The Woods, or Something Like It: Response 1

Apparently, if we subscribe to the Pattiann Rogers definition of nature, then nothing is off limits in a blog entry that details my current feelings about the natural world and, as an extension, the environment. Penthouse magazine? Calculus? NBA basketball? An ice pick through the chest? Ok, maybe Penthouse magazine, but seriously, Ms. Rogers? I have no doubt she spent considerable time and effort contemplating just how many random things could be packed in the four or five odd pages it took to essentially make the point that nature is everything…or everything is nature. Hmm, I guess I’m still not quite sure which is the point. Regardless, I’m pretty sure that our class has settled on the idea that the natural world, the environment, or just plain nature has to do with the outdoors, the forest, the trees, plants, animals, camping, fishing, and so on and so on…pretty much the woods, or something like it.

Ms. Rogers theory aside (I’m sure, by the way, she is a terrific poet and I’m merely poking fun at her essay because it’s a rant and rants invite that sort of thing), there are really two major topics that I would like to explore during this class. One is (and I realize I’m risking the sentimentality taboo here) my daughter and her relationship with nature. Nothing, as far as I can tell, is more natural than introducing a new life to the world, though rearing that life might come rather unnatural to many, myself included. Still, I’ve found that I don’t write nearly enough about her (she’s two years old by the way, and absolutely the most adorable creature in the world…I’ll post pics, you’ll agree…it’s ok, it doesn’t mean you don’t love your own children, it’s just a fact) and the idea of writing about her interaction with the environment could lead to some interesting findings.

The other thing, which poses a bit of a challenge, is encorporating the writing that I do as part of the class into my thesis, which happens to revolve around labor, the working class and growing up with the old blue collar. I’m not quite sure how that’s going to play itself out. I hope, as I often do with most of my writing, that I’ll figure it out as I go.

Personally, I grew up in a rural community. My family built a hunting cabin in the Allegheny National Forrest. I went hunting for the first time at twelve with my dad and uncles. My mom is a huge fisherperson, she loves it, which I think is really cool. How many moms out there enjoy handling slippery fish? In high school my friends and I would drop a couple canoes into the Allegheny River up near Warren, row and float for several days, stopping to camp on the banks or on small islands, down stream to the marina at Oil City. I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I hope my daughter can experience moments like those. But that’s to come. Right now it’s late and I have a Penthouse to read…for the articles, naturally.