Sara's Nature Blog

This weekend, we experienced a winter storm that kept me inside most of the time. By the end of the weekend, I felt restless and disconnected, so I decided to take a walk around my neighborhood once the snow had settled. Stepping outside  felt like entering  a completely different world. Everything was covered in a layer of white snow, softening the usual sharp lines of houses, sidewalks, and streets.   What stood out to me most was  silence . There were no cars passing, no voices, and no familiar background noise. The only sound I could hear was the crunch of snow beneath my shoes as I walked.  That quiet felt similar to what Edward Abbey describes in the opening chapters of  Desert Solitaire , when he talks about solitude in the desert and how silence forces awareness.  Although my environment was  very different  from Abbey’s desert landscape, the feeling of isolation and stillness was surprisingly  similar. Reading  Abbey made m...

  After our first Treks and Texts class, I took a short walk around campus and made a conscious effort to slow down and notice the natural environment around me. It was a mild January afternoon, with temperatures in the  6 0s and a steady breeze pushing clouds quickly across the sky. Students moved in every direction, filling the sidewalks as they rushed to class, and I was reminded of how busy campus life can feel even when surrounded by green space.   I noticed several large live oak trees, which are common in Texas and easy to recognize by their wide branches and thick, curved trunks. Their dark green leaves contrasted with the lighter grass below, and fallen leaves covered parts of the sidewalk. I also saw crepe myrtle trees beginning to lose their flowers, with faded pink petals scattered along the grass.   As I walked, I heard birds moving between branches and the faint sound of insects, even in winter. The air felt calm, and a light breeze moved the leaves and...