Expect the Unexpected

In my life, everyday is an adventure, but particularly today. I like to plan ahead, but I take one day at a time. I value productivity and having fun while doing it, and today was a mixture of both. I was able to sleep in, which was extremely comforting, and I woke up refreshed and feeling better than I have in a long while. Two friends and I planned the night before to meet downstairs at 11 am to make it to the Kalamazoo Nature Center by 11:30 for a class field trip so, as we hoped, we were all down there and ready to go.  We barely made it on time to the Nature Center. Zooming down the highway and speeding around corners, I almost spilled my bowl of grapes! Let me just say, it was an exciting ride to be in the back seat of my friend's car as she "drove efficiently"!

The Nature Center felt so pure the second I stepped off of the black top of the parking lot. To enter the center, you cross a large bridge, and as we passed over it, my friends and I made comments about how fresh and sweet it smelled-not a sensation you get to enjoy daily when you live on a campus where busses are always passing and cafeterias are constantly serving food. To make it even better, when we walked inside, we were greeted with gorgeous murals that include all types and species of birds. I thought this was wonderful, but I was in for a surprise: the actual natural part of the center was breathtaking. 

After a short presentation about the Nature Center, our guide took us back though the main building, and over the large bridge. From there, we took a trip up to the natural prairie land, and there I was able to take some of the most amazing pictures that I have in a while. The grasses really made me feel small in the grand world we live in; they were taller than me, and as I walked through them,  I could only see a few feet out on either side of the path. I absolutely loved it; I was surrounded by nature. As our class walked through the prairie, I experienced so many feelings and emotions that I hadn't in a long time and it felt amazing. Against my wishes, two girls and myself had to leave the Nature Center early, on behalf of meetings and classes that we had to attend. 

We tried lifting the car to change the tire...

What do you think?

Life has so many dimensions, so many things are possible for one single person to do in a lifetime. There are also so many different opportunities that are passed up and taken advantage of while another person dreams to experience them. Every life is different. I think about that a lot. Not one person will ever experience my life and I will never experience his/hers. What an amazing thought!! I have too many memories and places remembered, and as hard I try, I will be the only person to see those places or memories as they truly were. That goes for me, too; no matter how hard I try, I will never completely understand an experience of another if I wasn't there with him/her. This brings me to the topic of my blog today.
The Great Lakes are such a large and important aspect of the United states. So many lives are touched by the five lakes on a daily basis, and every joy and irritation that they bring are different for every single person. I have heard stories from a girl growing up with Lake Michigan in her backyard, seeming so natural and untouched, while another girl explains how she is from Wisconsin and has always had an acute bitterness towards the state of Michigan because, as Wisconsin inhabitants put it, they feel Michiganders feel they have a larger right to the lake because it enjoys the same name as them.
My experience of the Great Lakes is much different than either of these girls. I grew up in a suburb 40 minutes west of Chicago, Illinois. My family and I never visited the lake or even the city much, only because we aren't city goers; we would rather spend a free weekend with family and friends. As I got older, I began taking day trips down to the city with my friends to visit the "beach", as we called it; it was honestly a shore of Lake Michigan. Depending on the 'beach' you went to in Chicago, the sand could be really clean and you could spend your time soaking up rays or playing beach volleyball. This would be the perfect situation!! Sometimes, though, you could find yourself on a dirty beach. More often than you would think, beaches in Chicago are closed because of pollution or contamination. If this is the case, then there is usually crowding at the beaches that are open to visitors, potentially making your day into a hectic scene instead of a relaxing at the beach, as you had hoped. To put it simply, Lake Michigan has never been an unpolluted, natural source of water, in my mind, where animals are free to swim and play; instead, I have an image of a potentially overpopulated, polluted and ever changing dramatic source of water. One minute you're walking through the city feeling engulfed in some of the largest skyscrapers in the world, the next you're standing with sand between your toes and laying out your beach towel.
I must say, even though I am mainly focusing on the negative aspects of Lake Michigan in Chicago, I feel blessed to be able to experience all it has to offer. I understand that it may seem like our beaches get gross from time to time and they normally are overpopulated with people from all over, but having access to the lake also does a lot of good for our city and even state. I am grateful for the short trip it takes me to visit the amazing and historic city of Chicago and to create memories on our wonderful shore lines of Lake Michigan.
I find it so intriguing how in one small class of less than 20 students, I can find three completely different stories of life growing up near the lake. It is one of those things where the other two girls may be able to imagine my experience but they will never understand my true feelings and memories of the lake. What an incredible notion!

How to See Yourself

First blog ever, I now feel the burden of what others spoke of; this is hard!! I will begin by examining a new favorite poem of mine that was introduced to me in class last week. 'How to See Deer' is the title and it is written by Philip Booth. Right above this poem on the same handout is one by my absolutely favorite poet, Mary Oliver, so when I read Booth's and fell in love with it, I was surprised because I liked it as much as Oliver's work and that almost never happens! "How to See Deer" seems to be a list of "to-do's" for a person in order to, well, see a deer. But, like all other writings, it has a deeper meaning.
First of all, Booth makes a point to appreciate nature, telling the reader to "inhabit old orchards" (7) and to "learn to read ferns" (15). Lines like this always make me think about what the subject can do to me if I were to inhabit an old orchard or "read" a fern. For me, nature and naturally occurring cycles on earth, like flowers blooming and the sun rising, bring me peace and contentment. I honestly fill up with joy and feel as light as a feather, smiling as I witness something as pure and perfect as nature doing what it does best, creating and bringing life.
Booth also seems to promote peace. This is a huge value of mine, my father fought in the Vietnam War, and I have grown up with the effects of war my whole life; I would never wish it on anyone. Booth says "Go nowhere with guns." (2) Of course, in the literal sense, he is saying don't bring your gun in order to see a deer, but I do love this line because I am assuming that he encourages animal rights and isn't for the killing of innocent animals.
One last value that Booth mentions in his poem is patience. In the fifth line of his poem, he writes "stay and be early:", in the twelfth, "find your luck slowly," and in the thirteenth, he also says, "Wait out the windfall." No one can ever have enough patience, in my opinion, but I love how Philip Booth managed to jam so many great life lessons, ideas, and values into such a short poem.
My favorite line in the whole poem lies on the eleventh line, though: "Expect nothing always." Since I laid eyes on that line and comprehended what he meant, I have been trying to live by it...I am a very organized person who needs structure and plans, and when those plans don't go as I thought they would, I often get upset. So I have been trying very hard to realize things don't always go as planned..which has been hard a hard lesson to learn, but if I learn to "expect nothing always," my journey to happiness will be much smoother.