The Noland Trail 10/29/2019

I’ll be honest. I do not peg myself as a “nature person,” someone who loves going out into the woods, seeing the life inside of the trees, plants, and various animals. I tried to be that type of person, going out into the woods in my backyard, taking walks in my neighborhood, and when I was not hit by any sudden passion for the outdoors, I decided that that sort of thing was not meant for me.

This transition into college has made me more receptive to change and more knowledgeable and able to recognize the deeper meaning that is held in certain situations. This receptivity and acquiring of and ability to apply knowledge was present especially through this course, Sacred Journey and Communications, and especially through today’s class of being on the Nolan Trail.

While on the trail I noticed many things using my five senses. I saw the trees and heard the way that their leaves rustled in the wind. I saw how each tree and plant was truly formed for a specific purpose. The magnolia tree, with its green leathery leaves, and camouflaged brown cones, and distinct red balls. The leaves felt as they looked; tough yet smooth. The cones, however, were a surprise; because of how big and beautiful the tree was, the unpleasant smell of the cones was quite the contrast. However, breaking open the small red balls seen in the cone was another contrasting development, as the balls smelled good, so much so, I could smell them being a candle of some sort, sold by Bath and Body Works or even Yankee Candle.

My observation of the magnolia tree completed, I began to look at the tree with odd shaped yellow and green leaves, with balls comparable to a lacrosse ball, and I was fascinated. Imagine my increased fascination and disbelief when I heard that those lacrosse balls were walnuts. “Walnuts? These don’t look like any walnuts I’ve seen,” I thought. “But wait, I thought, the walnuts I have seen are usually domesticated, GMO-full, nuts that have gone through an extensive process. This right here may be the real deal.”

Trees must really be the oldest living things on this earth. Having withstanding so many natural disasters, they are around to tell the stories. One tree told the story of a brutal thunderstorm in which its bark was slashed, and the tree attempted to fix it. You can tell where it happened by not only the visual difference, but the physical difference. You can feel the rugged, rough bark of the trunk in comparison to the smooth, light brown “scar” of sorts, where the tree was slashed. There were other trees nearby too, and these trees told the story of Hurricane Isabel, a hurricane in which many trees in the Trail were knocked down or destroyed. These young trees in their place are a representation of and a commandment to the ancients.

As shown from the trees, the story of our history, and the story of our current being, is not one that can be comprehended by us, but by them. I decided to let the Trail tell me its story by walking away from others and standing in the middle of the trail. I closed my eyes and listened and thought. I heard the wind blowing and (unfortunately) felt the chill through my light jacket. I heard the calls of the crickets, cicadas, birds, and other animals. “Come back home! Where are you going! It’s getting cold, come underground!” Moving my feet, I felt the crunch of the leaves on the ground, as if the trees were trying to remind me of their significance and presence. I felt the power of the environment, the life of everything shining and glowing, making for quite the story.

However, I was reminded of the vulgarity and seeming superiority of man through the monument titled “Man Overcomes Wilderness.” There were four men, in the shape of a square, each holding an object that represented a subject of study; art, math, architecture/handywork, and literature/philosophy, all subjects now used in our culture. In the middle of the four men, was another man, who was raised quite higher above the rest, most likely to symbolize a general meaning for what each of the men had contributed to. This man was not alone, he was depicted overcoming and domesticating a horse, affirming my hypothesis that he was the average of the four men. This was the coming of civilization, when man conquered beast, and overcame wilderness, and that is something present in every single aspect of my life.

Overall, the outside tested my use of my senses; sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Through analytical observation of the Trail, including the trees, their leaves, the ground, the invasive species, the plant life, the animal-life, the insect-life, the cold, the everything, my desire to explore the wilderness and truly go into a fast from my everyday conveniences and life, grew.

I’ll be honest. I do not peg myself as a “nature person,” someone who loves going out into the woods, seeing the life inside of the trees, plants, and various animals. I tried to be that type of person, going out into the woods in my backyard, taking walks in my neighborhood, and when I was not hit by any sudden passion for the outdoors, I decided that that sort of thing was not meant for me.

This transition into college has made me more receptive to change and more knowledgeable and able to recognize the deeper meaning that is held in certain situations. This receptivity and acquiring of and ability to apply knowledge was present especially through this course, Sacred Journey and Communications, and especially through today’s class of being on the Nolan Trail.

While on the trail I noticed many things using my five senses. I saw the trees and heard the way that their leaves rustled in the wind. I saw how each tree and plant was truly formed for a specific purpose. The magnolia tree, with its green leathery leaves, and camouflaged brown cones, and distinct red balls. The leaves felt as they looked; tough yet smooth. The cones, however, were a surprise; because of how big and beautiful the tree was, the unpleasant smell of the cones was quite the contrast. However, breaking open the small red balls seen in the cone was another contrasting development, as the balls smelled good, so much so, I could smell them being a candle of some sort, sold by Bath and Body Works or even Yankee Candle.

My observation of the magnolia tree completed, I began to look at the tree with odd shaped yellow and green leaves, with balls comparable to a lacrosse ball, and I was fascinated. Imagine my increased fascination and disbelief when I heard that those lacrosse balls were walnuts. “Walnuts? These don’t look like any walnuts I’ve seen,” I thought. “But wait, I thought, the walnuts I have seen are usually domesticated, GMO-full, nuts that have gone through an extensive process. This right here may be the real deal.”

Trees must really be the oldest living things on this earth. Having withstanding so many natural disasters, they are around to tell the stories. One tree told the story of a brutal thunderstorm in which its bark was slashed, and the tree attempted to fix it. You can tell where it happened by not only the visual difference, but the physical difference. You can feel the rugged, rough bark of the trunk in comparison to the smooth, light brown “scar” of sorts, where the tree was slashed. There were other trees nearby too, and these trees told the story of Hurricane Isabel, a hurricane in which many trees in the Trail were knocked down or destroyed. These young trees in their place are a representation of and a commandment to the ancients.

As shown from the trees, the story of our history, and the story of our current being, is not one that can be comprehended by us, but by them. I decided to let the Trail tell me its story by walking away from others and standing in the middle of the trail. I closed my eyes and listened and thought. I heard the wind blowing and (unfortunately) felt the chill through my light jacket. I heard the calls of the crickets, cicadas, birds, and other animals. “Come back home! Where are you going! It’s getting cold, come underground!” Moving my feet, I felt the crunch of the leaves on the ground, as if the trees were trying to remind me of their significance and presence. I felt the power of the environment, the life of everything shining and glowing, making for quite the story.

However, I was reminded of the vulgarity and seeming superiority of man through the monument titled “Man Overcomes Wilderness.” There were four men, in the shape of a square, each holding an object that represented a subject of study; art, math, architecture/handywork, and literature/philosophy, all subjects now used in our culture. In the middle of the four men, was another man, who was raised quite higher above the rest, most likely to symbolize a general meaning for what each of the men had contributed to. This man was not alone, he was depicted overcoming and domesticating a horse, affirming my hypothesis that he was the average of the four men. This was the coming of civilization, when man conquered beast, and overcame wilderness, and that is something present in every single aspect of my life.

Overall, the outside tested my use of my senses; sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Through analytical observation of the Trail, including the trees, their leaves, the ground, the invasive species, the plant life, the animal-life, the insect-life, the cold, the everything, my desire to explore the wilderness and truly go into a fast from my everyday conveniences and life, grew.