Remembering Rancho

On my walk today, I took a pathway through the residential neighborhood near the residence hall and made my way to Rancho San Rafael Park. With nature in mind, this was the perfect place to go. As a native from Reno, I have visited this area several times, but I had yet to return to the park simply to examine the nature that it encompasses.

                I followed the street through the residential neighborhood near the dorms rather than Sierra Street so as to observe its relationship to the natural world. I was pleasantly surprised by what I experienced before arriving at the park—there were roses, trees, or plants in almost every yard, their leaves forming a canopy over the sidewalk. It occurred to me as I was walking that, although humans are deemed the destructors of nature, we do surround ourselves with it when we can. The university campus has shrubbery, flowers, and trees near every building and walkway; the neighborhood homes mimic this as well—it seems that, in addition to our dependence on nature to provide us with what we need, we also rely on it to create the beauty in our everyday lives. We put plants in our yard, benches underneath trees, and flowers on our nightstands. Perhaps nature is something we seem to subconsciously surround ourselves with because it reminds us of our roots—no matter how hectic our lives may become, we always have a connection, an identification that we can return to.

                Upon entering Rancho, this idea of a connection was reinforced. A flood of memories hit me as I wandered the pathways through the arboretum—I went on field trips here as a child, with the log ride I was terrified of (some things never change); I took family photos in fourth grade on a bridge only a short walk away from the fences where I took my senior pictures; I read a book on a blanket under a tree with a friend I miss immensely. The nature in this park had made its own impressions in my life that I had never even realized, and linked my present to highlights of my past. It was not only represented in my neighborhood, it was represented in me.

                Can I just say that life is pretty incredible sometimes? I went on a walk expecting to check off another item on my to-do list, and ended up resurfacing memories I hadn’t considered in years. I guess a walking blog after a six page synthesis essay this weekend wasn’t so bad after all.