Melissa Morewitz- Experience of a Natural Setting #1

Today the class went and walked a little bit of the Noland Trail. I've lives minutes away from this trail for almost 20 years now and have never looked at it the way I did today. I always have enjoyed the scenery that the Noland Trail provides but I haven't ever really stopped to look at the wildlife. The mayapples were gorgeous, I have never seen those before and if I have, I didn't look close enough to see the flower underneath its leaves. The two trees, the dogwood and the other one (can't remember the name) were really unique in the way that they grew together, their trunks connected and they seemed to adapt to each other and grow around each other in a way that sort of intertwined them. I'm obsessed with turtles and seeing so many today was so refreshing. Something about how gentle and fragile they are as they glide through the water is so captivating and I find it hard to take my eyes off of them! I could have stood there all day just observing them in their natural environment. As a boy was feeding them goldfish (haha), other wildlife like fish and ducks came to join in on the action. It was like a little peak into what their world is like and how they must all interact and compete with each other to survive. You could almost here the turtles telling one another to back off of their goldfish and it was very entertaining. I also saw the most giant turtle I think I have ever seen in person; nature never fails to amaze me! There are also factors of the Noland Trail that take alot away from the natural setting. These factors include: the barking dogs from neighboring houses, the sound of cars driving by and planes drowning out some of the birds chirping. I also noticed telephone lines running through parts of the woods and it made me want to visit a place not so tampered with.