Maddy Darling

[madenvs3000f23]

Blog post 8

Hey guys! One of the most amazing things about nature in my opinion, are animals and their young and their instincts that help them survive from birth. If you haven't already read my previous blog posts, I will let you know right now how much I love turtles! Since I love them so much they are the example I will be using for my blog today.

When turtles are born, they hatch in a nest buried in the ground and instinctively find their way first to the surface and to the nearest body of water. How do they do this? Instincts! They are just born with this natural instinct to first dig their way out of the nest and then head toward the water. It's not fully understood how they know where to go.

I love being able to teach people about turtles but this is one of the harder things to understand especially for kids. The fact that the mom lays the eggs and may never see her babies is a difficult thing to wrap your head around when you rely so heavily on your parents! It truly is a crazy thing yet they have adapted to up their chances of survival by laying more eggs. While birds may only lay three or four eggs turtles will lay at least 20 (for snapping turtles, less for painted turtles). The older the turtle the more eggs she will lay! The most I've ever seen in a nest was 55. The more eggs she lays the more likely one of them will survive to adulthood.

Many animals have similar stories with their young where there is little to no caregiving provided for their young. It's hard to believe they can survive right away with no help! This is one of the most incredible things about nature to me and I hope you enjoyed reading more about turtles!

[aehenvs3000f23]

My journey in the gym

I decided to take advantage of this open blog prompt to switch up the conversation from nature interpretation to something else that makes up a big part of who I am, which is going to the gym.

Throughout highschool I had an on and off relationship (definitely more off than on) with the gym. Every summer I would work up a ball of motivation and sign up for the free summer student membership at Goodlife. In the beginning, I would go to the gym a few times a week and then by the time August rolled around would lose all motivation and give up. This same pattern happened the few times I bought myself a real membership in highschool. I remember the last time I started a “gym phase” it was cut short by the first Covid lockdown and between March of 2020 and January of 2023, I stepped foot in a gym 3 times.

Fast forward to January of 2023, I finally decided that I wanted to give the gym another try, but not just for a few weeks this time. So, I signed up for a membership at the campus gym and gathered up a few of my friends that worked out often to show me how to do everything right. I started going to the gym 3-4 times a week, and always had a friend with me to ensure my form was proper (and to keep me entertained). I immediately started to notice how good I felt walking out of the gym after a good workout. This feeling is what motivated me to keep showing up, sort of like a positive feedback loop. After a few months, motivation lost most of its impact (but not in the way you think). Going to the gym became such a normal part of my routine that it felt wrong to not show up. It is so crazy to think that just last year working out was so unimportant to me, and now I can't imagine spending a few days out of the gym.

This summer my best friend and I decided that we were ready for a new challenge. So, we agreed that once we got back to Guelph in the fall, we would do 75 Hard together. This fitness challenge consists of 5 main rules; pick a diet and stick to it (no cheats, no alcohol), 2 45-minute workouts a day (one must be outside), 3.8 L of water a day, 10 pages of a non-fiction book a day, and take a daily progress pic. We started the challenge on September 11, and after 32 days, I quit.

I say that I “quit” rather than “failed” because I did not see it as a failure. This challenge allowed me to form new habits such as reading daily (I think the last book I read front to back was in grade 10 English), drinking more water, going on daily outdoor walks, and reaching for healthier food options. You might be wondering, if I liked those aspects of the challenge why did I quit?

I quit 75 hard because I felt like it was destroying my relationship with the gym. I started to feel like the gym was a chore, rather than a choice. Each day I would start my timer as I entered the gym, and the moment I hit 45 minutes I had no more motivation to workout. My goal for the day was complete, and thus I was too. Before this challenge I had no problem spending 90 minutes in the gym, so when I noticed that I was struggling to continue my workouts beyond the 45-minute mark, I started to reassess my fitness goals. After 4-5 days of thinking about it, I decided to quit.

I don’t regret my decision to start or end the challenge one bit. I think that I learned a lot about myself and my goals this past month and plan to use the next few weeks to repair my relationship with the gym, in hopes that I can get it back to what it used to be, while still holding onto the good habits I have formed.

If you made it this far thank you for reading :)

And for anyone wondering, my best friend is still going!

