Just a few days ago, I was babysitting and the boys were starting to get bored with playing games inside so we decided to take a trip down to the park. We quickly cleaned up our mess in the basement and went upstairs to find some hats and gloves for our walk on that cold afternoon. I helped Jack slip on his red gloves and navy blue hat, while Douglas threw his coat on and ran out the door. The park is a few short streets away but takes at least ten minutes to get there with the little ones. While walking, I felt the cool air blowing against my cheeks and heard the leaves crunching underneath my boots. When we made it to the park, there were only a few other people there, probably because the weather was not the best, but we decided to make the most of the afternoon. Instead of playing on the swings and the monkey bars like usual, we walked to the woods behind the park and decided to go on an adventure. We made our way across the muddy soccer fields to the trees that line the perimeter of the park. There is an opening in the trees that leads to a dirt path and further along, a tree house.

The boys and I walked down the path to see what we could find within the crevices of nature. This was the first time I had ever been down this path and I have been going to this park since I was a little girl, so not only were the kids excited but I was as well. As we were walking, we heard the trees moving in the wind and the leaves crunching beneath our shoes. Jack decided that every time we heard even the littlest noise we had to stop, crouch down and make sure it wasn’t an animal. This reminded me of Rick Bass and his daughter, Lowry’s walk in the woods in the essay “A Texas Childhood.” They were following a woodpecker when Lowry whispered, “If we hide, maybe he won’t see us. Maybe he’ll come close”(14). We finally made our way down the path and toward the tree house which turned out to be more or less a dilapidated pile of wood. The boys ran to play on it even though I urged them against it because it didn’t look safe enough. But they insisted they would be careful. While they were exploring the tree house, I took a moment to take in my surroundings.

The leaves on the trees were falling around me and there were patches of bright green grass for as far as I could see. But one thing that struck me was all of the trash and litter that was scattered about. Why would people pollute such a beautiful piece of our environment? This is something that confused me. Whether it’s the ocean, the land or the air, I don’t understand why people pollute. It only takes a few extra minutes to recycle or throw your trash away instead of leaving it lying around. As much as I try to take in the simplicity and beauty of nature, it is hard to look past all the ugly trash.

Trying to forget about the trash, I stood with my eyes closed and took in a deep breath of the crisp fall air. In that moment, surrounded by the trees, I felt a sense of calmness and wanted to take part in making our environment a better place. Our world is far from perfect and even if I can only make a small difference, every bit counts. Spending the day with the boys has opened my eyes even more to this reality, seeing them grow up in this vastly changing world. They are our future and their awareness to the importance of keeping our environment clean is just as important as ours. Teaching them to appreciate nature now and what to do to preserve it will help generations to come. These are the kind of experiences that may seem insignificant but really change our views and shape our perspective.

After about 15 minutes, the boys were getting cold and wanted to head back home to watch a Christmas movie, so we made our way cautiously out the woods and back across the muddy soccer field. When we were walking past the playground, Jack wanted to practice on the monkey bars just one time which of course turned into three or four times. So Douglas and I took the extra five minutes to help Jack across until his hands got red and tired. After accomplishing the monkey bars, we headed back home.

When we turned onto our street, the boys ran past the neighbors’ house into their own cozy home. Before I ventured the few steps to the creaky white front door, I looked up at all the beautiful trees swaying in the wind and really appreciated our complex yet wonderful environment. I soon realized that even an hour at the park with the boys can contribute to my understanding of the world around us. As Rick Bass says, “Maybe a slow and steady braid of daily beauty is every bit as durable and powerful, perhaps even more so, as any…crucible¬-forced revelations”(3). That day deepened my awareness of what’s going on in the world around us and made me realize that if people took time to look around and focus on the little things we could together to make a big difference.