ContamiNation by Mckay Jenkins

Author:Mckay Jenkins [Jenkins, Mckay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-25T16:00:00+00:00

FIVE The Lawn

For the last dozen years or so, I have taught a course at the University of Delaware called The Literature of the Land. It’s one of my favorite classes, not least because of the writing requirements. In addition to asking students to read a half dozen books about a particular subject (nature and religion, industrial food production, climate change), I have them spend at least an hour every week sitting in the woods and writing about what they see. Not what they think about. What they see. Learning field observation, I tell them, is as important for aspiring writers as it is for aspiring naturalists. Both demand attention to detail, both demand the ability to shut up and listen. Students are required to carry a field guide with them, and to take detailed notes on the things they see springing to life or dying back.

Over the years, a pattern has emerged. At first, all the students see are “trees.” A week or two later, they are seeing “white oaks” and “tulip poplars” and “sugar maples.” A few more weeks, and their eyes are more fully accustomed to the pace of life in the woods. They move through the space more slowly, and more quietly. They see foxes. And great blue herons. And barred owls.

My goals, not usually articulated until well into the semester, go beyond writing instruction, of course. What I’m trying to do is encourage students to spend some time, every week, turning down the noise in their lives. I want them to try—just for a time, but every week—to unplug from their cell phones and laptops, to disentangle themselves from the social and academic pressures of college, to take a walk in the woods. This also offers, not incidentally, an opportunity for self-reflection, for meditation, and for a renewed sense of engagement with the natural world.

Over the course of a dozen years teaching this class, something has become clear to me. Every semester, more and more students enter my classroom having spent virtually no time outdoors. They have not camped or climbed trees. They have not backpacked. They have not paddled rivers. They don’t fish, or hunt, or climb mountains. Not with their families, not with their friends.

A couple of years ago, on the first day of class, I asked my students what words they think of when they hear the word “wilderness.” In past years, they offered both concrete, experiential words (“my family’s trip to Yosemite”) and what were surely abstractions (“jungle,” “rain forest,” “wild animals”). But this year was different, and for me, it marked what I still think of as a benchmark moment. What words did this group of students have me list on the board? What did wilderness mean to them?

“Rape,” said one.

“Fear,” said another.

“Loneliness,” said a third.

What was going on here? I knew most of these kids were suburbanites, but hadn’t they ever been Girl Scouts? Or gone to a summer camp? Where were they getting their news about the natural

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