Southern Man

Well, Ariel Schloss, Ryan Smith and I are at Warren Wilson College, here in Asheville, North Carolina. Walking around the campus, we have been warmly greeted by students, and welcomed by Tim Manney and Rachel Williamson. Danielle Emmett, a Hawk Circle Alumni from several years back, is a student here and it is so nice to reconnect and see how she has grown.

Being here, though, brings to the forefront my feelings for Austin Wright, who was a student here until his passing earlier this spring. His presence is strong and I feel more connected with him and his life through being here and seeing the trees, land, mountains and spaces that he loved. I usually only saw him at Hawk Circle, during our Earth Skills Semester or the summer camp programs, and it is a good feeling to be in one of the environments he loved.

We are staying in the Eco-Dorm, which is an awesome building that uses recycled rain water for toilets, solar energy, edible landscaping and so many other earth friendly technologies. It is truly a gift to be able to stay here and experience the technology first hand, rather than through articles in Mother Earth News or various books on Natural Building, etc.

We are here to connect with people/students and talk about the work Hawk Circle is doing in the areas of wilderness skills, mentoring, awareness, personal growth and native arts, so we are busy talking with everyone and sharing stories. Meeting people can be very tiring!

We have to go do a presentation by the cafe, so I will write more about our trip later!

Have a good week, y'all!

Ricardo