Finally Flying

                When I was nine years old, my mother took my sisters and me to Michigan’s Adventure for a fun filled day. The one thing I remember most was the ride called Rip Cord that I went on with my sisters. This ride consists of strapping up to three people in a harness connected to a rope, raising you to the very intimidating height of 300 feet, and dropping you so you fly through the air. I remember thinking that I have never felt such a rush in my entire life and that I wanted to do it again. While I was laughing my head off, my sister was screaming and crying. Apparently not everyone likes the feelings of their stomach dropping and seeing the ground coming closer and closer. I relished it.

     Ever since that time, I have been telling myself that someday, I want to experience the same feelings that I had while riding the Rip Cord. This past summer, my dream came true. For my birthday, my parents bought me a ticket for skydiving and I was ecstatic. I picked a day to go and my parents volunteered to drive, which later I realized was an incredible blessing. We pulled up to the place where I was supposed to skydive and was quite surprised at what I found. This place was a line of garages with tiny planes in each garage. I was positive that we were in the wrong place but according to the signs, this was my destination.

      I walked up to the desk to sign in and was informed that the plane was currently being worked on and I would have to wait until the plane was fixed before we could go into the air. The lady at the desk decided to crack a joke and say “Well, at least you are planning on jumping out of the plane so you have nothing to fear!” Let me tell you how reassuring that was; not at all. From then, I went to meet the guy who would be strapped to me while jumping out of the plane. Again, I was not reassured. This guy was a head shorter than me and at least forty years older. My worries were building.

 

My Instructor and I

 

      After an hour of waiting, I was told that the plane was fixed and we were ready to go. From then, everything went fast. They put my harness on and piled me into the back of this miniscule plane. I had to sit behind the pilots chair on the floor with three other guys. We were a pile of limbs. The plane took off and I waved goodbye to my watching parents.

Me Sitting on the Plane's Floor

      I watched the ground slowly disappear as we flew through the clouds and all I could do was pray. We finally got to our point of jumping which was ten thousand feet in the air. All of the sudden, the other two guys in the plane opened a side door, yelled “good luck!” and jumped. My jumping partner looked at me and gave me the signal to climb closer to the door. I scooted to the open door and stuck my feet out on the wings. Before I even knew what happened, we were tumbling through the air and finally flattened out on our stomachs and began to fly. I felt my stomach drop and my adrenalin shoot sky high and I was having the time of my life.

      I loved the feel of the wind whipping at my face, drawing tears out of my eyes, and chapping my cheeks. Even the sting of the brutal wind was welcomed. I remember feeling like I was on top of the world. Everything seemed so small and insignificant: I couldn’t even see humans from the distance I was at. I have never experienced something so amazing in my entire life.

Getting Ready to Land

        I soon floated back down to earth where the instructor unstrapped me and told me we were done and I was free to leave. He seemed so unaffected by the entire experience while I am shaking with the excitement and adrenalin. Who knew that jumping from ten thousand feet in the air could feel so good? I experienced nature in a whole different way up in the sky and I would do it again and again.

At the End

Tranquility At Its Finest

     For the entirety of my life, I have been blessed with living only twenty minutes away from Lake Michigan. The lake has always been a part of my life. For me, there is a sense of serenity when surrounded by a big body of water. The smell of the lake and sand, the feel of sand in between your toes and the water washing it off, the taste of the thick air on hot, humid days, and all of the various sights give a person a sense of peacefulness. I have always felt peace and comfort while on the shore of Lake Michigan.

     One of my favorite places to go is Saugatuck State Park which is located right next to Felt Mansion (a supposedly haunted place). When you park, you see a large area of picnic tables for families to gather and socialize on one side, and the other side of the park is woods filled with hiking trails. One of these beautiful trails is a little over two miles and leads to a secluded beach. Not many people chose to walk this beach since it is not family friendly. Families with small children or families who pack to the max do not want to walk two miles to get to the beach. I enjoy this. I can walk the entire two miles and not see a single soul and usually when I pop out onto the beach, there are only a few people there. My small bag consists of a water bottle, a towel, and a book. When I reach the small beach, I scout for a spot away from everyone else, set out my towel, sit down and dive into an incredible story that takes me elsewhere. This is how I find peace.

