While walking through the forest this time around, I hung toward the back of the entire group, and took in all the smells, sounds, and sights of the woods. The weather was chillier than before but still a nice autumn day in Ohio. I noticed dew drops collecting on leaves, every individual drop clear and vivid. The vibrant green moss growing upward on a tree, ants crawling on the bark of trees searching for food, and the rushing of wind. The woodpeckers knocking on trees, the fluttering of robins and blue jays, the rustle of the last leaves that have yet to fall. While the fallen leaves picked up a scent which wasn’t quite rotten but rather the beginnings of the wet dew mixed with the crisp fall leaves, and mixture of the last remnants of fall. T

              At the very of the hike, the class was walking back to the university when we stumbled across a turtle. He blended in with the leaves and could’ve gone unnoticed, but we stopped and observed it. I think looking at this tortoise, it reminded of me how hundreds of species in the woods exist in a relationship with each other and are part of an ecosystem that exist seamlessly. This turtle, which turned out to be an Eastern box turtle, was doing nothing but following its natural ability to exist and live within part of that ecosystem. This particular turtle will eat fungus, slugs, earthworms, and other vegetation which will affect the ecosystem. Just like this turtle, I am reminded how humans must exist within the ecosystem and preserve the life that held within without causing a negative effect. We are not outside of nature but a part of it. Humans should not look at nature as something to be gained but rather exist as a part of a larger picture.