Simon Robson - Interactions with Nature - Blog 5

 Sleeping Under the... Clouds

Simon Robson

    Today is my first day back from Thanksgiving break. In such an odd and difficult year and semester it was extremely nice to get a small break and to see my family and friends. Recently I have felt so trapped within the large structures of campus and have had a hard time breaking away any part of my life besides my daily functions and school work. That is one of the reasons why when my older brother asked me if I would want to go hiking on Friday night I did not hesitate a second. We asked a few other people to come along with us but many of them were too afraid of the cold, so it ended up being only my older brother, his girlfriend, and me. 

    We did not need to prepare much for the trip because it was only about a 45 minute hike to the campsite and it wasn't very far from our houses. We brought small tents, sleeping bags, extra clothes, bug spray, fire starting tools, hot dogs, and what I would consider to be a healthy amount of beer. I considered this to be pretty light packing, but even then I was surprised at how hard it was to get all of this stuff to the campsite. It definitely put into perspective for me how difficult it would be to hike/ camp for days or weeks or months at a time. It is obviously a very minimalistic lifestyle out of necessity. 

    After we hiked to our campsite we had to change our socks and shoes as a result of having to cross the river multiple times on our way, and then we began to set up. I had a very small one person tent that was quick to set up and then I began to make a fire. After I got the fire up and going we started to roast hot dogs and have some beers. Nobody else was out by this time and the sun had already set. We were right around the corner from the waterfall and could hear it from where we sat. The sounds were amazing consisting of the combination of the water falling down the rocks, the fire crackling, and the crickets and the birds singing their songs. The cool air felt so nice and gave a very real meaning to the term "fresh air". 

    Later as I layed awake in my tent I continued to listen to the sounds of the earth around me and think about the way that all of the noise I heard was natural. At one point I also think I heard some kind of animal walking through our campsite. What it could've been I'm not sure, but I felt at that moment like I was on the same level as whatever it was. I was just another animal in his domain. It was very nice and I felt like I need to experience more of this. I continued to consider trying longer hikes such as sections of the AT or something along those lines. Whatever I do though I know I need to connect myself in this way more often. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kayla Hammond- Christmas Saves The Year (student choice)

                        On December 8th at 9pm one of my favorite bands released a new Christmas single.  The song is Christmas Saves The Year by Twenty One Pilots. I was notified of the song release moments after I finished reading the chapter on Masks in the Landscapes of the Sacred book. I immediately stopped what I was doing to listen. The song perfectly described this year and how many may be feeling this Christmas season. All while adding a perfect theme of joy and hope. This song was a mask disguised as a message from God, with a deeper hidden meaning in the lyrics.  Snow falls down from the gray sky  Ashes fall in the sea  Plans are thrown to the wayside  Frozen days of the week But everybody wants to make it home this year  Even if the world is crumblin' down' Cause everybody's got somebody who's got their name on a shelf  With cheap decor and flavored cheer  You rest a...
Read more

Kayla Hammond - Prayer as the Posture of the Decentered Self (Phenomenology Reading 2)

      In the first Chapter of the Phenomenology Of Prayer the author explains how prayers can represent the decentered self. He explains this concept through Mary the mother of God. In the bible it explains how an angel named Gabriel was sent down to tell Mary that she will bear a Son whom is holy. Mary's reply was "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:35-38) In this reply it shows a prayer of decentered self for she recognizes that God is her creator and the highest of power. In addition to this she recognizes that God is the writer of her story. In another example God prayers in a form of decentering self too when he was about to face his death on the cross. In this he says "My Father, if it is not possible this cup shall pass without my drinking it, you will be done".  In both of these examples God nor Mary knows the plan the Lord has for them yet they still are able to trust in the Lord and do as he ple...
Read more

Kip Redick Introduction

  Welcome to the Fall 2020 Sacred Communication/Journey blog page. As I have done with this post, enter your name and a subject for the title of each post. Blog entries will be considered informal writing assignments and as such will be graded more in relation to content than style. Blog entries will contain questions and answers to questions, as well as reflections that relate to daily classroom discussions, completion of exercises, and reading assignments. Any questions the student has while reading or completing assignments should be written in their blog. Reflections may relate to connections the student makes between discussions in this class and those in other classes, between arguments raised in the readings in this class and those raised in other classes or from informal conversations. Students are encouraged to apply the ideas learned in this class to activities that take place outside of the class. These applications make great reflections. The student should br...
Read more