So Many Cool Things to Learn!

This morning's walk through the woods with Dan was the highlight for me so far. I could follow him around forever listening to all he has to say about the woods. My favorite thing to see was the porcupine shelter. I have never seen anything like that before. Walking the trail that the porcupine made made me feel very connected to the animal, as I got to experience firsthand a piece of its life.

It was extremely helpful to look at the molds of the different prints before we went out into the woods. I always seek tracks when I'm out hiking, and I always just give a guess of what I think it is just by instinct. Now, even though I probably would not be able to give an exact species, I could differentiate between dogs and cats, knowing that dogs have claws and more evenly placed toes and cats have retractable (and therefore not visible) claws as well as three humps on the palm.

I love listening to bird songs. It's a new love that only began once I started studying birds and learning about all the different individuals that are out there. It's this natural beautiful music that honestly I didn't pay much attention to before. Figuring out what bird is singing is almost like a game, and it's great to be out in the woods with someone that can help you figure it out and tell you if you are right with your guesses. I appreciated that Dan took the time to stop and figure out some bird songs.

Speaking of birds... the hermit thrush nest was something neat to see. I had no idea that they had blue eggs! I really hope that the fledgling makes it okay.

There was so much to learn from this morning, the snail tracks on the trees, the squirrels taking sap, the beetle larvae casing... I just tried to write down as much as I could so I can go back and let more of it soak in. I truly took a TON out of this morning's experience.

I appreciate the puzzle that Meg brought in for the class. I thought it was a great and creative way to review important terms and I think it helped some of the concepts from the reading sink in more. I really feel like I'm making a lot of progress when it comes to knowing things about the woods.

I was really looking forward to hearing from a local farmer. The history that this one man knows is amazing. I can't believe all of the things his family has accomplished, and I'm so glad they switched their land to be conserved right before it was almost bought for industry! While I'm not a Wal-Mart fan, it was fascinating to hear about the process of a Wal-Mart finding a place to build, and all of the possible benefits of having one in town. In general, the fact that Mr. Warren showed both sides to many stories made him someone whose information I could really trust. His observations about the wildlife in the area also gave me a perspective of someone who really knows the land and its patterns.

Unfortunately, a storm started rolling in by the end of the talk. I tried to stick it out as long as possible, but after getting struck by lightning last summer storms make me very very nervous. This one in particular really got to me, I think because I so badly wanted to stay and hear more about nature but at the same time nature was scaring me. I'm a little nervous about being way out in the woods if another storm comes, but that's just something I'm going to have to get used to because I'm certainly not spending the rest of my life indoors! : )

What a great day! I'm so excited about everything I learned today, and I'm looking forward to what tomorrow brings.