My Friend and I Just Reaching the Empty Beach

 

     Not only do I enjoy relaxing on the beach near the lakeside, I enjoy the trails as well. My favorite time of the day to walk these trails is sunset. I will stay on the beach until the sun starts to sink then I pack my bag and set off through the trail. I love the look of how the sun filters through the leaves and creates shadows among the trails. I also enjoy the quiet of the woods at this time of day. Most people have already left and all I hear is the music of the forest. I hear birds singing and squirrels running up trees. I can hear the tree frogs starting to croak and the crickets starting to chirp. Then I step out of the magic and back into reality when the trail ends and I climb into my car and leave everything behind me as I drive away. This is usually my experience with Lake Michigan now that I am an adult.

Part of the Trail to Get to the Beach

 

     Yes, my parents use to take me to the beach as a child and I also go with my friends but I like it most when I am alone with my book. My opinion of Lake Michigan is that it is a place of tranquility and it is difficult to stay tranquil when I am conversing with friends or trying to keep them entertained. I absolutely love being near Lake Michigan and am blessed and grateful to have something that marvelous in my life.

Let the Hunt Begin

 

                I know that hunting is a topic of controversy for some people and it may offend some of my readers but I was born and raised a hunter. My father has always been a hunter and he wanted a hunting partner. He tried with my two older sisters and they were both repulsed by the idea. I was his last chance since I was the youngest and luckily, I found interest in the sport. It started when I was seven years old and my father let me shoot his BB gun for the first time. I became obsessed with target practicing and as I got bigger, so did the guns. I remember getting my very own 22 rifle with a pink stock. I was ecstatic. I took the hunter’s safety class when I was thirteen and soon after went on my very first hunt with my father. Now, every November 15^th (opening day), I wake up before it is light outside and trek out into the woods by myself. It is quite an experience.

                I like to think that I am more in tune with nature compared to the average person. Being a hunter forces you to be in the woods throughout the whole year. I put out trail cameras, plant food plots, and clear shooting lanes for my tree stands. This takes a lot of time. I like to check my trail cameras at least twice a month to see what kind of animals are out in the area I will be hunting. I spend all year preparing for November when I finally get to go hunting.

One Trail I Walk Out To Get To My Stand

 

                On an average day of hunting, I wake up at 5:30 a.m. when it is still pitch black outside, and begin the process of dressing. I have up to five layers of clothing for the day to keep me warm. I make sure I have all of my necessities and head out the door. Then, I make my way to the edge of the woods where I plunge into the darkness. The only reason I know where I am going is because I spend all year walking the path to my tree stand so I am prepared to make the walk in the dark. I rely on my senses to get me safely to my stand. In the dark, my eyes try to adjust so I can see a bit of the path (it always helps when the moon is full). My ears hear every noise in the woods and I usually can pick apart the noises. For the most part, I know the difference of squirrels and birds compared to the noise a deer makes while tramping through the woods. I finally find my tree stand and climb up and begin my wait. Sometimes I sit for four hours straight without seeing anything at all. I consider myself lucky when I have squirrels to entertain me. But on those days where I see deer walk out in front of me, I feel an emotion unlike any other. My heart is pounding and I am a nervous wreck. I need to decide whether to shoot or simply watch and unless I see something I really want, I watch. Then I climb down and head home.

                One of my favorite parts of the hunt besides actually seeing deer is just sitting by myself out in the woods for hours. It is very peaceful and you have nothing but time to enjoy the nature around you. I am very thankful that I grew up hunting because I have a different experience with nature then others and I get to spend lots of time out in the woods where I hunt. I am thankful every day that my father raised me the way I am.

