Rachel Woodroof
To The Woods...
Today was the first day at the STEMmersion “To the Woods”. Going into it I had no idea what we would be doing or the purpose of the whole thing. It wasn’t long before I learned that this STEMmersion would be all about finding ones inner-self and learning to live deliberately. Now you may be wondering what in world does it mean to “Live deliberately”. In class today this is a question we had to expand upon ourselves, we came up with this… To live deliberately is to live with purpose, where everything you do has a reason. That you don’t rush or go through your day running for everything you have to do that day but instead being able to get it all done without stressing and taking a moment to stop and breath. This question launched us straight into the next thing we covered called “Nature writing”. This is where you find a way to relax and pay attention to detail out where the nature fully encompasses you. You look at everything natural and peaceful, acknowledge all that is there and new life underway. You take a minute to unplug from everything, reflect upon it in your writing piece and apply it to your life.
Day two: Today we went on a field trip to Cox Arboretum. Here they focus in on preserving nature and study purposes in order to educate people about plant life. On our trip today we were assigned a scavenger hunt, looking for certain things in nature. A majority of what we ha d to find was different types of flowers, trees and amphibians/reptiles. One of the task on the list was to climb to the top of the tree tower and take a picture. I would have to say the tree tower was my favorite part, the view was an eye opener. When we were finished we hit the trails, completely unaware of where they would lead we hiked for a solid 45 minutes. The woods were so peaceful and quiet it put your mind at ease. We ran across a small creek with a mini cliff/ledge type thing a little ways up stream. I went up to look at it, it reminded me of a miniature “Old Mans Cave” and made me imagine that it belonged to world filled with tiny fictional creatures. I have always been one to hike and when it comes to finding my “zen” I already have it, but even still every time I go out into nature if disconnects you from everything going on in your life and pulls you into the now.
This is day 3 and we learned about water in our local city and greater impacts it can have. Most of what we talked about was how the city of Dayton gets it water and what it does to keep it. We learned that our water comes from an underground aquifer. This consist of large amounts of sand and gravel, that filter and contain the water it collects. The aquifer fills with water from the rain storms we (Dayton) pump it out to drink. We also talked a lot about ground water and specifically how all ground water in Dayton goes straight back into our rivers. This means we have to be careful of things we dump or let flow into a sewer drain. Throwing trash away is bad, but we learned that the worst pollution is chemically. So in order to keep it safe the city goes and runs test on waters near run offs to continuously make sure its not contaminated. Overall the whole day was pretty insightful and I really enjoyed it.
Today we went kayaking. This was a really cool new experience for me. I ran my boat into multiple fallen trees and was stuck on several rocks but managed to get out without flipping. The rapids were my favorite part because of how unexperienced I was there was no telling what would happen to me. The trip was also very long, we thought we were almost there when we hadn’t even reached the halfway mark. But throughout the whole thing there was so much silence and stillness to the environment it gave a great example of what it means to live deliberately. We took our time, relaxing and just letting the water take us away. There was one moment in particular where the river widen and flowering trees lined the edges. The sun sparkled on the river and nothing moved other then us floating through. The moment was so beautiful all the subtle sounds we heard and wildlife we saw helped to create this very scenic view. This is something I will never forget.
Recipe for a River..
First things first, take rushing water with a crisp current. Put a couple fish into the deep underbelly of the river. Mix in some fallen trees and stir until the rocks are green and slimy. Once your done; add sticks and twigs to give the river some texture. Then Freeze it till it reaches about 40 degrees and take a dip to feel the energizing chill. Let stand until all the dirt and sand has sunken to the bottom. Finally serve it with a couple happy locals and boom you have a river.
Day 5: Today we went on a hike/swim at the Narrows Nature Reserve. The goal for the day was to accomplish our small to do list and live deliberately. The first thing my group set out to do was swim in the river again, and use the rope swing. The area we went to was actually really nice, the rope was hanging from a tree that was falling towards the water. We would stand on the trunk then jump in. This was my favorite part of the day even though the water was 40 degrees. After we finished swimming in the freezing cold water, we hiked up to the nature reserve just to look around. They had lots of cool bird and reptiles inside that we could look at and ask questions about. While out on the trails though we saw several snakes and there was lots of mud… I ended up covered in mud from head to toe. But even covered in mud nothing could keep me from admiring the beauty of the wood. While on the hike there were a lot of ginormous trees to look at. I took a picture of two trees that grown very close to each other and chose to sketch them. However, Instead of describing the trees I chose to describe the river for my writing piece...
My journal sketches
Day 5
Description of River... The river is very cold and brisk, taking your breath away within one single plunge into the deep. The edges of the river lay still, calm as ever, but the jagged rocks in the center disrupted the flow, therefore the current began to pick up speed. A long, twisted white tree is clinging to the side of the river bank, where it stay there resting, with a tight rope strung around one of its sturdy branches. The roots sticking out the sides and up through the mud at where the land and water meet face to face. Greenery and shrub surround it fully encompassing anyone who enters in. The environment was one for peace and laughter, and this is what the river was like at the Narrows Nature Reserve.
Day 6: Today we went to Carriage Hill. This is a metro park/ historical farm that we got to spend a few hours exploring. They had multiple different old barns, trails and quite a few farm animals. We started out in the bright red barn/ welcome center that introduced us to the park. It told us little about how it came to be and what we would find there. We set out down a long gravel path and this lead us to the black smith who was working on a shelf bracket. Then we moved on to walking through the fields and saw multiple animals including horses, pigs, sheep and chickens. As we continued we crossed a bridge and underneath it was beautiful creek below. After walking through all the mud I chose to rinse off in it. The area was very scenic and something about it brought me to a place in mind that reminded me of when I was little. It reminded me of when my sister and I would play in the creek near our old house. This helped bring me back to living deliberately and taking a minute to embrace my surroundings.
The life of a tractor…
In the morning I open my eyes, the smell of an old dusty barn remind me where I am. I’ve been sitting here for a long while now, and when I look over, I see the strong, new shiny tractor the boss picked up not too long ago. He often makes fun of me while I sit here, helpless and replaced. I remember when I got to roam the fields and feel the sun on my back and the wind on my face. I would wake up early in the morning and the boss would come and get me, he would start up my engine and I could feel the power rushing though as my engine roared. He would open the barn gates and rays of sun would welcome me as I raced out to complete my morning tasks. The boss would hook up the trailer and I drove for miles, fertilizing and harvesting the crops. Oh how I miss those days. Now I sit watching, as I am replaced and useless. My paint job rusted and bubbly, my engine that no longer starts and the boss who no longer needs me.
Day 7: Today we went to Delco Park. Since the school is within walking distance, we walked all the way to Delco. It took a while but we made it. Once we got there, we learned a little bit about nature poems and how to write them, in fact we wrote some ourselves. We took a moment to explore the park and see what types of connections we could draw from nature into real life. After completing our assignment, we were able to walk around and explore a little...while also playing games like soccer. One of the things we had to do was create a small world. This was a way of exploring the smaller aspects of life. We would get close up to a spot on the ground that we wanted to examine looking at all the small features. I looked at a tree, where it split into two. Where it split, there was a small hole full of sticks and dirt. Between all of the brush, some very small weeds were growing. I compared it to a very dry and deserted place. Like a wood where the leaves no longer grow and all the trees are hollowed and old. It was a cool experience and great day at Delco Park.