Environmental Literature: February 4th

“Everything we receive from nature comes to us as a gift”- Richard Nelson

I see snow. No matter where I look all I see is snow right now. Nature decided we should take a break from the hustle and bustle of our lives for a few days this week. Although my cats loved having me home for so long, I can’t honestly say I enjoyed it. I hated having my routine disrupted. Plus I worried about my mom.

She lives in Southern Indiana on sixty acres in the middle of nowhere, literally the middle of nowhere. The first time I went down to visit her and her husband after they moved there they had to have me follow them back to where they live from the closest gas station twenty minutes from them. The roads are not well marked, if they are even marked. You drive through tall trees and the roads curve around the rivers. Every so often you come across a drive that goes to a home, but for the most part you do not see evidence of other human beings. It’s like driving through a scene from a scary movie when some teenagers get lost and murdered. Well, my mom’s husband has been gone this week and so she was there by herself without electricity. Even her giant four-by-four diesel truck could not make it out of there this past week. They have a wood burning furnace so as far as heat for her she was good. However, they have Alpacas, Llamas, Horses, Dogs, Cats and some other critters that needed to be fed. Nothing bad would happen really, I just worry too much.

I am grateful to live in an apartment complex where they shovel my sidewalk and take care of the drive. I prefer it that way. Over Christmas break I got stuck at my mother’s because they are too far into the woods for the roads to be cleared well. I went even more stir crazy there than I did this week. I did have my brothers though and that was nice, for a bit.

When I think of nature, I think of the country. When I think of the country, I think of family time. Some of my best memories with my family are times on the farm and in the country. Times spent playing board games, playing outside, playing with the animals and just enjoying the moment with each other.

My brothers and I regard country living in different ways. I like it to some extent, but would prefer not to get too dirty and I enjoy the calmer animals, like the Cats, Alpacas and Horses. It is nearly impossible to get my brother Sammy to go outside, let alone get dirty but he enjoys the inside Dogs company. Then there is my brother Joe who often times is covered in dirt and is a true farm boy. He is the one that digs in the dirt, climbs the fences and walks barefoot on the gravel. He loves the animals and they love him. He adores the country and I will not be surprised if he lives in there when he is older. I feel that not everyone belongs in the country and not everyone belongs in a city. Each of us is unique and therefore we each fit best in different atmospheres. I for one know that I belong in a city!

“Wildness puts us in our place. It reminds us that our plans are small and somewhat absurd.”- Barbara Kingsolver