Naturalist Essay

My walk consisted of going from my apartment on Southport and Fullerton down Fullerton to the Quad, through the Quad and back down Belden back towards my apartment. The walk down Fullerton had small amounts of “green” areas. There were some trees and spots of grass but not as much as I encountered later. Walking through the Quad there was a nice open lot with numerous trees and a lot of grass. The walk back down Belden had alot “green” coverage. I enjoyed the larger trees scattered around the sidewalks and next to luxury houses. There was grass along the whole walk between the street and sidewalk. There were large trees along Belden that I didn’t see on Fullerton.

The walk got me to notice more about my surrounding area but not much. I normally would walk to class along Belden because it is a quieter and more scenic view than walking down Fullerton.

When I walk along the “greener path” I feel more relaxed and comfortable. I get out of the frantic of everyday life and can relax.

On a daily basis I interact with nature because of its impact on my mood. I enjoy looking away from the buildings and concrete to the trees and other natural organisms.

I think my walk was more like Kuo’s article. I feel that nice homes of Lincoln Park contributed to a sense of communityI felt. There were kids playing outdoors, neighbors conversing, and I felt very safe. Muir’s article reminded me of when I travel to my cabin in northern Michigan, where I really enjoy the outdoors and relax in the beauty surrounding me there.

The first writing I read by Kuo talked about how “greenness” of an inner-city neighborhood can have a positive effect on the community. The article talked about how more trees and grass would lead to more active kids, less civil disturbances, and the residents to feel safer in their own community and numerous other benefits. The second article by Muir talked of the beauty of nature. The man went on an overnight hike into the canyon and he talks of the beauty of nature.

Naturalist Essay

Courtney Carlstrom

Environmental Science Paper

Every morning I try to go for a run outside if weather permits. I have a five-mile route both downtown and in Barrington (the suburb I live in) in which I try to do six days a week. Because I was home over the weekend, I chose to write about the route in Barrington. I can not even count the amount of times I have ran this route, however, I have never really noticed my natural surroundings due to the fact that my ipod is usually blasting. I also tend to get lost in my head and thoughts while I run. I thought it would be interesting to look at something I am so immune to in a different aspect, which is why I chose to write about this specific route. I left my ipod at home, left my house, and began my run.

My warm up is a walk down my street, I live in the town of Barrington where homes are average sized, and houses are relatively close together. There are many trees down my street and the grass on everyone’s property is well kept. I thought about how Kuo made the connection of trees and a friendly neighborhood. I would say that my neighborhood is relatively friendly. I saw kids playing outside while on my run, which was another thing that Kuo spoke about. The scenery that consumed the majority of my run was homes, trees, grass, and flowers. There is a pond in Barrington that I ran passed as well, however, it is not very large. It was nice taking notice of my surroundings and really just appreciating the area I live in while I was out for my run.

After I cam home from my run I thought about how I think about nature and how nature interacts with me on a daily basis. I looked in my backyard and saw an arrangement of bushes, trees, and even still flowers (at this time of the year). I realized that when I wake up in the morning, the fact that I wake up to such a beautiful area is something that automatically puts me in a good mood. I really began to appreciate how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful town as far as nature goes. I know that when I am active outside, I am generally in a better mood than when I stay indoors.

Growing up, we lived by the Fox Lake, so playing games with the other neighborhood kids are memories that fill my mind when referring back to my childhood. Being able to enjoy the outdoors is something that almost shaped me growing up. I thought about how my life would be different if I did not have the privilege of being raised in an area surrounded by well-kept nature. I think the perspective I have on live in general would be different and less creative. I almost feel like a child who can’t play outside or at least enjoy the view of a natural landscapes life must be dull or sad. Just having the ability do to things and be active outdoors is something that has presented itself throughout my life and how I have always interacted with nature.

I think that my interaction with nature was more like the writing of Kuo. For some reason, I kept making references of his study while on my walk. I immediately connected the smile on my neighbor’s faces to the trees and green area. I would say that my experience was more similar to the writing of Kuo than Muir. I found Muir’s writing to be descriptive more than actually looking at the social effect that nature has. Overall I thought it was extremely interesting to take a moment and reflect on how my natural surroundings affect me and the life I live.

Naturalist Essay.

Although this assignment required us to embark upon a 45-minute nature walk, I decided to extend my usual 20-minute commute to work in the Loop to a 45-minute nature commute. I walked around my block – observing the modest variety of trees and flowers that flourished the neighborhood. And as I boarded the brown line heading towards the Loop from the Armitage stop, I analyzed how the amount of greenery digressed from a mildly flourished northside neighborhood to a metropolitan madhouse of toxic emissions. Before the Sedgwick stop, there were still a couple of quaint parks here and there that accommodated a lush garden or collections of trees, however, after the Chicago stop, there were mainly massive herds of cars and office buildings. I departed at the Quincy stop in the heart of noise, light, and garbage related pollution. Usually I don’t have the time to notice vast difference between neighborhoods. This past weekend, I went home to the suburbs. Although the suburbs of Chicago are still extremely bustling and populated with
Overall, I felt that my nature commute was somewhat of a combination between the informational, scientific writings of Frances Kuo and the naturalist, artistic writings of John Muir. On one hand, Muir adhered to a more philosophical approach to observing nature. In addition to his creative observations of nature, Muir also stated that “there is an all manufactures of Nature something essentially coarse which can and must be eradicated by human culture” (Muir 27), which encouraged the interaction of human culture with Nature. On the other hand, Kuo focused on the relationship between urban communities and the presence of trees in a more concrete method as opposed to Muir.
In saying this, I learned that it is necessary to observe your environmental surroundings from more than one perspective. And in turn, human culture can and must maintain a relationship with Nature in order to contribute to the health of our biological and social ecosystem in Chicago.