This weekend I went to Syracuse University for Family Weekend to visit my sister who is a freshman there. My sister lives in a dorm that is located on a hill above the academic buildings and the library. To allow students an easier route then following the road all the way down to the main part of campus, they have this really long enclosed staircase that students can use to get down to the other buildings. It is really interesting because as you walk down the stairs there is art all over the inside on the walls (and by art I mean street art). As I was going down the stairs I noticed this piece that really stood out to me. Of course I like the idea of the nature and city scene built into the ‘SOS,’ but my favorite part of the piece is that in between the panels you can see the trees and real ‘nature’ in the background. I would love to be able to see this picture in 20 years from now and see what ‘nature’ looks like in the background.

Quotes from this week:

“When I paused to lean on my hoe, these sounds and sights I heard and saw any where in the row, a part of the inexhaustible entertainment which the country offers” (Walden, 173).

“Wilderness gets us in trouble only if we imagine that this experience of wonder and otherness is limited to remote corners of the planet, or that is somehow depends on pristine landscapes we ourselves do not inhabit. Nothing could be more misleading” (Cronin, 88).

“As I walked in the woods I see the birds and squirrels; so as I walked in the village to see the men and boys; instead of the wind among the pines I hear carts rattle. In one direction from my house there was a colony of muskrats in the river meadows; under the grove of the elms and buttonwoods in the other horizon was a village of busy men, as curious to me as if they had been prairie dogs, each sitting at the mouth of its burrow, or running over to a neighbor’s to gossip. I went frequently to observe their habits” (Thoreau 182).

I really enjoyed how Thoreau made this extension from natural society to the society of man. It was interesting to see him place the two side by side and to witness his fascination with the ways of man. I would really like to discuss this passage and how people felt about the of nature to of man back and forth.

“As I drew a still fresher soil about the rows with my hoe, I disturbed the ashes of unchronicled nations who in primeval years lived under these heavens, and their small implements of war and hunting were brought to the light of this modern day. They lay mingled with other natural stones, some of which bore the marks of having been burned by Indian fires, and some by the sun, and also bits of pottery glass brought hither by the recent cultivators of the soil” (Thoreau 172).

We have discussed the connectivity to history through water, so I found this passage to be fascinating as it appears to assign a similar relationship to soil. These do not appear to be the typical thoughts of one working a field, but his approach to perform the once sacred husbandry affords him this example of deeper thought/reflection as well as some more spiritual thinking. While soil changes throughout time, it has the ability to contain relics from throughout history and a presence of deep history connecting soil and time.

“We reproduce the dualism that sets humanity and nature at opposite poles. We thereby leave ourselves little hope of discovering what an ethical, sustainable, honorable human place in nature might actually look like” (Cronon 7).

Cronon feels the duality we have established between humanity and nature is the root of some of the problems we find between ourselves and nature. How do we feel about this duality and how it may impair our relationship with nature?

“The tree in the garden is in reality no less other, no less worthy of our wonder and respect, than the tree in an ancient forest that has never known an ax or saw – even though the trees in the forest reflects a more intricate web of ecological relationships” (Cronan 88)

-it can be easy to confuse wilderness with the most remote places of the earth; being able to find and appreciate the beauty of what surrounds us everyday

“Often in a snow storm, even by day, one will come out upon a well-known road and yet find it impossible to tell which way leads to the village. Though he knows that he has traveled it a thousand times, he cannot recognize a feature in it, but it is as strange to him as if it were a road in Siberia” (Thoreau 186).

-the unfamiliarity of what surrounds us; how well do we really know about what is around us?; easy to forget the vastness of everything, the power of Nature

“I am reminded of how much citizen science can explore the edges, less constrained by scientific convention, lass afraid to look “unscientific” (149).

This line from Sharman Apt Russell’s Citizen Science, really struck me as an interesting idea. Throughout the book, Russell sort of struggles with the challenges of citizen science and how she must over come the obstacles and precedents set by traditional scientific practices.

