Nature Journal Five (NJ5): A day with a Gator


Nature Journal Five: A day with a Gator
            We had the privilege today in class to travel to the Fort Worth Nature Center to help with volunteer work. It is always humbling to be able to help the local community. This was week one of our six-week excursion to assist the refuge center.  It is imperative that academia has some translation or application to the real world. The ability to immerse ourselves in the readings of Thoreau and Abbey with the opportunity to carry on their legacy of protecting our home-ground is rewarding. As we got to our site for the day, I noticed a long winding river with trees drooping over like a low hanging fruit. Stumps glided on the glass slate across the bank. As we started to settle in, we saw a magnificent site: an alligator basking in the warm sun. I could not help but notice his scales from a distance. While others might see a nice pair of boots, I see a coat of beautiful rigid diamonds. Each scale connected to each other to make a perfectly woven aquatic blanket. After us animals began to sing in excitement and fear, the alligator submerged himself in the water. While a defensive mechanism, the creature kept his head slightly above water to track our every move.

            After the initial rush died down, we began our mission. After years of rigid wind and rain tearing apart the riverbank, we needed to plant new flowers to bring back life and beauty to the shoreline. It was a team effort: cutting apart the plants, cautiously grabbing water from the riverbank, and digging deep holes to plant the flowers. The sun beat down on our scales, leading us to perspire, but the job needed to be done. After a couple hours on the bank, our day was complete. It was a rewarding experience being able to offer up time to help a Fort Worth treasure. I am excited to come back for the next month to assist and see how our work is progressing. An impact on the local community is priceless as it just takes some initiative and hard work.

            I have done a lot of service work in high school as I was an avid volunteer at habitat for humanity. Through college, my service leadership has dropped off as I have prioritized other things. This experience today has re-ignited my love for service-based-leadership and I could not be more excited to see where the next few weeks take me. I hope to see a buffalo instead of an alligator next week!


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