Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!

I know that I promised a continuation of my nature walk on Sunday, but it's Earth Day.  I'm a naturalist.  This is to my kind what Frappuccino Happy Hour is to teenagers.  (Basically, it's a big deal.)

I always had an affinity for the outdoors, but I really learned to love nature as a teenager.  I worked at a Cub Scout summer camp for five years (starting when I was fifteen!) and they were the best five summers of my life.  No exception.  I don't remember much of the high school drama, or the muscle pains from moving pallets or tents (though I do remember the smell of the canvas tents) but all of that seemed insignificant compared to the extraordinary experiences that I never would have had staying at home for the summer.  I was able to sleep outside at night.  I watched the stars meander overhead, saw many shooting stars and always made the same, teenagery wish on all of them.

I learned very quickly what poison ivy (itchy) and multiflora rose (ouchy) looked like, and took incredible joy at popping Touch-Me-Nots during the fall programming.  I found special quiet places to go when I was feeling miserable (the outdoor chapel and the cement protrusion at the lake).  I laughed so hard my sides ached and shared the camaraderie of some of the most intelligent, humorous, and fun people I'd ever met in my entire life.  I learned how to deal with my problems by getting lost in the paths, under the bright light of the full moon, in watching the duckweed separate and re-congeal at our pond, at hear the bullfrogs scream their availability into the night.

I honestly don't know where I would be without summer camps.  They gave me a chance to be myself, to be accepted by others, and to learn all about nature firsthand.  Because of this love, this early experience, I learned how to see the natural rhythms of the world around me.  I learned that cycles come and cycles go.  We are all just part of a larger cycle.  I learned to appreciate all the breathtaking beauty of every season (even winter)!  I learned to be grateful, to respect the earth.  Without her, we would be stuck on barren planets with naught but a flower to keep us company.

I guess that's why I do what I do.  In an age of ever-growing communication, I don't want humanity to forget its roots.  We have come from the earth, and to the earth we will return.  Why not make it a journey of being amazed at all the good that this world has to give?