Interpreting Nature

[ksneatureblog-blog]

Where I’m at, and where to go from here

University can be an interesting time. Many of your friendships sprout out of mutual dislikes of schoolwork that makes your head feel like it will explode. Trying to both enjoy and hang on to parts of being a young person while simultaneously focusing on your next steps into the professional working world is a delicate balance. Your music taste, favourite show on Netflix and your life goals can change day to day, creating a weird combination of instability and excitement. You’ve got so much going on that time to process anything is sacrificed because you’re too busy doing the damn thing.

For me, what strikes a balance, connects me with people of similar interests, and adds an element of stability while maintaining excitement is my relationship with nature. Freezing, scorching, rainy, sunny, bright, or dark (damn you daylight standard time). Programmed or informal. On payday or when you’re in the hole. In sickness and in health. Taking a deep breath in the outside air never fails to rebalance, refocus, and reconnect me. And in most cases, it’s just fun. So of course I want to share this with others.

My perspective on nature as an interpreter (and I’m sure this will change) has developed quite a bit, in a few different ways. Beyond the clear conclusion that nature is lovely and fun and should be enjoyed by all, this is my current assessment.

The belief that nature has the powerful possibility to be a common ground. Allow me to be a bit sappy here. In our daily lives, in cities and towns, surrounded by human made buildings and roads and stuff, it’s easy to divide, to see self and other, and to think those differences are significant. When surrounded by things that truly are other, from the ground and all that grows to the sky and all that is, it’s a reminder that we are all just humans. From this understanding, nature can definitely solve a lot of the worlds problems, as we’ve discussed many times in class.

Connections to nature are step one in conserving it. Who we vote for, and what we advocate for has always been important. In 2018, particularly in the political climate of our closest allies, our societal challenges seem to feel very heavy. Threats to natural features across the world feel eminent, and as someone with a connection to nature, it feels like a strong call to advocate for what I value, which includes conservation. To those who haven’t had the same opportunities to connect to nature, how can I expect them to feel the same? I think it’s important to giving people context of nature and the environment and allowing them to decide how they feel from there, even if they don’t feel the same as I do.

With strong beliefs comes great responsibility? I think my panic of impending environmental disasters and natural losses can certainly make me feel that way. What? How can you not feel the same way as I do? Now I have to convert you to the right side! Accepting that that isn’t really my role is still a work in progress, and instead I try to channel that into enthusiasm for what I interpret. This also comes with the acknowledgement that not everyone has had the opportunities that I have to be introduced to the concepts that I have, or to connect with nature. Whether due to ability or circumstance, heading into interpretation with the intent to include varied demographics is a responsibility. Bringing more people to the table (or into the woods) has the potential to enhance everyone’s experience, because everyone has something to share.

This class gave me an opportunity to try some different interpretation formats, and some connected more with me than others.

Unscripted interpretation → not in a classroom/formal presentation writing. I enjoy interpretation most when I don’t have a script, just a general sense of what message I want to portray, a few solid interesting facts, and my ability to create discussion which would drive the flow of the conversation. I also know from past experiences that I enjoy interpreting most on a one-on-one or two or three people. In this format, the audience genuinely gets the chance to ask you questions about what interests them, there is much less pressure to be scripted, and I feel like I can be a much more real human.

Active interpretation → let me move! I’m not good at listening to people for more than five minutes in one location, so I don’t like making people listen to me for more than that time. Giving people tactile and hands on content is very up my alley.

Interpretation through writing → coming into it, I really thought this blog would be a task and a nuisance, I didn’t really realize how much I would enjoy writing in this format. I think I am able to still portray my personality through writing, and I find it a healthy challenge to write in a compelling way each week. I might continue into my field school next semester!

In the spirit of reflection… 

Two last things:

Going out west for a season and plans to return again have definitely made me biased towards the large scale, classic beauty of the mountains. Being slightly bitter to come home to Southern Ontario, this class definitely gave me a kick in the pants to try to embrace the pieces of nature I have around me. I have enjoyed my many walks in the Arboretum this semester, and I think I’ve finally got it through my head that just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s not as good. School life doesn’t have to equal inside life, and I’ve definitely stopped skipping out on the nature I have access to on a daily basis.

Wild Goose Woods boardwalk

As a last note, I just wanted to give a big thank you to everyone in this class, as well as Amanda and Liane. This learning experience came with great contributions from everyone, and I hope to see you out in the field!

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

I am glad that this was a great learning experience for you as I hope it was the same with everyone else! Your first thoughts really rang true with me in the whole chaotic nature of scrambling to both being a capable student, and to have a personally enjoyable life. It funny how true your comment was about how friendships sprout from mutual dislike, as its both true and bizarre that its true being something that you would think shouldn’t be such an active role. At the same time though you did go into the commonalities that can also spark friendships through nature, which again is very true. I think that in some way we can all find a connection through nature, and in that it pretty universally a positive connection, that comes out of some sense of enjoyment. 

I really liked the interpretation methods that you mentioned. I completely agree with both the unscripted interpretation and the active interpretation as I feel the same way both as the interpreter, and as someone in the group. With those two interpretation styles, I, in both roles find myself enjoying the experience more as the interpretation feels more genuine and really helps express nature through its active attempt to be in nature through the activity. Lastly, I never thought about interpretation through writing in these post too much but your very right about that! They are great ways of self-expression and give us a lot of ability to give others our interpretation in a more controlled, thought out way. Hope the best for your future, its been awesome!

[lpenvs3000-2018]

Finding Integrity In Interpretation

When we first were introduced to the concept of ‘invisible backpacks’ and were invited to unpack our own, I have to say that I was pretty nervous. There was something about delving into my personal past and unpacking who I am that was much more difficult to do than I thought it would be. I consider myself the type of person who decides to live through the lives of others rather than choosing to reflect upon my own life. I share experiences of my travels, my hobbies and my family, yet for some reason, never have created that personal connection to these things, never calling them ‘my own’. It is often challenging for me to discuss my personal opinions on some ethical or controversial topics, as I am more of a ‘listener’ than anything. You could imagine how difficult it was to write the ‘personal’ part of these posts; it really pushed me out of my comfort zone, that’s for sure!

That being said, I have realized how much I have learned just by being in this class and being surrounded by people so similar to me, yet so different in their own ways. I have finally unpacked my invisible backpack, and am now confident in who I am in relation to nature interpretation, which I can now admit will play a large and significant role in my life. So without further ado, I will describe my personal ethic as I go further in the journey of interpretation and education, which in one word can be described as…

Integrity. 1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. 2. The state of being whole and undivided.  synonyms: honesty, virtue, sincerity, trustworthiness. 

Just like each tree in the forest contributes to the integrity of the forest itself, bringing individuality and honesty contributes to an interpreter’s overall strength in interpretation and to the program. This is something I am personally working on to enhance the way I can connect people to nature, and believe that all interpreters should bring a sense of ‘self’ in their work. I took this photo this autumn at a trail in the Silver Creek Conservation Area near Ballinifad.

Maintaining Integrity in Self

I believe that every interpreter should have integrity within themselves. Every individual provides an ‘invisible backpack’ that basically allows them to be ‘more’ qualified to teach or interpret certain topics. For example, some of the students in the ENVS*3000 class come from outdoor-intensive families, and are now able to pass on that knowledge to the world. At first, that deterred me from connecting with the class, as I realized that I did not experience the same thing as a child, and ultimately thought that I would not be able to provide the same knowledge. However, to have integrity in myself is to accept that I can interpret nature in ways that only I know about, such as the ability to see nature through the lens of a camera, or the fact that my family thinks highly of the ‘homestead’ lifestyle. It is useful to know that anyone can be an interpreter, and that each person brings in their own personal experiences to the table. You could be an interpreter at the first National Urban Park, or even in a cemetery! There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ interpreter, there is only the interpreter that stays true to themselves!

