Naturalist Essay

This weekend I decided to take a walk on a path that leads to a park near my house. In the beginning of my walk I encountered a lot of beautiful flowers and trees. The trees were all very big and it showed how long they had been growing here. I saw small animals such as rabbits, birds, and squirrels. On occasion if I’m lucky I even see groups of deer by the edge of the forest. At the beginning of the path the grass was a healthy shade of green and thick. However, as the path progressed the grass was damaged, yellow, and covered with weeds. There was garbage that people left all over the grass even though there are numerous garbage cans throughout the path. I noticed how careless people can be, they are ruining a beautiful park by throwing trash all over the place. That is the main reason I don’t enjoy walking on this path anymore, it used to be clean and relaxing but now all I can see is how much it has changed. As I progressed down the path I also noticed prairie grass and cornfields. When I normally walk throughout this path I don’t notice how much garbage is all over the place and how the scenery changes, as I get farther down the path. This is mostly because I walk my dog and only walk about five minutes into the path. I believe the beginning of the path is so clean, organized, and beautiful because my neighborhood is very nice and people don’t want their property or their location to be ugly or disgusting. As the path progresses the houses become apartment complexes and people start to become more careless about the land around them. When I look out my window at home I love nature because it looks flawless and perfect but when I am in nature I find myself becoming disappointed by the conditions of it. The grass is damaged because of what people have done to it and the air has even changed. People don’t pick up after their dogs and the air has a horrible stench.

I feel that everyone treats with nature on a daily basis whether they notice it or not because we breathe in the air, walk to school/work, use natural resources to live every single day. The urban life obviously has a different impact than the suburban life because of he amount of people and the way people get to work or school. I find the suburbs to be quieter and nature is more noticeable while in the city the buildings and rush of the city almost over shadow nature.

My interaction in nature was more like the interaction described in “A Geologist’s Winter Walk” by John Muir. I liked how he described the animals in their habitat and the way he wrote it I could picture myself there. He describes nature in a way unobstructed by buildings and manmade objects.

The two writings differ because they are each taking a different approach on nature. One focuses on the urban lifestyle with nature surrounding it while the other talks about the animals in their natural habitat.

 

Naturalist Essay

Naturalist Essay

I chose to take my walk on a route that I usually use for my daily run, but this time I paid attention to my surroundings and nature which I never do during my runs. I came across many different types of nature while on my walk. Whether it was different types of trees, birds, or small mammals I notices a lot of things that I usually would have just blocked out. There were large trees overhanging Graceland Cemetery which was followed by much smaller ones on the grassy area in the park at the corner of Seminary and Irving Park. There were kinds playing in the park and birds chirping away, and it was hard not to notice all the squirrels running up the trees.
My feelings don’t really change while I’m outside in nature but the walk was sort of calming and peaceful, almost a get away from the hectic normal life. I feel that I interact with nature instead of nature interacting with me. I am able to interact through sounds and smells that are given off by nature; whether it is from animals, flowers, trees, or the smell of rain nature always has something humans can interact with.
I felt that my walk was more consistent with the piece I read by Frances Kuo. In his writing he made it seem that humans interact will nature the more appealing it is. For example, Kuo believes that the more green spaces outdoors is directly coordinated to human’s social interaction. I felt this exact way while on my walk, when trees and large green spaces were present I was able to see that there were more people around interacting. Whether it was little kids playing at the park, or people walking their dogs, the presence or green made for more social interaction. On the other hand I also felt that my walk was consistent with John Muir because his views consisted of the fact that humans should be grateful for everything that nature has to offer. I feel that nature is there for humans to use as long as they respect it. The only problem I have with Muir’s writing is I feel that he felt that humans were out to disrupt nature, while Kuo felt that it is necessary for humans and nature to coexist.

