Becoming Outdoorsy!

After a two-week break, we returned to the Fort Worth Nature Center yesterday for a packed day of habitat restoration. I was amazed by the dent we were able to make on the work in just two hours. Some of my impressions from yesterday include: 1) the blue branch cutters were the most effective tool, 2) privet is a pesky plant, 3) habitat restoration is hard work, and 4) Swedish Fish are my favorite nature snack! I want to expand on #2 and #3. I was surprised by how much privet there was on the mesa and how it wasn't more affected by the controlled burn. Out of curiosity, I began to do my own research on the plant. I found that privet can adapt to both moist and dry conditions, making it grow easily in any environment. Additionally, privet is considered a fast-growing plant and has the potential to achieve 4-5 feet of growth in a single growing season. I can see how the FW Nature Center needs volunteers like us to constantly be willing to help fight such a difficult, invasive plant. ...

My initial reaction to Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary was "wow that was heavy." I am writing today to go into more depth about my impressions.  The first "wow!" moment was when Leonardo discussed how he first became interested in climate change. As a young boy, he was fascinated by extinct species—the Tasmanian tiger, dodo, quagga, and many more. Most notably, the passenger pigeon stood out to me as going from billions to extinct. Leonardo boldly noted that "now we do it knowingly." At first, I thought it to be peculiar that they allow Leonardo DiCaprio to be such a public figure when it comes to climate change, but as the film progressed, it made sense: he is well known, and that's what the world needs to wake up and listen. It was disheartening to hear that a solution used to be simply changing our lightbulbs; however, we are way past that point and must take greater action.  Another impression I came away with is how politicized climate change ...

Yesterday was our first day volunteering at the Fort Worth Nature Center! Highlights included: seeing their herd of 12 bison, feeding the prairie dogs, and learning about the important work they do for habitat restoration.  Bison  Feeding the bison was my favorite part of our visit. There were 12 beautiful giants in the herd at the refuge. I was born and raised in Oklahoma where the bison is our state animal, and there are bison statues all around the state. Naturally, I found them to be interesting and spent some time talking with Jarod about their herd. I first asked if there was a reason they only had 1 bull in the herd? Jarod explained that this is their attempt to control the size of the herd. Their group of bison got up to 35 before they had to limit them to just 12 in order to prevent overgrazing. He said that tourists don't seem to care how many as long as there are bison to see when they come to visit. The bulls are also destructive; he told a story of how their bulls...

  After class on Thursday, I had the joy of getting to enjoy the nice weather as I completed this assignment. I collected my pictures and then noticed how much more aware of nature I was as I walked home. I seemed to notice every insect, leaf, and flower more than usual. And I was able to capture pictures of an ant, squirrel, and crow as well! 

After our conversations on Thursday, I took this picture when I noticed how beautiful the sunset was from out my window. I was able to capture the tail end of it in my photo. At first, I was disappointed because the trees seemed to be blocking me from the "perfect" view, but then it became apparent to me that this was part of what made the picture beautiful. The wintered trees made a lattice pattern against the sunset that I found to be naturally pretty.  I am reminded of Edward Abbey's quote "Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top." Although society might have standards for what makes the "perfect" sunset picture, there is so much more out there in which beauty can be found in nature. This is a simple reminder to stir up society and encourage the contemplation of all the beauties in the wilderness.