Nature Portfolio

Most beautiful

The most beautiful thing I have ever seen is when my niece Livia went into my room early in the morning layed her head against the bed and said "Good morning Uncle Aidan."  My smile stretched from ear to ear because it took her a long time to say it. The fact that I never see her and there were 10 other people in the house made the situation superior to other great moments in my life. She walked right past her mom’s room and came into mine to greet me. My time with Livia is limited so when she said hi to me it caught me off guard.

I was 12 at the time so I felt like a kid still and she made me feel mature by coming to my bedroom before going to her mothers. You would think a baby would go to its parent’s room because they are ready for breakfast. I felt responsible for her so I acted as an adult uncle would act. I quickly got out of the bed and made her a bowl of Apple Jacks with a banana on the side. I was watching her eat and when she finished she said "all done" with a smile on her face so that showed that she liked what I prepared for her. I was so happy and that feeling of accomplishment is comparable to winning a championship. I got yelled at because she wasn’t suppose to eat cereal with a lot of sugar but at the time nothing in the world could take that smile off of my face. After this situation she started coming to me for other reasons than just playing. She started asking me for help when she was hungry, in-trouble, or scared.

Before all this she wouldn’t open up and show affection towards me. She wouldn't give me any hugs when she was leaving and she didn’t even wave. That makes her saying good morning Uncle Aidan a very significant part in both of our lives. The effect that it had on our lives is that we both grew up a little. I became more mature and she started warming up to people faster than she normally would.

Word count- 360

A Day With The Sun

Our night is not filled with darkness anymore

We feel the sun’s rays on our skin

It comes at a beautiful price, something you don’t have to pay for

We feel safe, it warms us from within

It lights up our streets, it’s time to explore                                                          5

As the sun rises smiles fill the air

We laugh and we have fun

This is better than anything, nothing can compare

Our day has just begun

The moon rising is such a scare                                                                        10

It’s at its highest point, so we love it

We run at the parks and we yell!

As we enjoy our banana split

Seems like fun is never ending, all is well

We get tired but we fight through it                                                                   15

We put on glasses so we can see
We put on a hat to do the same
This really is our cup of tea
Its about time for the big game
watching sports underneath a tree                                                                      20

The sun is coming down 
Wow, It looks so nice
Every smile will turn to a frown
The sun is rollin' away like dice
Its almost gone from the town                                                                            25

We have to go inside
The sun is gone, kids are crying
As we stand in darkness side by side
Everyone's fun is dying
The night is here, the moon is presiding                                                             30

Weather Experience

 In 2011 there was a huge blizzard that got me a few days off from school. It was really cold outside so everyone had on many layers and snow covered eveything in sight. All of our cars were buried beneath the snow so everyone on the block was trapped. My sister and I decided to get a group together and have a snow ball fight. We built forts and had teams but we didnt take score. We played until we couldnt feel our fingers anymore and then everyone went into the house. I drank hot chocolate because I was frozen and watched christmas movies with my sister even though it was febuary. 

This weather experience was very exilerating because we werent stuck in the house the whole time. We got out and enjoyed the snow.

Native American Creation Story

Once upon a time there was a man named Jaguar and he loved to have fun with his 17 brothers.  They tried to find a game that they all can play but nothing was big enough. Their favorite game was tag with a rock. If you got tagged with the rock you had to sit out. Well one day Jaguar was throwing up rocks and hitting them with sticks and it caught his brother Panther’s eye. Panther asked to see a rock and threw it at Jaguar. Jaguar loaded up and swung at the rock and missed. Jaguar said I bet you can’t do it 3 times in a row. Panther ended up doing so and all the brothers wanted in on. Panther said he needed people to go fetch the rocks that were being hit. All the brothers were spread out across the plain while the rocks where being hit. Jaguar was mad because it was taking forever to bat again. Jaguar decides to divide up the brothers evenly on different teams. So there was 9 on one team and 9 on the other. Jaguar added a few rules which were if you hit the rock over the last person fetching it is a point, You only get 3 rocks thrown at you, if the fetchers catch the rock then it is someone else’s turn, and if the fetchers catch three rocks then they get to switch with the hitters. Jaguar went to hit and hit it over the last fetchers head and got a point for his team. After Jaguar hit he thought he should add another element to the game because his team will be hitting all day. If the ball wasn’t hit over a fetchers head the fetcher can tag the hitters with it to count as a catch.

            The brothers finished there game and noticed many people watching them while they were playing. Nearby tribes were hunting but instead found a new game that 18 people can play in at once. This game was started being played across America due to messengers and teachers. Jaguar called Rockball but today we call it Baseball. 