Naturalist

Because we had already discussed the man made effort to maintain nature around the Lincoln Park campus, I chose to explore a route I was unfamiliar with and chose to explore the Wicker Park area.
The nature I encountered was pathetic, and was only met when I took a wrong turn and got lost. As I tried to re route I noticed I was walking beside a wired gate that was mostly covered by a dark net. Behind the blocked wall was an unkempt and littered space. Aside from the obvious bottles and cans, the city was also using the space for damaged road blockers and traffic signs. I think the space I came across was the most interesting I had seen that day. Here was a native space where trees grew on their own and where natural grass struggled to grow but yet, not one thing was being done to benefit the area.
This walk and realization was depressing. Up until now, I had lived in New England for my entire life so the Fall season is the time of year where nature is most obvious. The fact that you can actually watch the process of the season change is astonishing and the lack of that sense in my life for the past two years is upsetting. But in my experiences with nature in New England and in Chicago I am able to recognize the differences in a city and can appreciate the effort being made to maintain nature anywhere in it.
My feelings toward nature changes with my location. For example, my feelings for my everyday routine in the nature I am most used to stays neutral and unthought-of. But if I am in a place like the Pocono Mountains or Vermont (where you are so visibly immersed in nature), my feelings in that environment are more appreciated and enjoyed. Where I interact with nature by living in and respecting a space, nature interacts with me by providing essential resources like oxygen and food.
The Kuo and Muir articles were different in that Kuo focused more on the cause and effect actions within an urban space while Muir wrote to depict the beauty of an submerged natural space. My walk around Wicker Park was more relatable to Kuo’s findings in ‘The Role of Arboriculture in a Healthy Social Ecology’. One point in particular was the ‘Sense of Safety’. He argues that the nature of trees provides city residents with a greater sense of security. Specifically stating that, “ individuals living adjacent to greener common spaces reported that they felt both safer and better adjusted than did their counterparts living adjacent to relatively barren spaces (152).” I noticed this on my walk and felt that the unkempt and non artificial spaces that I passed was resultant to a more dangerous area. I found that when I tripped and cut my toe, I was most concerned with which disease the nature of Wicker Park would give me. Furthermore, I would feel differently in Lincoln Park. There are trees planted everywhere, the parks are very much maintained and if I had cut my toe in Lincoln Park I would be less concerned with the possible diseases that could come my way.

Naturalist Essay

Nature has always sat differently with me, sometimes it’s my best friend, but other times it is not. Growing up in the Northwest suburbs of Illinois has given me a very unique view on nature when compared to those who live in any other area on Earth, rural or urban. I walked from River North to Oak Street beach and back last week, a walk that I’ve traveled many times before. Knowing that I walked to the beach many times in the past, I didn’t think I would see anything new about nature, I was half wrong.

I’ve always noticed the birds hopping on the sidewalk, the pigeons pecking at trash, but since reading over Kuo’s article I noticed what she was explaining while on my walk. River North is filled with trees, but the Gold Coast has even more greenery which I noticed. This neighborhood has very expensive sidewalk gardens down Michigan Avenue, with tall trees and gorgeous plants, stores and restaurants have planters, little flowers, and mini-trees all contributing to bringing nature where it fits. I even walked past my favorite park in the Gold Coast on Rush and Chestnut, which has massive trees which adds natural beauty to the city.

Noting that these wealthy neighborhoods have plentiful trees, bushes, and flowers certainly connects with what Frances Kuo writes in The Role of Arboriculture in a Healthy Social Ecology. Kuo writes in a modern time, using English that is easier to understand and uses scientific facts that were intriguing and noticeable on my walk. John Muir on the other hand, had more observations on nature instead of science, which had me drift away from his dated and confusing writing, leaving me with the relationship Kuo had on my naturalistic walk. I agree with her knowledge that adding trees and open green spaces helps people in neighborhoods gain strength in social ties and community by utilizing these places in nature. Strengthening these social ties makes the community stronger and more willing to help one another, which causes a decrease in crime; notable in the Gold Coast and River North. These neighborhoods are inviting for people to spend time outside, shop down Michigan Avenue under the green trees on the sidewalk, or eat outside under canopies gated in by beautiful potted plants and flowers.

