Call of the Wild

This is my second entry to the Affluent Persons Living Sustainably or APLS Carnival. February’s topic is connections between experiences in nature and sustainable living. The selected entries will be hosted by Green Phone Booth on February 20 so be sure to visit and read what everyone has to say. You can learn more about this and future carnivals at APLS.

Both of my children have had a passionate love affair with the natural world since they were very young. Their reactions to all creatures great and small have helped me to see how omnipresent the natural world is and how powerful its hold on us.

We’ve stopped in parking lots to watch ants easily carrying crumbs larger than themselves (my daughters with amazement and me with envy as I juggled a diaper bag, laptop, briefcase, and various stuffed animals). We’ve listened to bees zooming from flower to flower in pots outside of downtown restaurants. We’ve spied birds staking out the best nighttime locations outside the local 7-Eleven.

In my rush to ratchet through my to-do list, I simply hadn’t noticed all the opportunities there are to experience nature.

It took my baby excitedly signing, “Bird! Bird!” while she shrieked with delight to make me notice the birds settling down for the evening. It took my daughter saying, “What’s that pretty noise?” for me to notice the soothing hum of the hardworking bees. And it took two fascinated children to pull me from my mental checklist (the library books aren’t due until tomorrow so we can head home now, which leaves me enough time to do an extra load of laundry) and make me, “Look Mom, really, look!” at the incredible strength of the ants we were passing.

These encounters have a powerfully magnetic effect on my girls. A part of them hears the call of the wild, no matter where we are nor how faint its sound. I’ve learned from experience that it is faster to stop and take in the connection to nature than it is to try and hurry them along.

More importantly, I’ve learned that my own passion for nature still burns brightly. I haven’t always wanted to stop but I am always glad afterwards. The feats of the ants are astonishing, the bees are fascinating, and the birds’ antics are funny. And, each and every time, these experiences speak to me on a very basic and meaningful level. I invariably think about them many times in the following days.

Now that the girls have re-opened my eyes and my heart, the world around me is so much richer. Yesterday on the way out of school we found some moss that had sent up tiny seeds on stalks. I looked for it again this morning and was filled with joy when I saw those perky seed stalks again. A mundane moment was transformed by a small piece of nature on the side of a sidewalk.

These events help me see all of my fellow creatures as my neighbors and I know I need to love every one, whether ant or bird or moss. Thank you, girls, for patching these calls through to me again.

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