By: Leslie Gunnett, Advisory Board Member
Since moving to a temporary home in another country, I have been adamant about going out and exploring new areas on the weekends. Living in a suburban village is awesome for walkability and convenience but I need more nature in my life, and it’s a great stress-relief to get outside. Ireland rains quite a lot, so every opportunity you get for a sunny day needs to be appreciated and taken advantage of. I have been learning from meeting people here that I am exploring nature significantly more than most. There are people who have lived here their entire lives that have not seen some of the beaches and forests that are within an hour’s drive from our city.
This got me thinking about the concept of being a tourist in your own backyard. If we want to be stewards of our local environment, we should be out experiencing that environment when we are able. It’s not only the best way to learn about the natural world around us, but it is also healing, which many of us need in our busy lives.
When I am a “tourist”, I am typically in another country I had to fly to, climbing a mountain or swimming in a new ocean. I have centered entire vacations around experiences in nature but didn’t really consider the fact that I don’t have to go so far to experience it. Most of us have nature directly outside our front doors, but since we see it every day, it becomes routine rather than wondrous.
As someone with ADHD, I am a very hands-on learner, so immersing myself is the best way for me to learn about something. I also believe that experiencing nature around me has made me care about it and be protective of it even more than I already was. Some of my favorite ways to immerse myself in local nature are going for hikes in the woods, picking up trash along the beach, and even just walking around my neighborhood after dinner in the evenings. Before I moved, one of my favorite activities was to just sit in my backyard and watch the rabbits hop around, the squirrels chase each other in the trees, the hummingbirds visit my feeders, the birds feeding their babies in nests in my bushes, the bees enjoying my pollinator garden…pure bliss.
So many people don’t make time for nature in their lives, and one common reason is the idea that you have to drive out of a city and into a wild area to experience it. That is not always the case, though. There is nature all around you. Some folks don’t pay any attention to the birds that fly overhead or the insects crawling on the pavement or the pretty wildflowers on the side of the highway along our drives to work. Noticing these things is the first step, and being curious about them can lead to learning about the ecosystem in your area.
In the village I am living in, I have a tiny back garden with a little grass and a brick patio. I have no front yard, just a brick driveway with a little flower bed on one side. It feels depressing sometimes, but I noticed that across the street from me in the tree line, there are multiple families of rabbits hopping around munching on weeds. There is a raven that perches on my back fence and watches me eat lunch that I want to befriend, and along the roadways here they do not mow, so everything is wild and there are bees everywhere. The wildflowers along the roadways are all different sizes and colors, and I have begun to take photos of them so I can identify what they are. In my own backyard in NJ, I used a native mix of seeds for my pollinator flowers, and when they grew, I didn’t even know what some of them were. I just knew they were native, and that was enough for me. I took that experience for granted, and now I miss having the ability to be a tourist in my literal own backyard. Luckily for me, there is a park about a 20-minute walk from my house that I frequently head to so I can be among trees and wildlife.
What are some of your favorite native NJ species near you? Some of mine include coneflowers (Rudbeckia), mountain laurel, and milkweed (because it would be covered in monarch caterpillars!)
Photos (all taken by me):
1-Dunworley Beach
2-side of the road on Link Rd in Ballincollig
3- also side of the road on Carriganarra in Ballincollig
4-Regional Park Ballincollig
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One response to “Being a Tourist in Your Own Backyard”
This article makes an important about the rewilding of ourselves, we need to learn how to intentionally “notice” that we are surrounded by the Wild. Here in the NJ suburbs rewilding is taking place without any help from us humans. Apex predators like Black Bear, Coyote, & Bobcat have returned, with much concern by the local. Redtail Hawks & other raptors a hunting in our backyards & Black Bear is occasionally taking a refreshing dip in a neighbors pool. So, welcome home, you’ve been gone to long!
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