By John W. Garbutt- Class of 2019
Over time, I learned to find happiness alone through nature. A majority of the learning has been from behind the camera’s viewfinder, the eye piece on my binoculars; and through contributing to the chapter’s monthly newsletter, Shaking the Trees. Immersing myself in nature and focusing on subjects, like the Cooper’s Hawks and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons became a Roger Tory Peterson like obsession. I was at home and happy with the birds.
However, something was missing. I never like breaking my focus in the field, but I always had to share my sightings and moments in real time with my sister, and best friends: Rayna and Lauren. Last summer, a great friend introduced me to someone because they had similar interest in nature and writing. Jessica and I soon “got lost” on our first adventure amongst the Snow-on-the-prairie and sunflowers. We have explored a lot and even traveled to her home in Arizona. Though the trip was not for sharing nature, we found the time to do so and managed to add lifers to our bird lists!
One of the first places I probably mentioned to her was the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. It has always been a spiritual location for me. A place to find happiness and solitude. Almost a year later we visited toward the end of June 2025.
The trip was hot and short, but I wanted to share some of my favorite trails and spots. Sitting at my favorite spot upon the granite formation above West Cache Creek, we enjoyed the calls of the Northern Bobwhite, the songs of Eastern Meadowlarks and Dickcissels, the flowers, the wind, the warmth of the sun, the expanses dotted with distant American Bison, and being together. It was a location that Springsteen’s song The River always played in my head. It had been the spot that I came to forget; now it was a new memory and dream to not forget. A place to share. I recalled the story of Christopher McCandless chronicled in Into the Wild and what he annotated in Doctor Zhivago before his death. He wrote, “Happiness only real when shared.” I now knew what he meant.
Ultimately, sharing it is what being a Texas Master Naturalist is about. For many, a certain aspect of nature brought us together. We have shared and learned from each other; and grown in knowledge and appreciation of all natural things. Sharing this knowledge through outreach and education makes our communities more informed, beautiful, and hopefully a happier place to share together.