Citizen science is less refined, and though, as Russell points out, you might be able to become an expert on any given topic in a week, this is not the reason why people practice citizen science. There isn’t necessarily an intent to become an expert on any given topic but rather an interest shared by others who might wish to observe and practice the same things. They don’t necessarily require being able to name every species of tiger beetle but it doesn’t hurt. The point of citizen science is getting people involved on a level that doesn’t require mastery of a topic but can be done in an afternoons research or weekend hike. This is what gives it the potential to be so great. The freedom that comes with public curiosity is the most powerful tool a citizen scientist has at their disposal.

And at the same time, not being a true scientist allows you to take liberties and try the unconventional.

Like Tory and many others in our class, I am a longtime fan of the tiny homes movement. Since first learning about them a few years back, I’ve always had a bucket list goal of giving it all up and living somewhere for the place rather than the possessions.

While I love the idea of tiny homes, I also value the concept of nomadic living. Although I’ve blogged about it before, I’ve never felt more connected to the road then when I was on a road trip across the US after freshman year. I think that a road trip emphatically symbolized the concept of a home on wheels. You are moving from place to place not to live, but to explore.

While camping in Yellowstone National Park, my friends and I came across a very friendly Santa Claus lookalike and his wife at the campsite next to us. They didn’t have a tent or an RV, but what they called a sports mobile. Sports mobiles are a variation of a DIY camper that is crammed into a small van (almost like the modern day VW equivalent). Just like the tiny homes movement, these converted vans have gained huge amounts of popularity amongst today’s adventure seeking community. These vans afford the amenities of a tiny house in an even smaller, yet incredibly mobile manor.

The coolest part about the sports mobiles is their ability to get off the “beaten path.” Unlike a typical RV, they can climb over rocks or press through the snow just like any SUV. When we asked our campsite neighbors about their plans with the van and where they were headed, they simply replied, “Up to Alaska until the roads end.” They wouldn’t once stop in a hotel or probably even a city for that matter. All they needed was their tiny home on wheels and the view out of the windshield.

I’d love to build my own sports mobile some day. Having the ability to roam free and focus on whats around you rather than normal suburbia would be liberating.

In class today Professor Brandes brought up pets in nature. I have a cat named Sam and he loves the outdoors more than anything. As soon as my mom gets home from work she lets him outside. If she doesn’t let him out right away, he will cry and scratch at the front or back door until he gets let out. He will venture back in around seven to eat dinner, but will go back out until my mom calls him in around ten. Sam lives a pretty comfortable kitty life indoors. He however would prefer to be outside every day, playing in our gardens and chasing chipmunks.

Walking back from class the other day I looked down and saw this hummingbird on the sidewalk. Seeing this bird dead on the sidewalk sparked an interesting conversation between my friend Alex, a fellow bird enthusiast, and I. Hummingbirds are interesting birds. They have one of the highest metabolisms out of all animal and have to be constantly eating in order not to die. Hummingbirds eat so much yet they are always only hours away from death if they do not eat. They can often die out of exhaustion, when they are not in their hibernation state called torpor. Alex and I wondered if this bird died because of a lack of food or if it rammed into the windows of Hugel. Hummingbirds are extremely intelligent birds therefore the food option seemed most likely.

This got me thinking of the habitability of our campus for hummingbirds or animals in general. We have a lot of green on campus, our trees and lawns, yet I feel that there needs to be more flowers and gardens. At home the National Wildlife Federation recognized us as a “Backyard Habitat” for transforming our yard into a habitat for butterflies, bees, birds, and insects. The steps are not hard nor tedious and are clearly laid out on the Federations website:  nwf.org.

I wonder if there was any way we could start an initiative to make our campus more habitable for animals, especially the pollinating birds and insects.

I live in an off campus house with two of my closest friends, Camila and Kannie. Every morning when we leave there is a beautiful Morning Glory Vine that wraps around our front porch. Most morning glory flowers unravel into full bloom in the early morning. The flowers usually start to fade a few hours before the “petals” start showing visible curling. By the time we come back from our afternoon classes, the flowers have faded. The petals fall off and collect on our front porch. This magical vine overtakes the man-made structure that is our house.

(taken on an iPhone 6)