The Big Idea

One big idea i've had while reading this book is a national nature month. If we need to get back into nature, maybe forcing it on us would help. We need to appreciate nature more so why not have the government regulate a month where we have to go into nature twice a day and just reflect on it. Also the government should regulate direct pollution into nature, which is everywhere I guess. These are just a couple of ideas I got while reading this book. It really does open your eyes towards what nature really is.

I NEED THE ANSWERS!

Three questions I hate not having the answer to are, where am I going?, When are we leaving?, and What time is it? I hate not having answer to the first question because if I don't know where I am going I get a headache and I just don't like it. The second question bugs me insanely because I need to know when to get ready to go there, and if I don't know when I'm going I can't prepare. The third question is more of a recurring thing, something about knowing the time helps me understand how fast I need to do thigns.

Thoughts Affecting Reality

Humans naturally think, we can't help it. We think about the present, the past, the future, and how we can affect it. When we think about our lives we create a longing for a way to make it the way we want it to be, at any cost. We do things to try to get it perfect, but it will never happen, theres always something else. Our reality changes when we think, the Merriam's dictionary for reality is 'the quality or state of being real', just like our thoughts, except those are short-lived. We think and think and that affects our real thoughts. We then get ideas. Ideas are 'transcendent entities that are real patterns of which existing things are imperfect representations', meaning they are entities that are real, implanting them into our reality, they then affect the reality by allowing us to forego an action changing reality completely.

What Connects Us Keeps Us Apart

As humans, we are connected emotionally, physically, sub-atomically. Not only are we naturally connected, but we seek connection, through various sources some find it through social media, some find it through dating, whatever the method, we strive for connection. Our generation is connected to the internet and technology, we can't put it down. Technology also keeps us apart, because we can talk through technology,  so we don't go to meet and talk in person as much. In Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, she talks about how we disrespect nature and we don' t visit nature often enough, and if we could get out a bit more we could increase the human interaction rate. Technology is engulfing nature.

The Ultimate View

Outside my bedroom window I see a concrete porch, one invaded with wear and tear, cracks and small sprouts of grass. I see manmade grills and chairs. Concrete jungles clash with nature, and the grass invades the cracks of concrete. I see a house, a playground, a fence, but I still see nature. The manmade features mask the natural look of the yard, but if you look hard enough, you can still see the natural beauty.

2007: Year of the Cicadas

In 2007, Cicadas swept into the Chicagoland Area. I was in the fourth grade, and the sound was beautiful. The thousands of little bugs making that one simultaneous, harmonious sound, intrigued me. I wondered why it made that sound, there is a simple answer. Their exoskeleton is modified with these tymbals, that when the cicada vibrates, the tymbals produce a sound, and the male cicada's shell is hollow so it amplifies the sound, tenfold. That Spring of 2007 was the first time I had ever heard of a cicada. The first one I saw scared me senseless, and I asked my mom what it was, she said "a cicada". My friends at school would constantly listen to the sound of them in wonder, we had many conversations about what the sound could be. Now I have found out and a hidden question in the back of my mind has come full circle, as the 17 year cicadas plan to invade the east coast.

Sound of the Cicada

 

Changing Seasons

The four seasons are becoming undefined. Spring is Winter, Fall is Summer, and even though they seem to blend together they each still have their own characteristics.

Spring is the first new season of each year. It brings a mix of weather, from sun shining warm days, to cold rainy overcasts, to muggy mornings. This is the time were flowers sprout, grass grows green and trees come to life. Spring is a happy time when the birds come to sing and the animals emerge.

Summer follows, and it brings hot, long, sweaty days, in which everyone wishes to so somewhere nice and cool, whether that be a pool, an air conditioned building, or the cool waters of the beach. Summer is vacation time, because the weather is so permitting.

Fall follows Summer, the weather cools, the days grow shorter, the trees begin to shed their multi-colored leaves, and animals start to gather food for hibernation. Fall time is the most beautiful time, the colors and the goldilocks temperature, makes it a very kind time. At least until dreary Winter comes.

Winter brings cold, short days and flustering flurries. It frosties the air and layers the ground with snow. The winter seems so long and laborious. Some see Winter as the most beautiful time, for the trees get blanketed with snow.

Chirping Birds

As I look outside I see the happy birds trotting around singing their distinct songs. They walk around scavenging for food, they may not find it. I see them building nests, and waiting for better weather. The weather hasn't been too kind and the food is just emerging; they don't always get the result they want but they continue to sing their song all day. 

The birds sing to do many things, communicate, socialize, impose a good image. They sing their song to wake us up, maybe put us to sleep. The song may be a very simple tune, maybe two notes, or three. These tunes get the job done though, cheering us up to know that the birds are out and spring is here.  

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

The purpose of this blog is a reflection on nature. This is part of a school assignment as we read through pilgrim at tinker creek.