When two people meet in nature, they share their individual experiences and knowledge. Here, my friend on the left was describing his journey through the Wildlife Biology program at University of Guelph and the Fish & Wildlife Tech program at Fleming College with my friend on the right (skipping rocks), who is finishing highschool and is in the middle of choosing his path for the future. I took this photo at Elora Gorge Conservation Area.

Finding Integrity in Others

Equally as important as finding integrity in oneself is to be aware of the integrity of others. Interpreters will likely meet a great diversity of people, all with their own views and morals on nature. It is our responsibility to give recognition to everyone else’s invisible backpacks when creating that connection to nature. That makes the process of interpretation so incredibly exciting, as you get to challenge yourself in creating that Spark in a variety of different ways! It makes interpretation a life-long-learning process, and not just in terms of the content you are providing in your programs. By being open to invisible backpacks, you will learn a lot more about the world as a whole. This class opened my eyes to some of the invisible backpacks I was not aware of.

The 2018 naturalists at Killbear Provincial Park. Their integrity came from their consistent passion in their job, and of course from their extensive knowledge in the natural history of the park (which came from their massive information library and other scientists at the park!). Photo taken at Killbear Provincial Park.

Creating Integrity in Work

To create integrity in your work, you must first create integrity in yourself and in others. As somebody who is passionate about passing on learning and the love of nature, I am looking into applying to Teachers College after my fourth year of my undergrad degree. With that in mind, I will take away the knowledge from this course to apply it to conventional teaching. To create integrity in my future job, I will bring my passion and excitement to the classroom, to hopefully give away the gift of Revelation and Joy. I also personally feel responsible in creating integrity by maintaining a sense of risk in environmental education. I believe that in order to truly resonate with people, you have to push them to do risky things, as nature is not always a safety blanket. I will apply this in my future by creating risk in outdoor and experiential exploration, something that I believe is integral to the current generation of learners. And most importantly, to create integrity in work is to bring a sense of honesty in what you are teaching about; providing accurate and updated information is key in interpretation, especially in a world where it is difficult to find true and honest sources.

Integrity is what I would like to maintain in my personal work and life going forward, and what I believe interpreters should hold strongly. In a world where we are bombarded with information from so many sources, and are constantly being exposed to new opinions and thoughts, it is hard to find honesty and wholeness in the world. It can be very overwhelming to find passion in something when the information we find might not be true. However, when we are approached by a person who is passionate about something, who holds something dearly and finds the importance in it, it is extremely easy to connect with them and to trust what they are saying. That is why it is so important that we both stay true to ourselves and our invisible backpacks, to others and to our work. As interpreters, we give people the gift of Wholeness in nature as it applies to them. We give them the gift of Provocation, as we add a bit of risk to their lives. And all in all, our integrity allows us to transfer our Passion to others, so that they feel a bit more connected and integral to the natural world. I am so excited to have learned so much about interpretation, and even more enthusiastic about what is to come in the future! 

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

I am really happy for you and what this class has helped you out with in both learning about yourself, and for what’s to come in your future! I was in a similar boat as you where I am more of a listener and not a talker in most cases. Where this was a peculiar experience in writing these blogs, where the bases of posting every week was about your own perspective on something. Nothing within these posts are graded as to having a right or wrong thought process, because the idea was to have self expression of yourself towards questions asked that do not have a blanket answer. 

I really enjoyed reading your beliefs and values on integrity. It’s a topic that has a lot of worth to it and I would even think it could be separate from our ‘invisible backpack’ and have fit as its own lecture topic for Nature Interpretation. Although in a bit of a different way, I also mentioned in my post that I am responsible to allow for risk in my interpretation to others. Similar to you, I think risk is something that we as people should be more okay with because the positive consequences are really more likely to occur with risk then negatives, I’d say. Overall, I am glad that you have a conscious understanding of how integrity has played a role in your life, and to keep it with you, to strive for your best future!

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

My personal interpretation of nature

As a nature interpreter, I find myself embracing the beauty and amazement factors of nature more then anything else. I love that nature is both chaotically complex in theory, yet for the most part, it’s quiet, calm, and relaxed in both the biological and astronomical elements. Where all organisms in nature are either faced with predation or starvation in their struggle to survive, yet are not frantically attempting to survive, but are calmingly grabbing nutrients from the soil, photosynthesizing in the sunlight, strolling through the forest, etc. I find this seemingly paradoxical with human civilization, as human society has allowed us to live in a system that provides minimal threat of being killed as well as the fact that we are 100% sure we are going to eat something tomorrow. Yet, we are running around frantically, mentally suffering with little to no recognition as to why. Although seemingly morbid, I understand why the ENVS 3000 class of last year created their song about being trapped in a “concrete jungle”, as I think it is very hard to live in what many people may have some subconscious thoughts about, is a non-sensical mental state. Where you have high amount of freedom and ability to thrive rather then just survive, yet still feel caged in. Where although nature has no real aspects of thriving, and life for life’s sake is harder to live, we still feel more comfortable in nature.

Photo by: Bob Haarmans

Through these thoughts, part of my beliefs that I bring to the table would be to leave nature be. To only really go into nature for your its admiration or self-exploration, if you are just coming to visit. Take with you what you bring and don’t alter it in any way. I personally very much dislike when I come across a logged patch of a forest, whether it’s partial or fully logged, as I personally think it disrupts the natural flow of the ecosystem. Thus, for me the closer it feels to full wilderness the better. I also have a belief that people should feel free to do whatever nudges at their brain. To allow your natural curiosities to direct you on an unforeseen adventure, as I think many people now a days have lost this feeling to many things such as safety and the unspoken rules as to how to act. As a result, I’d say that many people have become numb to that sensation or maybe just have a distance memory of it from their childhoods where it was more common. I personally think curiosity is a natural sensation, with all wild animals. Although they may differ in how they express this curiosity being within their own biological parameters of energy usage for curiosity that is developed in them from one of their senses. There’s that saying curiosity killed the cat, but cats, (generally) seem to not have lost that sense of curiosity because of this possibility of death.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/animal-cat-curious-wildcat-357211/ 

Although generally responsibilities would be determined by the higher ups as to what they would need me to be responsible for as a nature interpreter, I myself if leading a nature walk that has no really hindrances to my future or career, would be very laid back with my responsibilities. For instance, I would very much want people to explore the area for themselves if they so please. I’d like for people’s natural curiosities to come out, so that they themselves have stepped forward towards their own desires and ideas. Through this of course I would want to make sure people have some notice of where to be, thus although very dependent on the walk, I would let people explore and meet back at a certain location at a specific time. Through this, I’ll also make sure to tell everyone to use common sense while exploring to not do something stupid that would easily lead to injury or getting very lost, but at the same time, I cannot direct people exactly to what is not safe (unless very valid like a poisonous snake), or tell people where to go. Thus, in my own sense of responsibilities, I would people a “riskier” interpreter, but I’d say that more positive risks can come from my methods and to a higher proportion.

