For our midterm, we were assigned 25 species of trees to learn to identify.\u00a0 We were each given a list of clues and directed to a cache of manuals and books on that often-neglected shelf in the corner of the fourth floor lounge.\u00a0 At the end of each day leading up to the exam, we descended the spiral steps to wander under the heavy perfumes of the humid evenings and acquainted\u00a0ourselves with the trees.\u00a0 By the time Thursday rolled around,\u00a0we had examined enough bark, deciphered the developing growth of enough buds, and collected enough fallen leaves to be able to call all 25 by name.<\/p>\n
I’ve genuinely enjoyed this spring more than any I can remember, and I think it’s largely because I’ve begun observing the trees as I walk around campus.\u00a0 By simply turning my gaze upward, the world revealed secrets that had until recently gone quite literally over my head.<\/p>\n
It was easy to take note of this newfound habit of looking up while\u00a0sitting in the sun today in my reflection spot and thinking back to my past meditations in this\u00a0garden\u00a0.\u00a0 Before, my tendency was to bring myself as close to the earth as possible in order to study the minute workings of the understory, believing this to be my most richly accessible contact with the nuances of the natural world.\u00a0 Today, I sat by the same pond inside the same brick walls but today I looked up.\u00a0 I noticed the tiny, fuzzy buds that have\u00a0only just begun to peek from tips of the smooth, brown branches and remembered the surprising speed with which these buds will soon burst\u00a0into\u00a0verdant foliage swirling in gusty\u00a0April sunshine.\u00a0 Looking up, I realized that\u00a0there’s an entire skybound\u00a0realm of the natural world which I’m only now learning to see with the same\u00a0focus and appreciation as I’ve always devoted to the ground.\u00a0 And because of this I’m glad.\u00a0 I’m glad to be moving ever toward a more holistic conception of my place in this sphere.\u00a0 There’s so much to see and so much to love–down, up, left, right, inside, and outside.<\/p>\n
Andrew Bird – Hole in the Ocean Floor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For our midterm, we were assigned 25 species of trees to learn to identify.\u00a0 We were each given a list of clues and directed to a cache of manuals and books on that often-neglected shelf in the corner of the … Continue reading