As juniors, we often forget how many underclassmen, faculty, and fellow classmates we do not know on a personal level. To start off another great year, I went camping with an unforgettable group of people in the John Muir wilderness. My faculty advisor, Mr. Sawyer, was the group leader, along with Mr. Jensen, a new […]
At the start of July, a particularly sporty friend–the kind who believes a vacay-day is squandered if it doesn’t include at least two athletic “adventures”–asked innocently what my goals were for my time here in the Tetons. “Goals? Are you kidding? I come up here to get away from goals!” Guilt–mine–set in before I’d put […]
You never really plan on Plan B. When I told Michael a couple of months ago that my idea of a perfect camping trip would be to backpack with only my own gear and food (OK, I’ll take the med kit, too) and some experienced packhorses schlepping the rest (stoves, tents, tarps, group food, cookware, […]
Our Bon Appetit baker Robin Riley has been at it again: Seven-Layer Bars. You could prefix that with “Killer” or “Epic” and not be charged with exaggeration. My New Year’s Resolution, made at least twice annually, is not to go there, or, if I must pass through the Strait of Desserts, it’s got to be […]
Snow and sand — lots of Thacher students and faculty sped off to mountains or seashore (or points slightly closer by) this past Friday and Saturday for a night or two away. Thanks to the efforts principally of Joe Bell, School Chair 2011-12, it was a rare no-homework weekend given over to the thing we […]
It’s nearly 3 p.m. when we lucky seven pull out of the mouth of Horn Canyon and, a few minutes later, into the pack station, our ten horses bone-weary from six days on the trail, covering 65 miles or so of rugged Sespe backcountry. Or maybe that’s just me, projecting. I am bone-weary from my […]
My freshman English class is always a little squirrelly on Wednesdays. We meet last period, which ends at 12:55. They try hard to stick with Odysseus as he’s hanging on for what’s left of his life over the slurping maw of Kharybdis–but I know what they’re thinking … How’m I gonna keep my horse from […]
They say that sense is a powerful tool in evoking memory – you smell your grandmother’s perfume and are immediately transported back to age 8. You taste a fresh strawberry and think of summer. As someone new to Ojai, and somewhat prone to melodrama, I’ve been thinking recently about the sights, sounds and smells that […]
As I was heading from one photo opp to another on the Wednesday of Grandparents Days, gymkhana field to lacrosse, I left a scene I’ve watched too many times to count: adoring, amazed grandparents in the stands, eagle-eyed for their special one out there, riders running races or cheering each other on (often across enemy […]
On Sunday, an hour-long hike in the hills with Michael engaged all seven senses: •kinesthetic: climbing up the Rhodes-Metcalf, up to the Gretch, back down the Corwen and ultimately linking to the Barkan •auditory: jays jabbering in trees and bushes all along the trail; rustle of small fauna in the undergrowth •organic: heart pounding harder, […]