Through the post thus far, as a nature interpreter, in some way I want to show others have comfortable nature is to be enveloped by, where I think nature has an unprovable sensibility to it. People in my group may not be comfortable with nature, but through the interpretation I would like to allow them to see if at least a glimmer this comfortability. With even a slight sense of comfortability from people in my group I am interpreter for, I would also like to express the idea of beauty; visually, mentally and spiritually. Visual beauty is the easiest to express, as that would be done through a moment static in time, where naturally occurring objects and/or organisms form something that is stimulating to the human mind. This can be a varying number of things that can be seen throughout the interpretive walk with some examples being, a waterfall, a funky looking tree, or a chipmunk looking up with full cheeks. The mental beauty would be the ecological, biological or geographical background that leads to the theory that brought us the visual moment. An example of this would be explaining why a certain tree loses its leaves or the reason why the chipmunk is out near the trails edge with full cheeks. Lastly, the spiritual beauty would be of something that cannot be fully explained (and thus I cannot fully explain it here), but could be possibly felt through the explanation of the mental mechanisms or through the physical moment. For example, explaining how a certain area will become a floodplain, the mechanism of the floodplain to the ecosystem, and then how water varies in its flow patterns as a result throughout the rest of the region. Although maybe not probable, this could provoke a spiritual thought for an individual which is something that I would like to accomplish as a nature interpreter.

Photo by: insitedesigns from pixabay.com

[stenvs3000-2018-blog]

PROMPT 9. JANES WALK:

Hey y'all! Hope everyone enjoyed all the walks we went on last weekend, i know I did! I was to specifically talk about and that i thoroughly enjoyed was the second walk in the dairy bush (group ) that did a survival walk. I think the reason i liked this walk to much was because it was so inclusive. Throughout the entire walk we were engaged and in discussion, this make everyone feel included and made them pay attention. I personally am a hands on learner, this walk allowed me to get involved and partake in the action. In doing this I was able to grasp onto the concepts being shared and was able to take home the lesson that was being passed onto the participants. 

The walk mimicked a “plane crash” and we all had to take precautionary steps to ensure survival. The important things i took away from this walk was: when stranded there are key things that are crucial 1) shelter, 2) fire and 3) awareness of surroundings. 

The gift of a spark: This walk sparked my interest with the dairy bush, i wasn’t really too interested in the dairy bush prior to this walk. I had been before, but i wasn’t really aware of the opportunities that it offers. The dairy bush is home to many research projects and to many species. Knowing this intrigues me and makes me wants to learn more about what the dairy bush has to offer. At the beginning of the Janes walk, we had to pick an item out of a bag and brainstorm how it would be of use to us, this sparked our imagination with the items and nature.

The gift of beauty: The dairy bush has such a calming feel to it and i find it quite beautiful. It is so nice to know that there is a nice walk space or chill area in the midst of all the madness. I love knowing that there is something so readily available to me that i can utilize at any time of the day. I find it rather beautiful and peaceful. 

The gift of story: Throughout the walk we were able to create our own story and share stories amongst one another. This walk and the stories we shared allowed everyone to connect and relate to one another. When we all had to pick a spot to stay for shelter, everyone had to explain why they chose this location and why it was relevant. 

I think this group could have worked on their The gift of the past. The dairy bush has quite a history, i think this group could have elaborated on the past and maybe went into more depth when they touched upon the history of the Dairy bush. I think if this was done we would have been able to make more connections with the past and how it has influenced the dairy bush the way it is today. The first group did a great job making the past relevant to our present day Dairy bush. 

Overall i really enjoyed this walk, especially the engagement factor and how we were all involved in the story. Hope you guys liked this walk as much as I did!

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Hi! I also wrote my post about the dairy bush crash simulation walk and I had some similar point of the gift of interpretation as you did and some that are different. I agreed with you in regards to the gift of story as being something that group did very well to provide to the audience I believe, I thought it was a bit more about the journey as a whole being the story, but I understand where you are going with the story also working as simulating where you would sleep. I’m happy that this walk gave you the gift of a spark! I personally already have been to the dairy bush a hand full of times, so I already had the spark brought before hand, but it’s great that from this experience you gained your own spark for it! I actually put the gift of beauty as something they could improve upon in my post, as I thought of the walk not providing the gift of beauty, in how they interpreted it personally, but if you got that from it, as well as just if they provided this great location for you then I get why you may have gotten it from them! That’s an interesting point you’ve made with the fact that they could work on the gift of the past in their walk. Personally, I thought that it was rather not made to specifically approach the dairy bush as a historical place, but more of just a random site within the story that they were telling. Thus, I think that the past at least in the idea of the dairy bush itself, would not apply, but I would love to hear you elaborate on that if there is something I’m missing!

Cheers

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Wilderness Crash Simulation debriefing

The walk of the group that I feel like debriefing is the second walk of the day, the Wilderness Crash Simulation walk … if that names work. I really enjoyed this walk, as for me I found it to be more of a fun activity for the entire duration rather then the group giving us a bunch of knowledge for knowledge's sake. Not that the group didn’t give that knowledge like all other groups, but maybe because it was a simulated crash site, or maybe because there was slight fun competition and grouping of the activities that it was very minimal for me to think that it was.

One of the gifts that I would have identified with is the “The Gift of Story”. I think they did a great job with this and although, a story through the interpretive walk seems to be an exclusively vocal characteristic of the walk, I think it does not have to be, as it could also be part of the walk itself. This is how the group completed the story in large part due to the story being a simulation of plane crash that we were all a part of. Thus, the story was not just a part of the walk, but an active presence of the walk in its entirety. Also, the way they introduced and continued the story of the simulation allowed us to treat the knowledge gained from the story imaginatively which is a major characteristic of “The Gift of Story” from the textbook.

NPS Photo - National Park Washington

Another gift that I believe was provided through this interpretive walk is “The Gift of Wholeness”. This was done by the giving us a full expression of our surroundings through the activities and even with what they stated to consciously look around and become fully tuned with it all.

https://www.maxpixel.net/Body-Of-Water-Wood-Outdoors-Beautiful-Plant-Nature-3279314 

Lastly, a gift that I think I identified with was “The Gift of Joy”. This explanation is pretty basic, but it was just that I was feeling happy during the interpretive walk. Although not really easy (if possible) to analyse, I guess I was at a state of flow while on the walk, and I believe I came to this state more just with the experience of the simulation, and less with the informative aspects of the walk.

I think they could have further developed “The Gift of Beauty”, as I noticed they were very careful with making sure that you take with you what you bring in, and all the survival aspects with looking around, but they never really mentioned just the fundamental beauty of it all. I think it would have furthered many audience members joy to the situation and tide in to the story as well. This could have been done by expressing the unfortunately terrible situation that you have come across, as you struggle to survive, but to still embrace where you are as an amazing place.

[spenvs3000-2018-blog]

Some Food For Thought... Literally!

So a common struggle I find for myself when I go out hiking, is packing the right amount and kind of food. I am a big foodie, I love eating good healthy food and am a sucker for dark chocolate. So this week I’ll be going over, the foods I like to bring while I’m outdoors, whether it’s on a day hike or a weekend camp trip.

(My mom and I eating some yummy mac and cheese while camping)

While hiking or camping you would probably bring different food compared to if you were staying in a hotel! While spending a day or weekend outdoors you want food that is easy to pack, doesn’t need a lot of refrigeration, while also providing you with the protein and vitamins you need! Another thing to keep in mind is the duration of your time outdoors, you want to be sure you have enough food to sustain yourself for that whole time. Plus a little extra never hurts, you can never be too safe in the event that possibly get lost!

