So this week our school canceled because of Hurricane Sandy, or Frankenstorm as I like to refer to it. It was too bad because the children who were coming would probably have been safer in New Hampshire than just outside Boston. about the only thing that happened here was a wetter than average storm and a little bit of wind. I was imagining the storm that rocked me and my group on Yellowstone Lake. Trees coming down every 5 minutes. No joke, this was a terrifying experience, to know that you are in the woods the only thing you have is a flimsy tent and live trees a foot in diameter are falling everywhere. You hear more trees fall than you see. A falling tree is a scary thing to watch, a 30 foot thing falling at its own will, blowing in the wind and bending in ways you didn't think possible, and then slamming into the ground. Most people prefer to think of nature as a calming nurturing place. But nature also has raw power that can make you feel very small and insignificant.
Hurricane Sandy was just another storm for us, for others in New York and Atlantic City it ruined and changed so much, I compare it to how Hurrican Irene reeked havoc on southern Vermont. But like I said, in New Hampshire nothing really did happen even though we prepared for this weather by battening down the hatches and making sure our warm sleeping bags were ready to go. I'm glad that we did that though, because right now as I write this there is a thunderstorm going on outside. I hadn't realized this until just before writing this but I haven't experienced a thunderstorm since last spring before I left Alaska. No thunderstorms on the glacier. Maybe it was the change in elevation from Small town Alaska to the glacier (4000 foot difference in a couple of miles.) that left us without thunderstorms. But right now there is a killer storm happening, a drenching rain and lightening hitting the lake about 15 feet from my door step. the kind of thunder that shakes your house and you can hear the lightening crackle in the air. (my computer is NOT plugged in by the way).
I love thunderstorms and realized that I have missed them. Glad that I got to see another before winter hit.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Step 1
Step 1: Touch the nature.
Many of you know that I work for an outdoor environmental education facility. Kids from ages 10 to 15 come and learn about nature. They get to take fun classes which focus on place based learning and hands on activities. For example an hour and a half class about Frisbee would talk about physics for about 30-40 minutes and then play ultimate Frisbee for the next hour. Now you might say, wow not a lot of learning goes on at this place. But the day starts at 8am and ends at 9pm. The educational pieces are interspersed throughout the day instead of happening only between 9am and 3pm. The children also come to this place and sleep there at night. Similar to a very educational summer camp, only for your schools classroom.
Children come from many different types of backgrounds, some are urban areas others are suburban, some children are less affluent than others. The one thing that they all have in common is that they are severely lacking in natural education. I was asked today by a 10 year old which tree was a pine tree. The biggest thing that can happen to these children while they are here is to know that nature is a place that has importance and should be valued.
The way that I first start my field group is I have the kids sit on the ground. Squatting is unacceptable, sitting on a jacket/ backpack is unacceptable as well as sitting on your feet. I will wait until everyone has their butt on the ground. Now when I was a kid and we were asked to sit in the grass at school everyone just did it, without thinking twice. But I suppose that not everyone grew up in rural Vermont. I tell the children that this is step one, touching the nature. It is often times sad to me how many children have never felt a tree, let alone played in the mud. Many times when I take children on a hike it is their first. A 15 year old going on their first hike to the top of a hill is a big step toward appreciating our natural world, but it all needs to start at step one, touching the nature.
Many of you know that I work for an outdoor environmental education facility. Kids from ages 10 to 15 come and learn about nature. They get to take fun classes which focus on place based learning and hands on activities. For example an hour and a half class about Frisbee would talk about physics for about 30-40 minutes and then play ultimate Frisbee for the next hour. Now you might say, wow not a lot of learning goes on at this place. But the day starts at 8am and ends at 9pm. The educational pieces are interspersed throughout the day instead of happening only between 9am and 3pm. The children also come to this place and sleep there at night. Similar to a very educational summer camp, only for your schools classroom.
Children come from many different types of backgrounds, some are urban areas others are suburban, some children are less affluent than others. The one thing that they all have in common is that they are severely lacking in natural education. I was asked today by a 10 year old which tree was a pine tree. The biggest thing that can happen to these children while they are here is to know that nature is a place that has importance and should be valued.
The way that I first start my field group is I have the kids sit on the ground. Squatting is unacceptable, sitting on a jacket/ backpack is unacceptable as well as sitting on your feet. I will wait until everyone has their butt on the ground. Now when I was a kid and we were asked to sit in the grass at school everyone just did it, without thinking twice. But I suppose that not everyone grew up in rural Vermont. I tell the children that this is step one, touching the nature. It is often times sad to me how many children have never felt a tree, let alone played in the mud. Many times when I take children on a hike it is their first. A 15 year old going on their first hike to the top of a hill is a big step toward appreciating our natural world, but it all needs to start at step one, touching the nature.
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