Hi all! Thank you for following the changes of the log cross with me throughout this semester. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time spent at Centennial Woods, feeling more refreshed, calm, and connected to nature after every visit. There have been many changes since I went before Thanksgiving break.
Instead of the ground being obscured by ferns, it was covered with maple leaves and a few pine needles.
As you might expect, the trees were barren, except for the towering pines and a few cedars. Without the insulation of the foliage, I could hear the cars on the road much more loudly. The planes flying above were also much more audible. I’m not sure if it was because they were being drowned out, or if they have all migrated or started their winter survival plans, but I did not hear any animal noises.
Here’s a clip I got of the buzz from the road and a plane flying overhead.
For my last visit before the break, I followed a guided meditation from one of my favorite podcasts “Listen to Sleep” from Erik Ireland.
This was my view as I meditated, fish posing over my favorite log in the cross.
With the stress of finals, it’s been hard to focus on the bigger picture, on how we are all just another moving part of nature, that ebbs and flows and changes with the seasons. I touched on this idea in one of my reflections from NR 1050. Heres an excerpt:
“At our core, human nature still rules our lives. Our survival instincts – our drive for food, water, and shelter- have evolved along with society to become a drive for wealth and stability. Our need for connection has grown to allow for Facetime and videos to count towards our physical needs, for Instagram reels and TikTok to begin to satisfy our need for interaction. But are these changes natural? Or is it a course of human – just another animal- progression? Or is our screen dependence starting to stray far enough away from our primal nature, leading us to become unnatural? It doesn’t feel natural. Our descent into a depressed and anxious society, with newer generations having problems socializing in person (Novak, A. [2024, September 4]. Vermont Schools Are Banning Smartphones to Limit Distractions. Seven Days) that due to our deepening dependence on screens does not feel natural or meant to be.
Most of the time it feels like there’s nothing that we can do about this. The world we live in requires us to be well-versed in screens. Push notifications are the most reliable way to get news, the culture has shifted to pop culture references being required to fit in, and most jobs expect technological knowledge. You can’t function as a part of society without being well-oriented with your screen. Even here at UVM, you can’t leave your floor without your phone, as you won’t be able to get back in. You can’t go to your phenology spot without logging your finds on iNaturalist. You can’t truly unplug because the systems in place are enabling a screen dependency.
I hope that one day, we Rubenstein students -so dedicated to the natural world- will fight for a more nature oriented world, for large scale systemic change to free us from our screens, truly dedicating our lives to nature.”
Even though I still took pictures on my phone, used my phone for the meditation, and walked there and back with it safely tucked into my pocket, I felt free from the constraints of technology, connected to the natural world. The log cross has reminded me to step back from my little life, the hold that my technology has on me, and the stress of finals and going home. I should be relishing in the fact that although humans are often seen as separate from nature, we are still animals deeply woven into the cycles of the earth, changing with the seasons just as all living things do—our bodies, minds, and spirits shifting with the rhythm of the world. We are fortunate to have created shelters and systems that protect us, yet we remain part of the vast, interconnected flow of life, and should never feel stuck in those systems. I feel so grateful for my place within nature’s ever-turning wheel.