<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Lauren 1(1).jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 187px; float: right; " />Winter is a season unlike any other.&nbsp; The sounds of winter are muted and discreet, but still there.&nbsp; Colors may seem absent as you look around and see various shades of whites and greys.&nbsp; However, when you engage all five of your senses, winter can be just as magnificent and enjoyable as the other three seasons in Michigan.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Lauren 4.jpg" style="width: 187px; height: 250px; float: left; " />Snow falling from tree limbs makes soft thuds as it hits the blanketed ground below.&nbsp; A pair of blue jays cries out high up in the empty tree branches bringing a voice that breaks through the stillness.&nbsp; The wind whispers through the trees telling us that there is still life in this winter wonderland.&nbsp; After days without sunlight, when the sun finally breaks through it makes the earth shimmer like a million diamonds on the ground.&nbsp; A little brush of green pine needles or glimpse of blue sky between the leafless branches is like fireworks on a dark night.&nbsp; The seemingly bland white of winter actually magnifies Michigan&rsquo;s beauty during this time of year.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Lauren 3.jpg" style="width: 187px; height: 250px; float: right; " />When students come out to Au Sable for various field trips, they are coming from a fast-paced, technology saturated life.&nbsp; Besides just having fun, the students are there to take a step back from their rushed lives and experience nature.&nbsp; I believe that part of this experience is to reawaken their senses to the beauty and wonder that has been right next to them.&nbsp; This past week while out on our snowshoe hike, I asked my students to take a moment and stand in silence just looking around and listening.&nbsp; Another day I had my group stand in a line behind me with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them with their eyes closed.&nbsp; Then we walked in as much silence as is possible for first graders and tried to experience nature through their neglected senses. Taking away one sense that has become dominant such as sight can invite you to explore things through an entirely new perspective.&nbsp; Forcing yourself into silence allows you to listen to what is around you and visit the world as it is rather than to shove yourself onto your surroundings.</p>
<p>
	So many people today forget how to listen and be engaged in their surroundings.&nbsp; Being at Au Sable and reconnecting with nature is one way to reawaken to life and its fullness.&nbsp; These students are experiencing something here that hopefully they will carry with them and remember for a long time.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s just one day out of the year, but it could change the rest of their lives.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s definitely been changing mine. &nbsp;</p>
