Week of May 25, 2025 – May 31, 2025
by Katie McLaughlin, Environmental Educator
It’s interesting how everything cycles in our lives, and how we can reflect on our past experiences when we take notice of them.
Earlier this week I was at my high school for the spring music concert to wish my chorus director a great retirement. They performed a song titled Storm. If you haven’t heard it, the song features use of body percussion to mimic the sounds of a thunderstorm passing though. Not an unfamiliar sound to us this month as spring continues to roll in.
At that moment, I knew it was not just myself who had been reflecting on my past, but my fellow alumni who came to support as well. I remember the first time I had participated in Storm- my 7th grade orientation in that same gym 16 years prior. We were noticing the updates and changes to the building, but also that some things had stayed the same. The same risers to support the chorus, the same piano, and to wrap it all up – the same ending song where we were invited up to join as prior choir members (thank goodness for muscle memory, I wasn’t sure if I remembered that song!)
It’s interesting how everything cycles… just as everything in nature cycles too.
We return to places out in nature and recognize the changes. The plants have grown taller, the landscape changes as storm water has eroded the stream bank over time, perhaps a new bridge that was built to replace an old one? However, we also take notice of that stream that still ripples down the rocks, the trees that provide homes for the animals, and our memories and stories of what has happened at those places.
We stand on land that has supported life for thousands of years. Generations of plants have grown here. Rain has fallen, evaporated and fallen again nourishing the earth. What stories have been told of this place? How has the landscape changed? Who has stood in this stream 10, 20, 50, or even 100 years ago or more and enjoyed it just as I do now?
Just as our landscapes change around us, so do we. Next time you are out in nature, reflect. How has this area changed and grown? How have you changed since you last returned?