Written by: Roy Bellows, Wyatt Jernigan, Ram Quinones, & Eli Haider-Bierer
Written by Roy Bellows
Today we went to Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
It was a three hour bus ride to the Park in which we sang, listened to music, and slept. Once we saw it (the dunes) in the distance we all got very excited, but it was still an hour until we finally arrived. Our bus was hot and our AC might have had a dead animal in it, so it smelled quite rotten whenever we tried to turn it on. We were sweating profusely until we finally got out of the van and stepped into the SAAAAND. There was a lot of it. In fact, as we walked closer and closer, the huge piles grew and grew. A group tried to start and run up it but the sand halted them within 200 feet. As we hiked up these (mountains?), we ran and jumped off the lips of the dunes, flew at least 10 feet in the air, before tumbling and getting covered in the warm sand. Some people hiked to the top of the dune while others stopped half way. We had the most legendary game of spike ball up there imaginable, and the losers had to somersault down the steepest dunes. It was such a time! When the time was almost up, it was about 3 p.m. The whole group bounded down the dunes, tripping and falling, but always laughing. We had to pile up in the van all sweaty, hot and covered in sand. The bus ride home was a lot more relaxed, and had more silent time, which was good, until Eli started blasting Brazilian house music. We had a bet going in the back of the van whether we would arrive before or after 6:30, and we arrived at 6:28, so Gemma won. We just had pizza and now I’m in study hall writing this blog post that was due two days ago. Sorry! And sorry about my commas, still working on that.
Written by Wyatt Jernigan
One aspect of my life here at HMI is the meal times. Sometimes the day is so packed with different activities and classes that mealtimes can be the perfect time to unwind and have some good food. My favorite meal of the day is definitely dinner, after classes we have about 25-30 minutes before we sit down for dinner. During that time period I either like to play washers with friends or go for a quick climb in the climbing hall. Following that we’ll all head to dinner, eat, and socialize until it’s time for study hall.
Written by Ram Quinones
Cabin life is one of the highlights of being at HMI for me. Having a place to come back to at the end of a fun, but exhausting, day is always nice. Especially when that place has friends you can talk to, play games with, or just acknowledge their presence and fall asleep after walking through the door…(we’ve all been there at least once.) One of the things that always brings us together is our fires that we build to stay warm throughout the night. It’s a nice way of showing we care for eachother, everybody coming together to help one another stay warm in the night. And getting the fire started is its own cabin-wide event. The highs and lows of making a fire can bond even the newest of friends.
From the nightly circle questions, to the game nights, to the nights of mutually agreed upon extra sleep time. Cabin life at HMI is unmatched.
“Cabin five 4 life!”
Written by Eli Haider-Bierer
One of my favorite parts of HMI daily life is our cabin community. Classes here can be stressful, especially with the school day ending at 5:30pm and study hall lasting until 9:15pm. My favorite part of the day is heading back to my cabin after study hall and hanging out with my cabinmates. We rotate who makes the fire in the wood stove that night to warm us, and then we all sit in the common room and talk. To make our fire each night, someone has to cut kindling with the hatchet on our porch. At first it was definitely intimidating to chop kindling in the dark, but it eventually became a fun activity to do with my friends.
Once we make our fire, we like to go around and do a sort of Circle. Circle is a tradition at HMI. Every night on expedition we go around with a Circle question, and everyone answers. While we don’t follow this exact structure in our cabin, we still like to debrief our days and offer advice to anyone who needs it.
We also just elected a cabin representative. The cabin representative acts as a leader in the cabin, helping out with Tuesday night cabin meetings with the apprentice. They also help delegate chores and facilitate remedying any issues that arise between cabin members.
Another aspect of cabin life that helps us unwind at the end of the day are our decorations. At the beginning of the semester, we spent some time cutting out magazines and making paper chains to decorate. We now have a collage wall, name flags, and a poster reading “6 CABIN” because we couldn’t make “CABIN 6” fit. It makes the cabin feel much more home-y and cozy after a long day. Cabin life and the small, tight-knit community it creates adds to the HMI experience.