This week we returned to the Fort Worth Nature Center
Prairie trail to continue restoring the water eroded trail. As we walked to our
supplies and the dirt mound we came across a snake. I was so wrapped up in
conversation though, I was unaware that it had slithered a mere foot behind me.
The snake journeyed up into a nearby tree and kept a careful eye upon us. It was
a curious fact that as we were trying to identify and observe the snake it was
completing a similar assessment on us. My initial reaction was to view the
snake as an outsider that did not belong on our trail, but it is in fact I who
was entrenching on its natural habitat. To the snake I am the one to be feared.
After
standing and pondering the snake nestled into the tree and we continued to walk
down the trail. I made a conscious effort to stay alert to my surrounding, not
only to avoid a snake but also to not miss any skeptical that was happen right
before me. The waters bars we made two weeks ago are still intact and doing
their job. We began work on the remainder of the path that was still worn down
from the waters. Understanding what our job was we all went to work immediately
and picked up our shovels wordlessly and worked in beautiful synchrony.
The dirt mound left for us gave us
an increasingly difficult time. The mound was of tough clay rather than the
soft dirt of weeks prior. The men in our group worked at the clay with a pick
ax and then we continued to shovel dirt into the eroded trail. By the end of
the class period I was proud to see that we created two more water bars and
almost completely filled in where the water had eroded the trail.
As I type this journal entry the
rain is hitting the sliding glass door beside me. I wonder if the newest water
bars are holding and preventing water damage to the Prairie trail. It is a
satisfying feeling knowing that the labor we put into the trail is going to
help preserve it for rainfalls to come. By preserving this trail we allowing
for others to experience nature as we have been blessed to. Although I am not a
fan of the heat I always leave class with a sense of peace. Being in an area
where for a moment I am electronic free and do not see cars or buildings is
refreshing. It gives me a moment to catch a breath and truly breathe.
No comments:
Post a Comment