Inverted Perspective

Although Eiseley was one of the more difficult authors that we read this semester, I think that he was my favorite. I enjoyed carefully analyzing “The Judgement of Birds” and sharing my thoughts with the rest of the class. Understanding this piece was not easy, but once I figured out what Eiseley was trying to say, I found that his message truly resonated with me. Unlike Abbey, who claims that nature can only be found in extremely remote areas, Eiseley accepts the natural constraints placed within our modern world. I love how he describes finding wilderness within New York City. I also appreciate his use of the word “marvelous” to describe the powerful insight that can be gained from nature. 

Looking up walking to class

Throughout this semester, I have become much more aware of the natural beauty that surrounds me at any given moment. When walking to class, it is easy to get distracted by the hundreds of other students rushing past me or the loud, ongoing construction behind Neeley. However, Eiseley calls upon us to look past these distractions and search for the marvelous within our busy everyday lives. Even on TCU’s busy campus, I am able to find these glimpses of wilderness. From our “Art of Walking” exercise inspired by Thoreau to our time spent at the nature center, I have become much more appreciative of what is around me. After our first class, I remember walking back to my house much slower than usual, attempting to take full advantage of the nature observation time built into the class period. I looked around and saw things differently, almost like I was seeing them for the first time. I had never really noticed the greenness of the trees above me or the bursts of color coming from the flowers planted all throughout campus. Since that day, I try to leave a few minutes early when walking to class so I have time to slow down, take a breath, and admire what is around me. I have always thought that TCU was a beautiful campus, but this semester, I have come to appreciate it more fully.

Sunset on TCU's campus

This class has allowed me to view nature with an inverted perspective (as Eiseley would say), and I am excited to take what I have learned with me into the future. One of my biggest takeaways is that I need to be reading and writing more. I love to read, but it is difficult for me to take time to relax when I know I could be studying and doing work for my classes. I also have a hard time putting down a book once I start it. I really enjoyed reading these shorter pieces and want to read more from our Nature Writing book in the future. Writing these blog posts throughout the semester has been a calming experience. Although I know that part of the reason why I enjoy it so much is because it is required for the class, I hope to be able to set aside time for myself to journal even when this class is over. I have truly enjoyed this semester, and I have learned so much both within and outside of the classroom. 

Bees pollinating during our "Art of Walking" exercise

Final Project

 Final Presentation

Emily Dillon, Abby Sellers, Brianna Ross, Jack O’Neill

For our final project, we completed a video project in which we outlined our four key takeaways from the semester as a whole. To structure this project, we used a combination of voice overs, key quotes, and photographs that we believe visually depict the stories and experiences that we are sharing. We decided to make our project photograph oriented because nature photography has been a key theme for each of us throughout this semester, as it has been a component that has allowed us to better connect with nature. Additionally, photography has challenged us to capture different perspectives, such as choosing to focus on one tiny bee rather than an entire garden. We believe that our photography shows how our perspectives have changed this semester, so that in combination with other photographs depicting the quotes and authors we are referencing is the most powerful way for us to get our message across. 

Our four key takeaways from this semester include: Re-evaluating our relationship with nature, gaining a better understanding of our role in environmental issues, understanding that there are different ways to view nature, and acknowledging that all of life is united and connected. These takeaways were identified through reflecting and synthesizing our semester experiences to identify the most significant lessons we learned that we will carry with us long past this course. Additionally, we also referenced the course outcomes when identifying these takeaways to ensure they were the most relevant learning experiences from the course. For example, we have gained a great understanding of current and historic environmental issues and movements, which we referenced in our video through our discussion on transcendentalism, conservation v. preservation, and Standing Bear v. Lewis. Additionally, throughout our takeaways we synthesized information from the variety of authors and genres that we learned about this semester, analyzing their similarities and differences to connect the common takeaways that we could learn from all of them. Lastly, we also referenced our personal outdoor experiences and observations and the roles they played in our learning, such as in discussing the bison roundup, walking, and canoe trip experiences. 

Overall, we are confident that these four key takeaways encompass the most relevant learning experiences we had this semester and show a thorough completion of the course outcomes. We all had an incredible experience connecting with our fellow classmates through our nature opportunities and are excited to carry forward these learnings and new perspectives on nature going forward. Thank you for watching our video and for an amazing semester!

Link to video 

Pets

I have always loved animals. I grew up riding horses and worked for a large animal veterinarian for a year after I graduated high school. I am the type of person who will carefully remove any type of bug that enters the house and place it back outside without trying to harm it. We have miniature horses, goats, chickens, a cow, a miniature cow, and donkeys at the farm where we keep our horses. At home, we have three dogs and a pet pig. After reading White’s piece, I started to think about what it means to have a pet. I say that I have a pet pig because Gibby is a pet to me, but I wouldn’t necessarily call my horses pets. I think that I personally draw the line at what constitutes a pet when the animal lives in the house and is a part of the family (yes, Gibby sleeps inside at night). I guess this line can seem arbitrary, but to me a pet is an animal that we possess for the sole purpose of keeping us company. I think White would agree as he describes his pet snakes as confiding creatures. The animals at the farm all have a separate purpose – we ride the horses, get eggs from the chickens, and the donkeys fend off coyotes. Although all of the animals at the farm ultimately depend on us for survival, I wouldn’t call them pets because I think a different type of bond is formed with pets that live inside our homes. 

Our pet pig, Gibby, taking a nap

White’s reading reminded me of my weird obsession with snakes when I was younger. Everytime we drove up to Ohio to visit my grandparents, we would stop at Reptile World and I would BEG my mom to let me get a pet snake (unfortunately, she said no every year). This reading reinforced my belief that humans are connected to other animals. If we weren’t, I do not think that we would form the types of bonds with our pets that we do. I also believe that animals can help connect us to the natural world. My family recently acquired a new puppy. Because he possesses endless amounts of energy, we have to walk him a ton. Over Thanksgiving break, I would take him on long walks everyday (although they didn’t seem to help with the energy issue). However, having a pet like a dog forces us to go outside. Although White appears to be against the notion of having pets, he just couldn’t seem to help himself. While I think that capturing and trying to domesticate “wild” animals is unfair to the animal, keeping these already domesticated animals, like dogs and cats, can only make us better humans. 

Our new puppy

Because the readings from this week centered around animals, I was reminded of this quote from Gandhi that I really admire:  “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” I find truth in this statement, and I think many of the authors we have read this semester would as well. I think that treating animals morally goes hand in hand with treating nature morally. While we can argue about preservation vs. conservation and whether or not visiting national parks does more harm than good, I firmly believe that having a respect for the natural world is a good place to start. Furthermore, this respect should involve treating animals kindly. Whenever I see an undomesticated animal, like a deer or a bird, I am reminded that wilderness persists even in the midst of our modern world.

Hawk near the Trinity River

Bees pollinating on TCU's campus