Sarah in the Woods

           As you all may remember, I am keeping this blog for my Literature and the Environment class at Grand Valley State University.   In case the name of the class doesn’t already give it away, we focus a lot on nature and the world around us.  So far we have read lots of pieces about nature, have had a guest speaker who talked about her travel experiences, and have watched a National Geographic documentary about the Appalachian Trail.  This past Wednesday, however, we left the classroom and took a field trip to the Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids so we could experience nature ourselves.

Blandford Nature Center 9/23/15

            First, let me start by saying that any field trip is refreshing.  It’s nice to get outside of the classroom and experience the world outside of four windowless walls.  This field trip, in particular, was especially invigorating.  It was the perfect day for a nature walk.  The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and the air was a perfectly comfortable temperature.  We could not have picked a better day to leave the classroom.

Blandford Nature Center 9/23/15

            There is something very calming about being in the woods.  It’s the same feeling I get when I have just gotten a massage or have sat in a hot bath for a long period of time.  I feel so much serenity.  I usually credit this to the fact that, when I am in the woods, there are no outside distractions.  For instance, when we went to Blandford, I immediately noticed how quiet it was.  I could not hear any cars, lawnmowers, cell phones, or anything else that could be considered distracting.  The only “outside” noise I heard were the voices of my classmates, and even that sounded like dim background noise.  Because of this, I became hyper-aware of the sounds of the woods.  I noticed every little noise—twigs snapping, leaves rustling, birds chirping, and chipmunks scuttling about.  When you are in the woods, away from everyday distractions, it is difficult not to notice these things.  I also became very aware of myself; I paid attention to my own breathing, my heartbeat, and each step I was taking.  My mind was not constantly buzzing with thoughts about school or work or family or friends—I was incredibly present.  Nature often has this effect on me.  There’s something about breathing in fresh air that helps my head feel calm and clear.

Blandford Nature Center 9/23/15

            I can honestly say that I have never felt as calm during a class period as I did at Blandford Nature Center.  It was incredibly valuable getting to personally experience what writers like Bill Bryson and Henry David Thoreau have described in their works.  We live in a world that is so controlled by time and technology, but when you truly immerse yourself in nature, these things get left behind.  In the end, it is just you and the environment.

Sarah in a Corn Maze

           Ahh, fall.  That wonderful time of year where the air turns crisp and the leaves change color.  It’s time for apple picking, pumpkin carving, and bundling up in warm sweaters.  In my opinion, fall truly is the greatest season.  Nature is always the prettiest during this time of year.  Unfortunately, fall always seems like the shortest season in Michigan, so I always try to make the most of it before it’s over.  For that reason, last weekend, my friends and I decided to take a trip to Fennville and go to Crane’s Apple Orchard to wander through a corn maze.  This has become a tradition of ours over the past couple of years.  Every year, during a weekend in the fall, we travel to a new corn maze which we have never been to before.  This year, Crane’s was the lucky winner.

            Fennville is only about an hour away from Spring Lake, so it was perfect for a Sunday afternoon trip.  The corn maze team included my friends Suzie and Katie (who are sisters) and Katie’s boyfriend Bobby.  Suzie and Katie’s parents and grandmother came with us so they could pick some deliciously ripe Honeycrisp apples while we did the corn maze.

            At the entrance to the corn maze, we were asked to decide on whether we wanted to complete Phase 1 or Phase 2 of the maze.  We, being a bit naive and a bit more competitive, decided to choose Phase 2.  We were then given a choice of cards with different trivia questions on them to help us out at checkpoints within the maze.  We chose the card that asked questions about modern music, movies and television.  Then, finally, we entered the maze.  Our goal was to complete the maze in under an hour. 

In retrospect, we greatly overestimated our navigational skills.

            At first, we were doing relatively well.  We basically had to wander in random directions until we came to a checkpoint sign.  At each sign, we found the corresponding question number on our card and answered the question.  The correct answer would tell us which direction to turn.  So, for example, question 8 asked, “What is the name of Tom Hanks’s wife?”  We selected the answer C, Rita Wilson, which told us to turn left.  We continued with these questions for a long time.  The difficult part, though, was that there were only 10 checkpoints in the entire maze.  So, after answering a question and heading off in the right direction, we would soon come to more forks in the path and would just have to guess which direction to travel.  As we got deeper and deeper into the corn maze, we were soon walking in circles and lost all sense of direction.  At first, it was pretty funny and we would just head off in the opposite direction to try again.  But then the afternoon sun grew hotter, and we started to get hungry and thirsty and tired.  We kept ending up in the same places and had no idea where to go.  An hour had already passed, and we were stumped.  Every path looked the same as the one before it.  We couldn’t see anything in front of us except tall, green corn stalks and the dirt beneath our feet.  We were lost in nature.

