often, I am the quiet kid in the classroom who gets his work done, answers questions, but does not stand out in any particular way. But among normal humans, or better yet, humans stranger than myself, I like to come out of my shell. My idiosyncrasies include jumping on people, blurting out strange mental connections that I may or may not explain, and chronic random laughter.

But why is that strange?

Bog Iron

All I want is to sit and flow down the stream, regardless of society’s needs. I am rough. I am coarse. In and out, I am rigid. No soul would sit beside me. But that is okay. With the help of the others at the bottom, I morph and become a part of nature. I am utterly original, but it is the ones who want to change me that I am afraid of. They want to break me down and use me as their own. It is those who skip me down the river, examine me, hold me, but leave me to my business that I respect. With them, I can stay with the others at the bottom. 7/13

Waves

Crashing, swirling, flipping, turning. The motions are endless in a fluid so calm. The moon pulls the earth, and the water starts churning. The calm turns to fury and the fun turns to hurt. The hurt is still fun in the right circumstances; when you dive in the water and it stands you back up. The salty taste in your mouth simply won’t go away. But you don’t really care because, after all, you’re back on your feet. 7/12

Shooting Star

Stars are truly beautiful. Rarely ever does one get to sit out and just stare up at them. They say that you should wish upon a shooting star and I have always wondered why until I saw one. Doesn’t everyone see them? But they are not like birthday wishes. You know exactly when you will have to blow out the candles. A deprived soul could go a lifetime without seeing one, remaining wish-less forever. The trail of light following the star is no myth. It follows the star like a duckling follows its mother. It can be seen for miles and as sure as those ducklings are following their mother, someone else is wishing upon your star. 7/16

Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Tip #1) Never seperate from the pack!
Back in july, I and a few friends of mine went hiking in the lake district in England. It is a beautiful country but there are so many mountains and so many towns in between that taking a wrong turn can bring you to a completely different county! This happened to us. Well...Matt I should say.

We were hiking in small groups of 2 or 3 due to skill level. The stronger hikers ran up ahead and everyone else was spread out along the trail accordingly. Matt, one of my good friends, was hiking alone by chance and came up to a fork in the road. Not knowing which way to go, he did what his parents told him to do when he was three, h estayed put. About a half hour passed and he realized he was really far ahead of the group behind him so he went on anyway. Taking a left would have brought him down a small dirt road and right to where I, and two friends were sitting. Taking a right would bring him into the next town over.

He took a right.

We all conglomerated together as a group after about another half hour. Sitting down to grab a bite to eat, we realize Matt was no where to be seen. Long story short, my brother, Iain, and his friend ran up the side of the mountain to look for him, talked to a young couple about the predicament, and gave them a picture of Matt in case they happen to see him. They did.

Matt told us the story later, and from his perspective, a woman, her shirtless husband, and their dog came up to him while he was sipping a coke outside of a pub and asked him if his name was Matt Hachey. This being his second time out of the country, a little inquiry ran through his head. "Why the hell do you know my name!?" Turns out that this couple was the exact pair that my brother ran into on the mountain and he turned up maybe fifteen minutes later where we were standing.

Moral of the story? Some of us get lucky, and some of us get REALLY lucky.

More tips to come...

Swimming Hole

I touched my toe to the water and the cool liquid sent shivers down my spine. After a splash or two, my body was adjusted and my enthusiasm racing. The shallow water did not allow for much rope swinging but how could that stop a group of teenager from having fun? The murky, tea-colored water spilled over the crowd as each willing participant, thrown through the air, flopped into the water like a fish that was too small to fillet.

The silky sand wriggled between my toes, anxious as I was, to break away from the pack and float down the stream free of gravity and free of mind. For a moment I sat back and closed my eyes. I let the water run over my face and I realized I truly was free of mind. I smelled nature between small waves of water. The scent of iron and foliage wafted down stream. The water was similar to the taste of blood but much sweeter, reminiscent of cuts on my fingers, holding it in my mouth to stop its flow.

Only a moment later was I awoken from my reverie by the hollering and hooting of the splash contest occurring down stream. The smiles of friends and the waves of excitement filled the real world. Only my thoughts filled the other. Who would want to be free from the world when there is so much to experience right in front of us?

Govornor's School on the Environment

I'm not sure what it is about nature that puts me at ease but it's whenever I get away from it all, and I don't mean mean some island without any technology in sight, it could be sitting under a tree with the white noise of mating birds blocking out the lawn mower down the street. It's relaxing!

This is probably the characteristic that Gov School saw in me when they read my application. I've been a boy scout all of my life. I love nothing more than to play a game of soccer outside with my friends. And a day out talking to the director of the local environmental center or sitting watching birds at the Raptor Trust is a day well spent.

I'm loving it here. The whole "Work without grades" philosophy that all teachers seem to embrace in this program is a great method to teach stress free. The last thing any of us needed post junior year was more stress.