I noticed that places in these neighborhoods are much more inviting if minor landscaping or greenery is abundant, and it has certainly allured me into joining nature outside at time. I like to sit in the sun and warm days, and listen to the rain fall during stormy nights, but I also love seeing and feeling what Frances Kuo has noted in her article. Nature is always affecting my life; it affects me as a student, an employee, and a human being, living hand in hand with nature and its surprises.

Naturalist Essay

Naturalist Essay

For my nature walk I decided to go to one of my favorite spots in the city: The Eagle, located at the center of the Logan Square neighborhood. The Eagle is one massive statue that hovers above the neighborhood and is located right by the Logan Square blue line. My experience had consisted of me walking down the Logan Square Boulevard. The nature that I had encountered on my trip was still apparent despite the fact that the surrounding setting was that of an urban landscape. Down the boulevard there were trees and much of the area was covered by grass however the areas that were not were being used up by cement and/or cement-like structures and even for housing. The wild-life that had inhabited the area were basic animals that one would expect to encounter in an urban setting. It ranged from squirrels, pigeons, and several dogs, however, these canines were domesticated by the people that lived in the region. Along with the variety of animals present, there were also several people out and about. The only difference that had stuck out was that there was an organic food market taking place right by the statue itself, however this was nothing different due to the fact that it took place every weekend, but through a daily basis perspective it was a change of scenery. As for the feelings I had towards the nature around me, they were somewhat mixed. I did find it relaxing because of the fact that it was a comfortable setting that I had known for all of my life. However, I also found it aggravating because there were many people walking around and I felt like being secluded for the time being. What with the food market along with the people walking their dogs, there was not much room for my seclusion. I interact with nature in the sense that I can determine its upheaval or demise by the actions I take: the more water bottles I use, the place where I throw my trash, even the places that I walk on can determine the survival of the grass or plants that are present. The relationship that nature has with me is one that relaxes me. As stated earlier, there were too many people present for me to enjoy the experience to the level that I wanted to.

The experience was relatable to the interactions of both authors. I did enjoy what amount of nature that was present in the area however I did pick up the technicalities involved with the urban environment. The birds swooping down and the squirrels climbing up the trees I had always enjoyed and found intriguing for some reason and yet I also picked up the relationship among people and the ways they have left an impact in the area. People had left a mark, be a negative or positive one, which is almost artificial. Right at the center of the neighborhood was a massive statue and going east on the boulevard are long strips of grass and trees, although natural in essence, were placed there by humans, making it artificial in a way. The two authors, I felt, differed greatly mainly due to the amount of actual nature they had come across. Muir’s had walked all along an environment that had little if any human involvement, where as Kuo had settled in a location where everything seemed more artificial and carefully planned. In Muir’s experience it had seemed as if everything just came together on its own, while in Kuo’s it would appear as if everything had a design behind it.

Naturalist Essay

I walk through my backyard botanical garden and think to myself, “How grateful I am for this piece of land that others call wasteful and I call peaceful.” The place that I chose for my walk happens to be the same place where I have taken more than five dozen walks every time I needed a place to think or just to relax. My family and I live in a townhome neighborhood and our section of townhomes happens to have their back yards facing the park and piece of conserved land, present upon entering the sub-division. The city I live in, Lake in the Hills is approximately 37 miles from Chicago, about an hour drive up northwest from downtown. My peaceful retreat trails across approximately ten acres of land starting at the neighborhood children’s park and ending with the creek running through to the connecting home sub-division. I really love walking on our trail because it has many facets to it from the park, to the soccer field, to the marsh and tall grasses, to prairie, and then to the forest and the creek.

