“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.”
― William Shakespeare
Shakespeare may have thought time could be wasted in it. I do not.
Some simple thoughts about Nature;
I’m going “rogue” here.
“I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;” ~Joyce Kilmer
Man has waxed poetic about nature ever since man could. But those men have not seen it in it’s entirety the way I do.
The general sentiment for poets like Kilmer is the beauty of it all. True, there is much to behold when you venture out into the vast wilderness… or even to your own backyard. Mere moments ago I watched as a doe wondered through the yard. Snow collected gently on her back as she foraged for acorns. It was a scene from a movie. It is moments like that which draw the poet in many of us to write. However, it’s the wonders outside of those serene moments I see. It’s that which I of here; How I see things quite differently from the poets when it comes to all things great and small.
Nature, in my eyes, for all its beauty is brutal survival. And what I see as nature is everything from man in his ivory towered cities right down to the flora and fauna of the forest floor. Every living thing on earth is in a constant battle to insure the survival of not only itself, but its species for future generations. That which is useful to survival man tends to try to keep surviving as well. That which is a detriment to our survival man generally “weeds out.” Anything outside the order of those two classifications we are most often indifferent to. Animals and plants are no different in their prejudices. Those prejudices are natural and hardwired into every living being by design of The Almighty.
It’s a perfect design and it is no accident in my eyes. There is a reason each plant, animal and insect have evolved to be as they are. They serve a purpose and they fight, sometimes without mercy, to continue on. Sometimes, they fail on the grand scale and become extinct. Those that have gone are no less amazing in this author’s view. They were merely less adaptable to the ever changing world.
Beauty and Brutality Coexist Everywhere.
What the Hell is all this bullshit? It’s simple, really. You see, as have I sat hunting over the years I questioned everything I saw. It was a means of occupying my mind. Why do the Locust trees bear clusters of long sharp needles? Why are the eyes of a fox placed where they are? I mean really, there’s a reason for all of it. It’s surely no accident or a genetic anomalies that stuck during evolution. I believe its the perfection of Life itself. Every living thing on Earth (and possibly beyond) has and is still adapting to survive by fighting for what it needs. Life is as often on the offensive as it is the defensive. Yes, even the plants play both sides of the ball. They fight for their share of sunlight, rain, and the soil they need to continue. and if they have to block your light to do so, well too bad… evolve or die. It’s the ongoing battle each and every day since before we were cast from the garden of good and evil or oozed from the primordial sludge.
I’m just saying the beauty of it all is that. And running along side the beauty of the ages is the constant and often unmerciful fight to keep a place on this earth. it’s God’s design and it is mind blowing.
Tim
