NYC¹

October 5 2025

For the past couple of days I have been thinking about the question that was raised in class this past week, “what is nature?”

I’m in New York City right now and I have never been here for more than 2 hours before. I came for a concert that I saw yesterday. I am staying with one of my best friends who goes to Columbia. He lives in one of the dorm buildings that hold grad students, professors, and anyone who is not in undergrad. I was supposed to leave earlier today but once I told my friend about the challenge I have to do for this class he told me it would be worth it to carve out some time to see the nature that New York holds. He took me on a long walk around the Bronx, there was a small park that was built on a hill behind the building he lived in. He told me “I take this route every time I want to get to the train station even though it adds almost 20 minutes to my commute– I just love the trees.” For the rest of the walk down we stayed quiet, I think he was letting me take in the nature that I did not expect from the city. I walked with ease, there were butterflies that I went towards to attempt to touch. I looked closer at the grass and the wild flowers that were growing in small patches– I also noticed the needles and trash on the grass. After we made it down the hill he told me that although he loves the little park he wished it was properly maintained that the city took more care of the areas where people need it the most. We walked further from the park and on to the train we made it all the way to Washington Park. I have never seen a more lively space with street dances, pot and art selling, and more. It felt strange to feel overwhelmed and at peace, too many acts going on and all the greenery around me.

On the drive home, I had been thinking about what nature is and what it means. I walked past many shops and neighborhoods, I saw that there was an effort to cover every inch of free space with plants. The parks were full of people chatting or working out. I saw people taking care of their plants or feeding their plants from their windows. New York was surprisingly closer to nature than Houston but I think partly because there is more commuting than single cars on the street. Nature is truly all around us even if we’re just in a green house but I think getting a more in depth experience is a little bit more fruitful. Caring for my house plants brings me joy but going outside when I am having a bad calms me down. It bothers me that there is no set definition but I do think it makes nature more inclusive and as accessible as it can be. Nature brought me a sense of relief in the city but also it confused me to think about how it could be make me so stressed in my city or just in general. Maybe I appreciate nature more when its scarce.

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