Life requires a sense of adventure
By Mariah Doty
Hawknews Writer I believe in adventure, in taking a risk every once in awhile. I have come to believe in this principle through past experiences in my own life. Adventure: An unusual, or exciting, typically hazardous activity. I remember the day I went for a mundane spring run, and did not intend to find any adventure. I had decided to go for a short two mile run, nothing unusual, and I told my family to keep the dogs inside as I would normally do. On my way home my dad stopped and said, “I think I just saw a wolf.” “Do you want me to get in the truck with you?” I asked. “No, you should be fine; you have the dogs with you,” was his reply. Someone had let the dogs outside, and, as always, they tracked me down. So I continued on. When I turned around again there it was, staring at me with its piercing yellow eyes, as if it could see right through me. I stared right back, too afraid to move, wondering who would win this fight. My dogs were with me, but they had continued on without me. I won the first, second, third, and fourth rounds of the staring match; every time he would dart back into the woods. By now the adventure was getting dangerous. Every time I turned around he was there, staring at me from a closer distance. Soon there was less than 30 feet between the two of us. My seemingly inevitable death kept coming to my mind, that's when I knew something had to be done. I looked around in panic as the question “Where can I go?” kept running through my mind. Everything seemed so far off. I looked back at him one more time, and barely managed to win the fifth match. After he dove off into the woods, I took off running in the opposite direction, as fast as my feet could go. Once I reached the other side of the road the impact of half- hardened snow caused me to fall. But I was on my feet again, running through the trees. When I reached my destination, nobody was home. “Oh please Lord, let them leave their door open like everybody else in Kenny Lake!!” That was the prayer flashing through my mind. As my quivering fingers grasped the doorknob, my heart jumped inside my chest. It was open. Adventure seems to come when you least expect it. Like when you have to use dog leashes to tie together boats, or when a small boat engine dies in front of a calving glacier. Adventure would be the word to describe the youth group's backpacking trip to Shoupe’s Bay. For many of us, this was only the second backpacking trip we had ever taken, and it would prove to be rough. The hike to the bay consisted of nothing but muddy switchbacks. We came across deep crushing creeks that needed crossing, and luckily nobody got swept away. We reached camp exhausted! The next day we had to boat across the bay in order to go ice climbing. As we sat down in the inflatable boat attached by a dog leash to a rowboat with a little motor, the thought crossed my mind, “ Yep. We're gonna die.” The cloudy teal blue water reflected nothing as the rain slowly fell from the clouds. Forty five minutes later we reached the other side, and were left standing on a rocky beach all alone. “Go that way” were their instructions. Little did they know of the rushing river between us and where we needed to go. After five hours of rain I was finally on my way back to camp. We got in the boat and pushed off, but there was no take off. The boat motor would not start as we were being sucked toward the exact spot where the glacier had been calving all day. We all envisioned a terrible outcome and out came the paddles as fast as we could manage. After every stoke, icy water drained down my arm to my core. I was already cold to start with. An argument broke out from the back boat, as we only had one paddle and the tide was coming in. We asked for an extra paddle, but were denied the request from the paddle boat. It had only been 30 minutes since we left the sand shore, and there came a crash of thunder except this was not thunder, but the glacier calving right where we had been sitting. After about an hour we were finally given another paddle. It was like they wanted to make us earn it or something. We had had enough, and detached ourselves from the other boat; we made it back to camp a good 10 minutes before the boys. We were cold, and wet, and we were lucky to have not caught hypothermia. That trip instilled in us a new, raw sense of adventure. Adventure is almost always a bit scary and causes an adrenaline rush. It rarely comes when you are expecting it, unless you purpose to find it. Adventure can bring joy, pain, freedom, and occasionally death. If the thought “Can this get me in trouble, arrested, or hurt “does not enter your mind, is it really an adventure? Someone once said “The risky may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all!” I believe in adventure. |
A Greater Future
By Alexis Brown
Hawknews Writer It came to me out of nowhere: the thought that everyone was their own person; their own destiny. Even though there are a percentage of human beings believing and committing to the theory that others are the source of their problems, I still strongly believe we have the power to shape our own path. The saying: “Everything that could go wrong will go wrong,” could've been taken as an understatement in my household. But all of the confusing, reckless, spontaneous, outrageous, and ridiculous adventures seemed to fill the spot of best memories for me. "Um, mom? I don't think my knee is supposed to be like that." These words of uncertainty were often spoken around my house. In this instance, the only thing wrong with my knee was frostbite. I was dying inside sitting on the couch with nothing to do. In the spur of the moment I decide to just go outside and make some adventures of my own, because I hadn't quite accumulated the intelligence to wear snow pants over my raggedy worn out jeans. I paid the price. After countless minutes of practically swimming through four foot deep snow, I felt drained of all my energy. I’ll admit I was on the verge of just giving up and laying there in the snow. Hopefully, my brother would happen to be driving the snow machine and come save me from my miserable situation I thought. But at last, I knew I shouldn’t wait for the cavalry to come save me. I made it home safely, but I wasn’t entirely all there. I mean, I couldn’t walk straight and when I applied pressure to my feet it took an excessive amount of time for the blood to flow back, about a minute. Though I was in pain, I still felt a sense of accomplishment had been made that day. Looking back now I might’ve made different decisions, but then I wouldn’t have the story of getting a frostbitten knee. It’s times like those where all the memories of other adventures come crashing in. All the scars of my past have captivated the intense moments of my life. A near death experience is only worth it if there are scars to prove it happened. Whether it’s, being bored at home and having to explore a little to make some adventures out of a dull situation, or just being involved with those around you, we can set forth and accomplish anything, so long as we set our minds to it. We may stray off from the path, but somehow we find a way back on track. Mistakes might be made along the way, but who says we can't splash a couple cans of bright colors of paint over those hardships we endured and create a better picture more suited for us. I believe in a greater future. |