Place

My Place in Nature

“Among the greatest of all gifts is to know our place” - Barbara Kingsolver. Over the course of my life, my “place” has shifted dramatically, perhaps the most now as I prepare to finish college in the near future, and enter into the world, an independent, capable adult, with a passion to live life to the fullest. Often when going through difficult transitions in life I lose my place, and my world spins out of control, I don’t know where I am or where I am going. College courses have helped my discover where I can utilize my skills and leave a positive impact upon the world. No one spoke louder to me than Kingsolver, a woman who has all the option to live a life of ease and luxury, chooses to sweat it out in her yard showing that anyone can commit themselves to the land and reap its benefits.
Kingsolver’s quest to reconnect with the land is not a new idea, since the beginning of cities there has always been a population that feels the need to stay connected with nature and the natural process that supports the growth of every one of our lives and doesn’t hesitate to take us back after death. I too feel the urge to reconnect with my mother earth, and to understand what it is to grow food and raise livestock. The most fulfilling things in my life often are the simplest. Thoreau encourages us to take part in nature and to appreciate it to the fullest. “Open all your pores and bathe in all the tides of nature, in all her streams and oceans, at all seasons”. Beauty can be found everywhere and anywhere, from the concrete jungle of the city, to the towering pines and majestic waters that live free in so many places in our great country, I for one prefer the latter.
I believe my place in nature, is just that, a place in nature by my definition. Just the right amount of modern amenities without most of the distraction that modern life brings. Surrounding myself with the right environment is critical to my health and mental sanity. Making sure that environment stays around for others to enjoy is my duty as a free man who has taken so much pleasure from the earth for myself. Again I must turn to Thoreau when I search for help in explaining what nature means to me, his words ring true. “For all nature is doing her best each moment to make us well. She exists for no other end. Do not resist her.” I constantly feel the pull of nature, every time I am cooped up inside I long for her limitless freedom, there is more to her than I could ever hope to discover.
My place in nature changes constantly, as do I. However consistently my place remains in nature and not elsewhere. My single greatest passion surrounds me each and ever day, as natural beauty can be found even in places where the most unnatural things exist. In our greatest attempts to concur nature a simple storm will shut off our bright lights, and once again family and friends must pull together and rely on one another. The rawer one lives within nature, the closer one is to truly being human. I intend to let my ever changing place in nature guide me through the tough decisions of life, knowing no matter what happens, everything is how its supposed to be.

Cold

Turned on the heat in my house for the first time this season today, I am hoping not to have the dreaded energy spike that I hear so much about, especially since I live in an old draft house. Even with cold in house temperatures a considerable amount of energy will be used to heat my house, let alone the houses in Kalamazoo, and every other cold place in America. Just as the west is short on water because maybe people are not supposed to be living their in such great quantities, could we be using to much energy to stay warm? Maybe most of the United States population should be living in the southeast corner of the country, or at least migrating there for winter? We are nowhere near that type of energy crisis right now, but possibly in the future, who knows. I had not really thought of the special resources it takes to survive even here in Michigan. As our country and the rest of the world began to think more about conserving resources, one of the first things that must be considered is what places can successfully and sustainable hold huge amounts of people while making the smallest burden possible for the environment. Regardless of energy use or not, I really enjoy a warm house in the cold winter. 

Veggies

After thanksgiving I am going to give being a vegetarian a shot for 3 months. I have always wanted to try it for an extended period of time, my first attempt only lasted 3 days but I was living in the dorms and food choices were limited, now however, spurred on by the bet of a friend and being something I have always wanted to try I think I can make the three months and hopefully discover a lot of tasty new foods along the way. At the least I hope to take away an attitude that is more open towards different types of food especially protein sources, with the world population going nowhere but up, meat will increase with scarcity and people will be forced to eat a more vegetarian diet. So taking that step or at least a partial step now seems like a smart, easy, and responsible thing to do. After I start I am sure it will be harder than I am picturing it now, especially during meals such as my birthday and Christmas which will fall within the dates of the bet. I am curious to see what will happen to my body, I don’t really have many pounds to lose nor do I want to lose any, I actually am hoping to get a little bigger, I guess only time will tell.

Pictures

What makes nature photography so awe inspiring? Whenever I get a new National Geographic I first spend time studying all of the photos in great detail, from the smallest insect to the largest mountain I am most always captivated. Is it because a creature or place I have never seen or most likely even heard of is now in my living room? Getting to see the beauty of the mountain without facing any of the hardships and danger that would normally come with it is one reason I love photography. At Barnes and Nobel there are always books in the bargain section of nature pictures, these are my favorite kinds of books.

