Leaving New Hampshire

Once again it is that time to leave New Hampshire and working with children doing outdoor environmental education. I really do love working with children in nature, it reminds me of why I'm an environmentalist in the first place. To inspire wonder about the natural world in my students is my main goal while working here. For others it might be team building and anti-bullying, but for me it's getting kids excited about nature. Which is no easy task. It takes time to develop a relationship with anything, be it caves or computers. Children are more and more being encouraged by their parents to stay inside. Many reasons are valid, if you are in an urban area perhaps children running around in the streets isn't the best choice. But if you are in an area of the world which has forests and green spaces many children don't have access to those without their parents.

This is why the program I work at is important. It gives children access to nature and time to develop a connection. Children need nature, it's been scientifically proven that children with learning disabilities such as ADD, ADHD and social issues are more at home in nature. Often times teachers point out children who have disabilities as being challenges in their classroom only to be the best children in my field group. If a teacher hadn't said anything to me I would have never known that this child was having problems in school.

Thanksgiving Part 1

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. This year, much like Halloween, I'm doing it in parts so that I can celebrate with the most people that I can. 

My friend Jen and I were talking while driving around in my car the other day and I mentioned that it would be fun to do a pre- Thanksgiving meal with some of our friends that we work with. My very close friends in New Hampshire have all become a bit of family for me. So Jen and I began to plan, this was our first thanksgiving in which we were in charge. We got a list together, planned our meal and then went shopping. Everything was fine and then we were in the store and we looked at the chicken vs. turkey options and decided that chicken was going to be a more suitable sized chunk of meat for us. Then as we were walking around I asked Jen 

'Have you ever roasted a chicken before?' 

'no. have you?'

'no.' 

'huh, this is going to be fun' 

So after buying everything on the way back home I did what I always do when I have questions about cooking, called my mom. She explained about how long she thought it would take and to put tin foil over the top of the bird.... blah blah blah. As Jen and I cooked the next day we realized that this wasn't actually that bad. Everything turned out delicious! 

 Everyone got together drank some wine, talked, connected, and generally had a great time. The house was full at the end with positive energy from being with those you love and value. This I feel like is the spirit of the holidays. I'm glad we found it. This year I'm thankful for friends and family, and friends who have become family. 

Voting

When people start talking politics I usually turn and walk away. Political debate really doesn't interest me. I know what the candidates stand for and I feel that I've informed myself to make the best choice which lines up with my own values. However, election day is the one day which I do become excited about politics. 

There are places in the world where people do not get the opportunity to vote, or if they do their votes don't matter. Corruption and lies unfortunately goes hand in hand with politics. The guy low on the totem pole doesn't always get his voice heard. I'm not saying the the United States is free from this kind of controversy, but at least I feel safe to go to the polls, cast my ballot, chose the candidate I want and leave without having to look over my shoulder. The United States voting system is far from perfect but I feel that everyone should participate. 

Those who chose not to vote are giving up their right to chose their leader. Apathy with lead us nowhere. Be proactive and vote. 

Thunderstorms and Hurricanes

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.

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.

Mountain Mama

I found myself southbound again after an amazing 5 months in Alaska. I felt that other places I've been its' taken a long time feel comfortable living in that place. Alaska was a place that captivated me from the moment my plane landed in Juneau. Southeast Alaska is a place that one remembers with awe it's savage beauty and at the same time gives the place a health respect. After living there I felt that all land was supposed to be like that, big and open. I've decided that I need to live in the mountains. I feel like I can't breath in a city. New York City is fun but coming from Alaska I felt closed in and a little claustrophobic.

 I have a theory that people weren't meant to live in boxes, thousands of years of careful slow evolution wasn't meant to put us behind a computer. Machines, tools and buildings were never meant to become our lives but rather were there to make us more comfortable. While one could use the internet to educate themselves on a particular topic such as politics or why something works, the vast majority of the people who use the internet check their facebook, and snoop on what is going on in others lives. We use it to send little messages to one another which don't ever say anything but make us feel connected. And so those same machines, tools and buildings which made our lives more comfortable have become the norm. I'm not going to argue that I do like a hot shower and bed at night. But I also spend most of my time outside, communicating and connecting to others and nature. Being in the mountains with their vistas and challenges reminds me that the world is a big place that I am part of.

...And They Made Me Their Cook

So I've been nominated as cook the last couple of days from my manager. 

It all started almost a week ago we were on the glacier ending our season and starting to take down some tents. My manager stopped and asked me to cook dinner since the person who normally cooks dinner had to help do other things. So I cooked up some food and they ate it. No biggie. I offered to cook breakfast as well since everyone else was also busy doing other things. It seemed to make sense. I then found myself cooking for them all the time. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. This didn't bother me so much, but it was odd. 

Then everyone and everything got off the glacier and we started to unpack some stuff and I received a message from my manager saying that everyone enjoyed my cooking and asked if I would just cook during the time I was there for everyone. And so for the last few days other than packing up my stuff and tying up some loose ends I've been cooking for everyone. Which is a double edged sword. I really do enjoy cooking for others its' nice to share food and make food for other people but I also have to clean up after everyone. I'm still not too sure how I was volunteered to do this project but I'll take it. 

I've been having to get creative with food since I'm trying to use up what we have. Tonight will be tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches after that, I'm done! Leaving for Juneau tomorrow morning.