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Outpost:  Earn a Master's Degree on Where You Live  |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 20 2009 : 07:26:01 AM
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We've been inspired by MaryJane's Outpost book to get out and explore our surroundings. I wrote this story for our scrapbook and thought that I would share it with y'all.
While hiking down to Peavine Falls yesterday afternoon, Oakley and I ran across some scat on the trail. I noted aloud that if we were Native Americans we would know what kind of animal it came from, when it left it, where it went, and probably what it had for breakfast.
“They knew a lot of things, like how to find water, what plants are edible, where the animals live and the mushrooms grow.” I said, “They learned all of that from their parents and from just observing and living in the moment.”
“But they didn’t know how to read.” countered Oakley.
“No, they didn’t have a written language, but that doesn’t mean that they were stupid. Right now, all of our education and the fact that we can read wouldn’t add up to a hill of beans if we were trying to survive in these woods. Out here, we’re the ones who can’t read!”
That statement brought on a whole set of comparisons of our modern life, education, and what we value. As I inspected the forest surrounding me I realized that I might as well be in a foreign land considering how much I knew about it. I came across beautiful flowers that I couldn’t identify, heard birdsong that I didn’t recognize, and warily clung to the well worn path for fear of getting lost if we strayed.
We reached the bottom of the falls on a path so steep that Oakley had to swing like a monkey from root to root with her feet dangling until I could hold her hand and guide her to a new, rocky footing. The climb down was worth it when we were greeted with cool, gushing water and hugged by fern and mossy covered walls.
Right away we began hopping from rock to rock into the middle of the stream to get a better view of the falls and just because it was fun. Then we followed the trail along the stream, discovering along the way more varieties of plants and moss that I had never seen before. We had to turn back when the path began to leer over the stream at a menacing height and it seemed too risky to go further.
Back at the falls we were newly appreciative of the cool air that rushed down the rocks along with the water. It all looked so fresh and clean, I wanted to drink it, but Oakley said I shouldn’t since someone could have dirtied it up stream and she was right.
We took a different trail back, one that seemed easier than the first. After we scrambled up the last rock face and stood on a little ledge overlooking the ravine, we knew from the daunting height and depth that it was a trail for going up…only.
At the top of the falls we followed the stream back to the hiking trail and I saw how easily the water of the falls could be contaminated. In fact, we saw several cans and water bottles floating. I made a note to myself to bring a bag for gathering litter the next time we go out. We could not understand how someone could take the trouble to come and experience all of that natural beauty and then leave behind plastic for others. Barbarians!
As we were headed out of the woods, our conversation turned toward education again. We took stock of ourselves. What do we know? We knew what we lacked. We acknowledged our misguided feelings of superiority because we have computers with unlimited access to information. We resolved to educate ourselves about our own corner of this natural world, so we have matriculated into our own University of Natural Alabama and are going for master’s degrees in Living Here.
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2009 : 9:50:23 PM
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Nikki--your story is so beautiful and so true. I'm a native midwesterner and there's still so much I don't know about this land. I didn't find out till just a few years ago that prickly pear cactus grows on the bluffs here--the only place east of the Mississippi where you'll find it. It's sad that no universities offer programs in living in your bio-region. I feel like a duck out of the water when I try to explain that term to people--they look at me like I'm from Mars. It's true that the Native Americans were unlettered but very well educated.
Oakley is very fortunate to have a mother like you--I try to get my nieces and nephews interested in nature, but they'd rather play their computer games. Thank you for sharing your photos and your words.
Cindy |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2009 : 04:32:32 AM
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Oh, thank you, Cindy for your kind words! I feel that since I read MaryJane's Outpost that the whole world has been opened up to me and everyday there is a new adventure awaiting. Before I was so bored with the same routine - get up, drop the kids at school, go to work, pick up the kids, cook dinner, do laundry, and go to bed. I dreamed of traveling somewhere else for an escape, but now I am appreciating the beauty all around me and the opportunities seem boundless!
I hope that you will get a chance to draw your nieces and nephews outside, get them to play in the dirt, find some worms, and then maybe catch a fish. Oh! They would be hooked then and they would never stop pestering you to do it again and they would never forget it, either!
All I know about prickly pear cactus is what I learned from "Old Yeller", apparently you can make a poultice out of it, put it on a hog gash and it will draw out the "pie-son". That is so cool that it grows where you live! I bet the kids would be impressed with that and its medicinal properties.
I like that term bio-region. I'm going to use it in my master's thesis (aka scrapbook of our adventures). Tonight we are going to sleep in the treehouse, so I am gearing up for yet another "first". I hope the mosquitoes don't cart us off in the middle of the night! Have a great weekend, Cindy!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2009 : 05:13:17 AM
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Hey Nikki. What a great story and lesson for all. Where is this place? I am not too far from Desoto Fallsup on Lookout Mt. near Mentone. Have ya'll ever been there? It is beautiful. There is another park my DD has been to that is kind of southwest of Trenton. It has a little zoo, I think she said. Although I don't like zoos, she said it was a nice one and not very big. There are so many beautiful places to visit but people do make a mess. I hate to see trash along trails in the middle of nowhere. Some people are just ignorant.
Thanks for sharing your adventure with us and the great pics.
Kris
Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be. |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2009 : 09:41:11 AM
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Hey, Kristin! Peavine Falls is in Oak Mountain State Park. It is just a little south of Birmingham, Alabama. We live about a 35 minute drive away so it is our go to place for nature.
I have never been to Desoto Falls but would really love to go. We just went to Chattanooga not many weeks ago and my mother was saying how beautiful Mentone is. This weekend we are going to the Cornbread Festival in South Pittsbrugh, TN. That looks like it would kind of be close to you. Guess who is going to be there?!? The Sisters on the Fly! Yes, from the latest issue of MJF's magazine. I was going through a list of possible things to do this weekend and there they were so that was the deciding factor. You know that they have more fun that anyone so IT WILL BE FUN! If you haven't got plans you should consider going. We would love to meet you! I am really excited about touring a town that I have never been to and going into the Lodge cast iron maker's plant. And I'm gonna eat cornbread! Oakley wants to ride all of the festival rides, get a balloon, and have her face painted and Mom just wants to shop!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2009 : 3:03:49 PM
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Nikki, I was planning on going. Don't know which day yet. My sister's-in law will be going Sat. My DD will go Sun. So I'm not sure. I saw that the sisters were going to be there. It would be great to see all those vintage campers all together. I want to tour the Lodge plant, too. And then again if my last goat decides to kid the next few days, I will stick close to the house.
If I don't get to go, ya'll have fun and take some pictures for me.
Kris
Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be. |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2009 : 3:56:13 PM
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How cool that you are planning on going! I have just finished embroidering my sisterhood badge and will be wearing it tomorrow on my jean jacket or on my shirt if it gets too hot, so I hope if you see me you will say, "Hey!" That would be so neat to see a fellow farmgirl so close to home!
I hope that your goat will hold off on the kid for a few days!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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Outpost: Earn a Master's Degree on Where You Live |
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Earn a Master's Degree on Where You Live
