Walking to class almost every weekday cannot be counted as an experience in nature. I don't think driving with the windows down counts as an experience either. Sadly, I don't have a large pool of nature encounters to select from. I am a fan of controlled environments which could be a large factor in why my pool is so shallow. Nature scares me, and I try to avoid it whenever I can. It is scary for many reasons, but the main reason is that I do not know much about it. I can only remember one encounter where I dealt with nature face-to-face, and I was ill-prepared and did not appreciate any second of it.
I spent nearly every summer night calling or texting every friend in my address book, searching for the lucky friend whose parents had left for the weekend. The lucky fellow this weekend was Andy. Andy has had millions of blowouts over the years and this was expected to be another thriller. Andy came through once again and had a bash that was enjoyed by hundreds of our friends. The party was literally shaking the house, and it even extended into the back porch. It was one of those parties where everybody was so happy that they were not the person hosting it because we all knew exactly what the house would look like afterward. But the party was not all smiles and cheers.
I am assuming that eastern Ohio is like most places in that after a few kegs are tapped, somebody feels the need to start a fight. And sometime between 2 and 5 am, somebody broke one of Andy's Mom's bottles of wine. This wine collection was in the basement, and everybody knew it was off limits. The wine probably did not cost more than $50 for the whole bottle, but because it was not in a box we all just assumed it was something that came from France and was at least 100 years old. It also did not help that the bottle had been smashed into fragments by hitting the top of Andy's head. Andy then felt it was necessary to kick everybody out of his house, or try to at least.
Andy began shouting and screaming that he was going to call the cops (like that would ever happen). Bottles were being thrown and people were getting far more stirred up than a few hours before. The cops came (Andy made the call) and everybody scrambled to get out of there. I can not remember exactly why I wanted to run into the woods, but I felt a burning desire to sprint off of Andy's back porch and thrust myself into the wilderness. It may have been to save myself from the long arm of the law, or it could have been that I had drank too much. Either way I was scared, confused, and excited.
This was the roughest forestry I had ever experienced in my life. I am not saying it resembled Northern Canada, but it appeared dense to my squinted eyes. I could not see anything, and I had no idea what berries were good for me, how to make a fire, or anything else Bear Grylls or Steve Erwin would be able to do. I was not prepared. I did not have any of the special gear that nature dwellers are constantly wearing on the Discovery Channel. Every story I have ever heard about survival in the woodlands dealt with at least one character having something that went wrong. I had nothing to go wrong with; no matches that got wet, I did not lose a compass, and I certainly did not let a tent blow away in the wind. I was alone in what might as well have been the Amazon, and it was starting to get cold. Any type of supplies would have allowed me to fare well in the harsh backwoods of Cadiz, Ohio, but I just did not have any.
In the very few seconds after darting off of Andy's property, I faintly remember tripping and landing by a large tree. This tree shocked me when I stared into its base that seemed massive in the moonlight. I could not do anything but clench this tree and never let go until I felt safe enough to open my eyes again. Nobody wants to be crawling on the floor of the forest without so much as a sleeping bag, but I had the tree and that was as safe as I was going to get. The thought of navigating through the ridiculous terrain had crossed my mind, but that light bulb was short-lit and I wound up wrapping myself around the timber.
The fury of nature's night was something I had never dealt with before, and I am proud to have come out alive. The sounds throughout the night were excruciating; I heard hoots and howls that sent chills down my spine. Every rustle of the leaves was surely a large black bear coming to steal my tree and eat me alive. As if the sounds were not enough, I had to deal with the bugs crawling all over me. It felt as though giant ants or spiders were slipping into my clothes and through my hair, and I was helpless. My mom once told me about a report that stated: the average human eats 7 spiders in his/her lifetime. I think I hit my quota that night. As stated earlier: I wasn't prepared. I didn't even have bug spray. I'm not sure how it happened with all of nature's forces against me, but I fought through the noise and the insects and finally fell asleep.
Being woken up by a sunrise is something that everybody should experience at least once. The few minutes it took for me to fully wake up were beautiful. The warmth of the sun seemed to heal me of everything I had been through the night before. I finally had some heat and some light. The sun shined over me and all the surroundings that inhibited me just hours ago. As my pupils focused themselves, I was shocked at everything the glorious sun decided to show me. Once I got to my feet I realized that I was still in Andy's back yard. I, apparently, had tripped over some shrubs towards the end of Andy's property, and landed by a small tree. I spent the night not in the woods, but instead, surrounded by grass and landscaping in somebody's backyard. The night in the woods left me with nothing but scrapes from the shrubbery and a promise to never drink again.
I was thrown into nature, and into a situation that did not enable me to appreciate it. My lack of being prepared was the downfall and caused me to walk away from my incident without a positive outlook on nature. I know nature has beauty, and I've seen it on TV and read about it in books, but because I was not prepared, I could not learn of it for myself.
What is the best thing about nature at night?
