The first-time walking in the Wright State Woods was with class. I have lived by Wright State my entire life and I always knew they had the woods yet stepping onto the path for the first time, was something entirely new. I walk in many places around the Dayton area, I travel to many places with extensive hiking trails such as the Rocky Mountain National Park, The Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone but these trails are accessible and right by class.

              The trails are easy enough not to sweat, secluded in certain areas where one does not hear the outside world, and peaceful in a way where one can only find in nature. My first walk in the woods happened on August 25th and while hiking, I tend to look down yet I love looking up. The older part of the wood, there were tall trees which shaded the class from the sun. While observing the small things, I notice the unique balance of the ecosystem. I always thought ants stayed on the ground, which is silly but I never took time to really think about how far ants traveled to get food. I noticed an ant crawling up the trunk of a tree and onto a branch, and proceeded on the leaf to search for food. The first walk in the woods gave a refreshed mindset that if you look around and observe more, there is a greater appreciation for what is happening around.

This photo displays the appreciation of things not always seen. This spiderweb is often seen a nuisance, something to be swatted away. I didn’t notice it at first, I was just walking but then the sunlight hit the spiderweb, such an intricate woven web. It was so delicate and fragile. I think nature can be seen as something fierce and strong, which it most certainly is, yet paralleling it to this spiderweb. It is something that is beautiful, intricate, woven with such detail and precision, and at times seen as a nuisance and something to be torn away, and destroyed.