The Newfound Lake Region Association partners with the Tapply-Thompson Community Center’s summer camp program to strengthen the bond between local kids and their environment. I was looking forward to working with youth, however I was surprised by the level of joy it brought me. Leading educational programs while representing the NLRA is like bread and butter. NLRA is the bread, providing a structure and space for the youth to be in the open at Grey Rocks Conservation Area, and the kids’ enthusiasm and excitement is the butter.
The kids were full of energy; like young fawns. It was difficult to keep up with them, their curious minds wandered from the tadpoles to the great blue herons flying about. They enjoyed their ride aboard NLRA’s pontoon boat and as we demonstrated water quality sampling their minds quickly grasped how the monitoring equipment worked. They explored Grey Rocks Conservation Area, gathering leaves and flower petals to make sun catchers that captured the beauty of the ecosystem.
Time flew by, working with the youth provided a clear picture of how education can make and bring change.
More recently the NLRA Annual Meeting taught me another way people can bring forth change. The people who participated carried in their bones the desire to protect and conserve their watershed.
Since the last time I wrote a journal entry, I have become a local person. I meet people while lake hosting and working at Grey Rocks Conservation Area, developing connections and friendships. I see Grey Rocks visitors around town, and they wave when they recognize me. There is a sense of community and kinship in this part of the world. I now see that not only do the people associated with NLRA care about nature, but they also see it as their home.
Trotting home on my scooter after dark gives me time to reflect. I see that I have started to feel comfortable in the easygoing lifestyle and the passing of time.
I leave with a phrase: Don’t be rigid to the fluctuation in energy, embody it and become.