Texts and Treks

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Circle of Life

November 09, 2020

I embarked upon one of my last weekly walks of the semester this Monday, and once again was provided a meaningful, exciting journey along the Trinity. I paced down the sidewalk at around 8 AM and eventually came across a group of ducks swimming amongst each other on the edge of the river. I walked closer, hoping to get a better view and a photograph of them if possible. I eventually realized that within this group of ducks was a male, a female and a group of younger chicks. It was an entire duck family just out for a morning stroll. I snapped a picture of the family of ducks and decided I would write my blog about them. What specifically, I did not know and began to wonder on the way back to my car. A few minutes down the trail I saw a group of three birds flying relatively high in the sky, eventually landing on a tree down the river. I was curious to find out what they were doing, so I paced my way d...

Squirrel

November 04, 2020

I was going for a walk outside the other day and came across a deceased squirrel on the side of the road (pictured below). I decided that I would write my blog post about the squirrel this week, in part because it made me think about the impact that humans have on the environment, even on a small scale. We tend to jump to the big picture and associate our impact with climate change and other large-scale, overarching issues. This squirrel reminded me that our impact on the environment starts with everyday actions. The decisions we make each day influence our collective impact on the environment overtime. Squirrels are hit by cars seemingly all the time, approximately 41 million squirrels are killed by cars each year. For an animal with a common presence, we often overlook the impact that killing “one squirrel” has on their population. Because in this case, killing “one squirrel” adds up to many when basing it on the entire world population...

North Dakota

October 27, 2020

After a few brutal weeks of schoolwork, I went on a much needed trip out of town this last weekend. I met up with my dad and some of my uncles and cousins to go pheasant hunting in North Dakota. It was relatively spontaneous in nature and one of the most fun things I have done in a long time. This was my first time hunting and we couldn't have gotten luckier with the timing - we maxed out on birds each day! We stayed at my cousin's family friend’s farm and he had established numerous hunting spots throughout his properties by planting sunflowers, corn, canola and other pheasant food. We had five dogs who were all extremely well trained for hunting birds and a total of fifteen guys. This trip was super special, not just because it was my first time hunting but it was great to spend time with my dad and extended family. We are all older now and I don’t see my parents and family much anymore. In addition,...

Walk

October 14, 2020

On Monday, I went for my weekly walk along the Trinity but unfortunately wasn’t exposed to any new forms of wildlife this week. I snapped a few pictures of the local animals that I see on a regular basis now, but aside from what is pictured below (Blue Heron, White Heron, Turtles), it was relatively quiet that morning. Although the wildlife didn’t catch my attention as it has in the past few weeks, I found this walk to actually be rather informative. We're living in a relatively stressful time right now between the pandemic, my senior year of college - searching for jobs and a plan for next year, election season and a full class load. To say it lightly, there has been a lot on my mind recently. Throughout the course of this semester, I have found that walking, especially in a natural environment, has a profound calming affect which allows me to completely clear my mind...

Birds Birds Birds

October 07, 2020

Once again, I went for my walk on Monday morning around 10 AM down by the Trinity river. I have come to really enjoy my weekly walk along the Trinity. It reduces any stressors that I have about the week ahead and reminds me that there is more to life than textbooks and tests. It is especially nice to see how many people have found the same experience to be uplifting. Every time I walk the trail there are always people riding bikes, running, or just walking and enjoying the scenery. It is an extremely peaceful area to spend time in the mornings and it sure does brighten my week. I walked for about an hour, hoping that I would come across some wildlife that I had not yet seen before. For quite some time, I could only see the same birds, fish, and turtles that I had already seen down at the river previously. I snapped a few additional photos, as seen below, of the several white herons I saw perched around the water. As I continued wal...

Great White Herron

September 30, 2020

Over the course of this semester, I have grown extremely fond of walking the trails by the Trinity river in the early hours of the morning. It tends to be more peaceful in the morning and as a result, more wildlife can be observed from the trails. I was on my walk this weekend and I noticed a large, white bird standing on the bank of the river. As I walked towards the bird to get a better look, it dipped its head in the water and flew a few hundred yards down river. I decided to continue walking, in hopes that it would cross my path once again. I continued walking and eventually found the bird, perched on the riverbank like I had once seen it before. I slowly walked toward the bird in an effort to get a better glimpse and a picture of it. As you can see below, I was much luckier this time. As I was taking a picture of the bird an older gentleman approached me and said “those things are so cool.” I said “yeah, I know right?” He then went on ...

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