Keeping connected: My reflections on the NAI National Workshop

This blog post is a draft of an article of the Mid-Atlantic region newsletter of the National Association for Interpretation.  The opinions and commentary, though, are my own.  

The other day I went for a hike at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The weather was oddly warm for early December, and I regrettably had to carry my coat and sweater during my afternoon excursion.  Even the skinks (small lizards) were perplexed, with many of them cautiously peeking their heads up from underneath the leaf litter of a maturing maritime forest.  A metallic sounding wind rushed through the barren sweetgum trees, though, sending fourth a reminder that winter will indeed be back soon.

I stopped and examined some swamp bay bushes growing along the trail, and I remember learning about them on my field trip during the recent NAI National Workshop.  The swamp bay (Persea palustris) is a small evergreen tree in the laurel family native to the Southeast, and its fragrant leaves can be used to flavor soups and stews.  I thought about the people I was with during the field trip.  I was surrounded by positive, enthusiastic, and outright extroverted people who care deeply about our natural heritage.  Even on the bus ride home from the park we visited, despite being surrounded by rusty strip malls and an overused interstate highway, a powerful force of positive energy radiated within the cabin of the bus. Our program leader had broken out into song and everyone had chimed in along with him.  I realized that our bus had become a vessel carrying an island of fun, excitement, and friendship moving through a region I never really cared much for.

As interpreters, it is often our duty to help people create a sense of place - no matter where they are.  Everyone needs to find people and places they care about.  And we need to defend those people and places from any form of negativity.

The NAI Workshops are a great place to start feeling connected with nature and with each other.  See you down the trail.

A pier along Back Bay at False Cape State Park.  November 16, 2012.  Virginia Beach, VA

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