The soccer field is covered with extremely lush green grass, at the edge of the field starts the marshy land where tall grasses dominate the terrain and we know fish are present because when we have heavy rains that flood the field, the fish swim out onto it. Many trees line the edges of the marsh land and among the tall grasses are flowers that flourish in the water, have no clue as to what they are called, and as the trail continues the land gets dry and the prairie begins. The prairie looks very desolate to me as the tall grass here is a lot drier, characterized by its golden color and not much else is present besides dirt. The last portion of the walk is dominated with the view of the miniature forest which has many trees, as one would assume, alongside different types of flowers, cute tiny purple and white ones, dandelions, and although I am not sure if they are flowers but these brown ball like flowers that stick to your clothing when you throw them. The forest contains many birds, as their beautiful singing is clearly heard and we have had sightings of coyotes and foxes. I then conclude my walk at the creek, where the water is crystal clean and I can always see schools of little fish swimming around in between the pebbles and rocks and as my little cousin Gabe showed me, frogs are abundant.

This trail is always a pleasure to take a walk on offering much tranquility but I have noticed that there is a lot more trash lying around here and there and especially the creek. I am assuming that this is due to the fact that over the summer we have had a lot more people visit the park and trail, as every summer. This is really upsetting because I see that the people leaving this trash around are teenagers and adolescents proving that their either disregarding what they are told or are taught the wrong thing. I cannot say that I am extremely in tune with nature, meaning I cannot name all the flowers, trees and types of birds I see on my walk but I do enjoy the outdoors and I care for the environment I am in by not littering, recycling and not destroying nature. I believe that I must care for the nature that interacts with me, the nature that offers me peace and a place to play and enjoy my outdoor activities. My family and I spend a lot of time outside, having picnics, cook outs, and playing sports and so we care for it. According to Kuo’s article nature, let alone the presence of trees, has an extremely positive effect on communities and I believe that this account holds true in my neighborhood simply by seeing the amount of people who use the trail and park and the conversations sparked due to the common time spent. My walk I would say is like the interaction described by both Kuo and Muir because Kuo made me aware of the social implications of nature and Muir simply gives ode to nature and the spiritual and calming effect that it has on its observers. I find that the two authors are more alike than different because they are not opposing each other but rather they coincide. The only difference is the way that these authors approach nature, Kuo with a scientific approach displaying the good effect that nature has on people and communities besides making it look pretty and, Muir with an artistic approach displaying the natural beauty of nature and how simply viewing it, wondering about it, and discovering it is good for the person inspiring awe and an awareness of our surroundings.

