Adventures of a Nature Nerd: Getting Ready

April 5, 2011

I've been thinking lately about all the things in life that we count. Important ones and others that don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Sheep to sleep. Our lucky stars. Blessings. Count me in. Count me out. "If I could count the number of times I..." The pounds on the scale. The miles we've run/walked/driven. The hours we've worked - or not. The 10 second countdown to a new year. Birthdays. At the present time, the number of boxes stacked throughout my house. The people on whom we can count. In my case, that last one counts most!

NIFB:

When I began volunteering at Northern Illinois Food Bank, my first shift there involved inspecting and packing frozen meat in the warehouse. Although I'm not a vegetarian, I'm not all that fond of meat - especially the uncooked variety. Why was I there, doing such an unpleasant task? Five years and countless boxes of meat (and lots of other products) later, I found that it has been some of the hardest and most rewarding work in my life. It was pure luck that I chose to volunteer on Monday mornings, working with a group of people who quickly became my friends. How could I have known that I would soon look forward to those Monday shifts - frozen meat or not?

Motley Monday crew, giving me quite the send-off!

Hard at work on "the line" in the food processing room

With my pet project, the Wall of Shame - all of the

non-food donations. Each week I would try to reorganize

it, so that others could mess it up again.

The colorful fliers on the wall are instructions

for how this stuff should be sorted.

They actually function as wall art -

because no one pays any attention!

KCCN:

I'm not sure exactly when my real interest in nature began, but it was again a stroke of luck that I found out about the Kane County Certified Naturalist Program. I'm proud to say I was part of the very first graduating class of this outstanding program. I'm now a card-carrying Certified Naturalist. (I don't think neurotics get nicely laminated cards, so that one doesn't count.) I not only learned about our environment - flora/fauna/history, but I had the opportunity to contribute to caring for our local natural treasures. Cutting brush, planting/collecting seeds and oak trees, caring for newly planted trees were just some of the tasks I enjoyed. Those things led to birdwatching - yes, birds get counted too. Counting the "peents" of Woodcocks on an early spring evening. Counting all the varieties of wildflowers along our trails - our crazy weather of late allowed me to see many of them in bloom. I would have missed them otherwise. Yesterday, there was a gorgeous Tiger Swallowtail on my viburnum!

At this time in life, making new friends was less easy - as a parent, so many friends are found through our kids and their activities. With a grown daughter, that phase had ended. But what an amazing new chapter began! Sharing some nature classes and volunteer time with a few fun people turned into sharing time together outside of that realm. Which turned into a smaller, then larger group of incredible women getting together to laugh and eat and talk and yes, howl at the full moon.

I have many fun pics of our Nature Nerd activities - unfortunately for this writing, they are stored on discs in a box somewhere in the twilight zone...

Sphinx Moth on a Fringed Gentian (at Carol's Wetland).

This counts as one of my favorite photos!

Milkweed fluff - one of nature's small miracles

There is so much to say and so much that I will miss, that I am left wondering why this all seemed like a good thing to do. Pack up - countless boxes and life as I know it - and start over in a small town far away. Will it eventually prove to be a good decision? That remains to be seen. But for now, I will count the "knowns" in my life.

I know that I have friends who have given me more laughter and fun and support than I could have imagined. Friends from whom I've learned, with whom I've played, who have made me feel valued and trusted. For all of you, I hope I have responded in kind and that you know how much I love and treasure our friendship. How much I will miss you. How fortunate I have been to know you.

And how you had better keep in touch - and come visit!

A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely.
Pam Brown