Location: Mayfield House and Nature Preserve
Date & Time: February 13, 2015 – 4:30pm
Temperature: 49º Sunny/Cloudy
When it’s cold for humans:
We get bitter. We slow down. We seek warm shelter. We stay indoors for long periods of time without seeing the sun. We avoid the uncomfortable weather as best as we can.
When it’s cold for nature:
Life goes on.
Upon arriving at Mayfield Nature Park in the cold month of February, I was surprised to find that there were brave joggers and peacocks walking around the premise.
But the idea of people jogging really irked me for some reason…
Who enjoys jogging?
And who enjoys being out in the cold?
Why would you combine those two together??
Anyways, that was a very big concern to me while I was trying to get situated and eventually I stopped being overdramatic and went onto the trail.
There is this beautiful sound of nature on cloudy cold days that’s a bit inexplainable.
Not many trees are moving and it seems as if there is no moving life – but there is so much going on that the human eye cannot see that it’s truly remarkable.
Nature Task: (we were given a task to record how we feel in nature and the amount of stress from 1-10)
Over the course of the month from standing outside and being in nature spots i’ve averaged out my stress levels to be
a 3.25 out of 8 recorded days.
I honestly think that it’s because petty problems and stresses seem so minuscule when you look at what’s really important – and maybe it takes looking at a few trees and a few birds chirping to see (do i really care if so and so never texted me back?)
Okay – this quote from Aldo Leopold is probably the best best best quote for my little awakening in nature:
“Civilization has so cluttered this elemental man-earth relationship with gadgets and middlemen that awareness of it is growing dim. We fancy that industry supports us, forgetting what supports industry.”
He puts it perfectly: it’s so easy to get consumed in technology and wasting but what gave us the paper and the money we are always wanting more of?
But the best part about my second monthly visit was that I felt more entitled this time – kind of like visiting an old friend.
Checking in and seeing how things were from my last visit. Trees seemed a little sad and brittle, the lake seemed frigid but well flowing – everything wasn’t as lively as in sunny January but for what it lacked it made up for in gloomy scenery.
Honestly, I am very excited for when it gets warmer and beautiful plants are blooming. I’m a sucker for those Thistle wildflowers – may not be the exact one but one’s similar to those. So pretty – anyways back to gloomy February… for sure waiting for Spring.