<p>
	Too much time had passed since I truly felt out in the wilderness. Many trails and preserves exist where I live, and I have camped innumerable nights in my quest to attain Eagle rank in the Scouting program, but there is a certain panache to simply being at the heart of an ecosystem, beating in rhythm with it and simply feeling alive at each sensation. &nbsp;Stepping out of Willow House at the Institute, I feel as if I am actually poised upon the ever-throbbing pulse of the sylvan preserve. &nbsp; The following poem is an excellent expression of the wonder of nature in Creation, and of my wonder:</p>
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	<strong>To See a World&hellip;</strong></div>
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	To see a World in a Grain of Sand</div>
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	And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,</div>
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	Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand</div>
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	And Eternity in an hour.</div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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	-William Blake</div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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	Being involved in Au Sable after a long time without any true naturalistic work is much like taking a deep breath of mountain air after spending hours locked away in a cellar. &nbsp;Even as I grow here in the providence of the biota around me, I at the same time feel that a sparked fire of knowledge in a young mind can cause so much more. &nbsp;That feeling of even greater wonder at developing an understanding of nature, rather than simply taking it at face value.</div>
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	&nbsp;</div>
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	The most rewarding aspect of teaching, I find, has resounding commonality with the act of learning: a point where one actually can use and build upon a new concept &ndash; a &ldquo;light bulb atop one&rsquo;s head,&rdquo; if you will, appears upon this special learning. &nbsp;In teaching that same sensation I feel once again when seeing another come about this same understanding. &nbsp; Such a feeling is exhilarating and deep. &nbsp;
	<p>
		Recently in my teaching, I have been embroiled in my &ldquo;Gunther&rdquo; character I play to acclimate our students to Michigan history. &nbsp;As much as I develop his story (here goes: born 1874 in Bavaria [Germany did not yet exist at this time], two brothers, Frankel and Hans, worked at the camp as the &ldquo;cookie&rdquo; or chef for 7 years on and off), I seem to become my character, including his rich accent and penchant for ending every other sentence with &ldquo;ja?!&rdquo; I find this amusing, as it shows yet another bond I have forged here. Snow melts, friends celebrate, buds open, and lives change. Such is the turning wheel of my life at the Institute. &nbsp;</p>
	<p>
		Rejoice, for more is to come, and much I have left behind, fragments shored amongst my works, such palling vistas of days, of weeks passing, building unforgettable memory after unforgettable memory amongst the whispering pines and twinkling dew.</p>
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