On Nature

It's hard to say what the most magical or enchanting experience I've had with the non-human world. Some that come to mind right away are my childhood memories of El Dorado and Yellowstone. When I was younger, my father would take my siblings and me to El Dorado, both in the winter and the summer. One summer, I remember camping next to a serene lake. We were tucked away in the forest just far enough not to be able to see the lake, but a two minute walk was all that really separated us. One memory I'll carry with me is of a tree that had fallen only ten feet from our grounds (some years prior). Curiously, I jumped onto the tree and walked down it like a bridge. This "bridge" carried me through a grouping of dense shrubbery that wouldn't be navigable. After falling on top of this concertina-like bush, the tree blazed a natural trail into an area which not only wouldn't be accessible but also unnoticeable. The "bridge" ended with a small clearing (surrounded by the thick barrier shrubs). This clearing was bizarrely inhabited with beach sand and a small beach of its own. I remember myself taking the bridge to my hideaway more times than I can count. Another memory of this lake was of my brother and I being to adventurous for our own good. We were on one end of the lake and decided that we should conduct an amphibious raid of the opposite shore. Since the other shore was easily a mile or more away, we would require some sort of raft. What we decided on was a giant log that had been soaking in the lake for some time. It had the perfect amount of buoyancy, just enough so that when he and I boarded it like a motorcycle, it floated just beneath the surface (actually very dangerous in retrospect). We paddled our way for what seemed like 2 hours until we arrived at the opposite only to discover that after all our hard work, bravery and ingenuity, we liked our original shore better. The lesson being that the grass really is greener on the other side of the lake. Nature really is the best teacher.

Absolutely. Aside from ecological and environmental health reasons, nature provides a nurturing counter point to the psychological abrasiveness of modern society. Being able to learn about nature with all of your senses rather than a picture book is a scenario to which there is no alternative. The real question isn't whether we should save nature, but whether we can save it. It seems that today, more than ever, we are heavily invested in our self made habitats. People don't hunt their own food, nor do they even hunt the lattes they run on. It seems to me that the only way to reverse the damage to nature is to undue much of what we have built. Can people put down their lattes? Can CEO's of destructive companies dismantle their polluting machines against the better judgement of capitalism? Can people regardless of their profession become more attentive and informed about the environment, enough to make smart choices? To me, these are the only questions worth asking