The Metzgar sports complex is mostly surrounded by corn fields. The corn has long died and is now drying out slowly. If you move along the cross country course, away from Metzgar and towards the intramural fields, you find yourself running through a corridor with corn towering high on your left and beans cowering to the right. Even though the beans are very low to the ground, they still had a significant presence that I only noticed today when they had been removed this weekend by however owns the land. The barren fields opened up the area and I could see directly to the suburban houses on the road several hundred meters away. Before the harvest, there is some feeling of being enclosed by the fields, but once all of the crops have been removed, there is nothing there to cut the view or the wind, literally make Metzgar feel colder and less inviting of a place. Even though this “nature” is man made and cultivated, it still has comforting affects when it is present.