Autumn Leaves

Since I was a child, autumn has been my favorite season. I’ve always loved October 1.) because it’s my birthday month and 2.) I love pumpkins, the weather, and fall leaves. However, it’s ironic, because where I grew up the leaves didn’t turn colors. They simply changed from green to brown and fell off the tree overnight. So, while I was drawn to pictures of trees with yellow, red, and orange leaves, I’d never seen it in person- besides on a few trees. Until this season.

I’m not sure why, but I seem to have seen many colored trees this fall around Fort Worth than I remember seeing the past couple years. It could be because I now live off campus and pass several different kinds of trees on my way to campus. In comparison to the past two years when I lived on campus and spent the majority of my time at TCU. However, my roommate and I were talking about how we have noticed much more vibrant trees this fall.

I started to notice it a few weeks back and I got so excited. I’m not sure why, but I just don’t think there is anything much more beautiful than autumn leaves. Someday I want to live somewhere that gets a full autumn, where all the trees change colors, before they fall to the ground.

On my way to campus the other day, I noticed there was an abnormal amount of leaves on the ground. It was a particularly windy day and the street I was driving on was covered in leaves. As I drove, the leaves seemed to dance in front of my car. At first it was a swift sort of sweeping across the ground, and then as I sped around the corner and more leaves gathered, it appeared as though the leaves were running for their lives all in different directions. I’m not sure why, but I was intrigued- the appearance of it all and my fascination with it was almost comical. I watched the leaves run until I approached a red light and the leaves settled with my car. I thought about the dancing leaves for the rest of the day. I guess I found it so intriguing, because I had never focused on something like that before with such intention, even though it’s so common place.

As I’ve grown older, I think I like autumn, because it represents a time of transition. The leaves are undergoing a change, where they change colors and fall off the trees. The trees remain bare for the winter, until spring brings new leaves. It sounds cliché, but the changing of the leaves represents the changing of seasons in my life. This semester has been a difficult one for me. I’ve had a lot personal things been going on in my life and it’s been difficult for me to focus on the positive outcomes of all sorts of changes. However, seeing the leaves fall off the trees reminded me that change, no matter how it seems, isn’t all bad and it’s temporary. Sure, I may lose some things in my life, like the trees lose their leaves, but I will eventually gain/grow new things in their place.

Squirrels

I’ve chosen to write this nature journal about squirrels. I’m not sure why, because I cannot stand them. I guess I wanted to write about something different and I encounter squirrels quite often on campus. My friends make fun of me, because I jump when a squirrel scares me. If one is acting strange or gets too close to me- I will cross the street to avoid it. My best friend thinks squirrels are cute, but I am actually afraid of them.

I think my fear of squirrels stems from my childhood. I am afraid of all rodents. I especially hate rats 1.) because they are gross and 2.) because as a child I found one in our backyard that had gotten into poison and had swollen up the size of a bowling ball. I also found a dead mole that our cat had brought to our back porch. Since I’ve had such unfortunate luck with small, hairy creatures- I hate anything kin to them.

I particularly dislike squirrels on campus, because they are not afraid of humans. They feel way too comfortable around people.  I’ve witnessed two squirrels fighting each other. I’ve even been chased by a squirrel. (okay, I wasn’t chased- it more of came too close to me and I started to run away from it, but still it was scary).

I should have challenged myself to write a nature observation on squirrels, but I don’t think I could make myself focus on a squirrel long enough to observe it nor describe it in detail.

I don’t have much to offer about squirrels, other than I should challenge myself to appreciate their role in nature. The caching behavior of squirrels is important for the renewal of trees. It’s so ironic, because while I’m afraid of squirrels, I absolutely love trees. I wish we didn’t need squirrels, yet I was interested to learn that certain tree species need squirrels to disperse their seeds, so new trees can grow. It’s interesting and sad to realize that one my favorite things is dependent on my least favorite thing. That’s the irony of life I suppose.

Final Nature Video

Link to the video: https://youtu.be/EL1lrVg8CFU

Nature Video Justification

We chose to craft our final video using a compilation using different seasons in various locations across the world. We included footage from the United States including, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, Florida, California, and New Mexico as well as other countries including Italy, France, and Greece. All of the footage is from vacations we’ve taken. We acquired some the video using a friend’s GoPro. All of the video clips depict broad landscapes. Throughout the semester, we practiced appreciating the details in nature through close observation. We chose to show big picture views to offer another perspective. We wanted to reflect on how grand nature is. We used the nature clips in combination with memorable nature quotes from this semester. The background of the video consists of three songs, all of which show appreciation for nature. We included authors such as Henry David Thoreau, Edward Abbey, John Muir, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Annie Dillard, and Albert Einstein. We selected these authors, because their quotes best described our scenes. The quotes we included all had a positive tone and perspective on preserving our world. We intentionally did this to model our perspective on environmentalism, which contrasts with many negative views of the authors we read in class.  

From our class readings and discussion, we were inspired to make a video that shows our appreciation for a vast range of landscapes, including the ocean, mountains, hills, and lakes.

We began our video with a song titled Japanese Ceremonial Tea. We selected this song, because it reflects the ideas of several of the writers we’ve studied in class. It cautions the listener to observe their actions and take care of the environment. The song is a realistic view of mankind’s role in nature. Rather than a harsh discussion about environmentalism like many of our class discussions, the song is more of a warning to people. The artist wants us to evaluate our current lifestyle. He acknowledges that change is unlikely, yet states it’s necessary to preserve the Earth. To reflect the song, we open with a scene of snowy mountains in Italy. The next scene shows the ocean to contrast the mountains, to show nature is all around us in many forms. As the song progresses we show a range of nature landscapes and outdoor activities. The climax of our video occurs when the lyrics “Which includes, all this.” is stated during a black screen, which is followed by mountains in Yosemite National Park. The last lines of the song are “Outside world, no longer left outside.” These lyrics allude to humans making preservation of the world a priority.

The next song we used is Old Pine by Ben Howard. We chose this song as a positive contrast to Japanese Ceremonial Tea. Several of the lyrics match the scenes, as the artist describes his love for the outdoors. There’s a slow build to the song, which matches the happy vibe of rock climbing and hiking. For example the lyrics “The summer shone beat down on bony backs” and  “Careless and young, free as the birds that fly” matches the young men rock climbing. They look carefree as they pan the GoPro to show the view.

The concluding is This Land is Your Land. We chose to use the instrumental prelude to the song and the first verse, because it matches the mood of the video. We selected this song, because it represents we’re all responsible for this land. It unifies all of the different places we show in the video.

Our appreciation for nature has grown tremendously while working on this project. This class has helped us reflect on our previous interactions with nature. While making this video we have found these places to be much more meaningful. Moving forward, we will continue to observe and reflect on the vast beauty of our world.