Wednesday, June 6, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
19
D.I.Y. nature expedition—in your own backyard
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
A lucky group of
juniors will make it into
the high school’s lauded
IEE (Interdisciplinary
Environmental Expedition)
program. The rest of us can
create our own small expedi-
tions close to home.
“As human beings, we are
all hardwired to connect with
nature,” says nature aware-
ness teacher Susan Prince.
“It’s not complicated.” You
don’t need fancy recreation
equipment or special clothes.
Start with your five senses
and a small chunk of time.
1. Start right now, or plan
ahead.
Begin in your own gar-
den, backyard, or a nearby
park. Or drive up a Forest
Service road a couple miles
from Sisters and see what
you find. (Bring snacks and
a water bottle.) Really busy
today? Take five minutes.
Plan on a longer expedition
for next week.
2. Step outside—without
devices.
Prince recommends that
you leave your cell phone
behind, step outside, and
take a few deep breaths to
begin. This sounds simple,
but in everyday life we often
forget to consciously experi-
ence our environment. If you
need a phone for emergency
use, turn it all the way off and
bury it in your backpack.
Avoid taking photos. “I
don’t usually take a cam-
era,” says IEE student Cole
Blakelock of his outdoor
adventures. “If I really want
to see that place again, I just
go back to it.”
3. Observe
“As you relax your mind,
notice what you feel, see, and
hear,” Prince recommends.
“What is the air temperature
like on your skin? Is there a
particular birdcall that you
have been hearing? What
direction is it coming from?
Sitting quietly allows the
animals that live alongside
us to start showing them-
selves, and if we do this
often enough we can begin to
observe their patterns.”
Your mind may wan-
der or fill up with unwel-
come thoughts: worrying
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about work, recalling ran-
dom images from an intense
movie. Maybe you’re
annoyed by airplane noises
overhead. Some find it help-
ful to acknowledge the intru-
sive thought or feeling, then
picture it floating away.
Return your attention to
the natural world around
you. Focus on what is real
and immediate: the animals,
plants, water, leaves, and
soil you can smell, hear, see,
and touch. “Taking a journal
along is a good way to record
these events,” notes Prince.
4. Tell your story.
Just being outside in
nature improves health and
lowers stress. More benefits
arise afterward, when we
integrate that nature time
into our lives. “It’s hardwired
into humans to tell our sto-
ries,” says Prince. “This is
how the Kalahari bushmen of
Africa teach their children to
be seamlessly integrated into
their environment. It’s help-
ful to share our time outside
with others.”
IEE students make beau-
tiful maps and accordion-
fold books based on their
PHOTO BY TL BROWN
Nature awareness teacher Susan Prince and her canine companion enjoy
the sun in Sisters Country.
experiences. “It reminded
me of how important it is to
get away from everything,”
wrote Tate Ricker in a rafting
trip journal. “No phones for
almost three days was amaz-
ing. I was surprised how easy
it was to go without a phone.
I didn’t even miss it.”
Leah Chapman wrote,
“Being away from all the
daily stress was really nice
and I was able to focus on
being present in the moment.
Really living and connect-
ing to the outdoors was very
See NATURE on page 22
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