 

 

My Latest Deer November, 2014

Living in the Boondocks

     For the first five years of my life, I lived in a town called Fennville. The entire side of my father’s family lives there and I was constantly surrounded by them. I loved it there. Our house was surrounded by trees and all sorts of wonderful nature.
    
     One of my favorite memories of the Fennville house was a huge willow tree in our backyard on the outskirts of the woods. This tree had a giant rock right underneath it and the branches of the tree created a curtain to block the rock from the outside world. I used to pretend I was Pocahontas and would sit on that rock and tell the tree every one of my four-year-old secrets. I remember thinking this was the coolest place ever because no one could see me from inside the curtain. It was our little place.
    
     When my older sisters started to go to school, my parents realized they disliked Fennville schools. They decided to move. My family packed everything up and moved to Hamilton, a mere fifteen minutes away from Fennville. My parents decided that Hamilton had a better school system. The house my parents bought is in a neighborhood which was completely different than the Fennville house that was surrounded by trees. The Hamilton house only had three trees in our lawn and only one good one for climbing. I thought I was going to hate it.

Hamilton House in Winter

    
     Then, I met the neighborhood kids. I became best friends with a girl two years younger than me. Her name is Cortni. We became inseparable and we had great many adventures. I cannot count the amount of times we slept outside on our trampoline or her lawn chairs just because we were determined to sleep under the stars.
    
     Once we got older, we asked permission from the farmer a few houses down the road if we could play in his fields and woods behind his house. His answer was yes and Cortni and I started a whole new adventure. Every morning in the summer I would wake up, throw some clothes on, pack a backpack of water and snacks, and head over to pick up Cortni so we could start our day in the woods. When we started exploring, we found a creek that went on for miles. We would walk in that creek for as long as we could and wouldn’t turn around until it started getting dark. Those woods had us so entranced that we both wanted to spend all day in them. I even remember a time when we thought we would try spending the night out in the woods. We packed sleeping bags, flashlights, food and water and went out into a clear spot in the woods. We made it until about 10:00 p.m. then made our way back home. The woods change at night.
     
     Then we got older and our adventures stopped. School was more important than having silly ventures out in the woods. We eventually grew apart for which I will always regret. I got a boyfriend and went to college. Now, my boyfriend and I own a house together in Hamilton. Our house is out in the middle of the boondocks. We are surrounded by cornfields, alfalfa fields and woods and I couldn’t be happier. Growing up outdoors and near woods makes me appreciate and respect the marvels of nature. I always want to have the country-living lifestyle. I enjoy being outside and seeing the wildlife right outside my back porch or window. I love where I grew up and wouldn’t change it for the world.

Current House View of Backyard

Who Am I and Why Am I Writing?

     Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Samantha but most everyone calls me either Sam or Sammi. This is the first blog I have ever done. The reason I have started blogging is because it is required for one of my college courses. I am currently a student at Grand Valley State University and I am taking a class called Environmental Literature. For this class, I am required to start blogging about my experience in nature. Saying that I am a little nervous is an understatement. I am extremely uneasy about the whole process of blogging but only because I have never wrote publically before. When I write about my feelings or responses to something, I am writing in my personal journal which is only seen by myself. And other times I am writing, it is for an assignment in class; nothing public.

     Even though I am uneasy about blogging for the first time, I also feel excitement. Nature has always been a compelling subject to write about and now I get to share with others what I see and feel. Not only do I get to share what I see and feel with others, but I also get to read what my fellow classmates see and feel in nature. I get to experience what they have experienced through their writing. 
 
      Nature is a wonderful and exciting phenomenon that many people take advantage of. How often do people sit and wonder at the extravagant beauty of a single tree? Not often. This assignment is forcing me to really take a look at my surroundings and reflect on what I see. It forces me to think deeper about everyday sights and occurrences in nature that I normally would pass by.

      To sum everything up, I am nervous and also excited to start blogging about what I see in nature. I can only hope to do some justice to the wonders of nature around me and let my readers experience those wonders as well.

 

One of the great wonders in nature I have experienced.

Mountains in West Virginia