"childrenz (sic)"

I spent an amazing two weeks in the San Bernardino Mts teaching/care-taking middle schoolers at a residential outdoor science and environmental education camp. i use the adjective "amazing" to describe my awe at both how exhausting and challenging/fulfilling i found the experience to be. annihilation knowingly greeted me at the close of each week. this is still evident in my loss of voice, coupled with my frazzled and dazed appearance, as well my ability to instantaneously fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow. however, what i will forever take away from this experience are my reflections on the following:

- environmental education
- outdoor science education
- natural history
- why children are so enthusiastic and energetic
- working with people of diverse talents and backgrounds
- making a small difference in a big way
- some random ecology, geology, astronomy factoids. =)

children, i believe, are inherently attracted to nature. however, in our increasingly built societies, their exposure to natural environments are limited. the camp experience is meant to inspire these young students to think about biodiversity and natural processes, providing a mental respite from technology and media bombardment and state standardized exams. instead of seeing the forest as merely a stagnant place, they have the opportunity to breathe life into it through their awareness and understanding of its complexity, fragility, and importance. i played the role of willing and eager assistant (technician? maybe even lab manager!) in their discovery. "may your journey in nature lead you to yourself"

the sustainability component of the curriculum was particularly satisfying to teach. after a discussion regarding ecological footprint and the types of behavioral and lifestyle changes that can reduce it, the kids were lead through a "rock" game of sorts that featured a small pile of 20 or so rocks (per dozen kids) in the center of a circle. the kids were allowed to take rock at each turn and each player with three rocks was rewarded a piece of candy. even 11 - 12 year olds are motivated by candy. however, i, playing Natural Forces and Time in this case, would double the number of rocks that remained in the center after each round. meaning, in order for everyone to win a piece of candy, the kids couldn't adopt a 'each child for him/herself' strategy. it was incredible how violent these kids became as they made mad leaps into the rock pile, hoarding as many rocks as they could get their hands on, even going to so far as to elbow and kick other kids out of the way or grab rocks from each others' hands. [insert discussion entertaining validity of Hobbesian philosophy] however, when the kids were given the opportunity to strategize after being fed (a few) guiding questions, they caught on quickly and they were able to take turns taking rocks from the pile. what an effective exercise in teaching conceptual understanding of natural resource management!

it's incredible how much new information and ideas I picked from two weeks at camp--one definitely needs to understand the material in order to teach it! i think i can now tell whether a rock or boulder is granite or not and also throw some interesting details into the mix, like how it's made up of feldspar (the most common rock forming mineral), quartz (most common mineral on the face of the earth), and mica (flaky and shiny and only 2 on the Mohs hardness scale). wow, i feel like an amateur geologist already. also, as a fledgling biologist, i didn't realize that black bears were introduced to the transverse ranges (San Gabriel, San Bernardino, Peninsular ranges) from Yosemite/Sierras. this is quite a salient example of fundamental v. realized niche and i used it liberally in ecology discussions.

i also got my birding going and rolled out my Sibley's (field guide to the birds received as a wonderful gift from a ornithologist-friend). i spotted a few of the common bird species while taking the kids out on walks: stellar's jay, american robin, western bluebird, mountain chickadee, white headed and acorn woodpeckers, and black headed juncos. this was definitely the most bird watching i've ever done (hey, i'm slowly branching out on the tree of life), but i don't think the kids could tell what an amateur i was. luckily whatever enthusiasm i had for it made an impact on my kids because by the end of both weeks, i had 10-12 year olds pointing out bird species left and right! also, after only three days on the trail, most of my kids were noticing deer, coyote, bobcat and raccoon tracks AND identifying most common trees in the area: coulter pine, jeffrey pine, sugar pine, white fir, giant sequoia, and incense cedar! can you imagine just how pleased i was: shoulda seen me as duly impressed and beaming like a parent on graduation day. very fellow counselors and trail leaders a little refresher on ecology and tree identification (after doing some prep work on this myself) and was thrilled to have such enthusiastic coworkers as temporary students! in all, i found the experience astoundingly rewarding and i hope i've made an impression on at least a few rascals...(and our future world leaders!)

however, while i relished the teaching experience, i don't think i will EVER again babysit children. imagine 30-50 6th graders bouncing off the walls (and the trees, snow, poles, boulders, everything) from sunrise to bed time. this is how i know that if i ever considered teaching again, i could only teach college students. this is despite my fondness for their unbounded enthusiasm and impressionable minds. hardened college students are either grade-whores or don't care/fall asleep in class, but at least they won't give me a near heart attack by darting from precipitous edge to precipitous edge, making me lose my voice in the process.

the experiential self is happy

i decided to test out Google bike maps (beta--yes, i will submit comments based on my experience) and followed a route from Hacienda Heights, CA to Pomona College, Claremont, CA (my alma mater!) at 7: 30 am this thursday morning. i made modifications to the route to reduce the number of turns (and hence, directions i needed to memorize or refer to). see map of route here.

