What We Miss

I had my first training/planning session the other day with the other staff that I'll be working with this spring, summer and fall. We did an ecology lesson on both prairie land and the forest. We all had different jobs to be doing at each site. One person did plant/fungus observations, one did non-living stuff while another person had to look for animal/insect sign. I was in charge of mapping out the area and orienteering.

When we were at the pine forest location, the person in charge of the animal sign worksheet was getting frustrated because she could not see anything (marks, fur, tracks, scat) and so she sort of gave up looking after a few minutes. On the other hand, I saw deer, raccoon, and tons of squirrel tracks and sign all over the place!

It reminded me of a Thoreau quote:

"Objects are concealed from our view not so much because they are out of the curve of our visual ray as because there is no intention of the mind and eye toward them... We cannot see anything until we are possessed with the idea of it, and then we can hardly see anything else."

The other staff person could not see the tracks because in her mind she probably thought that we aren't supposed to be able to see them. I have had training when it comes to tracking and sign, therefore my mind sees nothing but the tracks and sign! Even after I pointed out a few, she still seemed a bit skeptical. I don't expect for people to be able to "see" tracks like I do, so it doesn't bother me. Just as I am certain there are things in life that I miss because I haven't been shown how to see them. But it got me thinking...

What will happen when we get the kids out there for these lessons. How many teachable moments could be missed because we aren't trained to see them? How many kids could get frustrated just like the staff person? How many kids could we awaken to the possibility of seeing beneath the surface? I think my skills will come in handy and hopefully compliment the other staff's strengths as well. Most importantly, I hope it awakens the children to the power of nature.