Treks and Texts Kenny Swanson 2026

     The visit to the Zoo on Tuesday was a dreamlike experience.  Seeing animals like Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Hippos, and venomous reptiles right in front of me was a surreal experience.  I was having trouble accepting that these animals were even real.  If not for previous knowledge of these animals and having seen videos of them out in the wild, I am sure that I would have believed I was in a dream.      It pained me to think about how each species population has been dwindling due to human influence.  When talking to the zoo workers they were telling me how the Tiger population for example decreased from around 100,000 in 1900 to a low of 3,200 in 2010.  When just looking at the numbers, a population decline like that conveys the drastic negative influence that humans have caused.  But when seeing these majestic animals in person those numbers no longer just seem like a sad statistic but instead a true tragedy that we n...

     The question  “Why I Need Wild?” is not something I could have answered prior to experiencing this class.  I am admittedly a home body/couch potato.  In the past when my friends planned backpacking trips to places to Big Bend, I would always decline the offer to come.  I would think to myself how silly it seemed to want to be in deserted wilderness, hiking 10+ miles a day, and eating lackluster food.  After this class however, through reading the works of Abbey and Thoreau, intentionally spending more time on walks and activities outside, and helping at the Nature Refuge, I have a better grasp on why I need wild.      For me, wild is not about any extreme adventures or proving physical ability.  It is about perspective.  The times I’ve spent outside, whether walking along the Trinity, playing in the snow, or clearing privet, has made me more aware of how much exists outside my usual bubble.  These experiences out...

     Walking back from the campus Chick-fil-a this past Saturday, my friends and I began to feel a couple drops of rain hit our arms.  We disregarded them, in no rush to get back home quick, thinking that surely, we wouldn’t get caught in any heavy rain in our 10 minute or so walk back to the house.  This was probably not our smartest decision looking back in hindsight.      As we continued to leisurely stroll back home, the sky came apart on us.  Massive droplets that hurt on impact began falling and falling fast, the sky roared with gunshot like thunder, and lightning lit the sky so frequently I was sure one of us would get struck.  Our phones began screeching some obnoxious alarm sound I had never heard, to alert us of a Tornado potentially coming, baseball sized hail, and flash flooding all at once.  To top it off, the Tornado siren began blaring, something I can’t recall ever hearing outside the monthly drills.  With the p...

     Growing up I was always smaller than the kids around me (and I still usually am).  It felt every sport I played I was always outmatched by bigger and stronger kids until I played golf.  Golf finally proved a sport where although size matters in certain areas, skill, touch, and work ethic prove most important.  Between the ages of 12 and 18 I played or practiced golf about 340 days a year (in large part thanks to the great Southern California weather which I have been missing greatly during this storm cycle).  After getting to college though my yearly golf outings have amounted to about 4 days a year, due to busyness and cost reasons.      Recently though, my friends and I have been getting back into golf, and we went out and played together this past Sunday.  After taking this class, I find myself noticing aspects of nature that I previously ignored.  During the round on Sunday I found myself analyzing the beauty of countl...

     On our third trip to the nature center we were gifted a day of cold weather.  After the previous two trips were done on what seemed to be the hottest and sunniest days of those weeks, this visit was blessed with a 10-degree cooler day than the previous visits.  This made it feel strange when I felt slower and less productive than the previous visits.  The only solution I could come up with was that maybe on the first two visits I thought that if I worked faster, the time I spent baking in the sun might feel like it went by faster.      Going back to the same privet location as last visit, I was eager to continue clearing out the same corner that I could not completely clear last time.  The bugs seemed to be out in full force, nipping at my neck and back, despite my back being completely covered.  I hate mosquitos with nearly every ounce of my body, but I will still be the first to admit that they are tenacious beyond a doubt. ...

     In our second visit to the nature center, at first, the work felt repetitive.  Each privet shrub looked nearly identical to the last, and the process of cutting them down became almost mechanical.  But as I continued, I started to notice just how dense and overwhelming the growth had become. The privet formed thick walls in some areas, blocking out any lines of sight toward the Bison.  It made me realize how something that might seem harmless at a glance can completely reshape an environment if left unchecked.      As we cleared sections of the brush, small changes became immediately visible.  Patches of ground that had been hidden for who knows how long were suddenly exposed, and smaller plants that had been struggling for light finally had space to breathe.  It was a gradual transformation, but a noticeable one.  With each section we cut back, the area opened significantly.      By the end of the day, the ...