Today, March 31st, 2015, I decided to go further away from Zilker Park, to the Austin Nature and Science Center. The weather could not be any better. The sun was out, but it was not that hot. You could feel that spring had arrived to the city of Austin. As I walked towards the entrance I was fascinated by the amount of greenness in my surroundings. By comparing this scene with the one of my last blog, which was one of a cold and blue day in February, I became amazed with how the seasons alter the environment. Furthermore, as I made my way through the park, a sense of wonder invaded my spirit. I wanted to discover more, I wanted to see every single part of this environmental sanctuary. My desire was to get to the pond that was located in the middle of the park, but unfortunately it was closed. So I decided to take a sit under what it seem to be an enormous oak tree. I stayed there for a long time, all my worries faded away and I was in peace. I noticed that my emotional state of stress turned into tranquility, happiness and joy. I also realized how fortunate I was of being able to study in this city and have the opportunity to see such beauty in an ecosystem. There was hardly anybody in the center, which enabled the possibility of hearing the chirping of a variety of birds that I was unable to see. After I spent a significant amount of time rejoicing by myself taking pictures and admiring the greatness of nature a little path that was further away caught my attention. I got up and walked towards and along with it to see where would it take me. In a short amount of time, I found myself in some sort of bird observatory. I was enchanted with the uniqueness of this place. I had never seen something similar to it before. There was some sort of wooden face that restricted the access. However the fence had windows from which you could pull in your hand to feed the birds and interact with them. I did not have the luck to feed or reach a bird, however I did see a pigeon feeding itself from the bowls the center provided. I felt like a little kid. This type of recreational spaces was completely new to me. Now I am aware of the different types of educational grounds one can attend to learn more and interact with the wilderness. With all of this experience in mind I would like to emphasize Aldo Leopold’s words “There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot”. I certainly cannot. All of this visits had awaken an aspiration to explore and create experiences with nature. Moreover, I have started to create more of these memories by visiting parks with friends on the weekends and going for hikes and walks. Today I added a new good memory in my life, and its surely something I will never forget.