So now let’s get into the good stuff…. THE FOOD!

Usually when I go out on a hike my favourite go to snack is trail mix, funny enough I am usually on a trail when eating this! Trail mix is a great source of protein with all those nuts. The fruit and dark chocolate (if you choose to put it in) are a great source of sweetness to give you that extra boost! Trail mix is really easy to carry in a jar or container. Fruit is also my go to when going for a day hike especially apples or oranges, you don’t have to worry about them getting too squishy in your bag. Finally, granola bars are a great quick snack to bring that are really good for an energy boost!

Next up I’ll go into some great camping snacks and meals! Now this obviously depends on what you will be bringing to cook food on so I’ll try and keep it simple by just sticking with a fire.

So let’s talk breakfast, probably my favourite meal of the day! While camping my favourite breakfast food is overnight oatmeal, its easy to pack and you can pretty much put anything in it! I always do a good mix of peanut butter, banana, and some pumpkin or chia seeds and then add milk. Bagels or toast are also really great breakfast meals with peanut butter or cream cheese on it. 

Next up, lunch! For this one you could always go with the old fashioned sandwich, you can never go wrong with some yummy cheese, ham, avocado, spinach and tomato. But if you want to mix it up, quinoa is a really delicious lunch time snack as well! I like to add tomato’s, cucumber, feta, and olives and some chicken, with a little bit of Greek dressing! 

Alright, now its time for dinner, with this meal it can really be anything that can easily be packed, and is mainly up to your preferences, like all the other things I mentioned above. Usually, I will bring something warm like chili or a stew, you can just warm it up in a pot on the fire. Hamburgers are also a really great dinner. These are all fairly easy to make or easy to prepare before your trip!

Since this blog post was on food, it is also really important to mention the idea of leaving no trace. Sometimes the food we bring can come in packaging, so it is important to ensure all the packaging is thrown out and not left lying around. Try prepping your food before hand and bringing it in containers or jars! Another side of leave no trace that people often forget is the fire that the food was cooked on. It is ideal to leave as little disturbance to the areas you visited and that means being sure to properly put out your fire by dumping water on it or sand!

I hope this helped you realize that the food you bring outdoors doesn’t always have to be really bland simple food, it can really be anything as long as you have the proper equipment to cook it and prepare ahead of time! 

If you have any yummy recipes I would love to hear about them ! feel free to post the link in the comments !

[rmsenvs3000-2018]

Cooking and camping is my worst nightmare. I never make anything good and I either pack way too much or too little. I need all the advice I can get. Breakfast and lunch are always fine I can usually figure that out but dinner is where I struggle. I went camping last weekend and the meal my friends and I decided on was 3 month old soy burgers we found in our freezer. Normally that would be very gross but after a full day of hiking I was so tired and hungry it was actually pretty good. That’s the one good thing about camping is you have to work, so by the time you are ready to eat it is so much more worth it than if you made it at home. I wish I though of the chili instead and it definitely would have kept us warm on the cold weekend. 

Leave no trace is such a big issue I have been dealing with at work. I work for a provincial park thats pretty close to Toronto. No shade at people from the city but it feels like a lot of the population coming from the city down for the day hasn’t learned the value behind the no trace lifestyle/method. It is definitely something as interpreters we need to work into every program or interaction. 

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Nice list of different food for different times of the day for hiking. I have similar ideas mostly with great snack to bring being both a bunch of granola bars and pre-made trail mix. Those would probably my favorite foods to eat while hiking in my opinion because I enjoy those just on the go whenever you have slight interest to eat just something small to munch on plus, they’re both just super enjoyable foods.

I’d say other possible good lunch foods similar to sandwich that I enjoy are wraps. For wraps you’d need to have each item separately and make it write before you eat it, but in the middle of the hike I find it actually pretty enjoyable just to stop and make some food out in nature. 

For dinners, I’d also go with chili like yourself and although I am not sure if this is the reason you make that, but I personally have that as a big option because it’s easy to bring canned goods along for hikes. Generally, I try to bring cans because they’re good multi purposed items where you can heat the cans themselves and use them as a bowl, and you can continue using them as bowls/cups for water or other possible things. I also prepare kielbasa on a fire for dinners as well on hikes, seeing as you can roast them on a stick easily like marshmallows. Overall, though great food items, now I need to bring some quinoa for my next long hike! 

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Thoughts from the walks

Just to get right into it, I thought it would make sense to talk about some of my experiences from the walks in more detail. Don’t worry I won’t be re-explaining all of the different interpretive walks, but I do think the overall walk experience actually did resonate with me to the point that my current perspective on day to day life has changed slightly, if that makes sense. Looking back at all the walks I want to mention the 2 parts that most tickled my brain (in enjoyment and interest) and from that, try to analyze why that was specifically tickling.

For starters, the activity and overall theme of the second group that went kind of stuck with me in their attempted training of us through a simulated crash scenario, specifically with find a shelter location. Honestly, I’d say this theme may just be highly subjective because being stranded in nature without civilization to help you always intrigued me, I love the movie Cast Away and I think it would be really fun and a great experience to participate on Survivor the reality game show. Heck, I’d even thought about complete voluntary isolation as an interesting thing to try out. To analyze my brain tickling is actually kind of from what I just said with what I was intrigued by. Although I got to admit those were a bit of run on thoughts that I didn’t know if it would even fit, it really does fit perfectly because its the link with my past that provided me with that enhanced remembrance and joy to the activity. 

Taken by: Virginia State Parks

Another activity that I’d say really resonated with me was with the last group of the day, where we all closed our eyes and then opened them afterwards where we then looked around. It was the activity that was abbreviated from what the Japanese have done traditionally for a few hours (my brain was slightly gone by the last group so that’s why I don’t remember exactly what it was called. Anyways the activity in itself is something that I really do think is an amazing quality even before hand, so again personal experiences really makes something memorable but also, we were lucky enough to get the sun to come out both basically as we closed our eyes. For one it was great that you can feel the sun on your skin on this cold day, but also, again with the whole personal experiences thing I have always enjoyed that sensation of the direct warmth from the sun’s rays. From that it was something that was mentioned when we looked around when opened our eyes again, which that clicked with me personally.

https://www.maxpixel.net/Sun-Rays-Foliage-Rays-Of-The-Sun-Sunlight-Trees-3419288

Overall, I’d say from my experiences with these and other activities, that personal experiences are really what makes something resonate with you which makes it hard to really make an interpretive walk meaningful to whomever it is done towards. Though I think that just the general notion of the fact that we are all human living on the same world and the same time period, poses similar intrigue between everyone, so although maybe not everything will sink in with someone, if you show enough of your intrigue as a method of making this interpretation, then something should stick with everyone.

[ksneatureblog-blog]

Tree tattoos

Picture a forest. What does it look like? How big is it? What types of trees are in it? What animals live there? How long has it been growing?

When you think of the forest, think of all the power that would be needed to take it down. The energy and force required to dominate more than just a few square kilometres is hard to imagine. But one thing in particular can do it in a more dramatic and sensational way than anything else. Wildfire.

Wildfires vary in their characteristics just as much as forests do. Their size, intensity, temperature, whether they reach the canopy or stay on the ground, the amount of smoke, the amount of damage. But before wildfire begins, the stage must be set. The recipe:

Forest fuels: dead and decaying plant matter and low lying trees.

Dry conditions: the longer since it has rained, the better.

Some wind: too much wind will blow out a flame before it even begins. Once a fire starts, high winds aggressively spread the fire.