[madenvs3000f23]

Hey! That is a great story, that sounds like a super hard challenge and I applaud you for giving it a try. I completely understand the feeling that it was ruining your relationship with the gym. I just started going back to the gym regularly and I do it because its fun and it makes me feel good but if what you're doing becomes something you have to do vs something you want to do it really changes the experience. Being able to include reading and hydration into your everyday life are some great outcomes on their own!

[madenvs3000f23]

Blog post 7

Music is in nature in so many ways. Through the sound of a river flowing or birds calling, there are many places that music can be found in nature. I love waking up in the summer with my window open to the sound of birds chirping. It’s like waking up to a personal alarm clock that gently wakes you up. I also love when I’m on vacation and can hear the calls from tropical birds and the crazy sounds the bugs make throughout the day, it’s a unique song that blends all the sounds together. They are sounds that you would think would clash together in your ears but somehow, they play in an almost harmony with one another presenting as music to my ears. Another great natural sound is that of whales calling. Their deep almost mournful cries echoing through the ocean plays a tune that reflects differently to everyone. Although I interpret their songs as a peaceful almost sad song, I know they have many calls for different purposes and someone else might interpret it in a more positive way than me. Sometimes when I can’t sleep I will listen to whale calls to calm myself and bring me to a place where my mind is resting, I find they have that capability for me.

Finding nature in music is a tougher one to tackle. As mentioned in some of the reading, sounds from nature can be used in songs as background noise and almost as an instrumental effect. But I think finding nature in music comes more from a personal memory. Like being out on a hike and getting this feeling of comfort, that you are safe and happy, then getting that same feeling through a song. Association is, in my opinion, a large part of finding nature in music. Whether it be through a memory or through a shared feeling. Many people might have certain songs that they really associate with nature whether it be a campfire song or simply a song they listened to on a picnic one day. 

A song that always reminds me of nature and of a beautiful landscape is the sound of music. As one of my favourite movies, I have always dreamed of visiting the rolling hills of Austria as Julie Andrews does in the beginning of the movie. There are some lines from the song in particular that really just bring nature and music together so beautifully. For example, ‘To laugh like a brook as it trips, and falls over stones on its way’ you can almost hear the sound of water tumbling over stones and when she is singing it in the movie it brings this piece to the song that just makes it that much better. The first line of the song ‘the hill are alive with the sound of music’ just carries this message that nature and music can be together in harmony.

[madenvs3000f23]

Blog post 6

The thing I mostly take from this quote is the part where it say’s that something only exists as we pass through it. Although I don’t think dwelling on our own past is a wise choice, to completely forget the past won’t help anyone. For example, if we simply ignored the history of discovery of the origin of species we wouldn’t know half the things we do now, or another way to look at it is that we would simply be rediscovering the same thing over and over again without making any new progress. We use history to build on it and learn from, without it we wouldn’t be where we are today. The past is, as said, spread through time and it’s our job to not only interpret the part we are in now but to look at the past and interpret it as well.

To be a good nature interpreter, we must know the history behind what we are interpreting. If we don’t know the history of what we are interpreting, we won’t even know half the story.  For example, if we are out on a hike and start discussing the different species of birds we might see, it’s important to think back to Darwin’s finches. Although Darwin’s finches are located in the Galapagos islands, the basis of what he discovered is applicable to many species around the world. To think about how these birds all became different species originating from the same bird and adapting to their environment is an important piece of knowledge to have. It can help us understand why some birds we see here might have different shaped beaks, or why they are certain colours and have certain sounds they make. When we think about the discovery of these species and what made them different species to begin with, this can help us identify birds that may look similar now by differentiating minor features like their beak shape. 

This is just a small example of how important history is for us to hold onto and build on. We need the past to move forward and learn from. 

Darwin’s finches. Galapagos Conservation Trust. (2023, July 4). https://galapagosconservation.org.uk/species/darwins-finches/ 

[madenvs3000f23]

Blog 5

Although I am finding it interesting to learn about different aspects of nature interpretation and being able to talk about them through our blogs, doing a blog post on what we are thinking about is just what I need this time of the semester! As we have all been getting through midterms and making our way through the semester, I have personally spent the last week trying to enjoy the last of the warm weather before the cold front comes in. Last week I was swimming in the river near my house on the days that were 25+ degrees and this week I am getting out my hats and scarves because the wind is so chilly! 

