When I first arrived with my group to WAWA, I learned from a staff member that some of the trees in this area were over two hundred years old. Many of these trees make up what is called an old-growth forest–meaning that this forest has existed and has never been cut down by humans. As an additional ode to my childhood, I went down the metal slide. In these moments, I connected with the ecology again in ways that reminded me of growing up. Smelling the humid air and feeling the slight mist against my skin transported me back into simpler times. I am grateful that I took these opportunities to explore in child-like ways, as this experience added more significance to my overall interactions at WAWA.
When the weather turned inclement, I was honestly disappointed. However, as we went around the room inside and each gave our names, mood, hometown, and ethnicity, I felt a deeper connection with WAWA and with the people around me that instantly lifted my spirits. I really connected with what Professor Chapman said about how the past–even a past that we may not have been physically alive for–creates and forms us and even us in terms of our connection to ecology.
During this activity, I wondered how I, as a white woman, could connect to how my ethnicity could form who I was in a unique way. My privilege that stems from my race and ethnicity made it initially very difficult to think of how whiteness could somehow lie adjacent to a relationship with nature because of how my very race has abused and still abuses ecology. However, I then took the time to think of how my Irish heritage informs my posture in relation to the nature around me, which I described in my first self reflection paper.
After the weather improved, I joined Serena’s group to pick the invasive species, English Ivy. Later as we pulled the ivy, I was surprised by how long and tough the roots are. It was almost metaphorical, in a way, of how strong an invasive plant can be. Although the ivy contributes to beautiful and lush greenery, it actually destroys plant life. Perhaps this is an ode to the relationship between humans and ecology itself, in how we, as the human race, can create so much beauty, yet simultaneously destroy the Earth that gives us the very place to create.
Luckily, Anna helped me find a picked English ivy plant to propagate. I learned how easy it is to properly propagate this ivy and plants in general. Now that I have arrived home, I have placed this ivy in a mason jar full of fresh water. The plant now sits on my windowsill, waiting to grow.
Overall, my experience at WAWA was very fulfilling. Although I wish I had gotten more sleep the night before to be more present, I feel as if I made very meaningful connections with the ecology and with others around me.