LGP- Texts & Treks 2023

 This poem is definitely my favorite of the three Mary Oliver poem's that I have found thus far. For those who are not religious, the Garden of Gethsemane is the place in which Jesus went to pray after the Last Supper on the night before his crucifixion. It is in this garden that he pleads with the Lord to take the cup of burden from Him, all the while saying that Thy will be done, and it is also in this garden that Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot. This poem describes the idea that although Jesus asked the disciples to wait with Him and they continued sleeping, the nature of the garden, the beauty of the flowers and grass around him, likely kept Him company and gathered around him in that moment. It is easy to remember that the Lord made us as humans, and the world, but it is easy to forget that He also made everything blade of grass, the wind, the sky, the stars, all of it. It makes me smile thinking of Jesus taking solace in creation in His last moments on earth. I was partic...

I loved this poem by Mary Oliver because it reminded me most of a Sabbath- taking time to slow down, to observe, and to just be. In this poem, Oliver implores the reader to linger a little bit longer in their day to notice the birds singing, to listen to their melody just for the sake of singing. The birds do not strive to beat each other, or for their own sake, but for the pure joy of singing. I have noticed that throughout Oliver's poems, she continuously references singing for the joy of singing. We should all sing more often, in my opinion. Although this is a specific example of slowing down, I think we can all apply this principle to our lives. Whether it is looking up and around on our way to class, or choosing to walk alone/without music in our free time can open our eyes to a whole new world of experiences around us. My favorite line in the poem is in the last stanza: "It could mean something. It could mean everything. It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote: You m...

 This poem is simple and yet so utterly relatable, that it is impossible to look past it without seeing a glimpse of yourself within the lines. I was first struck by Oliver's list of items she worries about, all of which are easily identifiable as things that would continue happening without any level of human intervention. She seems to comment on the futility of worrying about things outside of our control, and reminds us that more often than not, the things we worry about will turn our just fine if left alone. Her next worries turn inward, and her words "Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven, can I do better" sound all too familiar to a perfectionist like myself. I was reminded of the following passage in the Bible when she describes that even the sparrows can sing amongst their worries:  Luke 12:7  (KJV) But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. In the same way that Mary Oliver realizes th...

     What an evening we had canoeing across the choppy waters of Benbrook Lake! Although I was unsure of what to expect when we began our escapade across Fort Worth, I was pleasantly surprised at how peaceful and enjoyable the trip was (albeit my arms will be sore tomorrow!). Despite a wrong turn on the way there, we found our way to the lake and began to unload our very heavy canoes and paddles. I was shocked at how low the water was, but after reflecting on my summer in Fort Worth, I quickly remembered that rain has been a rare occurrence these past few months. Sheridan and I trucked through the mud and braved the waters as the first to enter. We paddled with all of our might across the waters, realizing that the wind was definitely going to make our jobs more difficult. We did not really have a location in mind as we paddled, simply making our way deeper out into the lake, and hopefully for the opposite shore.       Throughout the hour or so we spen...

     In this week's class, we discussed Havasu, a chronology of Abbey's journeys through a deep part of the Grand Canyon, complete with turquoise waters, picturesque views, and intense solitude. Upon my first reading, I laughed at the simplicity with which Abbey described big decisions and big ideas; for example, " So I went down into Havasu—fourteen miles by trail—and looked things over. When I returned five weeks later I discovered that the others had gone on to Los Angeles without me" (72). Abbey seems to view life with a simplicity, without care for time and space. The time seems to have placed in the blink of an eye, or rather within one sentence. His time in the canyon, however, was anything but brief and uneventful. The first portion of the passage that stuck out to me was the following:  "I’m not sure that I care for the idea of strangers examining my daily habits and folkways, studying my language, inspecting my costume, questioning me about my religion,...

      This week for class, we were tasked with our first readings in Norton's Book of Nature Writing, starting with entries from the journals of Lewis and Clark, and excerpts from Luther Standing Bear's books. Although the Lewis and Clark entries were a bit difficult to read, due to the lack of punctuation and broken English, it was remarkable to hear how the two men viewed the United States as they explored the country for the first time.  There is a novelty and wonder to the sights they are encountering, particularly in the description of the waterfall in the latter journal entries. I was struck by the inner turmoil the writer feels in struggling to put words to the beauty he sees, and his frustration with his words not matching the splendor of the waterfall. The writer says "I could not perhaps succeed better than penning the first impressions of the mind", reminding the reader that our rawest emotions and words are often the best descriptor of the beauty we see (...