During this past summer, one of our volunteers brought a Syracuse city child to Three Falls Woods to give him the opportunity to connect with nature and explore the outdoors as part of the Big Brother program.

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The two entered through the winding path leading directly to the stream. The child quickly ran ahead, and when our volunteer caught up to him, he saw the boy completely motionless. His face was full of awe as his whole body absorbed the power and grandeur of the waterfalls. They savored the experience together for quite some time before the boy ran down the trail to begin an afternoon of exploring. Unbeknownst to our volunteer, he had given this child his very first opportunity to see a waterfall.

There is nothing quite like that first connection, and to be there when it happens is something special indeed. Imagine being there and watching that child’s face. Imagine what he must have felt like at that very moment. You made that moment possible, and every first moment or hundredth moment or thousandth moment that a person connects with one of our preserves.

Our volunteer had grand plans of teaching about the ecology of Three Falls Woods, but those plans were abandoned to the joy of just being in the woods. Did it matter to this young boy that we provide habitat for the endangered Hart’s-tongue fern at Three Falls Woods? Did it matter that Three Falls Woods is the largest remaining tract of undeveloped land in an area known for its rapid development? Did it matter that we are protecting an important Oneida Lake tributary? Not on that summer day. On that summer day all that mattered was the moment.