Random memories from wilderness therapy

 Picking up a tarantula and putting it on my face and all the girls would scream.


When a kid asked me what it was like coming out of the closet.


Sleeping in a soaking wet sleeping bag for 12 nights in a row. #monsoonseason


When one kid told me "it's so weird to be happy and sober at the same time"


Throwing rocks in the ice to watch it break.


Hike strikes.


A mouse crawled on my face when I was trying to sleep. Ew.


Kids cussing out their parents to me and then me not passing along that information to the parents.


Putting a large flat rock over coals to keep them slowly smouldering so we could start the fire again in the morning.


In a rowdy boys band, and most the boys were asleep, one boy asked me to sing a few more lullabies.


Hiking in the rain in winter, and all of us showed the first few signs of hypothermia, another band had to come bring us dry wood so we could get warm. 


Sitting on top of a boulder on top of a butte overlooking the Gila river. 


One kid telling me the plot of his favorite anime for 3 hours.


Finding serpentine, a soft green rock that was easy to carve. 


One girl storming off in anger yelling "yeah well I don't wanna get better!"


Collecting tinder from shaggy-bark juniper and cottonwood. Collecting friction fire materials from yucca.


This euphemism some girls adopted "it made me wanna pee on myself" instead of "made me wanna k*ll myself" lol


Eating young century plant and wild grapes. The kids would catch crawdads and make me eat 'em. Also fish if we were lucky. 


After boys would ask "you pull any bad bitches?"  my dear friend and coworker hijacked the conversation got us all discussing consent.


Burning some cheese powder to make a cheez-it. 


This one kid refused to play Werewolf, because he was always the first one out, then the other boys begged him to play, and then he was the first one out again 😅


Bushwhacking through manzanita for HOURS and in that process lost my favorite fire bow. I had that thing for 18 months and busted so many coals with it. I miss it so much.


Teaching the kids how to make friction fire and watching how proud they were when they finally got it.


Carving so many spoons. 


One kid said to me "I trust you more than I trust my Dad"


Wiping with leaves for a year, and then finally accepting the backwoods-bidet, which changed my life. It's the only way to wipe. (Use your left hand and water)


One kid crying & promising he would stop selling drugs.


Begging the kids to go to sleep


Building a shelter out of sticks and leaves. Making pine needle beds to keep warm.


The kids sharing "war stories" to one up each other. They always had to make themselves seem more tough (or maybe a bigger victim) to scare the other kids. Lol


Jumping down from a boulder over a little waterfall and I literally had to catch all the kids and my coworker so they wouldn't fall down the waterfall. That was so scary my heart was racing. 


Calming the kids down after a rattlesnake came into our camp and rattled at one of them. Throwing rocks and screaming at bears.


Talking kids through 5-4-3-2-1s (5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste) whenever their anxiety or exhaustion got overwhelming. 


Shoo-ing away a skunk that was literally in my food bag while I was half asleep. Skunks are so awful. You shoo them away and they come back half an hour later.


Praying the rosary with a kid who loves doing it but refused to do it by himself.


Holding up the tarp during a quick snow flurry, the snow weighed the tarp down and it was in the middle of the night and I was the only one awake.


Girls making up a choreography to a CupcakKe song


Tucking in the kids with tarps after they refused to build a shelter, but I didn't want them to get wet from the rain. They loved being tucked in. 


Watching the moonrise & thunderstorms, finding Native American pottery shards, sliding down sketchy loose rock on Hog Mountain. One time we were all out of water and all of us were so thirsty, when we finally saw the creek we all ran to it and scooped it up into our mouths we didn't even care we were so dehydrated. Hog Mountain has a lot of good memories.


Jumping through a tree to stop a fight between two boys. The tree made a small gash on top of my head. There was blood ALL over my face and the boys felt so bad lol. Had to go to the ER.


Climbing over boulders in a narrow canyon, walking through a field of sunflowers. Watching the sun turn the cliff faces orange and red.


Crying whenever I saw a kid reunite with their parents. 


Listening to the elk bugle, and being so confused because it's a very strange sound.


Being the first adults to take a kid's gender identity and pronouns seriously.


Seeing satellite launches and pretending aliens are coming.


Kids scaring each other by saying there's monsters in the woods. I always hated that. There are no monsters in the woods. It's such an irrational fear and the poor kids get so scared.


The 10 mile hike in one day where I screamed at the kids every time they sat down.


Developing crushes on ALL my coworkers. Lol we're all so badass.


Love you all

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