Nature

We are living in a material world and I am, in fact, a material girl… and/or boy.

Where is it that you can truly be among nature, or witness it? Perhaps it depends on how you define the term? na·ture: -noun Is nature the birds singing in trees without a trace of human existence? Or is nature the disposition of the world whether it be industrial or biological, man-made or organic?

Sit under a tree and let the sounds echo all around you, let the noise stream through your ears. Crickets chirp, a constant chattering that ebbs and flows like the tide; from the faintest hint of a single cricket to an orchestrated symphony of the swarm, and back, again and again. Where are all of these little conductors hiding? Better yet, how can a noise, seemingly deafening, come from so small an instrument? Of course, this concert is interrupted every five seconds or so by the revving of a diesel engine and the rickety load it hauls. A humming lawn mower detracts from the music further. Let the grass grow, for crying out loud!

The grass is nice in this part, full and green under the shade of a tree. There are no shrubs, only towering trees and grass spread underneath. Each blade stands as tall as it can, reaching towards the sun, on the tips of its toes with arms outstretched. In the places not shaded by trees, you can see how parched the soil is, the grass thirsts for rain and shade after being beaten by the sun’s rays.

Is this nature?