Now with all those ingredients, a forest is in prime condition for an ignition. The ignition typically comes from one of two things: human causes (campfires, cigarette butts, intentional lighting) or lightning. After an ignition, how long it lasts and how far it goes depends on many different factors: the type of forest fuels, the density of the forest, the boundaries the fire encounters (forest breaks, water sources), the weather, the temperature, etc.

Why do we care about recreating an accurate record of fire? Wildfires are a significant part of our earth’s story. Fire has major impacts on our society and our ecosystems. For example, British Columbia this summer had the worst fire season on record. There were days that the sun wasn’t visible through the smoke, even in cities kilometers away from the nearest fires.

This map shows the hundreds of fires that were reported over the 2018 season.

Having information on historical wildfires will guide us in knowing how to best manage (or not manage) them in the future, and give us an understanding of our changing climate. Wildfires are monitored and tracked quite thoroughly these days, but they weren’t as well recorded in the past when humans had less technology and resources to do so.

Luckily, trees have a wonderful method of growth, that creates a ring each year, visible when you look at a cross section of it’s trunk.

Like humans, when trees are wounded, they react through biological strategies. Humans develop scabs to cover the injury while new skin develops, protecting it from infections. Eventually, we grow new skin and sometimes are left with a scar. This process happens with trees, and creates a history- or a chronology -of  when that tree was damaged. Scientists can decode this history, finding the approximate year and intensity of fires, by looking at tree rings and recording where there is younger wood and scars from fire. It’s like if each scar on your body was labelled with when you got it and why it’s there; the scar above my left eyebrow from a cycling wipeout in 2016, the mark below my knee from an aggressive shrub this summer.

Quick facts about fire scars:

It’s not always clear what is a scar and what isn’t, sometimes scars are confused with weird growth.

Hardwoods and conifers have different reactions to injury: hardwoods use chemical defenses, while conifers use both physical and chemical resistance. Some conifers will even grow extra cells after they are injured to produce this resistance (which is usually in the form of resin).

What season the fire was in can be determined from the tissue that is scarred; the position of the scar in the ring of that year can tell us an approximation of when the fire occurred. Trees also grow different types of tissues at different times of the year, early wood in the spring and latewood in the fall.

Scars aren’t always visible from the outside; the smaller the injury, the more likely you can’t see it from the exterior of the tree.

The power of abiotic things on forests are awe-inspiring. Massive, powerful, resilient forests clash with incredible forces of nature, and these battles are documented by the survivors. It’s our job to piece together the clues of damage and learn the story of what happened.

[spenvs3000-2018-blog]

Hey, 

I really enjoyed reading this post. I myself didn’t know too much about wildfires, seeing as though they are not a major concern usually in Ontario. I have heard a lot about them and always wondered what caused them or how it effected the forest, and you answered my questions ! 

Another interesting fact I learned is that trees get fire scars, I did not know this was something that happened, but it is so cool to be able to realize! That these great fires can leave severe impacts on the trees. 

I think it is also really important that you brought this up. Some of the times (i’m not sure the actual stats) these wildfires are started by humans who have started a fire in an area they are not supposed to, or a smoker simply dropped their cigarette without even thinking of the effects it could have. People need to be more aware of this because if they go to an area where wildfires are pretty common, one wrong mistake could be damaging. 

You also hinted at the fact of wildfires potentially being beneficial, I have heard of this but didn’t know too much about it. I would love to know a little more about how wildfires are potentially beneficial to forest stands!

I was also wondering have you experienced seeing a wildfire? If so I think that is so amazing, if not I really appreciate your interest in this powerful force of fire!

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Hi, I enjoyed your post and learned a lot from it! I never really took into account scarring that can be made from forest fires in a similar yet different way to humans. I think it’s pretty awesome and something that we kind of forget as to how similar, yet different organisms are in their biological features that attempt to allow the organism to survive. Seeing as we are comparing a mammal such as a human to a tree, it really shows how that framework is embedded in all living organisms and that we are all similar in that way.

I also enjoyed your extra facts on how scars differ based on tree types, season of fire, and just the ability to identify the scar. In a sense this seems like the opposite point I made above, but it helps express the difference between all organisms in how they function differently to the same circumstance, and overall this puts a great idea of the amount of diversity on this planet. Though, all of this came from the same functional roots in all organisms attempt to survive and reproduce where these functions are displayed differently. In the end, I think what you express in your post can relate to the principles of beauty and how trees attempt to survive, puts into perspective of tree’s ability to fully live, even though it is a non-sentient organism.

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Float like a cloud

When I first read the blog prompt, I was stuck on “amazing thing”, as I generally went towards some type of singular object, living or non-living, like a specific organism that in some way differs in an amazing way. Though thinking about this, I felt that a specific object is very subjective that I think it is hard to interpret based on our own fascinations towards that object, kind of like a hobby. So, because of this I went away from organisms as things, and I can’t really go to adventurous sceneries as that is more a place then thing. So in that case, I think a really awesome thing about nature are clouds.  

For those of you who have not really learned anything about clouds, there is a very diverse amount of clouds with 10 major cloud types, as well as many differences in altitude, composition, and shape that classify a cloud to what it specifically is known as. Clouds could range from just fog at surface level, to clouds in the troposphere being fairly close clouds at 6-10 km above sea level, to clouds up in the mesosphere that are vastly higher at about 50-80km above sea level. Some clouds are just thin white strips known as Cirrus Clouds, while other clouds are storm clouds such as Cumulonimbus Clouds and there are many more in between!

Credit: Kevin from Colorado Clouds Blog

Although, I do enjoy the science behind what clouds are, the reason I personally think that clouds are fascinating is in “their being”, if that makes sense. What I am trying to say that if what a cloud does, as it seemingly does nothing. It is suspended in the air, just sitting there doing nothing, going where the wind takes it, not a care in the world. I think it’s poetic in a way, being free from the chaotic surface of our world, yet in its freedom it does nothing, it acts if everything is futile. Funny enough how there is a fairly opposite term used for people that is against the notion used by clouds which is for people to be grounded. Being grounded according to the Cambridge Dictionary means that someone is making good decision and does not say or do stupid things. You can understand the analogical idea behind the term, as it resembles one’s own stability in their life as when you are fully on the ground you have a stable platform to stand on and go forward.

Photo via <a href="https://www.goodfreephotos.com/">Good

However, there is no term or phrase placed on people that directly opposes people who are not grounded. Providing no really justification for a people that are “afloat”. It would be seemingly undesirable to be “afloat” if it goes against being grounded, as a person who is grounded is seemingly sensible. This puts the idea of what clouds do to be somewhat unnatural within logical view of society, even though it is of natural design, which to me, that is a truly amazing thing that nature gives us as it has a philosophical contradiction of what is desirable and even what being “sensible” truly is with our societal views.

[cmenvs3000-2018-blog]

Music is a Little Loonie

Music is wherever a listener is willing to hear it in nature. Every single sound that is created by a falling leaf, or the wind through the trees, or the rain pounding the earth is a composition like none other. Much like beauty, this kind of music is completely open to interpretation. As the text for this course shows, it is up to a listener, or an interpreter, to find what makes it unique to the listener. Somebody who appreciates the song of a wild bird will hear nature in the springtime sound of the chickadee. Somebody who does not tune into this kind of music, will hear nothing but a distant sound.

