​New River Gorge Journal – Day 2

"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it."
— Mary Oliver

Some days feel packed with activities. Other days feel packed with meaning.

Today was the second kind.

The mountains around Camp Brookside greeted us with cool morning air and the promise that there was more to discover if we were willing to pay attention. And pay attention we did.

Our day began with one of my favorite traditions at New River Gorge—the Dragonfly Mercury Project. There is something beautiful about watching educators kneel beside streams and rivers, collecting dragonfly larvae alongside park scientists. In a world that often tells us science belongs in laboratories and textbooks, this project reminds us that science also belongs in muddy boots, curious hands, and conversations beside the water.

For the fourth year, our STEAM in the PARK family has participated in this community science effort, helping researchers better understand mercury levels in waterways across the country. The dragonfly larvae may be small, but the story they tell is important. Today reminded us that every creature has something to teach us if we are willing to look closely enough.

After lunch, the river became our classroom.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding brought plenty of laughter, encouragement, and a few unexpected swims. Some participants found their balance immediately. Others discovered that balance is a little easier to talk about than achieve. But isn't that true in life, too?

What I loved most was watching people cheer each other on. Nobody cared who stood the longest or paddled the fastest. We simply celebrated the courage it took to step onto the board in the first place.

Back at Camp Brookside, we gathered for Rewilding.

Of all the activities we do during the week, this may be one of the quietest and yet one of the most powerful. Rewilding asks us to consider what has become overgrown in our lives and what has been neglected. It invites us to remember who we are beneath the schedules, expectations, and endless to-do lists.

The conversations were thoughtful. The reflections were honest. The seeds we planted today were far more than those tucked into envelopes—they were hopes, dreams, and possibilities for the seasons ahead.

Our afternoon mystery took us into the woods for The Case of the Mysterious Disappearing Log.

What appears to be loss in nature is often transformation.

With pocket microscopes in hand, educators investigated the hidden world inside a decaying log. Beneath bark and among the soil, we found insects, fungi, decomposers, and evidence of life everywhere we looked. The log was not disappearing at all. It was becoming something new.

There is probably a lesson in that for all of us.

After dinner, we slowed our pace and headed out for Birding with our ambassadors.

Birding requires a different kind of attention. It asks us to be still. To listen before we look. To notice movement where others see only leaves. It reminded us that wonder often waits quietly, just beyond our hurried pace.

The evening continued with our CCC LEGO Project, where history and creativity met around the tables.

Participants explored the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps in West Virginia and the lasting impact those young men had on our public lands. Using LEGO bricks and natural materials, teams recreated trails, campgrounds, picnic shelters, stone structures, and reforestation projects. Nearly a century later, the fingerprints of the CCC can still be found across these mountains. Their work reminds us that what we build today may become a gift for generations we will never meet.

And then came the moths.

As darkness settled across Camp Brookside, local naturalist Paul Shaw—known affectionately as "The Mothman"—invited us into a world most people never stop to notice.

The moth lights glowed against the darkness, and before long they became gathering places. Moths of every size, shape, and pattern arrived like tiny works of art fluttering out of the night. Paul shared stories, answered questions, and helped us see beauty in creatures that are so often overlooked.

Again and again throughout the evening, someone would call out, "Look at this one!"

And we would gather.

Because that's what wonder does. It gathers people.

By the time we returned to our cabins, we had spent the day studying dragonflies, balancing on paddle boards, investigating disappearing logs, reflecting on our own journeys, honoring the work of the CCC, listening for birds, and marveling at moths beneath glowing lights.

Day 2 reminded us that learning is rarely about collecting facts.

It is about paying attention.

And when we do, we discover that the world is filled with stories waiting to be told—from a dragonfly larva beneath the water's surface to a moth quietly landing in the glow of a light on a summer evening in the New River Gorge.