a saturday morning

Unlike Sara and Aliza, I was not as happy with the unexpected beginning of our ramble. I had rushed here from breakfast, anticipating a long day with many obligations. In order to wait for our partners, I had to give up several of my previous plans for the rest of the day. I was willing to reschedule for later in the day if our collaborators did not show up in time, but it meant giving up several commitments I had already made. Once I gave up any kind of pretension of obligation, though, I immediately felt an immense relief. I suddenly did not really care if our counterparts showed up or not; I was hanging out on a beautifully sunny day with two wonderful women I was beginning to understand better. It was even better when Emily and Sarah showed up; I was able to get to know both of them better by unexpectedly joining their group. I feel like classroom environments, even one as informal and untraditional as ours, fosters a sense of formalism that is distant from one’s realistic identities.  This walk gave me a chance to see some of my classmates in a completely different context, reframing the way I encounter them inside and outside of class.

            I was much more appreciative of our experiential exploration into Morris Woods once I re-experienced it with both students from another class and my own. Similarly to Sara and Aliza, I enjoyed sharing my olfactory information about Privet, Viburnum, and Spice Bush with our group. It was interesting, though, because those of us who knew this information outnumbered those we were teaching it to. This abundance of shared nature knowledge was solidified in my mind by sharing it with those in our group that didn’t know it. It also provided a pretty solid foundation for those of us who did, and allowed us to go explore the practical applications of knowing nature. We got to test out a tree’s tenacity- turns out three time’s a charm. Aliza and I both swung on the branch, and when I went, I felt an exhilaration from doing something so utterly organic, an activity simulated and represented by society very often- through zip-lines and cartoons - but, at least for me, never actually experienced with any level of originality. Swinging on that vine, even though it did eventually lead to Sara’s fall, was incredibly liberating and just plain fun.

We also got to go beyond our class limits by exploring beyond the friendship bench. This might have been more favorite part of the entire event. As we walked toward an abandoned graveyard, we passed a gigantic shard of a tree. Like Aliza said, it was charred, as if it had been struck by lightening and stuck into the ground. It reminded me of a sculpture from Wharton Escherick, it was so excellently protruding from the earth. Sarah from the other groupdis covered a couple other similar situations nearby, but none of these branches could compare to this magnificent magnified splinter stabbing into the earth.  It was definitely my favorite discovery of the day. I didn’t even mind that my knee was hurting, my rescheduled plans, or the absentee freshmen. I was content to be where I was, exploring Morris words with some lovely ladies on a crisp, almost-warm autumn day.