For me, nature has found its way into every art form, even music. Especially in early instruments, there is some reliance found in some concepts of nature. For example, wind instruments rely on the resonance of the air flowing through their chambers. This sound mimics the way wind rushes through rocky outcrops or the hollow of a tree.

Nature is found in the very origin of many wind instruments. According to encyclopedia Britannica, it is thought that wind instruments were first created by blowing air through various natural objects, including branches, bone, shells, and various hollowed objects. Creating sounds with objects found in nature inspires curiosity in the user. Even now, children will often find ways to make sounds using sticks, rocks, or even just their bare hands. I recall as a child we would frequently attempt to make loon calls using our hands, trying to blow air through them just right.

Of course, I never succeeded. But alas, many people find success, amusement, and inspiration through such activities. Not only is nature involved in music through the materials we use, but it is also often the sound that we mimic. Whether it be through bird calls, or even modern synthesized sounds of wind or rushing waves that could be incorporated into music.

In case you’re interested in doing your own at home loon calls, just like me and my siblings did when we were young, here are some helpful pieces of information. First, let’s figure out which loon sound you would like to do. The Loon Preservation Committee has some helpful audios to identify different loon sounds. According to this, our hand version might just be a mixture of the wail and the tremolo call, which likely causes a lot of confusion in the loon community.

Now here is a helpful video (which I found on Youtube) of how to do the hand loon call. Give it a try and let me know if you can get it (but don’t offend any loons!)

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Hi! I really enjoyed that you went about the idea of music through wind instruments as I think that’s a really great and clever example of how nature and music are symbiotic so to speak. I myself have never tried making a loon call before so I really appreciate your explanation of loon calls and the video! In my own post I mentioned music being a form of beauty that you hear and not see and you said a very similar thing but called it an art form and it makes a lot of sense! That honestly made me think about the similarities between beauty and art which now that I think about it, they are very intertwined. I’d say that in both cases of art and beauty they are applied to music in both the physical aspect that creates music and the music itself. A big difference between our posts I would say is although we both said music can be heard everywhere, you seemed to dive deeper in the physical aspect of music creation (through the wind instruments), while I went a bit more just into the sounds themselves (I know you also mentioned sounds but you didn’t write as much about that in your post). Not saying that either case is better/worse than the other just a cool idea of how although we have the same thoughts on the question, our thought differ on the post. Thanks for the video again, will try to remember it next time I got the opportunities to use it!

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

The beauty of music

Ah music. Personally, music is something that I deeply cherish as I think that the gift of beauty does not only have to be seen but can also be heard (as well as the other senses). Funny enough, reading “Where is music in nature?”, my first thought was well, everywhere, and thinking about it more I still agree with that. If you can move you can dance, and if you can make a sound you can be music. As I believe music is just a remedy of what the laws of nature gives us, where instruments are just a manipulation of that sound given to provide something “musical”. Though I don’t think music can be heard exclusively through instruments, but can also just be heard from anything and anywhere. Music can be heard deep in a forest, where the music in this case is the rustling leaves, the birds chirping, the deer’s stomping on the leaves and grass, etc. The same goes within a less “natural” location, when we were creating our masterpiece song in the lab last Tuesday someone used their bottle cap and pocket knife to create musical sound, and another person grabbed broken glass and put it in a closed container which made a cool noise and you shake it. The point being that we enhanced the music for our song with items that wouldn’t have been asked upon normally to make music. 

Photo by: Iryna Yeroshko

Another fun thought that came into my head about how anything can be musical is actually from my childhood show Drake and Josh. In one of the episodes the there was a big storm that made everyone have to stay indoors and the power went out, so no one had anything to do. In this seemingly miserable situation everyone started making music by just using their hands to thump on something and clap which was all that was necessary for the beat of “We Will Rock You” by Queen. Although I enjoy reminiscing about these iconic childhood moments, it does have a purpose with my belief that music is everywhere in nature, and I think their real beauty in that.

Written by: George Doty IV   Directed by: Steve Hoefer 

As for if you flipped the question to, “Where is nature in music?”, then I would have a lot more trouble attempting to explain my thought on that. This is mainly due to my thought that nature comes from its laws which I think are the laws that allow for music, thus making the question a bit nonsensical. Basically, my thought is that music is nature, but nature is not necessarily music. An analogy being that all bananas are fruits, but not all fruits are bananas, and because of this line of thought nature cannot be in music … hopefully that wasn’t too confusing.

[mpenvs3000-2018-blog]

The eye of the beholder

The concept of art is fascinating. The idea of expression through a creative medium that serves no purpose other than to convey the creator’s perception of the world is something that has been called uniquely human. The opportunities are vast and no two works of art are alike, because no two people view the world the same way. That to me is the beauty of it, that’s why we are so intoxicated by the idea of art. Whether it be poetry, painting, music, drawing, sculpting, dancing, there are endless individual ways to express yourself through art. Regardless of if you have extensive education in the subject or none at all, we can all create and appreciate art in our own ways.

So who am I to interpret art? I am a human, and I believe that is the only qualification I need. I have my own subjective understanding of the world, and you reading this have one that is unique to you, and that’s where the beauty of art comes from. However, this concept can be both a blessing and a challenge in the context of a nature interpreter.

(Moon River, June 2018) 

What do you see in this photo that strikes you as beautiful? The water, trees, rocks, sky, etc? To me it is the stillness of the water and the reflections. The tranquility of the scene was especially beautiful after a not-so-calm day of paddling.

The interpreter sees beauty in what they present, otherwise there would be no passion to have driven them down that career path. The problem arises when you realize that what you may connect to could be completely missed by someone you are trying to share it with. In some cases, no matter how hard you try, that person will not understand the connection the same way you do. They could however see something that you do not. This is where the subjective nature of beauty can be used as a tool for the interpreter. As an example, on the class trip to the Art Gallery of Guelph I experienced something that I was slightly frustrated with. As we were viewing scenes from the film 1745, our guide spoke through the duration of the viewing about what she believed the aspects of the film to represent. I agree that background was needed so we could understand it, but I found myself wishing for the opportunity to take what she had said and use it as a foundation for my own subjective take on the film through watching it undisturbed with time to think.

To put what I am saying into a different context, imagine you are on a guided walk in the forest. As you go along, your guide is consistently talking about what they find fascinating. Of course, this is their job and they are passionate about it so it is perfectly understandable. But what if you aren’t as interested in the details they are? What if the interpreter is unable to connect with what you are interested in? Would you want the opportunity for a pause, to stand there in silence for a moment and observe what is happening around you? To make your own connections? It is impossible to connect with everyone, but if you explain where you draw beauty, whether it be art or nature, and challenge your audience to find beauty themselves, then you have used the subjectivity of beauty as a tool to connect the unconnected.

You may not be able to fully understand your audience every time, but if you can get them to find beauty themselves then you may ignite a spark that wasn’t lit before, and that’s beautiful.

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Hi! I found myself very intrigued with your post and although I think the general idea of our perceptions of the blog prompts are fairly similar, I don’t fully agree with your entire post, though just being things outside of the beauty in itself. The thing I would honestly disagree with you about being human to being a qualification for interpreting art. I get it that art is a human expression that is seen to attempt to manifest in meaning with other humans, but I would think that we have no ability to communicate with other organisms to a high degree and other organisms on Earth are less intelligent to interpret to others being a what hinders other organisms interpreting art, but not that it is functionally human exclusive. I.e. if an alien who has equal to or greater intellectual capabilities then they also would be able to interpret art.