            In the first series of pictures which I was delighted to discover in American Earth there is a photo of a man and his dog laying inside of a wedge he cut in a tree with two ladies standing next to him. It is a grand old tree, absolutely massive with lots of character in its bark. Looking at this picture makes me hope nobody ever finished cutting it down. It makes me want to go visit and see the splendor for myself, I think that pictures are a good way to get more people involved in the environmental movement as their so much more entertaining than words. 

Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey was a ranger in Arches National Park in Utah, in an essay titled Industrial Tourism and the National Parks, he offers up his thoughts on how people affect the parks and how the parks affect people. He speaks people doing what they love and being satisfied and happy, I hope to someday find something I am so passionate about that I could perform it on a day in and day out basis and be happy, as of now I am just working on not losing my mind. I think being in nature is the key to most peoples mental sanity. I wholeheartedly agree with Abbey when he says “wilderness is a necessary part of civilization and that it is the primary responsibility of the national park system to preserve intact and undiminished what little still remains. National parks should not have paved roads through them and be modernized, let people test themselves against nature in unblemished rawness. If less people visit them so be it. Even with the park system as it is I have found it to still be possible to get away from crowds without a problem just by walking a few miles. My friends dad once told me 98% of the people use 2% of the park and 2% of the people use 98% of the park. So when I want to experience disconnectedness I just walk to it, often, I find the most beautiful parts of a park are found  on the journey, not the main attractions, though they are always spectacular, and I have never been to any of the grand places out west. Like Abbey I believe that the parks should remain unblemished by manmade structures, without much true wilderness left we should leave what we still have alone.

Eating Local

In Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, her husband Steven Hopp writes short interesting essays that she includes in many chapters. In the first chapter on page 5, Steven writes "If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week." With each barrel holding 42 gallons of oil, we could save a lot. Eating more locally grown produce is something I can start doing right now and help change the earth for the positive. My food choices have shifted greatly over the years and now I consider vegetables one of the more enjoyable foods to eat or at least complement my main course with. From the way Kingsolver describes homegrown vegetables I anticipate I may like them even more than the store bought varieties.

In my Our Place in Nature class on Tuesday I will be visiting the Farmers Market to purchase fruit with my group members to serve at a small gathering. it will be a nice introduction to the farmers market and hopefully Ill get some idea of something I may want to purchase on a later date. I have not been to the market since I was little and am excited to see how things have changed. i am excited to sample and view what local foods the farmers have to offer. Oftentimes I want to make a difference but don't know how, this is a great way to start, not only bettering the local farmers but bettering my own health. Though I know they are not farmed I am hoping someone will have some Paw Paws or Springer berries for sale. I am sure I will report home one of my future Farmers Market shopping experiences will go on this blog.

Sneaky Trees

I saw a beautiful tree today, one of the first I have noticed this season. I cannot believe how many of the trees have changed already. The tree I noticed is a large maple tree that is right outside my bedroom window. The tree towers above the conifer trees that are in the yard, it has large branches going every which way, and its leaves are a peculiar shade of yellow. Until a couple years ago I never appreciated the changing of the leaves from healthy and green to the varied intense yellow, orange, red, purple, and everything in-between that come about as the chlorophyll escapes the leaves as they prepare for death. I used to dread the fall family walks I was forced to go on even if I always had fun passing the football with my brothers. I feel blessed to grow up  in an area where I can see spectacular foliage every year without even really trying. I feel this year the leaves have begun their annual process of preparing for winter without my notice. The walks with my little brothers dog that were so common last year just do not seem to fit into my schedule. Ironically I am writing this blog instead of being outside enjoying a beautiful fall day but I never would have noticed the trees today in the first place if I hadn't been desperately searching for a nature topic to write about. Then BAM it was right in front of me and everywhere else too.

Sometimes I need to realize how spoiled I am that even on such trivial journeys such as to and from school I pass a variety of trees, bushes, flowers and other undergrowth I cannot identify. It is finding the beauty and pleasure in small things of day to day life that help me keep my passion and love for nature alive during the long stretches when I am not spending decent time submersed in the outdoors. Now the trees have a jump on my this year but I am determined to catch up and let my eyes feast upon the spectacle of their preparation for winter. I must remind myself that more exists than just my own schedule and when I feel overwhelmed a quick glance at the spectacular natural process of the world puts me in my place and makes me realize that most of the things I do are truly trivial and not he end of the world as I sometimes feel. I am going to make an effort to go outside tomorrow and enjoy fall while I still can.