A New Adventure Begins

As many of you know, I am out every single day, during the warm months, in my power wheelchair down by the local river, my beloved river, on the river trails. I have often wished I knew more about my surroundings than I do, and now is my chance. I have begun studying to become a Minnesota Master Naturalist. It's offered through the University of Minnesota Extension Office. This particular class is called "Big Woods, Big Rivers" and concentrates on the area of the state from approximately the Fargo/Moorhead area in the northwest corner of Minnesota and angeling through the middle of the state down to the southeast corner of Minnesota. The title of the textbook reads "Big Woods, Big Rivers--An Introduction To The Natural History of Minnesota's Deciduous Forests".

My first education into the environment in which we live was when I was in 10th Grade. My homeroom teacher was also my biology teacher and he started a class called "Ecology". Although I had grown up at our lake cabin deep in the woods, this was my first journey into the education of what I was seeing around me. That man's name was Roland Johnson, and he started something called "The Ecology Site" down by the Crow River (named after the Sioux leader Taoyateduta, also known as Little Crow) just across the street from the high school. This was in the early '70s.  Last summer (2017) the site was dedicated to Mr. Johnson, and rightfully so. I remember during that class we were each given a one inch patch of grass outside the building. We were to observe and make a record of every different thing we saw, from a blade of grass, to bugs, to mosses, to dirt quality, etcetera. All in a one square inch patch of earth.. From that one inch patch he taught us how everything is interconnected and that if you change one thing, you change everything. That tiny little patch of grass expanded wider and wider until we could see just how much we were affecting our planet Earth.

Now over 40 years later, I get to learn even more about this world around me. As a part of the program we are required to do 40 hours of volunteer work, spreading the word about environmentalism and conservation and trying to light new little fires in our young ones. I'm not sure what my project is going to be but I think I'm probably going to use this format to pass on what I've learned, perhaps using pictures and videos as well.

So, week one I have two chapters to read. The first chapter is an introduction to the Minnesota Master Naturalist Program.  The next chapter is entitled "Rocks, Ice, and Dirt--Geology of the Big Woods. Minnesota is located right on the edge of what has become known as the Big Woods, and the tall grass prairies.

I really am quite excited about this. I feel like I can use my brain again. I can begin to pass on what I've learned on my own, and when I've finished this class, I will try to teach the next generation of environmentalists and conservationists  just how important their surroundings are and that what they do affects everyone and everything around them. I hope to try to raise awareness of how important our environment is and that the biggest changes start at the smallest levels, in this case our babies.