There and Back Again

  Mary Oliver Reflections 1.       Wild Geese This opening poem blew me away and made me excited to read the rest of her poetry. In general, this poem spoke to me as one of comfort. She illustrates how the world moves on no matter your current circumstances. That is a common idea, but she takes it a step further. Most leave it in almost cold way- your problems don’t matter because the world keeps on moving. She writes that it moves on while constantly inviting you in to take refuge. “The world offers itself to your imagination, / calls like the wild geese, harsh and exciting- / over and over announcing your place / in the family of things”. Nature is made up of an infinite number of random chances that lead to you being here in this moment. If you listen, nature will always be there to remind you that you belong to a greater and more beautiful tapestry than us humans can fathom.   2.         Spring I love how wit...

  Nature Reflection #5 I have made the drive from Minneapolis to Fort Worth many times over the years. Of all of the drives in America, it might be up there for the most boring. Southern Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and North Texas make for a landscape of continuous flat, open farmland for 14 hours. However, there is a singular bright spot in that drive: the Flint Hills of Kansas. Rising out of the endless fields of corn, wheat, and soy, the Flint Hills are a massive expanse of beautiful rolling prairie. As far as the eye can see, the grass rolls on over hills, shimmering in the sun. I normally do the drive in one day, so I usually hit the hills around midday going either direction. This time, however, I split it into two days and was able to see the sun rise over the hills. Unfortunately, I had to focus on the road so I could not get a great photo, but you get the idea from it. Seeing a red ball appear in distance and slowly quiet the stars as it hit endless prairie with o...

  Nature Reflection #4             You must look closely for this one, but you will see a big red hornet on the largest log. This happened during our first excursion to the Nature Center. I did not know what to expect in both the job itself and the area in which we would be working. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have my initial dismissive attitude of North Texas nature when I first saw it. I had to take a step back and remind myself of the point I made in the first reflection: beauty is everywhere. If I can find it on TCU’s campus, I can find it on a freaking nature reserve. As we got to work, I slowly got more and more into it. I did a decent amount of manual labor like that growing up with a cabin in Minnesota, so I think I got hit with a dose of nostalgia as I sweated and worked to clear the brush. Don’t get me wrong, I complained all the time as a young child about it. However, after several years of not doing as mu...

  Nature Reflection #3             I am lucky to have a fantastic roof/deck at my house. It is the brick house with the arches across from University Church. I have spent countless sunsets up there like the one pictured here by myself but usually with close friends. As someone that has always loved a great sunset, I feel very unfortunate to have that space. It is a great example of how beauty can be both natural and man-made, and even elevate each other. In this picture, you can see a beautiful church that looks like it has been apart of the land for a long time. This building is sandwiched by a garden with gorgeous, massive trees on the bottom and perfect sunset viewing area above. Depending on the time of year, the sun will set directly behind the bell tower. All of it combines into a relaxing view that I never get tired of. Having that easy access to a beautiful view is also something I take for granted way too much. On ...

  Nature Reflection #2                       I was sitting in my backyard one afternoon, listening to my audiobook and enjoying a cigar, when this little guy ran up to me. At first, I got really excited because I thought he was a horned frog (which would have been an excellent omen for the football season), but then I remembered how rare and how small they are. Clearly this guy was not a horned frog. When I went down to take a picture, he turned towards the camera like he was posing on the red carpet for paparazzi. He then moved on to our black firepit, found a nice sunny spot, and layed out. What struck me about this moment was how fleeting and chance-based it was. There are two sides of beauty in nature I think: the constant and the moment. The constant are the tall mountain peaks, the one tree you love, a sunset, a sunrise, a river making its way through a lush valley. Those things are ancient and ...

  Nature Reflection #1             I have been blessed to grow up with a dad who loves wild, beautiful places. The kind that Edward Abbey wrote about, completely untouched by human hands. As far back as I can remember there have been camping trips and hikes and paddles. I have seen some of the most beautiful places on planet Earth and those memories stick with me forever. This exercise is great because it forces me to find beauty in the regular. I think I can scoff at the nature here, knowing that it doesn’t compare to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, the San Juan Mountains of Colorado or the Lakipia Plateau beneath the shadow of Mt. Kenya. However, stopping to look around and see the small ways that nature shows her majesty amongst the hustle and bustle of a college campus is beautiful in its own unique ways. I took this picture when I was walking back from class to my house because I was struck by the wide, extending, twis...