The Buzz

Sonoita. Historically, the word originates from the O’odham language and translates to “spring field”— an ironic assessment, seeing as none of us witnessed a drop of fresh water during our five-day excursion. 

Mountain Classroom was jam packed with adventure, grit, perseverance, and pretty views this week as we successfully hiked the 30 mile Boulder Mail Trail in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. There’s no doubt that this was a week of immense growth for not only our individual selves, but also our group as a whole. 

Over the next week we will honor the Proctor Woodlands through a series of activities, videos, hikes, live classes, and messages from members of the Proctor community. Kicking off with today’s global celebration of Earth Day and culminating on Proctor’s celebration of Earth Day on April 29, this weeklong Woodlands Challenge will celebrate our connection to land, while generating support for a new educational center that will serve as a gateway to Proctor’s 2,500 acres of land. 

We’re sitting across the kitchen island sketching each other’s portraits. It's 1:37 a.m. This is the first time I've had my portrait drawn. I’ve had a lot of firsts this past week.

 As our group has experienced these past few days, things don’t always go as planned. This past week we have experienced lots of mechanical issues with both our bus, Deb, and our trailer, Rocinante. Deb has taught us to be flexible with plans and make these times fun for ourselves. 

Yesterday’s weather was just about perfect: sunshine, 70 degrees, no black flies. The only problem? We were in Phase 1 quarantine on campus due to a few diagnosed Covid-19 cases on campus. Remote classes continue today, Day Students remain home, and our Boarding Students are living and learning in dorm pods while we isolate and mitigate the spread of the virus. It has been a tough week in many ways, and yet at this point in the pandemic, we are refining our appreciation for stoic philosophy and becoming quite adept at identifying what lies in our control and what does not. 

Our second week in Arizona went by really fast. We spent almost every night sitting around the dining room table working on our Art History book project and painting almost everyday.

After an exhilarating first week of exploration and acclimation, we found ourselves preparing for our first expedition in Utah at Coyote Gulch. The day leading up to this journey was filled with much excitement and organization. Before we were to head out, we had to pack up our backpacks with a variety of basic essentials, among them, group gear, clothing, a week’s worth of meals and WAG bags.