Nature Journals I - Entry 4

Over the weekend, I took a walk around Meadowmere Park with my family, and it ended up connecting more to Edward Abbey’s Polemic chapter than I expected. It had rained the day before, so the grass was a little damp but not muddy, and the air felt fresh. The sky was bright blue, and the winter trees were mostly bare, with thin branches spreading out above the walking path and playground. 

As we walked through the park, I noticed that everyone was either walking or riding a bike. Kids were playing on the playground, and a couple of people were near the soccer goal in the open field, as shown in my other photo. Once we were inside the park, there were no cars around. That immediately made me think of Abbey’s argument about how parks should be experienced without vehicles. He talks about how people experience places more fully when they are moving at their own pace instead of viewing everything from inside a vehicle, and I knew exactly what he meant while walking there.

I also realized I could not remember the last time I sat on a swing, so I tried it. Feeling the breeze and the motion reminded me of what Abbey says about using your body in outdoor spaces instead of just observing it from a distance. Even though this was just a neighborhood park and not wilderness, being outside, walking slowly, and paying attention to details like the trees, weather, and other people made the experience feel more real and grounded.