My Trip to Delco Park

Yesterday our class hiked to Delco Park to practice Tom Brown Jr.'s Small World exercise. The point of this exercise was to observe a square foot of grass at a standing, kneeling, and laying down position, and notice things that you missed in the previous position with each time you get closer to the space. Once on your belly you would explore the grass as if it were a grand forest, or as if you were an astronaut exploring a strange new planet. While I was standing up, all I could see was grass. Kneeling I could see there was more complexity to the grass. I could begin to see where the grass touched the ground and bits of the soil.On my belly I could see the grass from the top to the soil, and the ants, spiders, and other insects that inhabited it.

From this position I was able to identify a goldenrod spider, a few red ants, and a Mediterranean moth. I could see how the space that appeared to be only a sea of green before was just as complex and important as the forests that I prowl about and explore. This gave me a new appreciation for all types of nature, and I was certain that I could feel myself treading much lighter with each step I took in the grass after that. Before leaving we hung out around the pier over the small pond. From there I was able to identify that the small birds with red bellies that had circled around use earlier in the day, were barn swallows. Shortly after a classmate came to me and asked for help freeing a small channel catfish from a line that a careless fisherman had left behind.

I was able to pull it out of the water and used two sticks to remove the hook which the poor thing had completely swallowed. After about five minutes, I was able to free the struggling fish back into the pond. This poor fish made me think about how in relationships, young people can often be drawn to someone that gives them a sign of hope, but sometimes once they get to know them better, that hope turns out to be nothing more than a hook and fishing line used to draw them in and leave them to rot. Over all this was a very fun and eventful day.