Magnetic North
Today is the first day starting Kamana One A Naturalist Training Program. I have created this blog to update my thoughts, drawling,pictures as I travel this two-four week journey.
The strategy to taking this course is to become like a child. Kamana asks that we " empty our cup" and look at this experience anew. I read the first assignment of the day around 7:15 this morning. I was feeling really excited to start this program and couldn't wait to jump into the adventure. Upon starting this program I was weary about how technology is affecting my ability to deeply connect. I am constantly distracted by the technological world around me, finding myself tuning out my surroundings. This has been a constant thought throughout the past weeks. How can one truly escape technology? Is it possible? I will admit it, I currently have a face book and twitter account. It's nice to connect to people while being away from home, but is it really connection? With this being said, I've decided to challenge myself and disconnect from technology while doing this program.
The first assignment of the day was to find a "trigger" for myself to remind my brain to wake up my consciousness to the game for the day. This is a call to put all my senses on alert. So I decided that my trigger would be every time I walked through a door.. (It should be something that happens at least 10 times a day). And while in the woods every time I heard a bird call or song.
7:15 the day started off with a pop quiz. I am a little embarrassed, I hardly knew any of these answers, but that is why I embarked on this journey to begin with, not to know all the answers, but to be able to ask the right questions.
1. Where does the water in your house come from and go to? When you turn on the faucet to see the water, was that same water yesterday? Last week? Last month? When it goes down the drain where does it go? Where does it go after that?
I am not so sure. The first thing that comes to mind is that one I feel I have two homes, one in Burlington VT and one in Philadelphia PA. So in this case I am going to answer the questions for Vermont. The first thing that comes to mind is Lake Champlain. I think the water comes from the mountain melt and then empties back into the lake. I am not sure if it is the same water every morning.
2.Draw a little arrow on this page that points true North from where you sit and tell me, briefly the difference between magnetic North and true North and how that applies to you.
I have no idea the difference between magnetic north and true north. In fact I think i have the worst sense of direction. Here is a sketch of what I am guessing is "True North"
3.What plant closest to your front door
I live off a residential street. I think the closet plant to my front door would be some sort of scrub (something planted there intentionally).
4.Write what you remember of the last sentence on the previous page.
I cant recall the last sentence but I know the general idea was remembering to trigger myself into consciousness at least 15 times a day.
5. Name two types of poisonous spiders in your area.
no idea, very interested in knowing.
6. Why are tree your best friend in a wilderness survival situation? Name two common trees in your area.
I think trees are your best friend because they can serves as shelter and protection. Two common trees are the Sugar Maple and Beech.
7. Draw and arrow that points to the closest moving water from your home.
8. Draw the phase of the moon today
9.Name two birds that look like an American Robin. What are key differences between them?
10. Name two mammals that look for food within 30 meters from your home.
Gray squirrel and skunk?
Challenge for the day
Take time to look around you all day. Pay special attention to things that are grabbing your attention, natural or not.
Today I was lucky enough to spend most of my day in the woods. While on campus though, I found myself paying attention to peoples eye contact with one another. The passing of a stranger, the passing of a familiar face and how this eye contact varied. While in woods I found myself attracted to the smaller details. Instead of looking at the forest as a whole I really tried to zoom in on the things one would often times over look. It was a gloomy, hazy day with temperatures in the mid 40s. I found myself attracted to the pops of color hidden through out the woods. I studied a Red Maple bud for 15 minutes. It literally looked like it could burst any second with all the beautiful colors of spring. It felt like it had captured all my emotions about shifting seasons into this tiny red and green bud. I found myself zoomed into the small things because of a book read a few weeks ago called "The Other Way to Listen". The childrens book encourages on not to start with a whole forest or a whole ocean but one wave wash, one seed pod, one leaf. This made me want to focus on the small things that I often over look. I also found my self zooming out and looking at the landscape as a whole. The sky was so beautiful against the early shades of green grass of the spring.
I am really thankful today for photography. It has become a great passion and learning tool.
I am constantly inspired by the landscape.
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