Further in your post, I have a similar idea of interpretation as you do, as I really do believe that their art is far more of a subjective thought then a objective fact. Like your examples of the Art Gallery, although it can be nice to understand the desire expression of the artist as that is hard to fully comprehend alone, I think that the subjective views and our pace of understanding the views is more what the gift of beauty through art underlines. Also, I enjoyed the questions you asked afterwards, I think that proposing these questions really enforces the idea of how difficult it truly is to understand beauty and in your case through a social lens.

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

The beauty of art and the art of beauty

Honestly, who am I to interpret nature through art? Am I specifically gifted in some way that makes me more advanced in interpreting nature via art compared to everyone else. I hope the answer is obvious but of course not. The thoughts that are perceived through art are very subjective (if not exclusively), and to think that I have a special right to be an interpreter for art over others seems absurd. Art, I think is both a form of expression and a form of spiritual thought through what the art exudes on the individual. In the second form I mentioned, that would make art not necessarily an attempt to be art but through an idea of individual interpretation, and in that way I am not qualified to interpret for others.  But there is a very reasonable idea for “interpretation” that I can benefit others from with the first form is stated being that art is a form of expression and expression being of the artist. So through that, an interpreter can interpret the art work of someone from their light. This can be seen through the tour we had of the Art Gallery in the University of Guelph where the tour guide walks us through the different art works and gave us a general description of the artists and this peace from the artist. Though this still does not give me the personal right to interpret art, through the understanding that its an explanation of someone’s expression which benefits the listeners in the way of really providing them with similar ground of thought through raw expression.

My interpretation of “the gift of beauty”, I would say is similar in how a view beauty to the last section of the Thirteenth Principle in the textbook being “The Spiritual Dimensions of Beauty”. I think that beauty is to the point of being incomprehensible where there is no scientific/natural law that can explain beauty, nor is there really a way to provide a full interpretation of what your beauty is. In regards to this, I think beauty is felt from the soul which the idea of a soul, is, like beauty something that can not really be understood, but a notion people identify with. Which sparks the idea of why and is there a possibility to gain an understanding of beauty. I believe that their answer is no within our lifetime in the existence of our 3-dimensional universe, but if there is such a thing as some sort of existence after this one, then maybe the questions of the fundamental idea of beauty can be understood. With that being said, if I had to give an overall description of what the gift of beauty is, then the gift of beauty is in the ambience of what is perceived as beautiful.

[mjlenvs3000-2018]

Fires in the West

So since this week is a free write for the blog I decided that I wanted to reflect on my summer. This summer I had the opportunity to work in Waterton Lakes National Park in the south western area of Alberta. In 2016 I road tripped out west with my family for a month and got to see the Canadian Rockies for the first time. I immediately fell in love with the mountains and all the wildlife that surrounds those areas. So the following year I applied to national parks out west. I got to see some pretty amazing things while I was out there such as bears, herds of elk, mule deer and many many wildflowers.

Black bear cub (pc. me)

One thing that I knew prior to driving out to Waterton before the summer was that the previous year there was a massive forest fire which devastated the town and park. Fortunately the many firefighters and the parks Canada staff was able to come together to protect all the buildings and historic sites and evacuate all the people before the fire came into the town.

This past summer another fire hit the town and it shocked me how much fires effect an area. This fire specifically was started by a lightning strike that hit the southern edge of the park in Glacier National Park, Montana. The fire spread very fast into our park and ended up only 5 kilometers away from the townsite.

Burnt forest floor in Waterton (pc. me)

I realized this was the norm for people who live out west. Being from Ontario I did not realize that extreme forest fires occur in British Columbia every year. That doesn’t make them any less devastating but it was surreal going to areas that just have to deal with that on a regular occurrence in certain areas of Canada and the world. Immediately when I realized this I became more aware of looking into how many forest fires were going on in certain areas around me. It was crazy finding out that at certain points in the summer that there was around 600 fires in British Columbia alone, with only a portion of those being under control.

Lupins growing in Waterton after the fire (pc. me)

One thing that I learned about fires from being out west is that it can be really beneficial to the land to get that extreme treatment. I always learned in conservation classes and forest classes in school that forest fires and controlled burns are really good for an area’s biodiversity. I did not have a good concept of this until I saw it for the first time. The parks Canada staff who have lived in the area for some time explained to me how devastating the Kenow (2017) fire was and seeing all the burned areas was a shock. But as the seasons changed I participated in a wildflower count in the park and the botanists that were there were surprised and super pleased about how many more wildflowers were growing in the area because of the fire and the ash fertilizing the ground. It’s absolutely amazing to me that with so much destruction comes great beauty in following years.

Crocus flowers growing after the grass fire  (pc. me)

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Hey! I had a similar opportunity to live in Western Saskatchewan for the summer and I went over to BC and Alberta’s rocky mountain a few times then. I also had a similar shock with the forest fires in BC, before hand I had no idea that they were this frequent and the forest fire smoke was even visible in my area in Saskatchewan about 6 hours from Banff. It was really a surreal couple months as from early July until I left in August the smoke was always there, sometimes not as dense but nonetheless there. Like you I also learned a bit about the fact that there are benefits to the fires as well and that it isn’t just doom and gloom, but it’s great to get that experience and knowledge that would never really of been known to you if you didn’t go to Alberta! 

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

What I am thinking about ...

So I read this prompt ... well not a real prompt back on the first day it was released since I wanted to get it done as soon as possible because my week was pretty booked with midterms and assignments. When I read it I thought to wait since I wasn’t sure how everyone else would react to it and wanted to wait to see other people’s blogs. This was fairly uncharacteristic of me as so far I haven’t been looking at anyone's blogs before I submitted my own because I didn’t want to be subconsciously influenced in any way when writing my blog. Though seeing as I was free to write about ANYTHING I was a bit stumped as to how to start it off. Should I think of a cool and creative story that is unique to me, or should I write about something more simple maybe something that we can all relate to in some way. 

Creator:MaxPixel's contributors             Credit:https://www.maxpixel.net/

In the end I waited and now it’s deadline day in the last hour, and I still am befuddled on what to write down. So I came to the conclusion to write about my befuddlement and hope that it’s a less befuddled post then my own mind is. Diving deeper into this non-topic topic, I’d like to go back to my original dilemma how I couldn’t of firmly thought of one topic to blog about even though I literally have an infinite amount of topics to choose from. LITERALLY INFINITE. That in itself is my boggling, to think that the amount of possible conversation that could occur with different topics and yet in our lives it seems that we haven’t even got to the quadruple digits of possible conversations. That all in a very social environment where just about everyone talks everyday to someone else, absolutely crazy. Then how out of an infinite amount of conversations do we really not scratch the surface of possible conversations. My personal thoughts of this is kind of in the lines of my subconscious thoughts when I first read this blog prompt almost a week ago. I showed indecision in that first moment due to my lack of understanding of what I would feel comfortable to write and display to the public. From that I think that we put a lot of barriers on our conversation topics due to our own comfortability for a topic. If a topic would make us feel anxious, stupid, or the topic itself is more influenced to not talk about through society in general, then its understandable why people avoid certain topics. In the end though is the lack of comfortability worth what the conversation can exude and teach you, and although I myself have had this occur to me, I’d like to think no. I personally would like to think that furthering our boundaries to conversation to maybe things that we never thought about makes us more experienced individuals then we were yesterday and I personally think that’s an amazing quality to have.