Suzie, Katie, and Bobby looking lost and confused. 9/20/15

            Finally, we somehow ended up at a wooden overlook which allowed us to see the entire corn maze.  When we climbed onto it, we were shocked.  We had not realized how large the maze was, or how far we had already walked.  The color green seemed to stretch on for miles.  Luckily, though, were able to spot the farm building where we had checked in and set off again in that direction.  For the next forty-five minutes, we continued wandering and answering questions at checkpoints.  Again, we walked in circles and ended up on paths which we had already walked on.  

Miles and miles of corn. 9/20/15

Somehow, after nearly two hours in the maze, we found our way out.  We made a huge, embarrassing scene by high-fiving each other and cheering, but we were so relieved that we didn’t care.  We had made it out alive!

We did it! 9/20/15

The funny thing is, the same thing happened to us last year at the Robinette’s corn maze in Grand Rapids.  We thought that we would be better at navigating a maze this year, but we were hilariously wrong.  Still, it was a lot of fun and it was refreshing being outside and being surrounded by nature.  We will definitely be completing another maze next year!

Sarah at the Lake

           As I mentioned in my first blog post last week, I have lived in West Michigan for my entire life.  More specifically, my hometown is Spring Lake, Michigan.  For those of you who don’t know, Spring Lake is Grand Haven’s next-door neighbor.

            My town has helped shape me into who I am today, in more ways than one.  The biggest influence that Spring Lake has had on me, though, is my love for being near the water.  Because I am from this area, water has always been a huge part of my life.  Living in this area, I have always had unlimited access to the miles of beaches that run all along Lake Michigan.  I learned how to swim shortly after I learn how to walk.  I learned how to properly operate a boat long before I learned how to drive a car.  I was on the varsity swim team during all four years of high school.  I have literally been a Laker for my entire life—Spring Lake’s mascot is a Laker, just like Grand Valley’s is.  Being around water has the same effect on me that being in the forest has on many people; it relaxes me, makes me feel happy, and, ultimately, it makes me feel like I am home.

            When many people think of the word “nature”, they seem to think of forests: the lush, green vegetation, the earthy-smelling dirt, the sapphire-blue sky peeking through the tops of trees.  I instinctively think of these things, too.  However, I also always ultimately end up thinking of the beach.  The gigantic white sand dunes, the scratchy beach grass, the sound of huge white-capped waves crashing against the shore, seagulls screeching as they search for food…these all remind me of nature, too.  I typically feel more connected to this aspect of nature than I do to the woods.  
 

Grand Haven pier, 9/18/15

Lake MI storm, 9/18/15

I like to go to the beach to calm myself and collect my thoughts.  In fact, just last week, my best friend Suzie and I were feeling stressed out from school, so we decided to go for a walk on the Grand Haven pier.  We ended up walking a total of almost four miles, all the while talking, people-watching, and sometimes just staying silent.  We watched the sky grow darker and the waves grow bigger as a storm started to roll in.  We looked on as boats, big and small, made their way down the channel and out into the open water.  We laughed as we watched two young men attempt (and struggle) to surf the waves.  It was absolutely blissful.

         
            As a future teacher, I often wonder if I will have to move away from West Michigan to find a job after I graduate.  In theory, I think I would be okay with this—I think it would be fun to get out and expand my horizons.  I have often dreamed of moving somewhere completely different from where I live now, even if it was only for a few years.  If I got offered a job in Chicago or Florida or even somewhere overseas, would I do it?  I like to think that I would.  But I would also want to come back someday.  Living on the lake would not be an easy thing to give up.  In the end, West Michigan is, and always will be, my one true home.

Sarah in a Nutshell

            Hi there everyone!  In case you didn’t know already, my name is Sarah.  Just a warning: I have never written a blog before, so bear with me here.

            I am keeping this blog for my “Literature and the Environment” class.  In this blog, I will write weekly posts about my experiences with nature and the world around me.  Today, however, I will just start by telling you a little bit about myself.  I am currently a senior at Grand Valley State University and am studying Elementary Education and English.  I am a born-and-raised West Michigan girl, so I love being around water.  My hobbies include swimming (for both recreation and for sport), baking, and, of course, binge-watching television shows on Netflix.  I am a bit of a nerd and would honestly rather stay in on a Friday night and play board games and watch movies with friends than go out and party.  I can be either introverted or extroverted, depending on the situation I am in; I guess you could call me an ambivert.  I also consider myself to be a cat person, if that helps you get a picture of what I am like.  I am a kind, thoughtful, and curious person.  People also tell me that I am funny—I mean, at the very least, I certainly laugh at my own jokes!  One of my biggest passions is reading.  I have always loved it and always will.  I will typically read just about anything—I’m willing to give anything a chance!  At some point during this semester, I will probably write a blog post about reading in my hammock in the woods (one of my favorite outdoor activities), so stay tuned.

            I’ll admit, when I first heard about this assignment, I was a bit nervous about it.  I think the idea of publishing my writing in an online forum was what I found most anxiety-inducing. This blogging thing is pretty new to me, but I generally like to try new things, so I am looking forward to experimenting with this type of writing.   Who knows?  Maybe I will really enjoy it and will decide to continue with it in the future.  We’ll have to wait and see…