 For this blog post I am going to take the opportunity to talk a bit more about where I live and my favourite animal, turtles! Bear with my thoughts as I try to reign them in through this blog post! If you have read my first blog post, you probably already know how much I love my little slice of heaven called Eden Mills. I am always happy to brag about our town and I feel that it fits so well with this course that I have to talk about it! Currently I volunteer through RARE with turtle conservation in my village. Ideally after graduating, I would love to continue to work in turtle conservation (preferably somewhere warm and on the ocean) as they are a species that is so highly impacted by humans, whether it be through garbage dumped in the ocean or what we see more locally of turtles being hit by cars as we build roads through their wetlands. 

 When I’m out either waiting for the baby turtles to hatch or waiting for a turtle to finish laying her eggs people will often stop and ask me why I do it. A valid question as I’m sometimes waiting for hours on end! It gives me the opportunity to talk about turtles and why I care so much and hopefully it inspires them to care as well! I feel that this course will really help me when I’m in a situation like that again where I get to interpret the life of turtles to someone who has taken the time to ask me about it. For example, even if I release 100 babies safely in a wetland in the appropriate place (muddy shallow water with lots of coverage, babies spread out so they are not too close together in case a heron comes along), there is a very low chance that any of them will make it to sexual maturity. Although all this information might not be as interesting to others as it is to me, something that can usually get people interested is the release of baby turtles! Being able to find something that can grab the audience’s attention then gives us the opportunity to share this other information with them. 

I've attached some pictures of the babies I got to participate in releasing this year! I hope you enjoy!

[madenvs3000f23]

Blog 4

Because art is subjective, I feel like anyone can be a good artist in their own right. Whether it is through music, photography, or drawing (or even more), there are so many opportunities for art, especially in this day and age. To interpret nature through art narrows down the options a bit for what medium you can use but there are still an abundance of options. I have a history in photography having gone to school for it previously, although I am far from an expert, it is a passion of mine. My favourite thing to photograph? Nature. Whether it be the leaves with dew on them first thing in the morning or the fox that roams the neighbourhood, I love being able to shoot nature. To be able to share this passion of mine and connect it to my other passion of animals and nature would be a great way for me to interpret nature through art. The feeling I get when I’m out on nature silently waiting for an animal to cross my cameras path is a feeling of serenity. I’ve been really lucky to be able to explore the connections between these two passions of mine and hope to share this and this feeling with others. 

Being able to share a feeling through a photo is a gift. We might get to experience this through National Geographic for example, looking at the phenomenal photos they bring to light. Making everyone who sees it feel something just by observing a still life. 

This type of interpretation is beneficial for people who may not be able to easily access nature on their own due to either mobility issues or mental barriers. Offering them a way to enjoy nature and experience it through photography or videography is a way to extend accessibility to reach a wider audience.

[madenvs3000f23]

Blog 3

Privilege in my mind is an advantage one group has over another. Whether it be an individual or a community, privilege is everywhere. I am privileged in many ways, I live in a beautiful village abundant with nature, I am in university getting an education, even just having my laptop to do my schoolwork on is a privilege that I recognize I have. These are all things that I am lucky enough to have that others might not and its sometimes easy to forget that we carry these advantages in life and take them for granted.

After doing some reading of our textbook I learned a lot about why people don’t necessarily attend nature interpreter events, reasons ranging from lack of knowledge of the event to barriers (including cultural and language as well as physical). While the lack of knowledge can be remedied with more advertising at locations (national parks and such) barriers are more likely caused due to privilege. For example, even visiting a national park can cost for a day trip and to camp and participate in other activities costs more as well. To be able to get there you need a vehicle and equipment if you intend to camp which adds more expenses as well as needing time off work to go in the first place potentially losing income to go. Although all of this is hypothetical for most of us, for some it is the difference between going and not going. Going and not going could be the difference for kids having experiences that could spark something in them for their future. 

Going back to my previous blog post, I could see myself doing interpretation for children and being able to potentially give kids who might otherwise not get the chance an opportunity to get out and experience nature in the way I can. Being able to give someone that is a privilege in its own. That I could share my experience and knowledge with someone who might not otherwise get a chance to learn about it is a huge privilege that I am grateful to have. 

Adapting programs to the audience would be a huge part of interpretation. Recognizing that someone doesn’t come from the same walk of life as you is so important and being able to interact the someone without making them feel lesser of themselves is a big part of being a nature interpreter in my opinion. 

