Nature and Poetry.

Visiting the Circle B Bar Reserve was really neat. I'd never been there before and liked how nice the facilities are and how full of life the land is. I enjoyed the tour and learning different pieces of information about the wildlife, vegetation, and history of the reserve. But I think my favorite portion of the field trip is the time we took to spend alone, soaking in the world around us.

The air felt crisp with the slight wind that comes before a storm. It felt clean, cool, and free. It smelled  fresh. Looking around, I tried to take in everything that I could. The lady driving the truck for us had mentioned earlier that her eyes, over time, had become better at detecting the colors of the scenery. When I focused on noticing these differences, I could see so many greens in the trees and plants. . . kelly green, forest green, dark green, green with blueish tints, green with purpleish tints, bright green, yellow-green, green-green. I started appreciating the texture that exists in nature, seeing how various species of plants add their own variety to the landscape in three-dimensional and patterned ways. And when I closed my eyes, I felt like I was part of the environment. I could hear five different types of animals communicating nearly simultaneously. Most, I think, were birds. I began thinking about communication and silence. When I was silent, I could tune in to the language of the animals. When I was silent, they weren't being interrupted by me. When they are silent, are they listening to us? It got me thinking about language--can animals of one species understand the sounds of another species? We often train animals to understand our human languages, but it is much different trying to understand their sounds because they are not on our intellectual level. These thoughts alone have led to so many others. Needless to say, a lot can be learned and inspired and thought of through purposefully appreciating the nature God created. These few quiet moments gave me the opportunity to engage in nearly every one of (if not all) of the points in Professor Corrigan's first set of bullet points in his Notes on Nature and Poetry.

Caring for this creation, properly stewarding God's gift of nature, is so important. I want my grandchildren to be able to experience the array of greens, clean air, and exquisite wildlife that I have. This week has offered a good reminder of how necessary it is that I do not irresponsibly pollute my environment.

After we talked about The State of the Planet in class, I realized the evolutionary references were more numerous than I had thought. I better understand Hass's references to Lucretius and find both intelligence and amusement in them.

Spending time outdoors gave me some insight on how talented poets such as Robert Hass express thoughts and ideas so well. Hass and other writers put effort into noticing details and translating those details into words. One of my favorite examples of this is in section 1: "The red satchel on her quite straight back darkening splotch by smoky crimson splotch as the rain pelts it." They find ways to draw analogies that explain this translation process: "atoms . . . are like electricity having sex." I enjoy writings like this and think it's the main reason poetry is one of my favorite types of literature. That coupled with my awe for God's creation makes for a pleasing combination of literature and life.