This blog entry is brought to by English class

I recently took a trip into nature. I went running on a loop in the military reserve trails system in the late evening when the sun was going down. The problem with running is you are going faster so you don’t notice as many things, but I am a keen observer so there are few things that I miss. When it is getting dark out more animals come out to feed so by running in the evening you can actually see parts of nature that one would usually not see. In the evening the nocturnal animals are coming out and the daytime animals are going to bed. Also more animals are mobile since it is cooler and a bit safer because they can use the cover of darkness to hide from danger. The only real problem is that it is dark and humans can’t see in the dark. So I had to be a bit more careful about where I was going. Also darkness is when many predators are awake so it is a bit more dangerous, but I tend not to worry about things like that. If four 155mm artillery rounds detonating 5 feet from my head can’t kill me than a hungry mountain lion is welcome to try. I know it is kind of a stupid ideal, but one that I follow anyway. I’m not scared of nature regardless. The fear that early explores had of the wilderness does not have any root in me. I see it more as a wonderful place full of beauty, which can be harsh and unforgiving, but calm and serene too, just as long as you’re not an idiot. Lions and tigers and bears oh my!
I started running on a trail that wound through a dense grove of trees along side a creek. The trees and shrubbery where bathed in a flat grey light that made seeing the hazards of the trail difficult, but my feet found their way easily along the trail. Turnings a corner I saw a small rabbit sitting on the trail probably basking in the warmth coming from the loose dirt. When it saw me it hopped off into the bushes, where its natural camouflage hid it from my view. I continued following the creek until the valley began to come together. Then I turned and began climbing up the sparsely vegetated hill to the top of the ridge. At the top of the ridge I could see the remains of the sun setting over the city. The sky was on fire with shades of purple, red and amber. It was a very beautiful sight. I did not linger long for the runners high was coursing through my veins compelling me to keep going. I started down the other side of the ridge, traversing many steep switch back lined with lots of prickly bushes making the descent even more exciting and dangerous. I could hear small animals rustling in bushes as I careened through their environment. I wondered through my endorphin haze if I was disturbing them and by me being here when humans generally weren’t what effect that would have on that creature. Probably nothing, but I can see that if more people disturbed its nightly cycle than that might change the creature in many ways, such as its scrounging for food or avoiding predators.
Reaching the bottom of the hill I came to the homestretch back to my car that I used to get to my nature experience. As I ran down the trail bats swooped over my head eating insects that buzzed around the densely vegetated creek bottom. By now the nearly set sun had turned everything a dark grey where my surroundings blended together into a hard to see panorama. The last section was in a dense grove of trees that turned everything black. The trail crossed the creek for the last time, where a concrete pad was put to reduce erosion giving a stark reminder of how humans have encroached on nature.
That was my latest natural experience. It was interesting how even close to the city I could still have a wild experience. It was sad though how humanity had affected nature, making not as a natural experience as it might have been. Everything from making the trail, to its use and definitively the concrete pad in the middle of the stream detracted from the natural experience that the area once had. It was still a great experience.