Google maps predicted 1 hr 47 min there and 1 hr 28 return for nearly 19 miles each way. i clocked in 1 hr 30 min there and 1 hr 15 min return. gravity (heading further into the basin) helped shave off a good 15 minutes. my speedy road bike helped me beat Google predicted times. huzzah!

it was quite the experience and must now express regret for not having tried this during my undergrad days. i saw parts of the cities of Pomona and Diamond Bar that i did not know existed. for example, the southern face of a large lush hill with exposed granitic rock along Mission Blvd (on which i hit 33 mph going downhill--wowza!) resembles hillsides in Scotland on a pleasant sunny day. i'm always taken aback when i see any sort of largish, natural, undeveloped space in LA suburbia. in navigating the urban landscape on bike, the couple of miles that separate the hearts of Pomona and Claremont cities disproportionately represent the wide expanse between affluence and poverty.

as i pedaled home around dusk, riding alongside weary commuters seated behind their steering wheels, i sensed that the difficulty of our respective daily journeys home separated our greater world views and attitudes. the difficulty for me was physical exertion; my legs felt each upward curve of the road, however slight. my commute was measured by traversing the physical landscape, and entirely dictated by horizontal and vertical distances. for drivers, however, distance is quickly and easily eliminated with the step of the gas pedal. the difference between going 10 and 30 mph up a hill is a slight increase in pressure applied to the gas pedal. these commuters were fixated on minimizing time, nearly independently of distance. suburban and city commuters measure space in the form of time. the consequence of this, i sense, is a tendency to overlook most things that lie between points A and Z.

the way we navigate space in a car is very different, and in my opinion, much less complete (insert pejorative emphasis here) view of our built and natural environments. instead of experiencing communities, we observe them through the barrier of a car window. the result is a fragmentation of the sense the scale at which community operates, a skewed sense of physical distance that blurs with sense of time, and a undervaluation of the intricacies of our landscapes.

of course, this takes us to the 10000 feet question (to borrow a friend's phrasing) of what defines a "good" and "preferable" lifestyle choice. (yes, i am still referring to the latent world view effects of driving a car) for me this is the difference in living an "enchanted" or "disenchanted" life. i am, by no means, a Luddite, nor am i advocating that people should cease driving, but i do posit that society could benefit from diversifying our mode of transit, if not for the benefit of our environment, then for an appreciation of the beautiful minutia that comprise our surroundings.

for full meaning of this post title, watch Daniel Kahneman's TED talk.

the blog resurrection

i'm reviving this blog even though i know i've long lost my readership (if i even had anything resembling readership to begin with). it's alllll for myself--to grease my writing gears, to pull dusty thoughts off their shelves, to linger in inspiration, and to keep at bay that most insidious of inner demons: apathy.

so, to begin: i've been a bit manic and have thoughts and moods as erratic as the flight pattern of a drugged bumble bee. i suspect there will be some random (personal and news/rest-of-the-world-related) shit in here.

the neighborhood watering hole

Overheard in Hacienda Heights, CA:

Morning @ the library. overheard a spat between two strangers (retold as accurately as possible):
[middle aged woman at public computer hears annoying low volume music leaking out of a young woman's headphones. she mutters complaints under her breadth, but loud enough that I am able to hear it. she eventually figures out where the music is coming from and walks over to the young woman]

Woman: [a little manically, and very much irked. she definitely looked like she was on something] "turn off that music. it's annoying the hell out of me."
Young woman: "Oh, i'm sorry. i'll turn it off."
Woman: "yeah, it's loud and the whole library can hear it. turn it off. yeesh"
Young woman: "okay i will. i'm sorry."
[middle aged man sitting behind the young woman interjects]
Man [speaking to the woman]: "hey leave her alone! she was just listening to her music through her headphones. it isn't bothering me. you crazy nazi right-wing christian. why are you such a Nazi?!"
Woman: "did you just call me a nazi?!"
Man: "you are a crazy nazi christian. leave the girl alone. she was just listening to her music through headphones."
Woman: "her music was annoying me and we're in a library. I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU JUST CALLED ME A NAZI. i demand an apology. this is harassment!"
Passive librarian [walks over between the man and woman with arms crossed but looking rather meek]: "hey, you two please simmer down."
[at this point the entire part of the library within earshot is watching this heated relay. the librarian becomes a useless spectator]
Man: [getting increasingly louder] "i don't understand why you have to be such a nazi bitch to this girl who was just doing her work and listening to music on her headphones. i'm sitting right here and it's not bothering me"
Woman: "how is any of this your problem?! i demand an apology right now for what you just called me!"
[Woman begins to talk to another librarian about filing some sort of harassment charge against the man.]
Man: [starting to mutter to himself and the young woman as he quickly packs up to leave] "don't listen to crazy nazi christians. don't let them push you around."
Young Woman: [not knowing quite what to say] "thanks for your help"
[Man leaves the library in a frenzy, grabbing laptop, books, pencils in a rush to abandon the crumbling crater of his verbal assault. the aftermath of the spat is felt for little more than half a minute before the library settles back to normality. "Normality is like a tenacious weed." --William Boyd]

it may also be important to add that the Young Woman is Asian American, the middle aged Woman Caucasian, and the Man is Latino--at least from what i could tell. i live in a pretty diverse neighborhood and the library is its watering hole. but never did i expect such public outbursts of (racial, political, social?) hatred to occur in my pleasant "village" of a suburb. i wonder what compelled the Man to use such spiteful language. can i ascribe it to ignorance? it leads me to bemoan the extent of misunderstanding we allow to pass between neighbors, strangers, citizens, people. how easy it is to jump to conclusions, to superimpose our hurt, values, sense of righteousness on how we view the world at large.

this fleeting 5 minute incident i witnessed reminds me, over and over again, of David Foster Wallace's Kenyon Commencement Speech (http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/david-foster-wallace-in-his-own-words). we often forget the necessity of controlling our spiraling mental processes. after all, our minds are our own.