Category Archives: Essay

Catch Me Outside for 1,000 Hours

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Animal tracks in the snow

On the first 40-degree day of February, I went on a long walk. It was my first walk as part of my 2025 goal: spend 1,000 hours outside by December 31st.

I don’t choose traditional resolutions. Instead, I pick one big goal for the year, and work hard to achieve it. Past goals have been reading 100 books, folding 1,000 paper cranes, and going on a book-buying ban. This year, my mom recommended that I try to spend 1,000 hours outside in a calendar year.

New Woodpecker Hole
Wood Chips from the Woodpecker

This goal aligns with my belief that everyone should be spending more time outside. The founder of 1,000 Hours Outside suggests that children who spend many hours outside per day have improved health and wellness. I disagree with the founder’s other beliefs, but have found evidence to support this claim. A review found that outdoor play is a practical method for improving children’s health (McCurdy, 2010). Another article suggests that exposure to many different bird species outdoors can improve mental health (Methorst, 2024). Birding is an excellent vehicle for improving health on the sly (Dresser, 2024). As I’m working on improving my health, spending more time outside should help.

I also chose this goal with the hope of breaking a screen addiction. On average, I spend about 4 hours per day on my iPhone. I know I spend at least 8 hours per day working on my laptop. Even with a little overlap, this amounts to almost 70 hours of screentime per week! When I’ve spent long periods of time spending 90 minutes or less on my iPhone per day, I have improved mental health. Sure, this is anecdotal evidence, but it is my experience. I want to replace this non-work-related screen time with time spent in nature.

As odd as this may sound, I also chose this goal to help me reconnect with the outdoors. After a tough winter, I’m disconnected from the natural world around me. I admit that in January, I was getting out 1 to 2 times per week. I’m craving spending time outdoors to explore and enjoy the natural world.

Stereum complicatum (Crowded Parchment)

I started tracking on Monday, and got an hour in right away. I let myself meander through the park and enjoy myself rather than hustle to achieve a step goal. I was able to take notice of some mosses and lichens, and found a fresh woodpecker hole in a tree. I felt refreshed, and had a super productive afternoon afterwards.

While I’m starting out a little behind, I know I’ll catch up soon. I’m counting down the days to when I can go hiking and kayaking at the park. I’ve squirreled away the pennies for a hammock rack to put in my yard for reading outdoors. Our grilling station is set up and ready for when it’s not snowing or raining. I’ve been making plans for spring hikes with my siblings. I’m very energized and excited about finishing this goal- and I’ll bring you along with me!

Have you attempted a 1,000 hours outside challenge?

Hope & Wild Things

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“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all
Emily Dickinson

The first stanza of Emily Dickinson’s poem on hope rings true- especially in this past week. My despair over the state of our nation’s leadership swelled in its intensity. Coupled with the below-zero temperatures, I drifted through the weekend. I struggled to stay warm and hold up against the news and my fear of the furnace breaking down. I needed to find some peace, and some hope.

While out walking, I thought of Wendell Berry, finding peace among the wild things. Over my head fluttered European Starlings, calling to each other. In spite of the cold, they squawked and screamed, carrying on in their raucous ways as if it were any other day. Back in my yard, birds of many species fed on the seed I had scattered. While usually the Dark-Eyed Juncos and House Finches would fight- they did not. All were too focused on survival to slip into argument.

Birdwatching always brings me peace. When I was a teen, I would keep up my parents’ feeders in the winter, filling each one after caring for my goats. I would sit on the bench in the kitchen with my tea and watch as Blue Jays and Northern Cardinals swept into the yard. Black-Capped Chickadees would follow me during my midday water check. When dusk would settle over the mountain, the birds would roost in the trees, waiting for morning.

The quiet routine of cleaning feeders and stocking suet help the days pass. One day, it’s October, and the last of the fall migrants disappear. The next, it’s December, and established flocks of songbirds are floating in and out of the yard. At last, it’s March, and the early spring migrants are taking a pit-stop on their journey north. Spring inches forward at the rate of one minute per day.

For me, the creep from winter solstice to spring equinox is laden with long periods of thought. At this moment, I’m consumed by my worries for our lands’ future. Already the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has lost its protection from oil drilling. I fear for a renewal in fracking in Pennsylvania, an industrial pursuit I despise. There is only so much angry complaining I can do- only so many strongly-worded letters and emails I can write. There are only so many aggressive phone calls I can make.

Even if fighting is natural for all animals, it is not the option I want to choose. Caring for my community, both human and wild, is the path I want to follow. I can start in my yard, tending to the birds as I always do. I can carry on with bringing nature journaling to my community… Giving my time and effort to support educational experiences in public settings. I do believe I am not alone- there are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar people in Pennsylvania.

I cannot, and will not despair. There are wild things, feathered things, counting on me. Birds don’t know of human politics and maneuvers. I cannot lie in my bed to rot when there are creatures that need me to break the ice in their watering dish. I cannot retreat inside of myself when there are decisions to make in my community. Spring will come again, one day at a time.

Green Linings

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Snow floated down around me as I walked across the parking lot to Lakeside Trail. The trail, a 5.6 mile loop at the base of Bald Eagle Mountain, is a favorite of mine. American Robins chittered in the trees overhead, flying off when I whistled in return. The trail was snowy and undisturbed, perfect for some time alone in the winter woods.

