Shenandoah Adventure

Virginia Beach locals Jessica Vecchio, Celia Buonomo and Ligia Carter attempt to hitchhike through Shenandoah National Forest.

Passerbys remain passerbys, not daring to pick up the high-school students. Vecchio reflects on their failure.

Vecchio, Buonomo and Carter make their way for the woods.

On weekends, these ladies wear dresses and winged eyeliner. Testing 50-degree waters, Vecchio, Buonomo and Carter are out of their comfort zone.

Buonomo and Carter have known each other for two years. Shortly before this photo was taken, Ligia fell bottom-first into the wading pool and the girls spent a long time laughing.

A woman of her word, Buonomo very much appreciates loyalty. “People say they are going to do things, but they never do,” she said.

Shenandoah’s upper falls is home to Buonomo and Vecchio’s favorite rock formation. They climb with ease.

This wild Shenandoah deer asks its audience, “What am I?”

Vecchio, Buonomo and Carter contemplate a decapitated deer corpse. They each handle the rude awakening in a different way.

Buonomo finds her power through loving the life she has been given. She takes one last look at the landscape before helping herd the crew back to the trailhead.

Animoto

Feature: The Czech Republic

Sněžka is the highest point in Czech. At the foot of the mountain, green hills roll out to meet the farm crops of Dobruška, and this natural visage is separated from woodlands by a dirt road.

At 5,256 feet, Sněžka may not rival Appalachia, but its hike is still beast-like. Tereza Potůčková, a local climber, says, “Making it to the top will make a man out of you.” She isn’t kidding. The closer to the peak a traveler climbs, the rockier the trip becomes. The cold stifles and oxygen thins. The fog thickens and the stomach growls.

Atop Sněžka, adventurous hikers may jaunt right over to Poland if they so desire. Or perhaps they could try jogging down the mountain, eventually emerging rain-soaked and enlivened.

Miles away, the dirt road makes way for a moped-hybrid. Two young love-birds, Bara and Jan, cruise on through the countryside. The maximum speed is 60 kilometers. The foliage reflects tints of the sun and everything is beautiful. Jan and Bara shout in joy. Life is upon them.

On their way back home, they pick some green peas straight from the crops and eat it. They find wild berries and chow down. They fill their pockets with cherries. Life is good.

At home, things are also good. Easy. Someone is making dinner, giving guests and family members time to kill. They hear the pop of a cork and proceed to sip on Moravian wine, which tastes like pure love. Later the party lounges by the fire. Then well into the night, a guest starts singing, which prompts the acoustic guitar. Everyone falls away into bliss.

Tomorrow the family will go into town. They will walk through the village, purchasing gifts and groceries and necessities. They’ll walk by the bell tower while simultaneously enjoy a luscious fruit tart. They’ll reminisce their music school days and muse about what the world has given them.

This is Czech.

References

Historical Cities. (n.d.). ACT Plus Ltd. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.dobruska.cz/historie.html

Mount Snezka | mountain, Czech Republic. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Snezka

Pickering, M. (n.d.). Not only here for the beer: Moravia, the Czech Republic's wine region. Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/nov/09/czech-republic-wine-moravia-prague

Auburn-Ole Miss Football Game, October 31st

By: Lauren Eddins

Ole Miss beat Auburn 27-19 in college football this weekend at Auburn, Ala. Both teams hustled through the third quarter, at which point Auburn lost fire and Ole Miss pulled ahead.

In the first quarter Auburn secured a field goal and Tony Bridges, Ole Miss defensive back, intercepted quarterback Shawn White’s pass. The game was tied 3-3 at the beginning of the second quarter.

Auburn trudged ahead with a touchdown scored by Ricardo Louis, wide receiver. Shortly after, Akeem Judd, running back, countered with another touchdown for Ole Miss which brought the score to 10-10 at the end of the second quarter.

The third quarter determined the game. Derrick Jones, Ole Miss wide receiver, stormed past the defense, gaining another touchdown. The Rebels finished off the play with a field goal.

Throughout Jordan-Hare stadium, tensions rose. The Auburn student section lost some of their morale, and hoped their team would not have to suffer yet another loss.

Eventually the tigers managed to secure another field goal, but it wasn’t enough. The third quarter ended with a score of 20-13.

By the end of the fourth quarter, both teams secured touchdowns, bringing the score to 27-19. Auburn attempted the desperation pass, but was unsuccessful.

“We’ve kind of been sucking this season, so I’m not surprised,” said Mary Catherine Rubisch, Auburn senior. “We do really well the first half of the game and then just fizzle out.”

Auburn students and fans left the stadium in low spirits, but looked forward to tailgating, some of them having made it onto the largest jumbotron in college football.

Overall, fans were disappointed that their tigers lost, but from every corner of campus bystanders could still hear the battle cry:

War Eagle!

Be sure to click here for video coverage of the event.

Relax

Every time I’ve made a specific plan for my life, it hasn’t worked out. Every time I’ve said I would never do something, I ended up doing it. I’ve finally come to a point where I don’t force anything.

As someone who loves to plan, prepare, and always be on the move, this is really difficult.

Once, I spent a night off the grid in Mexico. I’d just narrowly escaped sexual assault. It was terrifying. I had nowhere to go, and I knew no one. I lied awake wondering how I would even make it. God was in the reassuring stillness of the morning and I enjoyed the rest of my trip.

We don’t know what’s going to happen! And we are fearsome beings. But we are not The Being. We are not The King. Trust me, I like to think I am. But it’s just not the case.

One of the greatest freedoms is recognizing that we have no responsibility for external circumstances.

There are too many factors! Things have plans contradictory to ours: other humans, nature, God, etc. We must choose to fight this, or accept it.

Look at this: "I have a word for you who brashly announce, ‘Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.’ You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow…Instead, make it a habit to say, ‘If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.’" (James 4:13-15, The Message)

We are not in control. Relax and trust. Take the pressure off yourself. You are too valuable to be stressed out.