As a group walks down into the Bluff Lake Nature Center, they are asked to slow down and look around.

It’s not that easy to slow down along MLK Jr. Blvd., but that’s just what you’ll need to do if you head to Bluff Lake Nature Center for “Nature Wonder Wanders.”  On the first Friday of each month, volunteer and certified nature coach Sheri Peterson leads the walks.

She doesn’t call them nature walks, “because people assume that they’re going to get to know nature. And I’m not going to introduce you to the bush as a sagebrush bush. I’m going to introduce you to the bush to meet at a soul level or spiritual level.”

Volunteer nature coach Sheri Peterson asks the group to take time to zoom in on their surroundings.

Peterson encourages the group to slow down and “leave all the chaos out there.”

For the next hour, a group of 10 of us did slow down. We silently walked the ramp down to the lake area and shared our experiences at the bottom. People talked about hearing their feet touching the ground.

Walkers are encouraged to share their thoughts, but there aren’t any right or wrong answers. It’s about “360 awareness,” Peterson says, and seeing nature with childlike eyes.

Two of the youngest walkers take time to sit by the creek.

We walked further to the stumps by the creek and spent time listening to the sounds around us. For the adults in the group, it was a time of contemplation, while for the kids, it was a time to devote to the sounds of a trash can that talks when items are put inside.

Peterson hopes participants take home some gratitude for an element—water, fire, earth, wind. She invites people to stay and spend more time. Some did, while the rest of us returned to the chaos of life after taking time to slow down, even for just an hour.

Nature Wonder Wanders, and other walks at Bluff Lake Nature Center, are free to the public. Details are listed on the center’s website at www.blufflake.org.

Front Porch photos by Christie Gosch