About two weeks ago, I was asked to go up to Peter's Mountain with a friend, unfortunately, due to timing, I was unable to go. Currently, tree clearing for the new Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) has devastated acres of land already and has put numerous landowners at risk for losing their homes and livelihood.

Along the Pipeline Path, there are those who have given up their time and safety sitting in the trees. I had very much wanted to visit them and express my gratitude to them fighting with them. Up to this point, I had attended numerous fundraising events, volunteered here and there, but had no direct contact or the firm grasp of the realness of what was going on. Instead of going, I asked my friend what I could send to them. He told me a love letter.

I penned my letter with love, admiration, and thank you's, and signed off each letter with a Poem from Li Bao. Not knowing if it would reach them. A few days passed, and I didn't see my friend until one snowy night when I trekked to a local show in the Downtown. In the little sanctuary of art and shelter from the snow, I saw my friend, and he barely whispered: "You got a response." The letter was kind, and lovingly written, thanking all of those who had been supporting the fight against the MVP, and finished with a line that shook me to my core.

"We love you and are excited to be in this struggle with you"
— XOXO the sitters

That line has impassioned me to get their words to you, to no longer be passive, and to write the story of resistance.

We in Blacksburg are so close to the fray, we are so close to the destruction of our land, the greed that in devouring the future of Appalachia, yet we feel somehow removed, as students and young people. This messages I hope to bring us to a more intimate place of understanding of those fighting for us, somewhere between the blue and tree trunks.