Nature Center Day 1

Day 1

The first Wednesday that we got to go to the Nature Center of Fort Worth was September 26. I think that I can speak for all of us in saying that we had no idea what to expect. Were we going to be cutting down trees, planting flowers, trimming bushes? We were all finally about to find out. It was earlier in the day when it rained, so we expected the center to be a little bit muddy, but I had been on campus all day not thinking about grabbing mud boots earlier. 

We found out when we all got there we were going to help out with the greenhouse. It was great that we all got to work together as a group instead of being split up because you could really see the progress at the end. Some people were tasked with bringing logs and sticks over to the worksite to fill holes in the ground, and others were tasked with digging out the holes. I got pulled away by one of the three main workers to help cut tarp and nail it into the ground behind the greenhouse. 

I was not prepared for how difficult it all would be. The tarp was heavy and required two people to cut and pull it through the mud to bring it around behind the greenhouse. Once we laid it out, the wind kept wanting to take it away from us, so our first task was to nail the first two corners down to keep it from flying away. Next, we took the nails and hammers and nailed every foot with another nail to make sure the tarp was secure to the ground. The challenge was some parts of the ground underneath the tarp had rocks built deep into the soil, so we had to adjust our process to accommodate for the rocks. Other parts of the ground were so muddy and wet from the rain earlier in the day that it was difficult to gauge how deep the nail truly was in the ground. We had to replace some nails with others and put two in one spot on occasion to make sure it was perfect. 

One of the best parts of the day was seeing how much progress we made. After finishing up the tarp around the greenhouse, we went back to check on the rest of the group. They had all already finished digging the four sides and hacking at the rocks in the ground. It was incredible to see how strong and passionate people were about digging rocks out of the ground. After looking around at each other, we felt so accomplished. It’s one thing to feel sweaty and dehydrated and extremely tired, but it’s another to feel excited about being to help and make a difference in the community of Fort Worth. 

Since not a lot of places in Fort Worth are considered “hiking” places or “nature” centers, it was great to feel part of a greater good. It was amazing to see how big the nature center is and the bison that the workers take care of. Three people are tasked with protecting all of that land, and I’m proud that our class can be the extra set of hands once a week to help them out. They deserve a lot of praise and thanks for keeping the Nature Center a beautiful place. 

Walking Alongside Nature

Walking Alongside Nature

The first weekend in October, all of Saturday, I needed to go outside to clear my head. The only place for me to completely empty all my thoughts, the joys and sorrows of the past week, was to go on a long walk. I usually reserve running for when I need to get rid of energy, but walking underneath the trees is truly the place where I feel most calm. I live out at Clearfork by the press café, and had never actually gone on a walk on the many trails that surround the back of the restaurant. This particular day, I decided to try them out. 

First, as I was walking, I noticed things I had never noticed before when just walking. I’m not sure if it was just because of the nostalgic mood I was in, but I first noticed how beautiful the rocks were that piled up on either side of the river. I went over and decided to sit on a ledge, instead of the bench next to the river. Usually I think of rocks as simply just rocks, but in this case, they spoke to me differently. Each one was different in size, color and shape. Some you could draw on the sidewalks with, others were shade for the tiny ants that crawled in and out of cracks in the sidewalk. They were more like protectors than they were rocks. Each one was beautiful and unique, much like people. It was a nice reminder to take every day seriously and let people get to know you. 

I had never really thought of nature speaking to me before, especially not rocks. But then I noticed the tiny little rip currents in the water that reminded me of the memories flooding and folding over in my head. It was almost like a big deep breath. The fresh air, the warm breeze was all speaking to me. I felt like in those moments, simply sitting next to the water, was freeing and helped me feel okay again. The healing power of nature is astonishing to me sometimes. I don’t always see it and I don’t always notice it. But when I choose to go outside and just breathe, the little signs that the world around me is awake and alive is eye opening. How the clouds slowly change shape before my eyes, and how the little ladybug that crawls up my arm can make me smile when I’m at my lowest, is very humbling. 

Nature is powerful. Any and all emotions can be seen in a much brighter light and put into perspective when you allow the world to heal you. I believe that being outside has helped me every single time I needed to let things go. I much prefer looking at the stars at night, listening to the birds chirping, watching fire ants build a home for themselves, and being a small person within a world that is so big. When I got back up to walk back home, I realized that nature is here to show us what is most important in the world. That the sun will always rise the next day and give us another chance to improve upon ourselves and the wind will always blow to remind us that we are not alone in the world. No matter how big our problems are, we can be sure that if we don’t explore what God has given us in this Earth, we will not be here much longer. 

Days like that one, simply being with the world, is reason enough to not get caught up in the minute problems we feel like we’re drowning in. Nothing should take our happiness away. Nature, the outdoors, is here to protect us and show us all the good in the world, and we should absolutely not take that for granted.  

Nature Observation 2

Fiery Orange Tips  

An abundance of green and red is all you would see at first glance.

But when you get closer, you notice the little details that truly make the TCU campus beautiful. The physical plant team at TCU makes our first glances memorable without even trying. Sometimes, we don’t take the time to appreciate how beautiful the trees, plants, grass, and flowers really are. I noticed a sea of green and red when walking to class one day, but this time, it was different. I took the time to stop and look at the flowers.

I caught a glimpse of fiery orange at the tips of each flower. Something I would have never noticed if I kept walking with my phone in my hand. Each flower was unique, yet all part of the same family. Some of them had long green stems that lifted up higher off the ground, and others were shorter with bigger leafs on the sides. It was a clear reminder to me that we can all be part of a larger community, but our individual selves make the community unique and special and worth taking a closer look at. In between the fiery orange and red tulips, I noticed smaller flowers that hung closer to the ground. Most of them had white petals with yellow centers that drooped a little bit, and few of them were a deep pinkish/purple color that had a dark rim of blue near the center. They also had a long yellow stem in the center that made them feel as if they were part of the same family flower as the white ones. All the flowers lived within the same soil and dirt beds and were all continuously able to grow with help from rain storms and water buckets.

You don’t realize how special flowers are until you look at one; but you must take the time to actually take a look, not just pass them by and simply see. Their colors are striking and bold with a hint of vulnerability to them. Flowers make our world brighter and more vibrant. TCU especially makes blooming season after winter one to look forward to.

But, I think if we just took five minutes out of our busy days to stop and appreciate these flowers, we could make every day a day to look forward to.