During this time of pandemic and PanDeepening, the land at Prairiewoods remains open to visitors. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a many-time visitor, we’d love to see what you’re seeing at Prairiewoods and hear about your experiences. Here is our map of the beautiful 70 acres, as well as our photo scavenger hunt:
What do you see at Prairiewoods? If you get any great photos, we’d love to see them! (Please post them on our Facebook page or email them to alewis@prairiewoods.org.) The exploration and scavenger hunt is a wonderful activity for children and families, and individuals of all ages. And it’s a lovely way to get to know the land of Prairiewoods.
How do you see Sister Water? Did you meet a deer? Did you find a feather? What do the prairie grasses look like up close? Did you find an animal track? What is the most beautiful thing you’ve seen all day? How is the Creator present in all you see?
I’ve always loved giving people a map of Prairiewoods when they visit for the first time, and seeing their eyes light up as they look at the map and begin to get of sense of what they might see throughout the 70 acres of prairie and woods. Often we would be standing in the Center when this conversation occurs and I would turn the map to orient it. I would point to the image of the Center on the map and say, “See, we’re standing right here and the parking lot—where you just came from—is out that way to the West, and if you go out this back East door and look to the right, you’ll see the trail head into the woods and the beginning of the Cosmic Walk.” Some people are ready to go straight to the Grandmother Oak, so I point her out on the map and mention that on their way, there’s a nice bench by Dry Creek if they’d like to listen to the water up close for a bit. I point out the labyrinth, the prayer circle and the various trails on the map. I always mention, “And you can go off-trail if you want to!”
I also love giving people the photo scavenger hunt list along with the map, which encourages exploration and opening our creative eyes. Oh, how Prairiewoods opens our eyes … I find that I carry “what I see at Prairiewoods” with me, even during this time when I am working from home and staying close to home. When I walk my neighborhood forest, I visit the Grandmother Oak of this particular forest. Would I have recognized her if I hadn’t first met Grandmother Oak at Prairiewoods?
What do you see at Prairiewoods? And how has that opened and expanded what you see in nature wherever you are?
—Angie Pierce Jennings, Prairiewoods hosted groups and hospitality coordinator