Just beyond the vast expanse of the bustling soccer fields of Neshaminy High School there is a relatively small wooded area that at times is inhabited only by the local wildlife. Once and awhile a few humans will enter Idlewood and navigate its winding trails or even get lost looking for a shortcut. The trails hold great interest to mountain bikers, wilderness explorers, and even the environmental science students.
The blazes and a reliable compass are the only guides to these people. The trails lead on and on and one starts to wonder if they are only walking in circles. Have I passed this place before? The creek was on my left now it’s on my right; which path do I take next? The wilderness explorers learn the wood’s trails and the environmental science student learns the names of all the animals, birds, fish, and trees like the backs of their hands. For some of the students, Idlewood is only a small part of the fragmented wilderness of the county, state, and country to study.
What cannot be understood inside the forest’s borders is taught elsewhere. Animal tracks, animal skulls, bird calls, and tree leaves may have been studied in a class room but the real thing was out in nature to be discovered. Once the fundamental experiments are done inside this one small area, it was time to move on to somewhere bigger and richer. The final destination was far, far away in an unfamiliar yet reminiscent place. This place was like a mature father, while Idlewood was only a small child. There, old things learned were tested and new things were learned. However when the day was over and they left this grand park, the small, familiar Idlewood was the place to return to yet again.
