Treks & Texts '22 (BH Edition)

 

  Final Project Justification Austin Farr, John Freeny, Braden Harrington, William Shorow             For our final project, we created a showcase of the neighborhoods and nature around TCU’s campus, along with adding testimonials from our group members. Since we learned about many facets of nature, we each focused on different topics. For some, the most valuable knowledge from this class came from learning about the environment through hands-on, collaborative experiences in nature. For others, class discussions about topics like National Parks, beauty in nature, and the remarks of poets and authors were enlightening to their education. Our team wanted to allow our individuality to be reflected in the different takeaways we got from this course.              Our short film visually explores Lubbock Avenue, the street that most of our team lives on. We specifi...

 I Go On Walks, And I Look at People's Houses. Is That Invasive? It's not something that I think is horrible, but I'm not sure. For me, it's normal to walk through neighborhoods and assess the architecture I walk by. It cannot mean anything more than just watching House Hunters, but who knows? In this post, I'm highlighting some of my favorite front porches I've walked, or ran, past this semester.  The courtyard displayed in the photo above is one of my favorites to walk past. Adjacent to this leaf-covered sidewalk, there's a gorgeous white-bricked home with a courtyard and front porch facing the sidewalk. It's a clear divide from nature outside the courtyard. Even the manicured shrubbery could hardly be considered wild nature.  While not a front porch per se, this beautiful garden at the front of a house is a meditative area. The walls frame a tasteful fountain that leads into a backyard that is likely equally as beautiful. Unfortunately, I haven't ...

 Wait, Wildlife in Neighborhoods? Indeed! Despite the common assumptions about suburbia, I actually live in a semi-wild area of Oklahoma. Granted, Oklahoma isn't quite as developed as many other places in the world. Regardless, allow me to walk you all through some of the wildlife you may see on a stroll through my neighborhood.  First, we have the infamous wild turkey (scientific name: Meleagris gallopavo), a dwindling, yet invasive population. This specific type of turkey is represented by three subspecies: the Rio Grande, the Eastern, and the Merriams. Based on my guess, I'm assuming the turkeys that haunt my neighborhood are Rio Grande, the most prevalent kind in Oklahoma. Charmingly, they tend to come in groups, as you can see in the photo below. The reason why I claim this population is invasive is that my family has taken personal offense from these turkeys. In order to understand, more context is required. In the spring of 2020, my family had our pool renovated. It was...

  Man, I Love Fall The turning of leaves never fails to bring about a wistful sense of whimsy in my romantic soul. I know that the scientific process of chlorophyll within the leaves causes this change, but there is no way magic is not at play. Leaf changes from green to red to orange to yellow as the temperature gradually changes (in more temporate climates, or in Texas it's just a day). That has to be the best part of any season, the changes that come along with it.  The autumnal cycle of leaves makes me reminisce of days where I would play outside with my sisters. We'd walk through pine trees in our backyard, exploring the vast swath of land that would become a bustling suburb in the years to come. As we adventured in our backyard, I felt enchanted by each tree, drawn into a mystical realm through the crunch of pine needles under my feet. Something about being outside and using my imagination came naturally to me, like putting on a familar pair of shoes. Being able to breat...

Oklahoma: It Isn't As Bad As I Make It Sound Look at this precious birdhouse on this oak tree!  I've realized that I've spoken poorly of Oklahoma while in this course. The remarks and quips often have come from a place of honesty, speaking from experience and not just opinion. While there are many things about the Red Man state I could critique, there are an equal amount of things I could praise Oklahoma's landscape for doing well. This blog post will be a combination of those two things.  Oklahoma has famously red dirt, hence why it's called Oklahoma the Choctaw word for "Red Man." In the picture below, you can see the clay-enriched dirt, tilled by construction equipment in suburbia. There's a fascinating absence of nature despite it just being dirt. Until I moved to Texas, I did not consider how dirt could not be anything but my cherished port silt loam (yes, I did look this up to fact-check myself).  The red dirt, thanks to the abundance of clay in ...