We have all heard the saying that your environment can greatly affect your success or happiness. As someone who has recently changed environments, I know how true that is. We can be in an environment that is physically or aesthetically pleasing, and there are things in that environment that affect us positively or negatively. The same can happen as we move in our environment. We can choose to have either a positive or negative impact on the environment.
This week, I am walking 13,300 steps or 6.0 miles a day for 5 days a week. That's a lot of steps, and I have to do them outside or else I would be walking at home for several hours at once to get my steps in. When I walk, I occasionally take a small hike into a wooded area. I don't go hiking very far by myself because that could potentially be very dangerous. With long hikes, you always should have a hiking buddy.
I learned that as a young girl growing up in Iowa. We would take class trips and hike around the reservoir where I lived. I really enjoyed those days, and they clearly made an impression on me. After college, I lived and worked in the Poconos and the Berkshires. As part of both of my jobs there, I was required to take middle school-aged girls on overnight camping trips. I still remember hiking up Mount Sunrise with a box of food, water, my pack, and usually the pack of one or two of the girls. Looking back, I'm surprised I was able to do that as a smallish person myself. I am about 5'4" and at the time (in my early 20s) weighed maybe 150 pounds at the most. I remember how much I weighed because I was worried about how much weight I was gaining while working there.
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| Photo by Jeanette R. Harrison |
The place where I worked employed nature counselors and educators. Their jobs included educating the kids and the staff about the environment around us and how best to interact with our natural environment. They would teach us to hang up our food. Let me assure you, one night of raccoons pawing at your tent or going through your food made you never forget to hang it up again. (Clearly, I'm speaking from personal experience.) We were also educated about how to properly start campfires and put them out. We were told to bring plenty of water not only to drink but also to douse our campfires. Once the fires were extinguished, we were told to mix up the embers and the dirt until there was no smoke or embers left.
On one camping trip, I saw first hand the importance of putting out the campfire. As my fellow campers and I hiked, I saw a nearby tree spontaneously burst into flames. The nature educator was with me on that particular camping trip and explained that the fire embers traveled through the root system of the trees, which caused the tree to catch on fire. The fire, fortunately, went out very quickly. In the Berkshires, there is a lot of humidity, or moisture in the air, especially in the summer months. This prevents fires from spreading rapidly. In areas of the Northwest, however, there is low humidity. Because of the drier conditions, fires can spread and become more serious, especially if there are windy conditions.
It's important to enjoy a variety of activities or activities that fit your personal needs and preferences, as long as you take safety precautions and respect your environment. Hiking and other outdoor activities are great. You want to have a positive impact on the environment just as you would want your environment to have a positive impact on you.
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