Hi Dru. I’m really curious about this “I understood my place in nature in a way that was impossible in the leafy, damp greenness of these islands” I’d love to hear more… hope you are well.
In the UK, I'm acclimatised to the idea that I pose the biggest threat in any environment. But in the US, I experienced the reality that nature isn't always safe.
I was walking along a drying creek bed when I was stopped in my tracks by a bear's paw print. As I looked around, I noticed a large patch of flattened grass on the river bank. It was bear-sized, and still warm.
It was an arresting moment that stays with me. Not a lesson of fear, so much, as humility and respect. Some days we are hungry, but other days we are dinner. I'm not sure I could ever have learned that, unless I had rested where the bear slept in the sun.
Thank you. That makes a lot of sense, and brings some very different perspective as I ponder it. I'm often struck by (and am mostly grateful) how safe our english landscapes are...
What I really love about nature is that it just is. I've given up pesticides and traditional gardening a few years ago in my smallish urban garden and each year there's more and more butterflies, bees, insects I've never seen before, ridiculous amount of worms, the birds can usually find lunch even in winter. It continues, we continue, my lemon balm is sneaking out into the front garden and I find it remarkable it made it that far and I greet it excitably 😆
Your garden sounds fantastic! Mine was a bare concrete yard when I got it, but now it's full of life. I love all the plants I didn't plant, too, like the bellflowers that have colonised the tops of the walls. It's a wonderful place to be.
Living in Western Canada with woefully rubbish public transport I feel this. Thanks for articulating the challenge of it.
Hi Dru. I’m really curious about this “I understood my place in nature in a way that was impossible in the leafy, damp greenness of these islands” I’d love to hear more… hope you are well.
In the UK, I'm acclimatised to the idea that I pose the biggest threat in any environment. But in the US, I experienced the reality that nature isn't always safe.
I was walking along a drying creek bed when I was stopped in my tracks by a bear's paw print. As I looked around, I noticed a large patch of flattened grass on the river bank. It was bear-sized, and still warm.
It was an arresting moment that stays with me. Not a lesson of fear, so much, as humility and respect. Some days we are hungry, but other days we are dinner. I'm not sure I could ever have learned that, unless I had rested where the bear slept in the sun.
Thank you. That makes a lot of sense, and brings some very different perspective as I ponder it. I'm often struck by (and am mostly grateful) how safe our english landscapes are...
What I really love about nature is that it just is. I've given up pesticides and traditional gardening a few years ago in my smallish urban garden and each year there's more and more butterflies, bees, insects I've never seen before, ridiculous amount of worms, the birds can usually find lunch even in winter. It continues, we continue, my lemon balm is sneaking out into the front garden and I find it remarkable it made it that far and I greet it excitably 😆
Your garden sounds fantastic! Mine was a bare concrete yard when I got it, but now it's full of life. I love all the plants I didn't plant, too, like the bellflowers that have colonised the tops of the walls. It's a wonderful place to be.