I remember being woken up by my dad around noon with a cup of hot chocolate in his hand and a smile on his face. This could only mean one thing: Snow day. The television was playing what the local news called the “Snowbird Report”. At a young age, the scrolling schools at the bottom of the screen helped me learn my alphabet. I always new that after “Frontier Local” my school would follow: “Harrison Hopedale Elementary”(There were no Gs). I valued these days because I could hang out with my dad who would stay home from work, or I could go outside and play with my friends who were just as excited as I was to be free for the day. I hope that future generations can benefit from snow days forever, and enjoy them just as much as I did. An opponent to the phenomenon of snow days is global warming. It may not seem like it now, but eventually global warming will be the end of snow days, and nobody will be able to play in the snow, just like I did on a cold snow day when I was in fifth grade.
It was a typical snow day where I woke up late and watched ESPN with my dad for a few hours before getting all of my friends and ideas together for what the rest of the day would bring. Eventually I received a phone call from my buddy Ryan asking me if I wanted to sled ride at the park. I told him yes, of course, and then called every friend within walking distance. As I talked on the phone in the kitchen, my dad overheard our plans to sled ride and, being the engineer that he is, began brainstorming on how to make this snow day unlike any other.
My dad already had a notepad out before I could hang up the phone. He drew diagrams with our four-wheeler pulling a rope that would be attached to the lid of our turtle-shaped sandbox. He included smiling faces of my friends and I, and even mapped the trail the four-wheeler would take while pulling everyone. He had the landscape fully mapped out, and then he called up each of my friend's parents to make sure his idea was alright in their eyes. The diagram was left at home, but the layout and every single idea he wrote down was still inside his head, which he certainly took to the park.
The park was an old football field that had been stripped of the bleachers and goal posts, bur it still contained a lot of useful land. We would use every inch of it. Essentially, our town park was just a giant plot of flat land with a hill on one side and trees on the other. This field was perfect for an afternoon of sled riding. The designated driver for the day (my Dad) took full advantage of every twist and turn while hearing us scream behind him. He had trails that would go up the side of the hill and take advantage of the entire park. Even the forestry was taken advantage of by the four-wheeler with the turtle shell behind it.
The whole community showed up at the park that day, and it was a wonderful thing to see. When the parents arrived to the park with their kids it was a shock to me. Usually just my buddies would walk from their homes and meet me at the park, but apparently my dad's phone call was inspiring enough to bring the parents along. That is the beauty of a snow day: a normal day of sled riding can quickly turn into a community event where everybody became involved. Parents clapped as their children were whipped past them at the bottom of the hill. All of my friends yelled and screamed the entire day as they felt the cold snow tingling their noses. The community seemed to smile on snow days, and that may be because the only responsibility of the day was given to the snowplow man, but even he was not even highly responsible because everybody wanted another day just like the one we were experiencing at the time. The community let loose at the park, and they were all glad to miss a day of work. Everybody left the park just as the sun was falling into the night, and we all knew exactly what we would do when we got home.
Hot chocolate is a staple of snow days, and this epic snow day had no other way to end but with a giant cup of this delicious treat. My dad made our hot chocolate with milk, and I could drink three or four cups of it. My mom would come home to a fresh pot of hot chocolate and would be just as happy as my dad and I. My dad and I did not even have to tell her that we had a great day, because she could tell by our faces that had smiles lined with whipped cream. She knew that any day that ended with hot chocolate was certainly a good one, and this day was one of the best ever.
The day may have went perfect, but the fact is that things could have been done to prevent Global Warming, even on that day. It was unnecessary for any of the families that went to the park to drive. They all could have walked and saved gas. We could have taken the four-wheeler out of the equation and just used the hill for momentum. Even after going home there are steps that could have been taken. Instead of cranking the heater up, and sitting in the hot shower that has an industrial shower-head that drops about a million gallons of water a minute, I should have piled on some blankets and allowed the hot chocolate to warm me. Steps could have been taken, even on a perfect day.
Taking steps to reduce global warming do not have to only occur on snow days; in fact, things can be done every single day of the year. In the summer time a family could have the thermostat for their air conditioner set at the highest comfortable temperature to reduce the energy needed to keep the house cool. In the spring time families should purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from their local markets. This would reduce the need for big companies to manufacture goods using a lot of energy. Any time of year that the weather permits a family should try to travel using bicycles or walking. The amount of money the family would save is good enough reason to do so, but after knowing that the family could stop omitting harmful toxins into the air—it becomes completely necessary. If a vehicle is necessary, a family should purchase an eco-friendly compact. The best time to buy a car is in the winter, and if buying a new car is essential, taking a snow day to buy a hybrid is perfectly fine with me. Every day of the year we have an opportunity to better the environment in simple ways, an it is our responsibility to do so.
Days like that special snow day will be a thing only taught in textbooks if global warming continues and has its way with the climate. We can indeed do things to prevent global warming, and this must be done to continue the experience of snow days for future generations. Happiness is so important in daily life for a child, and a full proof way to do is to grant him or her a fun day with friends and no worries. A snow day is the recipe for happiness, and global warming is a threat to that happiness.
What is the best way to spend a snow day?