[madenvs3000f23]

Blog #2

Describe your ideal role of environmental interpreter. What might it entail? Where might it be? What skills might you need?

My ideal role as an environmental interpreter would include working with children preferably, after all they are the future! I imagine working with small groups teaching about the importance of nature and how it plays a role in our lives whether we realize it or not. I would specifically love to teach about turtles as so many kids are afraid of snapping turtles and being able to turn that fear into respect would be great. Turtle conservation also happen to be a passion of mine.

With so many kids nowadays being more attached to their screens than anything, it's so important to give them the opportunity to explore nature and encourage questions. Whether their questions are about animal poop (a classic kid question) or what plants are safe to eat in the forest it's important to encourage these curiosities so they continue to grow.

I have always loved kids and am comfortable interacting with them but its not an easy task. A challenge with this job would be holding their attention and keeping them interested. That where knowledge from this class would come in handy like knowing different learning styles and how to adjust your method of communication based on your audience.

Being able to do something like this where I live would be ideal as it has many opportunities for learning in nature with minimal risk for the kids and nature with an abundance of turtles!

With a mom as a kindergarten teacher I can imagine some of the problems I would run into working with small children, however being able to share my knowledge (however limited) with kids is always a fun experience and is something I feel is so important.

[mpsenvs3000f23]

Blog Post 1

I grew up in the quiet suburbs of Minnesota where everyone spent their weekends and summers at their cottage partaking in any number of outdoor sports. It was simply an expectation that family vacations involved nature to some extent, which is hardly surprising considering that Minnesota is renowned for its natural beauty. This instilled in me a sense of comfort with nature from a young age. Even during tornado season when every so often the sound of sirens would send us into our basements, we separated this experience from our scenic vacations 

This summer my relationship to nature swiftly evolved into something far more complex. I spent my summer at a wildlife sanctuary for a wildlife rehabilitation internship living in a small trailer that sat at an unforgiving temperature of 35 degrees. Each day I witnessed what the animals perceived to be the fight for their life as I tried to help them and they, in turn, tried to inflict as much damage as possible. Their brutality and desperation invoked an image of a scene in the wilderness where death by combat was simply a fact of life. Nature was swiftly established in my mind as an unforgiving, inescapable arena whose participants were trapped in the fight for their life. However, it was a lightning strike that truly established my newfound relationship with the great outdoors. I was with my coworkers in the resource center, a cabin with glassless windows, when a thunderstorm hit. My coworker was filming the storm when lightning struck so close that we all felt the electricity in the air. Later, while rewatching the video, we saw the image of lightning branching across the sky, causing a small fire in the treeline. If we had been outside, we would’ve risked injury or death by an event so swift that our human senses would have been unable to warn us. My account will never be able to articulate the primal fear we all felt in that moment, nor can I even quite recall the feeling now, just the lingering sense of newfound vulnerability. This helpless feeling evolved to form a newfound respect and sense of humility in the face of an uncontrollable force. 

From a young age, my father offered me a unique perspective on the natural world and a sense of place. My father grew up in a small town in Maine and his family spent summers on a rustic campsite. Through his stories I learned every detail of a place I had never laid eyes on and yet it was a place my mind wandered to often. I heard about surprise encounters with wildlife, how his tent felt like home despite the cold nights, and how packing up at the end of the summer often filled him with a lingering nostalgia, knowing that his time there was as measured as his childhood. His narrative was so raw and powerful that I did not need to step foot outside of my own home to find a sense of place within this tiny campsite in rural Maine. A true sense of place transcends physical and chronological boundaries and my father expertly worked around this to allow his children to experience such an important piece of his past.

[madenvs3000f23]

Although that sounds like a terrifying experience it also sounds like you really learned a lot from it! I've always wanted to work at a wildlife rehab centre but I seem to sometimes forget the harshness and sadness you might experience working in that situation.

Its amazing how your father was able to be a nature interpreter to you probably without even realizing it impacting you so much! being able to talk about something so personal and important to you like that is an amazing way to really help intrigue the audience, something we all might need in this course.

Thank you for sharing your journey so far with us!

-maddy

[twsenvs3000f23]

Week 1

Prompt: Describe your current relationship with nature. How has this developed/evolved? Who offered you “a sense of place,” as described in our textbook

Hello everyone! I'm excited to learn all about what exactly interpretation is and how to become better at it over the course of this semester.

