Marie Steinheiser- Experience of Nature #1

Our field trip to the trail was everything but familiar to me. I am a girl that enjoys modern technology and the disapearance of overwhelming nature. This does not mean I do not enjoy flowers or animals that run free, or as free as we define our wilderness, but the idea of experiencing the open wild terrified me, even if it was only for an hour. As the class followed the trail, I could not help but hear all the sounds that were surrounding me. The wind was blowing, and the leaves were being crinkled as the squirrels would scurry away from our class. The entire experience did not end up being a complete terror, in fact it reminded me of the times when I once went out and ventured into the wilderness. My little sister and I would hike around our neighborhood before it was taken over by the houses. Along with our friends we would act like adventurers and conquer the woods behind our homes. As i use the word wilderness, I cannot help but stress the limitation to our wild. We could engulf ourselves in the wild for a while, but it would only take us five seconds to walk a few feet and be back onto a cement road. While we were on the Noland trail it may have taken us a few minutes to escape the trees, but sure enough the cement road would welcome us back into civilization. This is the wilderness that we have come to know.