As the leaves change to a beautiful array of yellows, oranges, and reds, the night comes quicker and temperatures drop. Semester 67 looks forward to using the wood stoves for warm and cozy nights among cabin mates. The day after returning from our backcountry trips, we had an unusual Sunday morning activity: woodstove lessons! Everyone grew extremely excited to finally learn how to use the woodstove in order to keep our cabins cozy. 

Our semester community gathered at Campfire Circle before splitting off into cabins groups. My cabin, Orchard, was excited to heat our cabin as the previous night was chilly. We gathered in the cabin where we met our cabin parents, Katie and Chloe. We huddled around the stove, (around the white safety box, of course) learning the mechanics and safety. We then followed Katie and Chloe to the woodshed by the Hilton Bathroom to gather our kindling, matches, and fire gloves. We worked together to bring the materials back to our cabin, then went out back to our woodshed to gather a supply of wood. We created a chain to pass the wood into our cabin: Megan to Faith, Faith to Skylar, Skylar to Stella, Stella to Sophia, Sophia to me, and me to Elle. 

We then regathered around the campfire where Katie demonstrated her incredible fire-making abilities where we had our first cabin woodstove fire. That night we loaded the woodstove with kindling and wood, sat around the fire together, talking and enjoying each other’s company. We may have overused the woodstove our first night, making our cabin truly toasty. I love coming back to my cabin each night, greeted by the warmth of the fire and my cabinmates!

Shoshana Epstein, Weston High School, Weston, CT