The Naturalist

My favorite form of exercise is walking outside. Reason being, I am not starring at a bunch of exercise equipment; instead, I can interact with the animals and plants around me. I walk at all different times of the day. My favorite is either when the sun is beginning to rise or at night when the moon and stars are visible. For my forty five minute walk I decided to stay local and walk around my own neighborhood.
I enjoy walking around my neighborhood especially at night because I feel safe. For the first time in a while on this walk I heard insects making quite a bit of noise. I even thought that the Cicadas were back in town; that’s how much buzzing there was in the trees. Hearing the insects calms me. It beats listening to brothers and sisters yell at each other, cry, and complain. Luckily, I didn’t feel like I was being attacked by mosquitoes on my walk. I would have to say overall this summer there were not many mosquitoes causing a nuisance. I would prefer the sound of nature over the touch of nature. On my walk, my sense of hearing was playing a role in relaxing and thinking about the world around me. I wonder if the noise of the insects was from them mating amongst one another or not. On the other hand, are the insects fighting with each other or trying to get someone’s attention?
Every day nature affects me in different ways. On the days I have school I pray it won’t rain or even snow during the winter because it makes my commute a little more aggravating. The weather has a huge impact on if I need my rain boots, snow boots, an umbrella, or a winter coat. The constant change in weather leaves me on my toes when planning what I will wear to school. In addition, going to and from work I pass a forest and see deer on the side of the road all the time. It’s so neat to see a deer close to the edge of the road with the beautiful forest back drop behind it. However, at night I drive as fast as I can to get away from the forest because I am petrified of hitting a deer. The deer have this street interrupting their home, and it’s awful to think the deer might get hit because the department of transportation has invaded the animals’ privacy in the forest. I should probably slow down so if a deer or any other animal is in the middle of the street I have room to stop. Nature is everywhere! Whether it is the weather, the food we grow in the backyard, the football fields the team plays on, or the trees and animals around us, nature will continue to be there. Hopefully, people start thinking about the nature around them and attempt to protect it.
I read the articles “The Role of Arboriculture in a Healthy Social Ecology” by Frances E. Kuo and “A Geologist’s Winter Walk” by John Muir prior to walking outdoors. I learned from Kuo that physical features in nature have a social impact on communities. Physical features like plants and trees are welcoming and invite people to be with one another to build a stronger sense of community. In case of crisis, the friendships people have built will come into play if there is a crime or need for help. Muir’s setting in the beautiful mountain ranges was so persuasive. Unfortunately, I can not think of one place in Illinois that will make me feel so healthy and alive like it continues to do for Muir. When reading his article I thought about the cold winter and beautiful mountains in Colorado. Every one should be able to experience this nature; the nature that isn’t masked with cars, schools, and homes.
After reading both pieces, I was jealous I couldn’t connect with Muir’s piece. Of course it sounded like the perfect place, but I have never had that kind of experience. Instead, I thought Kuo’s article was similar to my walk through the south suburbs. Physical features really make homes look special and meaningful; at least, more pleasant than homes that have no landscape. I would be scared to walk up to a house that had no plants and appeared run down versus a house that has beautiful plants that people take the time to water. Nature’s physical features definitely have an impact on me being more open to my community. I love taking walks with fifteen foot trees protecting me. If I really had to I could even hide behind a bush or a group of trees if I had to. Scenery is very welcoming, and definitely creates a friendly atmosphere.

Naturalist Essay

My walk took place through a residential and urban area. As I began my walk, the time was mid-morning, close to noon. The atmosphere was quiet and tranquil. I enjoy walking during the morning because less people are out and the streets feel calm.
Walking down these residential areas, I hear birds chirping and walking on the ground, possibly looking for food. I also observe squirrels running through lawns. I see the green of the lawns and hear the rustling of leaves. Some houses have different colored flowers, which attract butterflies!
I usually don’t pay much attention to the lawns, but on my walk, the green color seemed to be brighter than usual. I also noticed a lot more squirrels than I usually see. It is easy to take trees for granted but I did appreciate the shadows they created.
I would not pay much attention to the nature around me since I did not really think there was much nature. Now, I can see that nature is everywhere, even in the city. Nature interacts with me every day, mostly when birds release their waste on my car. I interact with nature when I relax underneath a big, wide tree.
My walk was more like Kuo’s writing, but with some Muir in it. While I did not have to hurdle over rocks and climb dangerous hills/mountains, I did enjoy my walk through “nature”. Living in a huge urban area, we must appreciate and take care of the limited green areas we have. My “nature” was green lawns and big trees, and not the middle of nowhere area that Muir was in. Kuo’s and Muir’s writings were different in that the first is a scholarly and scientific article, while the second is a descriptive narrative of an event. Muir is describing his love for nature and his surroundings, while Kuo is observing and testing the effect of green areas in urban locations. However, Kuo also explores urbanites’ positive feelings towards nature.

Naturalist Essay By Meaghan Dries

For my nature walk I chose to go to Waterfall Glen, a forest preserve. I chose this place because I have walked, hiked, and biked through it many times before. The nature that I encountered is a bit more diverse than my every day activities. There are the usual prairie grasses and flowers along the walking paths that serve as homes to small animals like squirrels and chipmunks that one can occasionally see scurrying by. The walking paths also are surrounded by tall trees whose canopies filter the sun’s light creating shady areas. As I continued down the paths there are small ravines that drop into a creek where one can usually spot small frogs and fish in the water. Following the creek, I came upon the waterfall that the preserve is named for. It is a small water fall that is surrounded by rocks that have turned green from the algae and such. If you go during the right time of year there are usually ducks and geese that play and cool off in the water.

