Nature

Despite that I am often always preoccupied with several tasks; it is a rarity that I am able to set aside time to behold and appreciate something as beautiful as nature. So when given the chance to experience Audubon Park, I took it. As I slowly walked along with several others, I tried my best to observe the entire park. Many of my “unofficial” tour guides, which included Professor Schwartz as well as my peers, pointed out the beauty that was not always apparent to me in the park. One of the “hidden” beauties included the newly planted trees that were planted in efforts to restore tress in the park. Another hidden beauty was the stone-encrusted tree. While I did not consider these trees as great aspects of the park, I have realized their importance.


Over the week-end, just like Amy, I went to the bug-infested, swamp-smelling wilderness. While there were several hiking trails, a lake, and a dry, yet humid climate that only Louisiana seems to possess, there was also the presence of man-kind. Not only was man physically there, but present was also log cabins, a swimming pool, and the ranger’s house which contained two television satellites both of unequal sizes. Yet, while one can argue that man’s presence, in some sense, alters truly experiencing nature, it should also be noted that a human presence, or multiple human presences, can not always be negative.

“Let Nature be your Teacher,” seemed to be Wordsworth’s message to me this past week-end. To my surprise, not only did I learn from nature, but it gained the title of “Official Tour Guide.” While I was in the wilderness, I often reflected on things such as family issues, the true meaning of friendship, and love. While I often reflected on these topics during the day, it was during the darkness, that I found myself truly overcome by nature. I wondered why, when walking back to my cabin in the dark without a flashlight, I felt so afraid. Of course the immediate response was that I was alone surrounded by darkness with no light. However, as I thought more, I realized that it was because I was surrounded by woods. Even if I had a flashlight handy, my vision would be limited to only where the light shined. If I was driving in a car, the headlights would only permit me to see so much. The difference between night and day was obvious, during the day, everything was visible, and yet, nature was still surrounding me. At night though, nature seemed to overpower me. I then wondered if Wordsworth and the other Romantics felt this way. Through their poems, it really seemed that the overpowering was a great one, almost a blessing from nature to man, or even a type of revenge.


Over the week-end, I learned how to leave my cell phone and electricity behind to acknowledge wilderness. Without these distractions, I was taught to fear wilderness. Through this fear, I learned to appreciate nature. My week-end away allowed me to view the stone tree in Audubon Park, not as a disturbance of nature, but as a beautiful tree aided by man. I was also able to see the newly planted trees as man’s way to aid the growth of the park. For not only did a man, John Charles Omsted, help to construct the park, but it was also nature, Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav, that helped destroy it.