Nature Lovin'

I went for a walk today, and found myself thinking of a friend of mine. He loves to go out with people, and is an intensely social creature. In fact, he feels sorry for me because I don't get out much. Now, I bewail this same trouble myself. But it also left me wondering, does he see what I see in the beauty of nature around him?

Honestly, I don't feel like I miss much. On my little walk in the woods, I see more beauty and life then I could ever need. I love going to different parks and staring at different nature scenes, but even the same view every day always gives me something to marvel at. Some days, I marvel at the tall, tall trees that tower over my head. Their majesty fills me with awe and I wonder to myself how many years it took for them to grow. Was I even alive when they were saplings?

Then, I stare at the saplings growing right now, underneath that canopy. Someday, I know, if left alone, many of those saplings will tower over some other nature lover walking through the woods, but for now they struggle and strive to survive in the dusky gloom of the woods. What fortitude they must have, to make themselves keep going despite the lack of life-giving light! Would I be that determined to survive, under similar circumstances?

Other times, I stare at the dirt and wonder to myself how something so dull and ugly could be the home of millions and bring such beauty into the world as trees, flowering plants, and grasses. And yet, it does. It gives them the nutrients they need to thrive, and the supportive darkness the roots need to protect them. It allows them access to water, and cradles their roots like a mother lovingly holds a baby.

And still other times, I stare at the many rocks in the ground. How many years did it take for the ground to compact them into that shape? How long for them to harden, to become stone? How long until water beats them into other shapes?

That isn't even touching on the animals I see: squirrels, spiders, snakes, bugs, deer, bunnies, foxes, possums, and dogs. You never know what you might find on a nature walk, and it's always a new discovery.

Nature is amazing. Words simply don't do it justice. And striding through it can make you feel such awe, such incredible smallness, that you simply can't give it words. I might wish I got out a little more, but I don't feel deprived. I have the woods; he has his socializing.

I think we're both lucky.

To finish this episode of nature lovin', I have a poem I'd like to share. It's all about another piece of nature that I find incredible, the ocean.

Ocean

Forward it comes

Standing tall and strong

Until if falls

And becomes flat and long

Then backwards it sweeps

Greedily sucking the sand

Stealing the beach

Bringing to sea, part of land

Watch the waves hungrily grab

All that they can reach

Sand, shells, and all

See the world, beach by beach

The water ever moving

As far as you can see

What lies beneath

An eternal mystery

Hiding the depths

Beneath the blue-gray

Reflecting the stars

Or the bright light of day

Reaches to infinity

Where water meets sky

And sea and horizon

Melt together to the eye

The wonders of the ocean

Make you stop and stare

At the beauty in motion

But there's danger, beware!

It drowns the unwary

Devours the weak

So foolish and daring

Careful what you seek

It's home to many

Understood by few

A bounty of life

But death is there, too

So, I hope you liked that. Time for today's writing quote and then I'm off:

"Poetry is the liquid voice that can wear through stone." -- Adrienne Rich

Have a great day and happy writing, everyone!