This experience with nature is much different than my day to day encounters. Usually I am on the go and do not pay attention to the nature that I cross paths with. But being in a forest preserve with nothing but time gave me the opportunity to pay attention to aspects of nature that I generally would overlook. I noticed more animals and their tracks on my walk than I would have noticed normally. I was surrounded by trees and plants on my walk which gave me a feeling of being immersed in nature. Usually I see trees and fields on an everyday basis but the same kind of immersion feeling never hits me. In my day to day life I do not think that I appreciate nature the same way as I do when I am camping or spending the day in a preserve. I realize that I tend to overlook or ignore that nature that I am accustomed to seeing and that I should make an effort to pay closer attention to the nature that surrounds me.

The writings by Muir and Kuo were stylistically different. Kuo’s article was much more scientific discussing how green space and trees can change and environment and the ways that people interact with each other and their environment. I found this to be true on my walk because there were many families and couples that seemed to be taking time out of their everyday lives to walk or bike together. The preserve seemed to be a good medium through which positive socialization can and does take place, and as Kuo points out this could be because of the invitingness of the green space and trees. Muir’s article on the other hand, seemed more like an archived play by play of his personal encounters with nature and all the different aspects that he attends to and notices. This was similar to my thoughts as I walked through the preserve because I found myself thinking about the plants, animals and scenery that I was encountering and paying closer attention to the details. The way the trees swayed in the wind, and the sounds of the water trickling down the rocks of the waterfall.

Nature Essay

For my nature walk I decided to take the scenic route home from where I work on North Avenue and Sheffield. My walk took me down North Avenue, which is primarily a commercial district until you get closer to the park by the beach. From there, I then decided to walk along Clark back to my apartment on Dickens. I chose this route because the Kuo's finding stuck out to me between the two readings. Each reading provided a different approach towards interacting with nature. From Muir's reading, the reader observed a person who actively and intentionally participated with nature. Muir's emotions were produced through a conscious involvement with a wild natural setting. Though this was a very clear example of the idea "getting in touch with nature", I found the attitude of my walk to be more aligned with the findings in the Kuo article. Here, nature seems to affect people at a more subtle level. Green cover and a healthy balance of natural ambience provides a beneficial setting for humans. It was not so much that the people were taking in nature in the way that Muir did in the wilderness. Nature seemed to encourage a sense of security and benevolence among the housing residents.
The beginning of my walk was rather sparse in terms of nature. There are some trees on North Avenue, but these are the thin little ones that make one remember how out of place they seem next to the giant buildings. As I got closer to the beach, I also began to approach my neighborhood from last year. The area is farther east towards the lake and heavily covered with trees. The interesting thing about this neighborhood is that along with affluent homes in the area, there are several Section 8 housing buildings. Now, I found it ironic after reading Kuo's article how comfortable I had become in this area. A few minutes south on Sedgewick past Division, one will come across a sparse view of what remains of the Cabrini Green housing development. Looking a bit farther west, there are more empty lots along with another decrepit public housing building on Halsted. Naturally, the weed filled lots, abused buildings, and open space does not make me feel comfortable at all, but it is not like my old neighborhood was perfect either. While I was living there, three robberies occurred right next door to me, and there was a CPD blue light district a block away from my apartment. Yet, simply because my neighborhood had more tree canopy than a few blocks over, I felt ten times more comfortable.
Now on my way home along Clark by the park, I witnessed plenty of nature. There were fully grown trees, a fresh breeze from the lake, and pigeons that seem to have no fear of me as I approach them. The one thing that I really took notice of was the level of sound. The quiet peace really was a nice break from the constant progression of cars and buses. These are things I take for granted really when I am in nature, but they subconsciously create this sense of comfort for me when I am out there. What really got me thinking were the activities people did out in nature. Though it is a thing we all take for granted, nature provides a sense of refreshment (at least in my opinion). People read, run, lounge, and even do yoga at the park when they could probably do all these things inside with a lot more privacy. When I'm outside from day to day, however, activities become much more worthwhile than if I did it in the comfort of my home. It is not like in the Muir reading where I find myself actively taking in nature. It is more so like Kuo's article, where having a natural setting influences me to have a positive attitude in what I am doing. Now, can I say I intentionally consider nature on a day to day basis? To be honest, I do not think so. For the most part, my day to day interaction with nature is what I already described. A brief acknowledgment in the weather or how pleasant it is outside, and I move on with what I need to do, while enjoying a sense of comfort generated from natural surroundings.