As long as I can remember I’ve always enjoyed being outside surrounded by nature, even as a kid playing soccer I would be thinking about how I would prefer being in the forest surrounded by plants and trees. Come the fall season I would always be outside in the woods or on a hike just enjoying the weather and the peacefulness around me. However, my relationship with nature is also one that's filled with curiosity, even when on a hike I always tend to find myself looking around at everything and wondering how everything around me interacts with its environment and what purpose it plays in its ecosystem. My curiosity also pushes me to want to explore more of my surroundings and walk off the path when I’m hiking or surrounded by nature but I stop myself and stay on the path to not disturb nature so that it remains undisturbed. 

My relationship with nature began simply by exploring a forest in my backyard when I was younger and finding all the variety in plants and wildlife fascinating. For a long time my relationship with nature stayed that way until I started to learn about plants ecosystems and their functions in school, after that I quickly realized that I enjoyed learning about nature and found myself growing more curious about it and began taking more classes related to ecosystems and plants. After learning to identify different plants and trees the forest began to look like a whole new place to me, the forest was full of plants I recognized and there were twice as many that I had no idea what they were which made me want to identify them and learn more about their place in the woods. After learning about the many aspects of ecology I feel even more comfortable surrounded by nature than ever before and I can only hope that feeling continues to grow.

As for “a sense of place” I think I found it on my own while exploring the forest behind my old house as a kid. The forest wasn't very big but it felt like I was always finding new things everytime I went in and by doing that so often I became more and more comfortable in the forest and found my own sense of place surrounded by all kinds of nature from small animals to trees and plants. I felt very at home in those woods because I grew up nearby for years and visited that forest as often as I could. With all the bad news that's around the world and the threat of global warming and climate change it sometimes feels difficult now to be as relaxed when I’m outside knowing all the harm humans are causing the planet. But I try my best to be sustainable whenever I can, even if it doesn't have a huge impact it still makes me feel better when I try to help.

[madenvs3000f23]

Hello!

I have a similar experience with nature being in my own 'backyard', what a great way to learn as a kid to be able to explore that curiosity in you so close to home! Educating yourself on different plant species is such a great way to encourage your own growth with the next step being to teach it to others, I think this will be a great asset for you as a nature interpreter.

I agree we are surrounded by bad news constantly in this world and finding our little piece of calm is great and for many of us in this class it seems that would be nature. Its so hard to push yourself to live sustainably sometimes when you feel like you don't make an impact but if we all do our part the impact will be made none the less!

Can't wait to hear about more of your knowledge on plant species, best of luck in the course!

-maddy

[madenvs3000f23]

Blog post 1

This blog was created for ENVS3000, University of Guelph. 

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of the University of Guelph. 

The University of Guelph is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by this blog.

Hello all, my name is Maddy, welcome to my blog!

I am based in Eden Mills, just outside of Guelph, Ontario. I have always been what my mom calls a ‘nature girl’. As a child, I would bring any animals I happened to catch in the house asking if I could keep them as pets, quickly learning that wild animals were meant to live outside.  Although I have always had a love for nature and the outdoors, as I’ve grown up I’ve been able to learn more about specific species as well as being able to pass on important lessons regarding respect for nature to a younger generation. For example, taking the kids I babysit out on walks through our local trail, I am able to show them different animals and teach them viewing these animals from a respectable distance as well as leaving the path the way it was when we arrived. I was taught by my parents and babysitters from my community and now I get to share with the children I care for as they grow up in our wonderful little village. 

Where I live, nature is abundant, I am very lucky to live in a place not only full of nature but full of people who respect nature. Although I always felt like everyone in our village respected nature it became very clear to me just how much a few years back. There was a large property going for sale in Eden Mills that used to be a camp (a camp that I once worked at with many others my age from the area). There was talk of it being bought and developed. In true Eden Mills fashion, 7 members of the community got together and purchased the property to prevent this from happening. They ended up severing the land and donating a section of it that is filled with trails to RARE preventing it from ever being developed. They sold the other four severed lots to families for family homes to be built. I get to be surrounded by a beautiful village full of flora and fauna every day whether it is simply walking the dog or admiring the animals in my yard through the window and part of the reason I can do that is thanks to those people. I am forever grateful that this group of people took action and helped preserve our little piece of heaven that is Eden Mills. It's these people that I am surrounded by that have given me a sense of place.