Word Count (358)

Responses to Snowbound

 In this poem the author describes the snowbound place with "No cloud above, no earth below." That sounds so unreal but it’s appealing. I personally didn’t like snow bound all that much because the tone gets flipped and I get confused. In the beginning they talk about a threatening place and how it’s so bad. When Whittier says "It’s a mute and ominous prophecy" It makes me think the people are afraid of the snow because they find it threatening. Later on in the poem the Author relates the snow to the leaning tower of Pisa which is a tourist attraction. So I get stuck in between the snow being scary and the snow being attractive. I want to see this scene because I wonder if people are outside looking at it or people come to town to see it. I find it interesting when the Author says "we look upon a world unknown" because everything they do know is covered with snow. If I was somewhere unknown I would go explore and make it known. Well in the story the snow really didn’t affect the people because they still went on with their normal lives and still did their daily routines. This poem would be good for someone that enjoys nature and for someone that can relate to this situation.

Word count 221

Response to Walden

  This story was just like the movie Into The Wild. In the movie Into the wild the character Chris went out into the middle of nowhere to replenish his soul with new experiences. I think the point Thoreau was trying to state is being alone and getting rid of materialistic things are good for the soul or just keeping life simple. I wouldnt be able to get rid of materialistic thing, and be alone because I cant live without out my phone and my tv. People would've been able to be alone and get rid of materialistic things when the materialistic things were lesser value.  In the story Thoreau said "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life" Which made me think he was tired of all the artificial world and he wanted something genuine or real. I find it kind of funny that he left the woods for the same reason he settled there. He wanted new eperiences so he went to the woods. He started following the same particular route in the woods and started getting bored of doing so. Since a mans core comes from new experiences he wanted something new again so he left the woods.
Word count 211

Response to Thanatopsis

I found the poem Thanatopsis to be quite interesting because it changed my own views on death. Bryant’s ideas on death are so peaceful and it stays like that throughout the poem. Before reading this poem I was scared of dying and I didn’t want to be alone after death. Now I’m not that scared anymore because my family and friends are going to join me one day so I don’t have to worry about being alone after I die. When Bryant brings up the point about after death everyone is equal it shows that that’s how it’s supposed to be when everyone is alive.  In the poem when Bryant said "Thou shalt lie down with the patriarchs of the infant world with kings......the wise the good, fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, All in one mighty sepulcher." It helped me understand that once we die we are just a piece of the earth. Someone who is atheist and that loves nature would be able to enjoy this poem to its full potential because you will be a part of nature after you die instead of heaven or hell. If the setting of this poem was in Chicago it would be bad because of the landfills, dirty streets, and pollution and nobody wants to be a part of that after they die.

Word count 224

Response to To build a fire

I found this story to be kind of weird because I don’t know anyone in their right mind that would go outside with it being 50 below zero. This can be related to the show Man vs. Wild except the outcome in To build a fire is death. In Man vs. Wild Bear Grylls uses instinct and prior knowledge to survive and beat nature. The Man in To build a fire only used prior knowledge and a few instinctive skills and that’s why he died. The dog knew what to do during the time and it was all instinct. When the dog's paws started freezing the dog started licking them. In the story London says "In his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal" this shows instinct because the dog isn’t use to his tone like that so his voice is like a proceed with caution sign. When the man's fingers were numb he wanted to cut open the dog and put his hands inside of it which he got the idea from a tale of a man who killed a steer and buried himself inside the carcass and so was saved. To sum it all up I think the man died due to his ignorance and his confidence.

Word count 213

Response to Corn Planting

I really like this story because it shows how an old couple deals with their son's death by planting corn. Will's parents took his death and didnt even cry. If I had a son and he died I would look at all of his pictures and start crying. Losing a child is losing a piece of your self. I think they started planting corn right after they found out about their sond death because they feel as if they are one with nature. They could have also used planting corn as a away to escape the real world and take their mind off of their sons death. Anderson believed they planted corn because it was "a kind of silent cry, down into the earth, of these two old people, putting corn down into the earth"  which shows me that every dies its just how you deal with it. When Hal says "They still have their farm and still have Will's letters to read" I think his view of the situation is life goes on and nothings really lost. In the story it makes it heart breaking that the parents thought of their son Will as life and never of death so their son's death caught them by surprise. This story can be related to a fast low blow but a quiet reaction.

Word count 224

Reaction to Essays

The 3 excerpts that I chose to read are Walking by Henry David Thoreau, The American forest by John Muir, and The sound of trees by Robert Frost.

I like Walking by Thoreau because in a way it seems carefree to me. When Thoreau states " the walking of which I speak has nothing in it akin to taking exercise.......but it itself the enterprise and adventure of the day" I think he means to just go out and find new things. Since a man’s core come from new experiences you have to explore different places.

In the essay The American forest Muir states " The forest of American ....... must have been a great delight to god for; they were the best he ever planted" It makes me think of nationalism towards America and by reading this you can infer that Muir is American because the forest in America are the best god ever planted. In the essay it says "fires of the Indians and the fierce shattering of the lighting worked together clearing spots here and there for smooth garden prairies" which makes think everything bad has a good outcome.

In the poem the sound of trees Frost says "Why do we wish to bear forever the noise of these more than another noise so close to our dwelling place?" It makes me think he is annoyed by the sound of the trees and he basically asking why people want to hear it.