Gianandrea Heyer : The noland trail

It was a sunny Sunday morning at the beginning of October. One of these days when you really feel like it's not worth to stay in your room the whole day and getting headache while studying or watching TV. Therefore i decided to go running in the Noland trail. My roommate told me it was a nice place, and since i had never been there before i gave it a try. As soon as i arrived there, the beauty of the nature had an impact on me. The lake is surrounded by these huge trees, with wooden bridges leading the trail trough the wood. I could hear the sound of the animals living in the area, but most of the time i could not see them. I took a look at the map of the trail, about 5 miles long, and i though it was going to be long run. But i was somehow excited to go trough this unknown kind of wilderness. As soon as i began running i started appreciating the scenario. I could feel the ground with natural sand and shells around and and smell the uncontaminated soil. Sometimes i could hear some squirrels above me eating some glands and see the shell be thrown down. Other times, the beauty of the seabirds trying to get some food. In the middle of the trail, people were having a grill, enjoying the nature. Other people were just sitting on the benches, admiring the landscape. I finished the whole trail in about an hour, was quite tired, but i enjoyed it a lot. While taking a shower i started thinking about the positive aspects that i could have got from that run. First of all i could realize that you can absorb a lot of energy from being in the nature. The trees, the lake and all the surrounding natural elements give me something unique that makes me feel good. I also thought that being out there helped me a lot in opening my mind and stimulate my creativity, to think about the future. As we have seen in class, i thought that during that run i could feel the ground and appreciate the place. Even if i would close my eyes, i could still understand the greatness of that landscape. I really enjoyed my experience in the Noland Trail, and i think it is a place very close to campus where a student can go there and reload the body and the mind.