It is only the start of the fifth week of classes, and already I’ve become aware of so many new areas close to school that I never would have thought to explore. One of the major reasons I came to this school was because of the myriad of diverse outdoor recreational activities that I knew existed in the greater Richmond area. Growing up camping with my family and spending most of my time outdoors, I knew that wherever I wound up for college, it would be imperative that natural escapes be nearby. I never would have imagined that one would essentially be the university’s backyard.
We’ve only been back in school for five weeks, and already I’ve visited and seen more of the James River Park system than I had in an entire year last year solely because of this class. How many other students here at UR get to say that they’re having class at Pony Pasture, or that they’re spending their Friday afternoon kayaking with their class? Not very many. This class has really opened my eyes to all of the really wonderful natural escapes that I’d been seeking, and it’s left me with a desire to explore so much more.
From Brown’s Island to Belle Isle to Pony Pasture and all of the other portions of the James River Park System that we’ve explored, we’ve seen so many aesthetically different areas, all rich with riparian vegetation and really driving home the key themes we’ve been learning about in class. Each place is unique, and draws about a certain type of crowd based on the recreational activities available. For a people watcher like me, this is probably the most interesting part of all. I love to see these diverse (and yet they’re all part of the same park system) habitats draw different crowds of people to the same area for similar reasons.
I love all of these places for their differences. I love Belle Isle for the soothing rush of its rapids, Pony Pasture and Huguenot Flatwater for its calmer waters and ideal kayaking, Brown’s Island and the canal walk for its interesting connection to downtown Richmond, and I love the places I’ve yet to explore. One of which I found with a fellow Earth Lodger (Andrew) when we couldn’t find our way to Pony Pasture for the park clean up (Oops!). The 42nd street entrance to the James River Park, on an early Saturday morning, the first Saturday morning that actually felt like fall, was absolutely beautiful. The thick forest was enough to draw me in; I’m a sucker for huge green trees and the type of forests you can get lost in. I cannot wait to explore this area more, especially after the leaves start sporting their fall fashion.
My eyes have definitely been opened to the James River Park System, and I don’t plan on closing them anytime soon. I cannot wait to explore and learn more about all of these areas, if only so I can find a cool place to do homework on Saturday afternoons that I can brag to my friends about later.
(For more on a description of the 42nd street entrance to the James River Park System, visit http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/vbwt/site.asp?trail=1&loop=CRI&site=CRI11 )
Excellent link to the 42nd street loop map. You are paving the way for our turning accessibility mapping project. Sorry you struggled to find the clean-up activity, but sometimes these mishaps lead to serendipitous adventures as you and Andrew found. See if you can avoid the use of contractions next week. For your synthesis entry next week, work on the organization a bit. You have this idea in here again about people watching and how these human-human connections help you reflect on your place in the natural world. Good stuff.