The Arb is an important part of the Carleton experience, and it means different things to different people. Morning runners, classes, late-night walkers, weekend visitors and Arb caretakers traverse its paths. Photos of it appear on the dining hall screens. Its wildlife occasionally wander out across campus. Whether you’ve actually been out in the Arb or not, you likely have your own set of knowledge about it: as a place you go to have fun or find peace, as a conservation space, as a place with several entrances that connect in mysterious ways, as a place you can see birds or flowers or skiers.
As we come to the end of this year, and the end of being at Carleton for some of us, I encourage you to take an hour before you leave campus — or begin your summer job here — to go on a small adventure and get to know the Arb from a new perspective. Here’s my challenge:
Go to the Arboretum website and choose a guide for your small adventure. Try choosing something new to your experience of the Arb! Here are some ideas: an interpretive guide from the publications page (https://www.carleton.edu/arboretum/resources/publications/); a favorite location of another community member from these maps (/about/most-recent-spots/); a site taught about in a class you haven’t taken (/academic/); a spot to observe a plant or animal highlighted in past Arb Notes (/news/category/arb-talk/).
Set a timer for an hour, and go find your spot! Read a bit about it before you go, and see if you can connect what you read to what you notice while you’re there.
Bonus: wherever you are this summer, try finding a local natural area, and see if they have a website or place where people have posted information. What kinds of guides or recommendations can you find? Can you go on the same small adventure there that you can at Carleton? What is the same, and what’s different about how you experience the Arb and that natural area? If you’re at Carleton over the summer, what do you notice that’s different in the summer versus at the end of Spring term? Look for this article on the Arb website to leave a comment with what you find!
