Nature Observation: The Dainty Leaf

I find myself looking up constantly as I walk around campus – I’ve always been fascinated with the sky, the constellations that form above us at nighttime, the trees that tower over us, and the clouds that create shapes to amuse us. I’m not sure why on this particular day I caught myself looking down – but I’m glad I did. 

I came across one of the most beautiful leaves I’ve ever seen – it was mainly red but hints of orange would shine through close to the veins and the tips were highlighted in yellow. I picked it up to admire it some more because in Texas the leaves don’t really change colors like they do where I’m from in Arkansas. As I lifted it to the sky it was as translucent as the finest paper – a bid farewell to the summertime and a gesture towards cooler nights that will bring along the bare trees in the winter. 

I let the leaf go in the wind and watched it fall slowly back to the Earth – hitting the ground ever so lightly it made no sound. I stood under the trees and admired the beauty of the rest of the leaves dying off of the trees. They’re all so different – different shapes, sizes, colors. They clothe the trees in autumn and leave the trees naked in the winter. I find that so comforting – leaves can be beautiful no matter where they are – on or off the tree – dead or alive.

 I think when looking at leaves I don’t think about how amazing they are – they capture the energy in sunlight and use that to make sugars, water and CO2 – all things essential to the world around us. I don’t usually think about that kind of thing, but on this day, it brought me so much joy to look up and see all these leaves swirling above me giving so much life to everything around them. I think taking the time to sit and stare at something outside for even just 30 minutes a day makes my day so much better. 

I feel more connected to the Earth and I notice how relaxed I become as well – something I need to do more than I allow myself. I’m grateful for that leaf that crossed paths with me that day and the beauty that surrounds me constantly – if only I would look up more often and truly open my eyes. There is so much to see - go out and chase it. 

37,000 ft.

You wouldn’t expect that at 37,000 feet trapped in a 737 you would be experiencing nature. However, the unexpected is indeed a possibility any time when living in a world where mother nature does not care too much about her inhabitants. Today is November 10, 2018 and as I am writing this piece, I am at exactly 37,000 feet in an American Airlines aircraft experiencing severe turbulence while on my way back from Boston. It’s not every day that the pilot comes on the intercom and says that he has requested help from Air Traffic Control about our situation and we should stay calm and stay tuned. Earlier in the day it was reported to other pilots that the weather was fairly clear expect for some odd air patterns at high altitudes. So, in other words probably not the best of days to be flying across the country.

At the same time though, it is one incredible view from up here – the clouds floating thousands of feet below you instead of above you (creating shapes only the imagination can be thrilled by), the rivers that you can make out go on for miles and miles, and the air temperature somewhere around -60 degrees Fahrenheit (easily could kill you in a matter of seconds). You don’t really think about how the world is not ours and we don’t owe it a thing. When flying through mother nature’s skies it takes some severe turbulence to get you to think of this tin can as something other than natural and normal. We are fighting against the mighty winds, the sudden weather changes, and the unexpectedness of the Earth up here; in some way, it’s scary to think no matter how hard we try, mother nature will do what it wants, whenever it wants, and to whomever it wants.

 However, I think one of the best things about flying is being able to experience the world from a whole new perspective; you can see the tree tops, become eye level with the creatures of the skies, and see some pretty rad corn mazes. It really puts your life into perspective as well – go live and breathe in the fresh outdoors, climb the mountain you thought you never could, bend down and look at the tiny ant carrying that piece of bread – you really never know when it could be your last day to do so. Today, at 37,000 feet, I am grateful for the many experiences I have had with nature and the many new experiences (such as this severe turbulence) I get to have each day. It is definitely one of those days where I will be kissing the ground once I land – thanking mother nature for allowing me yet another day to be part of her world.

Amon Carter Museum

After many weeks of rain only occurring during our Wednesday afternoon class, it finally stopped – and so did going to the nature center. As much as we all enjoyed the nature center it just didn’t seem possible with the few classes we had left to make the trek back out there. So, our class decided that we would go to the Amon Carter Museum to see some of the landscape paintings. We were all excited to be able to blend the arts with our nature class, and we definitely found some amazing art pieces there.

It was slightly disappointing that they had part of the museum closed for renovations, so we couldn’t see all the art pieces they usually offer. However, I think that the pieces they still had available were beautiful and really spoke to the values of our nature class. I’m going to talk about one of my absolute favorite paintings there – it is called Thunder storm on Narragansett Bay. It is an oil painting by Martin Johnson Heade and the piece highlights the intensity of a storm swirling up on the coast of Rhode Island.

The piece stood out to me because of the darkness of the background and the contrast of the tiny white sailboats caught in the storm. Another really cool aspect of the piece is the faint yellow lightning strike that is in the center of the canvas. I loved how Johnson was able to capture such a dark atmosphere while at the same time keeping the seaside calm and steady. It was beautiful to me and transported me to the seaside as well.

When a painting can spark a thousand memories, you know it’s a piece you will remember. I was definitely excited about this museum in general because I had never been before and after seeing this piece, I would go back in a heartbeat. I could spend hours looking at paintings and loved that our class had the ability to go see some; especially because I think it really tied to our coursework. We spend lots of class time talking about scenes from works of poetry or discussing short pieces from nature writers and it was a great experience to be able to put a face to some of those discussions.

I really appreciate Dr. Williams coordinating all of the trips we have been able to take this semester – each one I like better than the last. This class truly has been like no other, and I believe that the honors college works extremely hard to get their students those real-life interactions and real-world adventures to experience outside of the classroom.