Shipwrecked

One of the highlights of my year at work is the Burch trip. We take the entire ninth grade out for a 5-day backpacking experience on the Appalachian Trail, led by instructors from Outward Bound. I love watching our students tackle the challenges they face on the trail and experience an environment completely unlike what many of them are used to. One faculty member accompanies each group of 10-12 students, and the experience has been completely different with the different groups of kids I have accompanied. Some years I am very impressed by them, and other years I am disappointed. Even in the disappointing years, though, there are always a few kids that stand out from the group as exceptional.

The Outward Bound instructors are very good at challenging the group just beyond their comfort zones. They have a huge bag of tricks from which to draw and adjust their plan on the fly as they learn what the current group can handle. So far, my favorite challenge they've given the group is the Shipwreck. We roped off a small part of the campsite and told the group that their ship had capsized. As they swam to the closest island, they were only able to grab three bags of gear. We set out the gear in bags for them to choose before we started. The groups of 10 chose a bag with three sleeping bags, another with a single headlamp so that they could see to use the bathroom during the night, and the "mystery bag". If they had chosen dinner, they would have also had to choose the stove to cook it, so they correctly assumed the mystery bag had food that didn't need cooking in it. The group all agreed at the end of the trip that shipwreck was the best night of the trip, as they had to really work together to get through the night.

Why am I thinking about this right now? The kids are out on Burch right now. I wasn't able to go this year because I committed our family to hosting an exchange student this week instead, but I can't help but think about the trip this week. Tonight I am thinking about the shipwreck. If some calamity happened to my home, what would be the three things I would grab on my way out of the house? The true answer is too easy. I would get my family out. Really - what else matters? But that answer is too easy, so let's make a "no living things" rule. If some calamity happened to your home and you could only grab three things on the way out, with everything else sure to be destroyed, what three things would you grab (other than living things)? It's a tough question, and one that can definitely induce some guilt. Once you choose your three, look back at them and think about what that says about you.

What are my three? Even as I type this, I'm not sure. I'll give it a try, though. This is just a rough draft.

1) My laptop. So much is on my laptop - everything that has to do with my work, all of my photos, a lot of my day-to-day entertainment. It seems like a minor thing, but computers really have become the link between the individual and the world.

2) My dad's picture. I only have one (he died over 30 years ago), and right now it's not even on the wall because it recently fell and the frame broke and I haven't gotten around to replacing the frame, but I think I'd want that one momento.

3) As much as I could possibly grab related to the piano. If I could get the piano itself out, I would. If not, I would grab an armload of sheet music, assuming that I could use pianos in the practice rooms at school. The piano is the easiest way for me to tap into and express whatever emotions I've been bottling up inside, and I think if I had some kind of calamity in which I lost all but three things I owned, I would need that outlet to get me through.

Once you put those three things in writing, you have to start thinking about what you left out. The one glaring omission seems to be anything family-related. I haven't rescued my kids' baby books or the cake topper from our wedding (which we still proudly display). Since the assumption at the beginning was that living things were safe, I hope it is not too damning that I did not rescue any of those things. We should still have plenty of years to create new memories.

What are your three? Do you see a theme? Are they all work-related? Family-related? Selfish (like mine)? What does that mean? Are you brave enough to respond with your three things in the comments section below? With what should I replace one of the items on my list of three?