Thursday, August 23, 2012

Under the Big Blue Sky

     Have I mentioned how beautiful it is here? Today I discovered a new place, probably the prettiest by far. Our campus is in the foothills of the Rockies, so it is surrounded by several small mountains/big hills. Up on top of one of the hills is a cross, to which you can hike. So, in a very random, self-motivated-exercising mood I suggested a couple of us hike up there. Z and A (I'll leave people's names out in case they'd rather not be directly mentioned) and I hiked up there and it was SO PRETTY.
     A priest asked us once if we'd ever had an experience through which God's glory was evident; this was definitely one of those moments. At the top of the hill you can see miles and miles away and it is so incredibly quiet. Not just quiet, a specific kind of quiet, when you can almost here the expanse stretching out to the horizon and the wind moving through the evergreens. I don't even know how to describe the sound, literally just like hearing space.
     One of the things I love about Kansas is how big the sky is. Up on the hill the sky is also really big, both similar and different to our sky. I think it's more colorful here, but that might just be because we're in the "monsoon" season. It's rained every day so far, which apparently is really unusual, but a nice change from the heat.
     Today we also had "Intro to Wilderness", where we learned some of the essential aspects for camping (an "adventure" I'll be forced to experience next weekend...). We learned how to pack, cook, and sleep, among other things. We also learned how to act if we see a bear. Want to know how? Well, here in New Mexico we don't have grizzlies (for those you play dead), we have black bears. So if you see one, you put your arms up, kind of pretending to be a bear, and making yourself big, and say (loudly) "HEY BEAR!", and then back away slowly. Not even kidding, "HEY BEAR". And if it attacks? You fight back. Yeah, I am just so excited to experience the wilderness....
     So that's a couple neat experiences for the day (oh and did I mention I got to break in my pink hiking boots? definitely an exciting moment). I'm getting better at remembering names and faces, which is also good. Tomorrow we're leaving for an off-campus trip, so I may not have a chance to post for a couple days, but I'll come back with lots of fun stories about ropes courses, group bonding, tie-dying, and hopefully nothing about rattle snakes or bears. Wish me luck!

No comments:

Post a Comment