Vermont Ice Cutting

Over the long holiday weekend I went up to my camp call Tamarack Farm. It's one of the five camps all apart of an organization called farm and wilderness that run wilderness and farm quaker camps. They have 3 work weekends during the year plus they run summer camps.

I've gone to SAM Camp the coed wilderness camp for 10-14 year olds and last summer I went to Tamarack Farm for 15-17 year olds. I really enjoyed both camps and this year I won't be able to return to Tamarack Farm.

I am disappointed that I can't make it but I understand that I need to start working and my mom and I have already started planning our trip to China. So I decided this winter to go up to ice cutting, one of the weekends that my camp hosts.

We all went and cut ice out of a frozen pond for one if the camps called Flying Cloud. During the summer they use absolutely no technology or electricity including a refrigerator. Therefore, in the winter we cut ice to store in the ice house so that by the time summer camp starts up again, they can have a place to store their food and keep it cold. Without a refrigerator.

I mostly ran ice down. So basically there was a pulley system in which runners would run down a hill to pull a sled filled of cut out ice blocks up to the ice house. From there people would unload them into the ice house. There were also people down at the pond cutting and lifting ice blocks from the pond.

It was so much fun and an interesting way to still stay in touch with camp. I spent time with old counselors and friends. I also met new people and on the last night 5 of us teenagers stayed up until 1am knitting, talking, and laughing. It was such a nice way to still connected to this special place and I hope to go to other work weekends like this.