Salutations & Summer Adventures

Hi! I’m Jasmin, the new social media intern for the Sierra Club. I’ll be blogging for the next couple of months about my summer outdoor adventures, pertinent environmental issues, and ways in which you can combat the forces that aim to make your future less green and less clean. My hope is that my stories motivate you to get outdoors and explore this beautiful world. Maybe you’ll even feel convicted to post a treasured experience or an issue that your community is facing on the SC’s blog. As the social media intern, I also look for suggestions, discussions, and opinions on the way the PA chapter utilizes their social media outlets. So feel free to start a discussion or post a suggestion!

One of my first summer adventures consists of a weekend trip to the Catskill Mountains with my family. If you are unfamiliar with the Catskills, which are located in the great state of New York, picture the Poconos—copious amounts of deciduous trees, trickling streams at every turn, and wild flowers of various hues. The purpose of the trip was to reconnect with family we hadn’t seen in several months but as the weekend progressed, it also became apparent that it was a time to reconnect with nature.  

Our cottage was smushed in a quiet nook of the town Halcottsville. This town is so secluded that locals from a town ten miles out had no idea where we were headed. We were surrounded by silence and peace—the kind that only comes from thick forests. A lake sat a minute’s walk from the house and old train tracks drew their way through the mountainside. It was almost a little too picturesque.

Members of my extended family started arriving at the cottage the next morning.  While the parents sat on the patio and caught up on life, my brother and I took our 10-year-old cousins kayaking on the lake. It was a joy to see how much happiness they received from the landscape. Their day brightened with each new amphibian to observe and animal call to hear. My brother and I love to frequent Blue Marsh to kayak. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to get out on the water this summer so sharing our passion with our cousins was a beautiful experience. It was also much needed time to unwind. Kayaking is one of those activities I turn to for comfort.

Throughout the rest of the weekend, we went hiking, built stone sculptures in the creek, ran on the train tracks, and took in our surrounding with silent appreciation.

Nature is so good to us. It provides us with the immeasurable. I admit that I love the city. Urban life is so appealing to me and I hope to move to the Big Apple when I go for my Masters, but I’ll always have a personal connection with the country. There is a beautiful relationship that exists between all things living and alive. So explore this summer—immerse yourself in the sunny days that approach, and share your fun with us. We would love to hear about it!  

~Jasmin :)