A few days ago, I spent an hour and
a half sitting by the Trinity. I turned
off my phone for the entire duration and just spent time relaxing by the
water. I normally find water to be so
beautiful and humbling, but that was not the case with the Trinity. Never have I seen a greener or more
disgusting body of water. It was a
cloudy and somewhat gloomy day so that definitely did not help to bring out the
Trinity’s natural beauty, but the closer I got to the river the more repulsed I
was by it. You couldn’t pay me to jump
in that water, because I’m pretty sure if I did immerse myself in it I would
get some type of sickness or be attacked by an evil animal (side note- I have
spotted multiple snakes in the part of the river near Woodshed, which further
scares me away from the Trinity).
During
this time, I started thinking about how sad it is that this river has gotten so
dirty. On the sides of the river there
were piles of trash that had washed up, including large objects such as chairs
and clothes. I think that
people probably don’t realize the huge affect they have on nature when they are
careless and just throw their trash wherever’s convenient for them and pollute
the environment. This carelessness
accumulates and results in the deteriorating of our environment, which is
awfully sad, because I want future generations to be able to enjoy the
environment and see the same beautiful sights that my generation has been able
to see.
Aside
from the fact that the river’s dirtiness saddened me, I was able to use my time
near the Trinity de-stressing and enjoying the nature surrounding me. I watched the clouds float above me, and
observed the beautiful leaves from the trees rustling behind me.
Turning off my
phone helped me to better notice my surroundings and appreciate the earth’s
beauty. It also helped me to actually
relax. When I have my phone with me, I
constantly check and respond to emails and texts I receive, and get very stressed
about all the tasks people ask me to do and meetings people tell me I have to
attend. Avoiding my phone was a great
way to relieve my stress and realize I need to stop getting caught up in all
the unimportant hassles in life.
While near the
river, I also observed the people and animals that passed me. There was a man biking at a very fast speed
that passed me, and I admire him for his motivation to exercise. There was also a babysitter that passed me
with a group of four kids she was watching, ranging from the ages of about
three to about nine. There was a small
park really close to where I was sitting, and the kids were playing a game of “tag”
in it. They were so full of energy and
appeared to be having a great time even though tag is such a simple game, and
this reminded me that I should try to always find fun in every situation, and
again, not get caught up in the small stressors that life throws at me. There were quite a few birds that came close
to me looking for worms and crumbs. In
the river, I noticed two small turtles sitting atop a rock poking out from the
water. During the full hour and a half
that I was at the Trinity, these turtles had not jumped off of the rock. They constantly turned their necks, as if
looking for somewhere to go, but they appeared to be stuck and too frightened
to jump into the murky water (I don’t blame them).
Overall, I enjoyed
my time observing the Trinity and avoiding my phone and the rest of the stress
of life. I am looking forward to returning
to the river and doing my next river reflection!
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