Barbara Kingsolver writes:
Wilderness puts us in our place. It reminds us that our plans are small and somewhat absurd. It reminds us why, in those cases in which our plans might influence many future generations, we ought to choose carefully. Looking out on a clean plank of planet Earth, we can get shaken right down to the bone by the bronze-eyed possibility of lives that are not our own.I’m compiling a list of books for adult readers that, when I get to the end, I start reading them all over again. Barbara Kingsolver is on that list. My personal favorite is Prodigal Summer: A Novel.
The weather in my neck of the woods is still more like March than January. Trees are budding, days are noticeably longer and I’m depriving myself of outdoors time when I fuss over the details of providing meaningful and entertaining material for this site. I have more ideas and drafts than actual entries. There’s always more work.
But none of it matters if I miss out on a sunny day, a flock of blue jays cavorting in a maple crown, an opportunity to be fully present.
I’ve struggled with whether to take my laptop on a hike. So far a tiny notepad is lighter, fits in my pocket and serves my purpose. But I’m day hiking, at least until late spring. When I’m out camping - and I cannot wait until that time comes - how many days can I go without checking my email or my website? If I’m in an area with poor reception, does it matter anyway?
I am still struggling to find the balance between technology and my enjoyment of nature. Park of me feels the cell phones and computers and gadgets interfere with nature. Part of me realizes that these, like a good knife, are useful tools when used appropriately.
This is the time of year when my fantasy of turning the clock back 500 years and living “in nature” starts to take hold. Then I remember just how long it takes to gather a bowl of salad greens, how much water one needs and how heavy it is to haul from a distance, how a shelter needs to be maintained, how much effort it takes to build and nurture a fire. Even my mentors, masters of wilderness survival skills, live in houses with plumbing and electricity.
Balance - I can strive for it, maybe even achieve balance from time to time. I can discover the people everywhere who care deeply about the natural world and let the world know how wonderful I think they are. And I can make sure to take the time to enjoy the natural world, wherever I find it.