I was a little hesitant about this walk. As I was on my way to meet everyone for the walk, I was thinking that isn't it kind of funny that we are being forced into a spiritual experience with nature by going on this walk when nature has to choose you in order to experience the sacredness of that place. My doubts were clouding my mind and not allowing me to be open to whatever this place may have to share with me. As we began, my doubt continued because the very first thing I saw was a dead fish in the middle of the field - not very nature-like to me. Another thing that was clouding my openness to the place was all of the mosquitoes! There were so many out that day. I think I went home with about 10-15 really big bug bites. I even killed one right on my notebook and the blood from the mosquito is still there to prove it. Despite all of this cloudiness in my mind and doubts, I was able to enjoy the time we spent there. While Redick was showing us around and getting us started, he was pointing out things that I wouldn't have necessarily caught if I were just walking on my own such as: the mutual relationship between the vines and the trees, the English Ivy, the Devil's Walking Stick, the pungent smell of the Russian Thistle, and the effects of nature such as hurricane Isabel. I appreciated the guidance that he offered. It wasn't until he let us go though that I was able to truly begin my own experience. By the time he had let us explore, I was ready - all my doubts had subsided a bit and I was getting used to the mosquitoes because I was starting to be aware of my surroundings more rather than focusing solely on me, myself and I.
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