[spenvs3000-2018-blog]

The Puzzle

“There is no peculiar merit in ancient things, but there is merit in integrity, and integrity entails the keeping together of the parts of any whole, and if these parts are scattered throughout time, then the maintenance of integrity entails aknowledge, a memory, of ancient things. …. To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it.” (Edward Hyams, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation). 

When first reading this quote, I was pretty confused as to what it was saying, I felt as though I was just going in circles not grasping any of what it was truly trying to describe. At first I thought of the definition of merit, which is to claim respect, and of integrity, which is, adherence to moral and ethical principals, honesty. Then my thought process proceeded as so

It is speaking of there being no merit in ancient things, but yet because there is merit in integrity (honesty) then don’t these parts that make up a whole become those ancient things and therefore have merit, but does that merit only apply when they are scattered through time?

Re reading this thought process really confused me even more, so I broke the quote up into parts and things began to become clearer. I think the main take home here was that a whole is the sum of its parts. If you take merit in a particular thing they you too merit those smaller parts that make up that whole thing. Much like a puzzle you can’t see the whole picture without every little piece, making all those smaller pieces just as important as the whole puzzle.

Photo by: Olga Berrios  

The second part of the quote with the train station, has two parts to it! Those being that all we do, every part and every thing involved in our life is timeless, something does not cease to exist once we are selves are done with it. These parts make up the whole and without even one of them the picture would be changed forever. The other part is that everything that exists is not only existing because it is soley in our life. We share this world with about 7 billion other people. Thus, it is a reminder to us to consider the perspective of our past through the eyes of others and to also see everything in the eyes of others. We may only know of that train station because we passed through it but that train station could also be the spot where a husband met his wife. Everything has a different meaning to everyone.

It is also kind of interesting that of all the words to describe breaking down this quote, the word UNPACK was used. Over the years we pack up our past, because we are either ashamed or simply just carrying it around with us. But sometimes in our life we need to unpack the past that we have stored away and look back to learn from mistakes we have made or good things that have gone well. And I myself think this is what the quote is implying, that there is true integrity and honesty in looking back and learning from your past and realizing how it has and will continue to shape you.

Sao Miguel, Portugal. For the longest time I never got to see the town or house where my dad grew up, and it felt as though a part of my past that was linked to him was missing. Being able to see this house gave me a deeper look into who my Dad is and why. I am eternally thankful for the merit he had in the ancient things that built his life today, with me as his daughter. 

[lpenvs3000-2018]

Steph, 

I really loved how you decided to take a look at the ‘unpacking’ of history. I agree, history should not be a burden, or a heavy backpack weighing you down! Although history and the past will always be a roller coaster ride of good things and bad, it is not something to hide away and forget about. A read a lot of blogs on mindfulness and they all mention the same thing: “Don’t dwell on the past, and don’t worry about the future. Just live in the moment and in the present.” I only partially agree with these blogs, as they give advice on how NOT TO WORRY. However, I believe that in order to truly appreciate life and keep on learning, you cannot forget about the things in the past. Because, in the end, the past shapes the present, which all precedes the future, does it not? 

Lili

[ckenvs3000-2018-blog]

Oooh I love this! I was also thinking about history as a backpack, but I was thinking in terms of a place having a backpack of stories to reveal. I hadn’t thought about history itself, but this idea of ‘unpacking’ history is really cool! It’s all to easy to try and forget the negative things that happen in our lives, or sugar coat the bad things throughout history. I mean in history classes we memorize the names of every WWII battle Canada helped win, or the countries we liberated, but skim as briefly as possible over residential schools and all the other ways Canada has mistreated it’s aboriginal peoples. We want to think of ourselves as the protagonist - the hero - in our own story. And I think this has negative effects beyond just potentially forgetting and thus repeating our mistakes. If we only think of the highlights in the lives of those who came before us, does it make our own downfalls seem that much worse in comparision? And if we must always be the hero, does it mean we paint someone else who is perhaps innocent the villian? 

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

Hi! I also struggled a lot to really comprehend the message from the quote, and I found it difficult to really place the merit of these two things as against each other and/or interconnected. Something I did not think about though was interpreting integrity as honesty rather then integrity as seen in a structure for example. I also interpreted the quote as pieces making a whole in the end, but I thought that he was interpreting that with the knowledge of each piece providing worth to the whole. So as to my original thoughts, I would interpret the puzzle as the present picture, while the individual puzzle pieces would be a part of the past that lead to the completed puzzle which gives it worth. From your interpretation though, I’ve altered my thoughts on Edward’s quote, where maybe having enough pieces of the puzzle although does not fully complete the picture of the present, still gives integrity to what the puzzle is showing.

With the train analogy, I had a bit of a different interpretation of it, but none the less I do think what you said about the train is valid for the Edward’s message. It can pass through people’s minds that the world in their immediate vicinity is not all that exists and many things are happening in everyone’s lives that makes them who they are. SPOILERS: Also … have you watched How I met your Mother, maybe there was another reason or just random luck that you used that example but my immediate thought was the finale of that show!

[ddenvs3000-2018-blog]

There is no peculiar merit in ancient things, but there is merit in integrity, and integrity entails the keeping together of the parts of any whole, and if these parts are scattered throughout time, then the maintenance of integrity entails a knowledge, a memory, of ancient things. …. To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it.

(Edward Hyams, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation)

I’d like to put what I think the meaning Edwards intended for the quote was and then my own interpretation of it. To start, Edward believes that things from the past have no worth to them, which I think includes both moments/events and physical objects, as although there is worth in antiques financially, the object in it itself does not contain worth in what it can do for you. The next thing that he states is that there is merit in integrity and what it entails. I think that integrity is considered to have worth for Edwards as the concept of integrity has a high implication to stability in human society, and stability is something that is considered almost all the time as something that is good and worth having. Edwards then goes on to state that if the “parts” are in different split up in the past, then the idea of integrity brings these parts together. The idea behind this I believe is that the past with no knowledge of how it turned into the present does not have any worth, but if the concept of integrity is connected with “ancient things”, then it has worth. He lastly provides an analogy of a train passing a railway station to the idea that the railway station will still have worth after the train passes it. Edwards in this sentence I think wanted to clarify with the audience of what his message was.

Creator: MaxPixel's contributors           Credit: https://www.maxpixel.net/

Now to be honest when I first read this quote I thought I got the message generally, but to me it seemed that I didn’t fully get the wording which put some extra strength to the quote. So I read it a few times over focussing on how it’s being stated, and after attempting to focus on certain attributes, honestly … maybe I’m just bad at this but the message still didn’t really sync as well as I wanted it to in my head. When he talked about merit, although I think it’s not too revolutionary in thought, does make sense and ancient things as itself also does, but the first time I read the quote I did attribute the past onto ancient things before I realised Edward didn’t. The next part which is what I thought was the sink of the quote is the connection of integrity to ancient things, and I definitely agree with Edwards that putting the puzzle pieces together of the past put’s context to the present. Also, I don’t think he was particularly going this way, but I think the past shapes the present in its entirety and pushes notions for the future. I think Edward attributed the past specifically to appreciation, and the relevance of the pasts existence which I think is very true, but does not put significance into it. In accordance with how I perceived the message I would personally think that the train analogy should have been about an abandoned rail station, rather then an active one. As the working rail station has a targeted present-day function, while an abandoned rail station has lost its targeted function, cementing an idea that that station is “in” the past while having worth in its effect on the present in a multitude of way such as more advanced railways, giving shelter to the homeless, individual effects, etc…

Author: bolandrotor 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Montpelier_railway_station_HDR.jpg