Coming into Our Place In Nature four months ago, I felt that I was pretty connected with nature. I had an idea of what I liked, where I wanted to spend my time on earth and what I would do with my resources that were available to me. But after reading so many texts that explore all types of nature, different terrain, weather, and different time periods, I’m really coming out unsure where I want to live, what I want to see and explore and how I’m going to use the planet to my advantage. This may sound unnerving, but I see it as a good thing. I think it is better to explore a lot of different places and lifestyles and take ideas from all around. I think this class has shown me through readings and speakers that there is so much more to life than I thought. Even in my own town, there are things like the Farmer’s Market that I will pay more attention to and I think I will explore what each season has to offer as well.
In the end of the book, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”, written by Barbara Kingsolver, she explains the hatching of a baby turkey. “We’d gone the whole circle, raising our mail-order hatchlings into the most senior demographic of American turkeys” (352). Something about this sentence just intrigues me. The only life that I have actually seen daily from a baby to a grown being are my dogs. I feel like I am missing out on an amazing part of life, life itself. This quote has really made me think about what is important to me and what I want to witness one day, birth is now on my list. Having my own turkey coop may be a little far, I could handle a garden, but I would not like to have to slaughter anything, but I think this may lead me to volunteer at some kind of animal rescue or zoo of some kind. I think this could bring me closer to the animals that share nature and their homes with me when I step into a different environment.
Bill Bryson’s book, “A Walk in the Woods” gave me a whole different perspective on nature. I enjoyed reading the book just as much, with the whit and humility that he brings to his writing, I found myself laughing and then soon after imagining myself in his more serious situations that potentially involved truly wild animals. But in the end, this book made me think about the adventures I want to go on when I have the time…and money. Bryson made me think about what I want to experience and honestly see in life, not just in a book, but, with my own eyes. Quotes like, “I sat on a rock and watched the sunset. The pond was almost painfully beautiful. The long rays of the setting sun made the water shimmer golden. Offshore, two loons cruised, as if out for a spin after supper. I watched them for a long time, and thought about something I had seen on a BBC nature program some time before” (262) really hit home with me. I am always watching the nature and animal channels on television and to know that Bryson was once just someone like me, gives me hope that I can achieve any goals that I set for myself. When I am older, I want to say that I have experienced a lot of what nature has to offer, much like Bryson did while on his own personal journey.
Finishing up the book, “Looking for Hickories: The Forgotten Wildness of the Rural Midwest”, written by Tom Springer, I found one of my favorite quotes that will stick with me long after this class is over. It has made my list of needs quiver as I try and figure out what I really need in life, and what I just want. It almost sums up all I want out of life and what I have learned from this class. I am leaving Our Place In Nature as a more well rounded individual from all the different views and experiences that I have been exposed to and this quote is going to help me continue to positively grow and learn what I want from nature. Not only do I hope that I will be able to figure my life out and experience all the world has to offer, but I hope that I will find a way to give back and help nature. It is also important to me to help others experience nature and learn to live in harmony and love it for what it has to offer. This quote profoundly swayed how I think I will live out my life. My favorite quote award for this class goes out to Tom Springer, he put it best when he said, “May the treasures we have at hand-in a world so filled with real need-always be enough” (157).
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