10/3/15
The west, I
can’t believe I am here. Who cares about the ear-popping elevation, Jeff’s
endless I-Pod love song shuffle, the bad cases of SB (sore-butt), or your
neighbor drooling on your shoulder with a Yellowstone book in their hand. I
have all this week to do as a leader of the week, on top of my outdoor
education lesson, interpretation lesson, book report and other teachable
moments on mammals as the perfect opportunity arises. I work like an animals
preparing for hibernation, but trying to avoid putting on the fat. When long
hours of reading Scorched Earth, a
book about Yellowstone’s fire ecology and deep history becomes a little too
long, I have the beautiful foothills of the majestic Rocky Mountains to gaze at
as I daydream about all of the people who roamed on this same route before the
creation of the automobile. All of this work is worth it though. Taking a
vacation to Yellowstone, you might pick up a few mental pictures and a couple
facts that could be forgotten along the way. ECOEE is way different from that.
It connects every topic imaginable and creates a vivid mental encyclopedia full
of pictures and facts that will be carried with us for a lifetime. If work and
research is not complete, it’s a loss for the individual and the group as well.
I try to be as prepared as much as I can, but nothing can hold back my
excitement for these places. As I sit here in Custer National Forest in
Montana, near Red Lodge, I receive a moment of relief, a moment of reflection
and appreciation. It’s cold, rainy, and scenic and still worth every second.
People who are not involved with ECOEE just see the pictures on the good days
we have, but need to realize the work that is involved and how much it pays
off. I have learned more in the field than I ever would have in the classroom.
Take risks because life has limited opportunities, because I am sure glad I
did.
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