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.