Treks and Texts

      This week my group had our presentation over Edward Abbey's journals and Polemic. In his journals, I feel like I got to have an inside look into who he was and how his mind worked. Based on previous reading I had noticed his blunt honesty and solitary nature. All of these qualities and more were shown in these chosen entries. Several things that stuck out to me were his sense of self doubt, fear of the unknown, and almost a fear of life within societal constructs. There were many time where he would regret interactions, fear death and making wrong decisions, as well as a longing for life beyond what he had. It almost seemed like he was continually running from something and that nature and writing were a way for him to escape. In his writing, he is extremely reflective and appreciative of nature then he almost flips and shows this crude version of a man. He seems to have a split personality or split view of life that reveals itself in his writing.    ...

      Going into this trip I was very excited to have a break from everything school and just have some time away. After class we gathered our life jackets and canoes and set off for the lake. Driving on our route I kept thinking how much Edward Abbey would disapprove of our travel. He would probably want us to walk miles to get to a natural running lake rather than pull up with our vans and walk down a cement path. Our first challenge was getting our canoes from the van down to the lake. This first task was much harder than I expected but I kept up my attitude and trekked on. This day, the winds were a lot stronger than expected and when we set off we seemed to be in continuous combat with the waves. I knew how to paddle board and kayak but with these winds and waves the steering was much harder with the bigger boat. We all ended up getting push to the other side of the lake and we rode in on the wind. Setting out the second time was not as successful and as we set out p...

      Theres are not many days when I get some time to myself and even fewer where I just get to be alone. Today, by chance, my 8 hour clinical was surprisingly replaced by a quick hospital orientation and I was out by 9 am. With practically a whole day open that had been previously blocked off I took sometime so run errands and take time for myself. On my drive home I decided to take a quick walk and spend some time outside. I drove over to the trinity and started towards the path.     Walks are something I grew up doing with my family, friends, or dogs. Nowadays my outside activities are limited and I spend most of my time in doors or watching outside from a comfortable window. As I walked from my car to the trail the first and only thing I could focus on was how hot it was. Growing up here this was my biggest deterrent to going outside but I was determined to keep going. As I walked down the side walk I was reminded of the little things around me I had always...