Learning in the Shadow of a Mountain
Why save a blueberry barren and a pile of rocks? Good eats and great views come to mind, along with opportunities and possibilities for learning about ways of land protection. It's important to learn about places that matter. A place is a piece of the environment that has been claimed by feelings.
Over the years I have enjoyed working with local school classes, introducing children to the excitement and possibilities of school site science and exploration. Walker School in Liberty, Maine, was close by and good friends of mine were teachers there, and were eager to engage their students in doing some school site exploration.
As it happened, Haystack Mountain was nearby and accessible for field trips. We began with exploring right around the school building. Later, a hiking path to the summit of Haystack was completed and we hiked that.
Of course, all the children wanted to hike to the summit! We seldom got there, because there were so many things to see along the way. We wanted to stop and talk about wild plants, animal signs, insects and spiders, weather and - everything!
TO LOVE AT A DISTANCE IS NOT ENOUGH . . . We need to make contact and re-establish heartfelt connections with our places.
“A world without wildness would be a diminished world for humans. Let us dedicate our efforts together to the Other Nations . . . to the four legged people . . . the crawling people . . . the swimming people . . . the sitting people and the flying people . . . that people walking with them may know and honor them.“
Daniel Mathews, Cascade-Olympic Natural History
