We all rose at 8:30 am to gather for a family breakfast in the great room of the main cottage. We were handed syllabi and had a brief discussion and overview of the itinerary and expectations for the course. We then piled back into the van and took a trip over the bridge to Bath, Maine to start buying our groceries for the trip. We then headed back to unpack our items and returned to the great room for a history on the land.
The discussion and walk was lead by professor Francis' parents Sam & Ruth who decided to come "back to the land" and make Georgetown Island their home. What was originally 45 acres of untouched land is now where they call home. They told us all about their journey and reasoning for the change of lifestyle and about their hardships and experiences to get where they are now. We took a tour of the property and then broke quickly again for a quick lunch.
We then headed out onto the water in kayaks and canoes to test them out and take a quick view of the arrowsic conservation. We had a short lecture on the water, highlighting two quotes by Thoreau:
"Everyone must believe in something, I believe I'll go canoeing."
"All good things are wild and free."
(Little did we know that these quotes would foreshadow our journey for the following day.)
After a little capsizing and getting used to feel of boating, we headed back to the cottages to unwind and shower.
Around 6pm we all met up in one of the girls "Huccabuck"'s cottage where we all enjoyed Taco Night and a homemade cake for one of our groups birthdays made by Professor Francis' wife.
After sharing a bunch of laughs, stories, and playing games, we headed back to our cottages to get started on our reading and writing.
We read "Walking" by Henry David Thoreau, and wrote down quotes, questions, and ideas to have ready to discuss tomorrow during our journey.
-Kristina Lama
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