Last week I had to return a speaker to Leiser’s Rentals in Bethlehem. Attached to the store is a “Don’s Wildlife Museum” where you can walk around and look at their collection of stuffed animals.

I have never understood hunting let alone stuffing the kill. I often ask myself what the hunter gets out of it. The answer I can come up with is that they hunt and display their “prize” because it fulfills that part in them that connects them back to nature. Just like the fish jumping out of the bucket in Eiseley’s piece, we all feel a subconscious need to get back to nature. So despite all of the development and advancements the human race has made throughout our existence, we all have a small part of us that wants to be wild again. I think this is why we have the desire to walk in the woods, feel one with the ocean when we’re swimming with it and why we feel relaxed when we spend some time outdoors. Despite all of the changes our race has made and will make in the future that seems to pull us away from nature, I don’t think that this instinct will ever go away.

It is because of this instinct that I assume that hunters hunt. They feel the thrill of getting a kill, maybe it even makes them feel as if they are a preying animal. They display the animal because it reminds them of an accomplish but part of it may even be because their instinct makes them wish they were still in the wild with this animal. 

These images capture a phenomenon that fascinated me when I first saw it during a visit to my Story of Place location. The morning lighting and shadows beautifully highlights the leaves on the trees. But the real intrigue is that this tree has grown around and through rock! Two notorious features of nature, both of which may also be extremely old, existing as a unit tied together. It is fascinating to wonder how long this tree and this rock have been here. Also, what came first: the tree or the rock? The rock might have been there before the tree even began to grow, or perhaps it moved into the tree’s space as a sapling. How might this affect the health of the tree, as its roots are so firmly rooted and related to this rock formation? What a curious phenomenon.

Many people today lack a strong connection to nature. This may be attributed to being out of touch since childhood, or to not being out of reach of cell phones and other technology. Some pieces discussed in class have led to this idea of being distanced from the natural world.

The Wilderness of Childhood piece addresses the loss of freedom to explore the natural world as a child. This lack of experience causes children to be out of touch with their surroundings from a young age, so that they may not fully appreciate the world in which they live. The author describes taking his daughter for a bike ride and says, “As we wandered the streets of our lovely residential neighborhood at that after-dinner hour that had once represented the peak moment, the magic hour of my own childhood, was that we didn’t encounter a single other child.” The gap between two generations is utterly disappointing, since the children of today often lack such rich relationships with nature and even with their neighbors.

The article Outdoors and Out of Reach explores the effects of heavy use of technology on how people think and behave, as numerous scientists retreat into nature without cell phone access for a few days. The scientists suggest that the addictiveness of this digital stream of information may affect decision-making skills and other intelligent thought processes. This “drumbeat of incoming data” creates a “false sense of urgency that can affects people’s ability to focus.” People are so strongly affected by ideas and information so readily available to them, and the constant usage makes everything seem more urgent and rushed. People survived and got along well before such technology was even available, so the opportunity to step away from it all shows the scientists that not getting information about something immediately, such as a grant, is actually not the end of the world. I wholeheartedly appreciate their conclusion that they, and others, should aspire to be less engrossed in the digital distractions of today and be more engaged.

Both pieces address different ways in which the modern world has evolved away from nature. Children are sheltered indoors, while most people are dependent upon technology to adequately enjoy their days. This does not need to be the case. We should encourage children to enjoy their childhood outdoors, and we should set positive examples for each other to remain engaged and not distracted by trivialities.

We recently read the short passage, Living Like Weasels, by Annie Dillard and upon finishing the passage and trying to understand Dillard’s message I was reminded of a song that has similar ideas.

The song, Furr, by Blitzen Trapper, tells the story of the narrator who goes to woods and becomes part of a pack of wolves. the singer says, “For my flesh had turned to fur, yeah, And my thoughts, they surely were, Turned to instinct and obedience to God”. This mirrors Dillards sentiment that we should be encouraged to turn to instinct like the weasel and act in a pure way, doing what we know best.

The singer goes on the to conclude that the life of the wolf was not for him and return to the civilized world but urges the listener not to forget the wild life he enjoyed for a time. The song concludes, “ So if you’re gonna get made, don’t be be afraid of what you’ve learned”, echoing Dillard’s assertion that she “would like to learn, or remember, how to live”. Again we, see a parallel with Dillard, where they encourage others to explore the simplicity of nature and wilderness.

Feel free to listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZTSriPZCQo

My family is fortunate enough to have places in both Vermont and Maine that we have been able to visit every year since I was very young. Both locations are very remote. Picture dirt roads, grocery stores that are at least a half hour away by car and no drinkable running water. These are the places of my childhood vacations. By nature of being very remote, most of our family activities revolved around being outside. Hanging out on the lakefront while reading a book or playing a board game was something that I was completely satisfied doing for the entirety of the vacation. The rest of my family was a bit more restless and looked to the mountains where miles of trails lead to patches of wild blueberries and breath taking views. These trips were always day long endeavors, and I absolutely hated them. It wasn’t that I was a lazy kid, I played sports year round and was very active. Looking back on it now I think it was the idea that I had no choice in the matter, that my parents required me to come on these adventures because I was too young to be left alone. My sister and I became very good at tag teaming the complaining and whining when the idea was proposed to go on these excursions.

You can imagine my parents shock the first time that I asked my parents to go on a hike. They were in a state of disbelief, saying that I didn’t like hiking and asking the question “are you sure?” So what had changed? For several years my family had not been able to visit these places because of my parents. My dad had his knee replaced and my mom found that her calf muscles were deteriorating from a rare condition, which made walking, let alone hiking, very difficult. So one change was that I had had time to grow and mature. I realized that I missed the sweat of the climb and the burn in your calves that becomes so rewarding once you reach the final peak. More importantly though, was that I had gained my independence. My parents were not able to accompany me on any hikes and I was finally old enough to drive myself to a mountain. The ability to choose to be outside, to have some control over where I wanted to go, at what time and at what pace I wanted to go was so freeing. It all came from the inner desire to be outside, the ability to then be able to follow through and that this was all done by choice. It was my decision and that has made all the difference in my experiences since then.