Saturday, October 5, 2013

10/5/13-A stationary day


Day 56 (10/05/13)- A stationary day
By:Norris Andriuskevicius
           
            “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you go, they merely determine where you start.” -Nido Quebin
           
            Waking up in the morning I was grateful we were able to sleep in a little longer this morning. After an egg and potatoes breakfast we moved on into the now very familiar Saturday schedule which include the LOW debrief and transition into the new LOW’s. From the feedback provided and the past weeks experience it seems the LOW’s had done a great job! After the government shutdown, our previously planned route to go to Yosemite National Park had to change, and the LOW’s had choose to go explore the beautiful Mountainous region of Utah. As I write this journal I am surrounded by red mountains, cliffs, and valleys.  Today was also a day where we were able to enjoy the good weather, with blue skies the reminiscent Summer warmth of the sun lay upon my skin. The LOW’s  had came up with a great idea of a group-building experience, and a good training session for our upcoming week hiking the Sierras in Ansel Adams wilderness for two weeks. We then split the group into two teams on a large grass field, and played a recreation touch football game in a very nice setting. With any game, things had got really competitive over game rules, something that should’ve been discussed before we started. As we ran touchdowns into the end zone, it was apparent that our lungs will get some exhausting experience being highly active at high altitudes of 3,000-5,000 ft above sea level. Being the furthest West I have ever been, I have to make note again on the beauty of our environment in Utah. With a high head lift you are able to witness the majestic mountains, and the weather associated with the mountains includes warm days and and freezing nights. Today, we had a special guest from last years ECOEE visit our camp, Kelly Bauer. Tomorrow we are going to go visit her workplace with youth-at-risk at Red Cliff Ascent, where I have a great feeling we are going to be learning and experiencing some shocking and interesting things. The group also reviewed it’s standing in the group development phase, which we agreed is steadily improving.

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