I live in a house that sits back off the road just outside the city limits. The property used to be a working farm. We still grow things like corn, tomatoes, okra, green beans, and squash, among other vegetables, but the soil is so infertile in places that most of the terrain is useless. However, the woods behind us still grow and the wildlife within those woods is ever present. I feel much more in tune with nature here than I ever had while growing up in a middle-class suburbian neighborhood in the backyard of Washington, D.C. But there is still something that separates me from the wild here. Well, for one, it could be this wall that sits just behind me and the window that is shut to the cold rainy night. I don't venture into those woods very often during the colder seasons. I mostly like to traverse back towards our creek in the middle of summer in search for turtles and frogs, and perhaps even wade into the water that's only knee-high deep. As much as I enjoy hiking and camping I never once stayed a night in a tent in those once-quiet woods. Now, I do not even enjoy walking down into the woods on trails that members of my family have blazed through towards the creek, because a few of our neighbors seem to think its fun to shoot guns all day at God knows what.
I've heard the scream of a bobcat from my bedroom which faces the woods and it terrified me to the core. And once I saw a flock of wild turkeys emerging from the woods and rounding our pond to reach their next destination. We have wild heron fly across our front yard and stop at our pond to search for fish to eat. Deer leap across our yard in the dark of night, and very rarely in the early morning (and we also see them dead on the side of the road). And of course, its the season for Canadian Geese to also stop by, and torment our dogs, of whom they have no qualms about chasing off with their rude beaks. We call them "Canadian Tourists" because they act just like tourists coming down from Ontario and Quebec, who lay out in bikinis and swimming trunks at Wrightsville or Carolina Beach in the middle of winter, while the rest of us walk by, bundled up and puzzled at their indifference to the biting wind coming off the sea. The geese have no problems lounging around on our pond when it is below freezing and the pond is partially frozen. I love where I live, and I love how quiet it is at nighttime. Sometimes when I am here alone I can become a little uneasy. The woods are peaceful, yet daunting at the same time. What beauty does it hold but also what danger hides within? Nature is something I am inherently facinated with. Nature knows no boundaries. These woods would one day overtake us if we didn't work hard to keep it in its place. We have to labor intensively to make sure our vegetables grow in the summer. The bugs come, and the early rot comes, and the weeds threaten to snuff the life out of everything we work so hard to grow. My aunt had a terrible run-in with summer storms this past year. Her corn had grown high and she was excited about the harvest, but a strong storm with a tumultous downdraft blew her stocks over. She and my boyfriend had to labor for hours to get some of them to stand back up, and some they had to tie to stakes just to give them a chance.
Nature knows no boundaries. Nature does not play by any rules.
I want to be in Nature and experience it every day of my life, but I worry. Nature is something that you cannot trust. You can never expect Nature to give you the answer, and Nature does not always provide. Nature is also unpredictable.
Thank goodness Nature also has a pattern. We know that when the wind begins to blow harder and the sky turns black, it is going to storm. Therefore, we also know that it would be wise to take shelter. People have studied Nature long enough to see the signs of a coming drought, and we've harnessed technology to predict the weather. We can tell when a hurricane is coming a week or so in advance.
But there are some things about Nature we will never be able to predict or control. There are things that can destroy everything we know. I am sheltered from nature by these walls and that window as I sit and type this, but when it comes to Nature, am I ever really safe? A tornado could overtake this house and destroy everything, and there would be nothing any of us could do to stop it.
I am not suggesting that humans be disdainful of Nature, because Nature is what governs this entire planet. We should have a love for Nature and the fruits of Nature. We should also be respectful of Nature as well. Nature won't always reciprocate our appreciation, but at least we could come away with a different perspective.
We should fear Nature when it demands to be feared. We should love Nature when it longs to be loved.
Merry Christmas
Tomorrow: My Favorite Bearded Fellows
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