Taking a Stand

Well saying that i have been busy would be quite the understatement. I am just going to quickly summarize all of the wonderful activities I did all day so that I can jump quickly into the story/conversation that most invigorated and interested(interests) me.

We started the morning off with the lesson of the Superior View Hike, going through it as if we were students in the class that we are going to be teaching in less than two weeks. It was incredibly enjoyable, and, of course, we got to look out over Superior. It is an awesome view, 600 feet above the surface of the lake, allowing us to see out over 30 miles. On that hike I asked the ‘teacher’ about the current state of fish in the lake and he took a very non-committal stance on the effects of sport and commercial fishing on the lake. Non-committal to the point where I would bring it up later in the evening (which lead to the conversation I will talk about in most of this post).

The second lesson that we had explained/taught to us that we will be teaching is entitled Ojibwe Heritage. In that lesson we learned how to start a fire with flint and steal, something I failed pretty miserably at but plan to practice more. We also learned how to make twine out of basswood (which, if you know me, you won’t be surprised to find I was much better at). We also learned how to pound ash in order to get strips of thin wood for basket making and other things. We sat in replicas of their two types of dwellings and even heard the legend of how fire was brought to the Ojibwe people. I truly enjoyed this lesson and asked a LOT of questions about the heritage and what they do with the strips of ash. They don’t do a thing and I was told I could use them to make baskets whenever I want. I am thrilled about this!

This then brings us to the evening activity which was a meeting about teaching here in general. This is where I brought up the topic of taking stances on environmental issues. I really wanted to know the policy on this as I am incredibly passionate about the environment (obviously) and I am NOT comfortable taking a non-committal stance on logging, for instance. I was told that over the years environmental education as a whole has gone from taking solid stances on issues that effect the environment to being quite soft and not really taking a stand. Joe, the head of my program up here, said that that is a tragedy and that is imperative for us to take stances on issues that are important to this planet’s very survival. He said that many people do not believe in climate change, but we teach a class on it because it is BACKED UP BY SCIENTIFIC FACT. When I asked if when children inquire about the logging history of this area (something that is brought up in the Superior View Hike) if I can illustrate the drastic changes to tree cover that occurred as an effect of that, he told me that I should definitely go ahead and do that. I am going to try not to preach to students, but they need to know these things. I will just make sure I hold a ton of knowledge before I take that committed stance on an issue so that if there are objections I can share facts in argument/discussion and ask the children to debate and discuss the issues that will directly effect them in their lifetimes.

I miss you all and am having a blast! Take care:)

Evening Reflections

Reflections at the end of my first full day here...

Whew! What a day! This morning was great, swimming and such. When I got back to our dorm pretty much everyone was awake and we decided to go on a hike at noon. We all met up, water and swim suits in hand (or in backpacks mostly) and headed out, with no particular destination in mind. We ended up checking out the other dorm that is for students only, and the high ropes course. We then headed on to the Superior View Hike. The hike itself took about an hour but wow were there some fantastic views! Check out the pictures:)

We relaxed on the top of the bluff/cliff for awhile and all got a bit too much sun. We then started to head back down. Most of the people in our group decided to head back to the dorm but Kati and I wanted to go swimming so we veered off from them and headed the extra 20minutes or so to Wolf Lake where we can swim (and where I was this morning). On the way there we ran into 3 deer, one of them a nearly full grown fawn that still had spots. The deer saw us and jumped/ran away. Then when we stood still and talked to them the fawn decided to come investigate. Obviously curious we kept talking to him and he got within five feet of us! So much fun! We then went swimming.

When we returned from swimming we headed out to the so called ‘co-op’ here in ‘town’ that is more of a general store than anything and is also really overpriced. All of the other naturalists arrived throughout the day and the 15 of us cooked a pot-luck style meal. It was delicious (complete with wine which we found out we can have here, yay for not having a totally alcohol free year!)

Most of us then played Apples to Apples to get to know each other better.


Well, that’s enough for tonight. Tomorrow training starts so I will likely not post twice a day like I did today. Training goes until 10pm then I’ll probably just be crashing.

I miss everyone back in Wisconsin but I am really falling in love with it here.

Take care:)

First Morning Here

Any doubt I was harboring about whether or not this was the right place for me to be is gone now. The people here are great and--here’s what cemented it (if the stars last night didn’t) I woke up this morning before anyone else--made coffee and went to stand on the porch that is right next to my bedroom. That’s when I heard the loons calling. Wolf Lake is blocked from sight by the treeline--but I’d gone swimming in it yesterday. I went inside, put my coffee in a Thermos and my swim suit on and made the 15min hike down to the lake (where I sit now). I saw one of the loons before I made my way down the steep hill to the lake shore. I knew then that although I just got here, I am home. 

Yesterday when seven or so of us were swimming down here we saw an eagle. From the porch next to my window if you strain your eyes just slightly you can make out Superior. The program here will likely be challenging--but I’m excited. A challenge with loons and lakes? My kind of thing.

Oh wow--the loon appears to be practicing taking off! Interesting!

This is the perfect northern lake. No boats and no houses:)

One of the girls up here is originally from Northern Minnesota--by the boundary waters. We were talking to her about how to ‘get away’ we always escape north. We asked her where she ‘gets away’ to. She said she never feels the need to get away. Now THAT is the power of the north. 

I have a bunch of great pictures but they are taking forever to upload so I'll just do one for now:)