Dear Boundless Families:
Every day I see deer, groundhogs, bunnies, beavers and storm clouds that never seem to release their load. Even when it does rain, it’s only while the kids sleep. This property, with its smells and colours and lushness, cocoons staff and students and makes them feel immortal.
Both outdoor groups are in Quebec, wending their way down the Dumoine river in Quebec. Neither have contacted us. BLISSFULL sat phone SILENCE. B.S. is always appreciated by me.
I’m going to get a real scoop on the younger lads soon enough, for I will join the intrepid younglings tomorrow night and spend the day on the river with them on Thursday. My only lasting image of them is really Gage, the life of his gang’s party, and those dimples of his, and his impressive throwing arm. Those kids are like toddlers, in that they are incapable of walking anywhere. Their pace is always like the Road Runner on steroids. Really, they have been love at first sight since the moment they laid their toes on Boundless soil.
I got to see the older crew Sunday night as they were preparing for the hopefully NOT armageddon experience on the Dumoine. Those three girls – Ashley, Maddy and Amelia, are joined at the hip. They are not unaware of the mystique they cast upon their masculine counterparts, and will not fail to press their advantage in any scenario.
When I watch your kids make endearing connections with each other, I turn green with envy. In my fifties, it probably takes me five to six years to make a friend. It took most of your kids 5-6 hours.
So, while both outdoor crews give me great peace by their sheer absence; sadly, this is not the case with the 42 english kids, who have this nasty habit of actually residing on this land. No avoiding them.
I see Logan and Sharon strutting to class after breakfast this morning.
I give them one of my warm smiles, and ask them,
“How are my two least favourite students this morning?”
Logan knows the rules. The locker room mentality is old hat to him. But Sharon, God love her, is one of those kids destined to be Prime Minister, for she is infused with incredible talent and grace. No one has probably ever referred to her as the least favourite of anything in her whole life. It take her a millisecond to get the drift – that I am actually showing her warmth – and she melts into a big smile.
Oh, the daily endurance test these 42 have had to go through. Noah and Reid haven’t yet found the time to indulge me in ping pong. They have been learning about journalism, speechwriting and making, how to pitch a product, short story authorship. Lots of costumes and henna tattoos and hair braiding rituals abound. The charm of each class is irresistible.
This means Lauren can’t help but smile. She is starting to let loose the headwaters of her genius. Jason, as hard he has tried to resist, is falling for this place. Noah has become a perfect angel, miraculous language intended. Olivia, as always, has the community eating out of the palm of her hand.
And then there is River, who is 18 going on 25, for her maturity is that precocious, who has become the Zen Master of her tribe. Her calmness in the face of academic stress rubs off on anyone within a 3 metre radius.
I admire the work ethic of just about every human on this property. Their motivation is internal, yet supported by a loving community to just nail this demanding curriculum..
I’ll write a final update in 3 or 4 days.
Until then,
Best wishes,
Steven