Along the trail ranged a dense, berry-dotted shrub, obscuring my view of the lake. Little grey-blue berries clustered on branches… privet. Privet renders any habitat into a tangle of branches with its reproductive cycle. The invasive plant species will out-shade low-lying native plants. Once established, privet is an aggressive enemy, and here, the battle is already lost.

Interspersed throughout the privet is multiflora rose, another invasive species in Pennsylvania. Multiflora rose is a “Class B” noxious weed, as it is very prolific and difficult to control. An established plant will produce up to 500,000 seeds in a single year. Shade-tolerant and hardy, it’s taking over the base of Bald Eagle Mountain.

I can’t help but feel sad watching these species consume my favorite places. Japanese stiltgrass threatens my yard. Shrubs like privet edge out the mountain laurel, and English Ivy coats the ground in thick waves. These are not the scenes we should be seeing in Pennsylvania, but they are our reality.

As I continued my walk, the dense shrubs gave way to a small clearing- the remains of an apple orchard. A bench sits near the trail, and I stopped for a moment to admire a common greenshield lichen on the bench. This native fungi species shone bright lime-green against the white snow. Typically found on bark, this lichen will grow on wood products if conditions are right. Upon my touch, it was not warm, but wet and floppy like lettuce leaves. After dwelling on invasive species, I felt better to know a native one was thriving here.

This orchard is one of my favorite places at Bald Eagle State Park. In my first year of living here, I would bring a book here to read on the bench or lay on a blanket in the meadow. I wondered what this meadow would look like if the privet or multiflora rose took over. The thought was too depressing- how could I only imagine a bad outcome for this scene?

A term popped into my mind as I strolled around- recency bias. Witnessing the fires in Los Angeles, and knowing the role invasive species had in them, had been on my mind all week. Our minds will often overemphasize recent experiences when thinking about the future.. Combating recency bias takes a concentrated effort, as all pessimistic thoughts do.

Instead, as I walked back home, I imagined what Lakeside Trail would be like if the invasives were managed. Reducing the invasive shrubs would open the understory, helping low-lying plants grow. Promoting the growth of native berry-bearing species would provide forage for wildlife. This type of project is intense, and in some cases, impossible. Yet, I didn’t feel daunted. The lichen gave me hope, proof that even in a space troubled with invasive species, with a little help, native ones may find a way.

Nature Journaling and Me

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The sky hangs low and grey, threatening rain. Mist shrouds the mountains, adding an eerie ambiance that’s hard to shake. Journaling has been difficult with the birds few and far between at my feeders. With the mists, watercolors smear and pencil lines fade, so journaling from my window is best.

I started nature journaling this past year. It’s been a fun challenge to stretch my abilities and explore a new way to record what I see. I started keeping a diary when I was a preteen, and have always made comments about the natural world. When I was in college, I started writing poetry while doing field work. I would compose a poem on the back of worksheets and field notes, on napkins and in texts to myself.

Keeping a nature journal felt like the next step. Words are something I don’t struggle with- as the miles of diaries attest- but art is hard. I’ve never been artistic, despite loving photography and handcrafts. I would struggle through a drawing, but would abandon it as it didn’t meet my standard for perfection. I dropped art and returned to words, but after I felt like my journals were missing soul.

I came to a turning point this past fall, when I participated in an online nature journaling workshop. John Muir Laws, with Take Me Outside presented on how to start nature journaling and bring it to others. For the first time, I realized that nature journals don’t have to be an artistic experience. While drawing and painting are intrinsic to the concept, nothing has to be perfect.

My inner perfectionist felt relief. I didn’t have to exactly render the things I was seeing. Simple is a great starting place. I didn’t have to have a MoMA level piece on every page- even a scribble is better than nothing. I drew my first entry and made notes in the corners of the pages. It was not the beautiful aesthete work of John Muir Laws- but it was my work. What I don’t have is the decades of experience of him and the others online, but one hour’s worth of experience.

That first hour has turned into a few more… and now a weekly routine. I’m more connected to the landscape around me than ever before. While I’ve taken thousands of pictures of the park and my walks, taking the time to draw has created more depth. I’ve enjoyed exploring my yard the most- there’s more to see each day I go out with my journal and pencil.

Coming in the next few weeks will be more supplies, rounding out my kit. One of my goals for 2025 involves working in my nature journal at least three times per week. I’m starting off strong with Nature Journaling January with the Wild Wonder Foundation. Each day will have a different theme and reason for breaking into my journal to reflect on the world around me.

On top of my goals and planned projects, I’ll be starting a nature journaling group at Bald Eagle State Park. Our first meeting will be on January 18th at 1:00pm in the Environmental Learning Center. We will be journaling about Pennsylvania fossils using samples from my collection. I’m excited for this club and am looking forward to meeting other nature journalers in my area.

I’m leaving 2024 with a strong sense of accomplishment. Besides starting my nature journal, I started this blog, which has brought a ton of joy to my life. One of my life’s goals is to write about Pennsylvania’s outdoors and natural resources. Exploring this topic via my blog and nature journal has helped me feel fulfilled and excited. Without these two things, I wouldn’t be as excited as I am for 2025!