CONTRIBUTION BY ABIGAIL MARTINEZ, 13 Years Old

My life started out as an adventure! I was born on October 1st 2002 on a military base in Heidelberg, Germany. In case you are wondering that makes me 13 years old! At approximately one week old my parents climbed into a car and drove with me from Heidelberg, Germany to Paris, France on a whim. I guess you could say that going on adventures is in my genes. I thank my dad for my adventurous nature who has served the United States Army in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea, and Germany. My parents are no longer together but I live with my amazing mother who makes sure I stay active with activities like soccer and volleyball. Continue reading →

CONTRIBUTION BY RIPLEY ELIZABETH

Image | Ripley Elizabeth

With the wind chill in the -40s and -50s, I’ve been hanging out at home devouring books on the history and lore of the White Mountains, and I came across this great little legend of the Abenaki- the Native Americans who inhabited this region for thousands of years before Europeans arrived.

According to the Abenaki, on the tops of the mountains dwelt the dreaded “Wind Bird”, or “Wind Eagle”, who was said to create all the strong and wild mountain winds as he swept across the summits. Some stories describe the Wind Eagle as having the head of a moose, the body of a man and the feet and wings of a great bird. Bmola is one name that has been given to this creature, but other spellings and interpretations have made their way through history.

The legend goes that the great bird was captured by a hero named Gluskab, but when the air grew hot and humid, he released Bmola so that he could fly across the peaks again to cool the Abenaki and the animals of the forest.

Sounds to me like Bmola is still soaring free over the White Mountains!

Check out her awesome blog at Walking-Uphill.com