Update 4

We are on the trail!!!!

Yesterday, February 1^st, we started our journey on the Catamount Trail about 7 miles south of Somerset Reservoir, 5 miles west of Wilmington, VT. As we were driving to the trail head a beautiful rainbow appeared over the western horizon and brought smiles to our faces. What better omen could there be to send us off on our long awaited adventure.

Just three days earlier families had come to Kroka  for a day-long visit.  A day of rest and reconnecting.  Following are letters from the students addressed to their families.


(Unfortunately Everett’s letter got misplaced in the shuffle of departure and will hopefully follow later. Sorry!)

Dear Mom, Gary, Terri and Brent,

            It was really great to see y’all on Parent Day. I accomplished everything that was on my list for that day, except for showing off skiing (due to lack of snow). Getting to relax for a day was pretty great; it was even greater to dart about in Keene, then over to the gas station in Alstead, then over to Orchard Hill’s bakery, then back to Kroka and over to the iced-over beaver pond with the four of you. It was nice to briefly catch up with the outside world and show off the new world I’m in. I hope to see you somewhere along the trail (maybe somewhere where there is snow). I know this has all been extremely beneficial.

            Love, Willie (Keepin’it all in the key of “Poo”)

I love you Mom, Dad and Glen

            It’s been us 4 for a very long time. Does it feel strange to be 3?

It feels strange for me. But I know I’m in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.

This has been in my future for a long time. I know that there is much more beyond it as well. I am not just in the future that I’ve waited for, I’m a bit beyond it. I’ve already started College.

What has it felt like to watch me grow up? Do you see yourselves in me? I do.

I feel as if I’m on the verge of something great. But I feel that I might be on the verge of something great until the end. I feel like that’s the right way to live. I am already proud today. There’s just more to do and I am here to do some of it.

Thank you for being proud of me. Thank you for being there.

            I’ll see you soon,

            Dean

 Dear parents and Aryah,

            It was great to see you at parent day yesterday. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I’ve learned to really appreciate to just sit among people you care about and just talk or knit or do some other mindless task. Today I had time to scratch off a satisfying amount of my handy-dandy to-do list. I am almost ready to go. Now it is time to mentally prepare for the expedition, which I think we are all doing in our own ways.

            Today we ate the leftover broccoli soup, thank you so much for letting me keep it. I’ve been so happy here and I want to thank you so much for everything you’ve done to help make this happen. I wish you the very best and will be thinking of all of you.

            Much Love, Michal

Hi Mom and Dad,

            I enjoyed seeing you on parent day. Thank you so much for sending me here. There is no other place I’d rather be right now, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.

            I love you a lot, Noah

Hi Mom and Dad,

            Before our phone conversation, I wasn’t sure that either of you would come to parent day. So it was great that both of you could make it. Our little trip to Brattleboro and back was a lot of fun. It was nice to get away from everything and relax with you for a while. I needed a day like that. Thanks so much for bringing me the things I needed. They will serve me well for the next four months. Preparing for parent day was a little stressful, but it was worth it and I’m looking forward to the next one.

            I hope the kitchen remodel goes fast and doesn’t stress you out. I can’t wait to see it when I get back. Give Charlie a good belly rub for me.

            Love, Conor

To my parents,

          Spending yesterday with you was really everything I hoped it would be. I got the chance to show some of the work I’ve done here while reconnecting with both of you. You gained a sense of why I‘m here and what it means. I was anxious in advance, or at least confused, not knowing what to do, or what to say. But we were just ourselves on Parent Day and I was able to spend a beautiful January day with the parents who I love and appreciate so much. We had the campus to ourselves and I got the knitting lessen Mom’s promised me for my birthday. I got a flavor of time without distracting myself from the task we have at hand here.

            Thank you for enabling this year and supporting me, as you always have. You have always been my surest teachers. I am proud I could be your son, and I’ll be thinking of you both every day while I’m gone. You’ll always be my parents, and I’ll always love you. Kiss Wildfoot for me. Homesick no longer.

            Your son, Adam

Dear parents,

            Hey so… just talked to you yesterday and not much has happened since. Although… guess what… I found my knife. Yay, and all that good jazz!

            Dadi, sorry I lost service and don’t really remember what we’ve been talking about. So… yeah, love you. Also, Mom told me about your plans for the Super Bowl and they sound super fun. I hope you have fun and I can’t wait to see you in the spring.

            Mom, nothing new, but I still love you and it was GREAT to see you.

            LA, don’t actually know if you get the updates. I’m having a great time and I hope you are too. Miss your silly ways and love you.

            And to all, love you and miss you, Malcolm

For the “parentals”,

            Yesterday, while it was lovely, it was also hard. You came into our new home, which we opened up to you, and it began tie our home and Kroka lives together. Changing like this is hard, even more so because in just one day, it is going to change again for us, from base camp here to life on the trail.

            So I am trying to smile, to sing loudly, eat enthusiastically, shove off the stress and ruckus surrounding our final hours of preparation. All for that one shining idea, the dream that has been building a home for itself in my brain for so long: living on the trail.

            Having you here yesterday was a day off for us, it seemed minimal work needed to be done, and it fell on my shoulders how close we are. I could step back, reflect to you how we have been living here, and share in the renewed excitement all around at the prospect of the trail.

            You brought news, food, hugs and change. We served up simplicity, work, passion and dishes. An all-around reasonable trade.

            So, thank you! Josia

Next update in two weeks after we reach Farm and Wilderness in Plymouth, VT. Think SNOW!