Naturalist Essay

On my observational nature walk I decided to start walking from south down Kenmore at Webster. I chose the route because I thought it would fit nicely with Frances Kuo’s essay on the link between “green space” and a social health. The area of on Kenmore that I started on is just outside of DePaul’s campus in Lincoln park and there is a lot of trees and green vegetation everywhere around you. As you walk south the trees that line the roads by the beautiful houses constantly shade your head. However, I knew that as I continued south I would start entering more impoverished areas like Cabrini Green. Sure enough by the time I was at North and Hasted the land was much more barren. After a very short stint in Cabrini Green I ,think but am not sure, headed west the Brown Line Sedgwick stop to head back. The more west I moved and away from Cabrini I went the greener and nicer the community was.
I didn’t really notice anything physically different then I normally would have but I did notice a strong connection between green space and social adhesiveness that I had not thought about before. I really love the nature around me. In the city it is really hard to be surrounded by nature but when you do fine a place in the city that has a lot of trees around you I feel a lot happier and more positive about everything. It makes me feel like I’m not just a bum sitting in an apartment. Being out side gives me a fresh feeling about life.
Nature interacts with my life in a lot of ways, way more then you could count. For one everyone wonders weather or not its going to be warm or cool out that day to decide what to were. I ask my self all the time if I think it will rain so I can make sure my bike is inside. I also feel safe letting my cat out because I know there are a lot of safe areas for him to explore because of all the “nature” around. There are also ways we interact with nature everyday as well. Humans are constantly driving cars, cutting down trees or plants and basically keeping everything nice and neat in nature, especially in the City.
I think my walk was an interaction more described by Kuo, mostly because I sort of set up my walk to be an experiment of his analysis. I purposely walked from a socially higher area to a lower one to try and test for my self if there were fewer trees in run down areas. Muir’s walk would have been a beautiful one but in the city I think it is hard to find such pristine beauty as Muir was describing.

Nature Walk Assignment

Nature Walk

Every morning I take a run from Fullerton and Racine to Lakeshore drive where I follow the bike path all the way to Navy Pier. Each time I experience something different, whether it is in the people I see, the events taking place, or how the city is being used. Although, there is a dominant aspect that is pertinent in what I observe. Every time I encounter people inhabiting the city, more so in the places and spaces where nature really exists. Where trees and flowers are flourishing, where the natural bodies of water can be seen, where sand and green grass lay, and where people can really interact with the natural elements of the world. After reading the various articles posted to Blackboard, I realized that if the theory of the study of Defensible Space (DS) is proven true, than the city of Chicago that I see on my way to the Lakefront everyday is a great indicator of how the presence of trees and grass invite people in and allows social ecology to form.

This particular morning I decided to walk in between my daily run, in short to take a breather and give me legs a day off, but also to really observe the nature around me and focus on the elements of nature I normally don't see as I am whizzing by. 

          I encountered a few changes through the beginning of my walk. Mostly  surrounding the current construction plans that are interfering with my view of the beauty of Lincoln Park, but also the new "L" stop had caught my eye. This is an element of our city that has been under construction for what seems like forever, but now that it is finished it surprisingly makes the nature of our city look a little bit brighter and even cleaner. 

