The winter is winding down to a close. We had an experiment in snow caves, building several caves and a makeshift lean-to, before moving back into our old camps. The two camps have switched places; by now we’ve settled back into each other’s old spots, Wabanong on the west side of the lake, Niingaabiaan on the east.

The winter has been a mild one in comparison with previous years, or so I hear, but it’s been hard on all of us nonetheless. For me, I’ve had ups and downs. Sometimes I’m motivated and have energy, other times I’m bored and depressed. It’s been the same story all year, actually, but there’s less with which to distract myself now because the white season is supposed to be a time of quiescence. I haven’t really gotten into the tracking or the crafts as much as I supposed I would. At times it feels great just being outside doing things. At other times it feels like a burden simply to do the small chores, like gathering firewood or getting water.

I have been somewhat preoccupied with the future, while trying to stay in the moment. Many of those in this year’s program are going to stay with the school to work and help in different capacities; not so with me, though I’ll be connected with the school and the Teaching Drum community in the long term. I have another path to walk, one that I don’t think I’ll divulge here. I am kind of winding down this journal. I feel myself growing farther apart from my old friends and the life I knew before the woods, even while I’m trying to get a sense of what my new life will be.

I feel that I have a home here, and a family. I also feel that there are new horizons to be traveled and new paths to tread. My future is still uncertain, and may remain so for some time to come.