Nature (a couple of days late)

My love for nature has helped define who I am today. Nature is my restorative. When the world of man overwhelms me, there is nothing like a visit with nature to restore the balance.

For all my supposed ability for understanding, it amazes me that many a human do their best to not only deny their association with the living world, but fight it tooth and nail.

It’s not natural.

When did we start forgetting our own nature?

I once met a man whose only comment about the Grand Canyon was: “It’s just a hole in the ground.”

Photo by Steve Kramer

People constantly deny how much we and the natural world are part of each other, despite ample evidence otherwise. Does not the very weather effect our moods? So why is it so hard to believe that mankind has an effect on nature?

I know another man who vehemently denies that mankind has any effect on the environment. His argument that he uses to illustrate this is: “Can an ant effect a whole field?” And my answer to him: “Maybe not, but 7 billion ants can.”

To me, it is the height of selfishness as well as self-denial to not remotely acknowledge that we too are part of nature. Even so-called modern technology would not even exist if it were not for what nature taught us in the first place. Innovation was all about using the tools nature provided. Sure we now have many “man-made” things, but where did they find the original model?

So this random gathering of words which has emerged with little guidance from myself is, I guess, a tribute to nature. Maybe it will help remind someone that, deny it as much as you will, we are all part of nature.

P.S. It was requested I post a few more photos here, so here are some random shots (I took all the photos):

Photo by Steve Kramer
Photo by Steve Kramer
Photo by Steve Kramer
Photo by Steve Kramer
Photo by Steve Kramer
Photo by Steve Kramer