As I walked through the area of restaurants with outside seating I realized how many people would rather be outside than sitting inside. I came across long streets filled with houses but from those houses were people jumping out of their doorsteps and onto the pavement to walk their pets, go for a brisk walk or jog and this I think is because there's so many "urban" places to go that provide a habitat for both nature and people to exist. I walked past the large parks right before I got to the lake, the parks where the trees stand tall, and the grass is vibrantly green, and amidst all of this beautiful nature were people entrenched in it, playing frisbee, flying kites, lying on the grass reading a book, writing, or having a picnic with their kids. It was evident on my walk that the city is very much alive. However, I came to the conclusion that it's alive because there are places like the parks, the lake, the beach, the farmer's markets, the zoo, that make this city a likely place for a "healthier ecosystem" than others. 

I finally made my way to the lake front where I saw numerous aspects of nature. The water crashing upon the rocks, the tree leaves finally making their way to the ground, and the grass and the sand sticking out amongst all the other colors. Here, people are biking, roller-blading, running, kayaking, sailing, boating, sitting and enjoying the weather, playing volleyball, and soccer. Today there was an event at North Avenue where it seemed like hundreds of families were helping out a cause to make the city cleaner as they contributed in cleaning up the trash on Lakeshore. This also relies on the "Children's Access to Adults Outdoors" that was presented to us in the Arboriculture study, because everything I saw on my walk affirmed these types of interactions because the nature allows for this to exist and acts as a common interest for both kids and adults. 

The nature of this City, to some, may not be as present as other cities. But as I really payed close attention to what I saw and what surrounded me, I was able to clearly see the nature in everything from the grass to the interactions of people outside. 

Naturalist Essay

For my nature walk I decided to walk down Fullerton to the beach. Even though I did not go to a park or somewhere there would be a lot of trees and other nature, I encountered a lot of nature on my way to the beach and also at the beach. There was the water and sand and also trees at the beach, and on the way to the beach there were trees and many flowers. I have walked to the beach down Fullerton before but this time I took a closer look to all of the nature around me. Once you pass Lincoln Ave. you get to a lot of the apartments and houses and that is when you see a lot of the trees and flowers. Down the side of the street there are trees almost every couple of feet. Because the seasons are starting to change some of the leaves have started to fall off and a lot of them have started to change colors as we come into the autumn season. Some other nature I came across was flowers. A lot of the houses had flowers planted in front of them and also around the trees on the side of the street.

Walking down to the beach today I took a closer look at the flowers in front of the houses. I saw a patch of really pretty purple flowers with some bees flying around them. I usually wouldn’t look so closely to see the bugs around them but because I looked so closely today I noticed that these flowers were the prettiest ones that I came across. I also noticed that there are a lot of trees once you get out of the apartment part of the walk and you walk by The Lincoln Park Zoo and are almost at the lake. There are a lot of different paths and trails that you can walk or run with lily ponds and trees all throughout them. I never really noticed that there were so many places that you could sit and relax or go running through with so much nature going on through them.

On a daily basis I usually don’t think about nature very much when I’m walking around outside. I usually have a purpose of why I’m outside and walking so I don’t think about anything else but why I’m walking somewhere. If I have time or I am just walking outside because it’s a nice day then I think about nature a little differently. I take notice to the little flowers that are growing or how the leaves are changing. While I am inside though, I don’t think about nature except for the weather. How nature interacts with me on a daily basis is the weather. The weather everyday tells me what to wear. It also tells me if I need to leave a little bit earlier than usual because the weather isn’t very good that day. Also I interact with it everyday when I choose to not liter. Those are some ways how I interact with nature and how it interacts with me.

My walk was more like Muir’s because I wasn’t doing research on my walk. I was just taking a walk and seeing how much nature was around me that I never noticed before. I wasn’t trying to analyze if there were a lot of people in the park rather than somewhere where there weren’t a lot of trees or nature happening. The two writings differ where Muir’s writing is about how he is in nature and how he was one with nature. He tells us how he was interacting with nature while he was walking through the canyon. Kuo’s writing was research about how trees affect parks and open spaces. The writing was a lot of research methods and the results to the experiments that were happening.