January 26, 2015 - 00:25
The reading of “Morris Woods: Living History,” written by Rachel Ohrenschall, has opened up my mind to something deeper and meaningful; history does not need to be written in ink. Thus, my saunter in Morris Woods became quite reminiscing.
The woods are lovely, pathless and deep. There is nothing more beautiful than being in Nature's heart, in the enclosure of woods. Ohrenschall described Morris Woods to be a special oasis of Bryn Mawr and also a special enclosure of nature. I had never thought about the woods being enclosed in such a way before because it was out in the open. I found it interesting how such an opened space can be confined within nature's boundaries, within a set "land" and "property." It was also very strange to imagine the history of Morris Woods, to imagine the Harrison family and how they once stood on the same ground I was standing on, and to imagine the different species of plants that used to be there and to imagine new recent invasive plant species. It became clear that I was standing on the past, on history. The cemetery became more than just a burial ground. The cemetery became a part of Morris Woods somewhere along history dating back to the 17th century. Members of the Harrison family were literally below my feet, chained to the earth, and enclosed within Morris Woods. I was standing on a timeline, a living history.