I love your poem at the bottom it’s so authentic and honest.

sidd.

Just before I switched on my laptop and discovered I have a signal….it takes around half an hour to load a page….Liz was telling me that there is a small oak tree now growing in her garden…I haven’t noticed it yet, as she tells me it’s very small and only has around 5 or 6 leaves. My favourite oak tree is around 400 years old…and this little baby oak will be around long after we have gone….it made real sense to me when I read Mihalea’s quote above

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” (Nelson Henderson)

I think that’s a beautiful statement.

love

henry

Robin Replies
Dear Liara, You must have been deeply touched by the forests of Estonia. I’ve seen the Schwarzwald of Germany, but not the forests of Estonia, only photos online and they look truly magnificent, so inviting. I would be humble, awed and inspired by them; I know. Yes, my friend, I too connect to my soul in Nature so quickly and to the deepest most authentic part of myself. There is something so clean about Nature. It washes away all that is not really me. A bit like a clean summer rain. It makes me think of a line from the book I just wrote (I am speaking with the rainforest): “Your love decomposes all that is not me. You leave me with wild prehistoric eyes. In our mating I forget myself and separation vanishes as if it had never been.” ©Robin Easton (Excerpt – Naked in Eden) Thank you, Liara, for being a kindred inspiration in my life.

We are each only open to that in which we open “our” own eyes to. My life begins each day with wide open eyes. I want to one day sit in my old rocking chair, gazing off at the distance and never say the words, “I wish I had stopped to notice nature…and all of the gifts it provided me.” I want to have pictures in which to gaze and know my legs walked me there to see a beautiful moment. I want my children to see what I got to see so that one day they can continue this fight to help keep things green.

It was great to read all the comments above. As with most all of your post, I hold back my thoughts until I can come over to read all that your friends have to say. A nice place to come read before turning the lights out for the day.

Hugs,
Tammy

Robin Replies
Dear Tammy, this is lovely! I can feel your deep and serene connection to Nature and your desire to protect and ensure that your boys have the same experience. I REALLY hear you about wanting to look back and KNOW that you connected with Nature on the deepest level. I think to connect with Nature in this way is to connect to all of Life, ourselves and the Universe. I am grateful that you take this time in Nature because I feel it in you and think of you when I am out hiking. I can feel you so strongly through our mutual love of Nature. —I too am blown away by the comments here. In fact I am stunned by the profundity of connection that these beautiful souls have to Nature, each in their own way, but all VERY much alive and aware. Your presence here is always a gift to me, Know that dear Tammy, You are beautiful and intensely openhearted. Thank you for that and more.

Robin Replies
Dear eddie, I LOVE these words: “Nature is the purist form of spirit. There is no fairness or morality, just the beauty and brutality of all that is.” That is something that I came to peace with in the rainforest. This whole comment is just loaded with insight of one who knows the land and has embraced the laws of Nature. And all aspects of Nature: the perfection, the art, AND YES, even the deadliness serve to awaken us (if we keep minds and hearts open) to be more aware of the great picture of Nature and our place in it. There is such an intrinsic quality to Nature. Nothing is wasted and everything is part of all the rest. There is no separation. —-Also, I agree; there are some extremely brilliant and insightful comments here by many ‘nature spirits’….including this comment of yours eddie. It’s deep and pure poetry, and yet brutally honest like Nature. I love that. Thank you my dear friend.

Robin Replies
Dear Michael, Your yard sounds like a wonderful place to feel Nature. I love this comment because it reminds us that Nature can be found everywhere. Even in our backyards or an inner city. People cling to nature not only in the city parks but in small patches of gardens in abandoned lots, or on window sills, or feeding the pigeons or ducks. It made me think of the “Bird Man of Alcatraz” who was someone in circumstances completely cut off from Nature and yet he found connection with nature through the birds that came to his cell window. Although I have lived in some very remote places I truly believe that our backyards are one of the best place to start building a connection with Nature. With over 6.5 billion people on the planet we can no longer afford to all go back into the wild. We would completely destroy our few remaining wild places. So I thank you for this important reminder that we can find Nature all around us…even in our backyards.

Interesting post as always. I too love nature, but I prefer the serene countryside of England. I know that I can walk across rolling green fields and enjoy the sound of birds, watch rabbits jumping about and bump into the odd cow, sheep, donkey, pig, dog, cat etc. I can watch bees buzzing around flowers and I feel at peace.

However, I am not too fond of places where I am likely to become part of the food chain. As magnificent as some of the creatures of the world are, I feel scared in their presence – I guess its a primeval alarm being set off inside. That said, I would love to go on Safari in Africa and view the wildness of that magnificent continent from behind the protective doors of a land rover (as long as it could withstand being attacked by a rhino of course).

I’ve already spoken about my love and fear of Australia, where humanity is definitely somewhere in the middle of the food chain. Imagine swimming in the Pacific Ocean and seeing a blue ringed octopus? You would say “What a wonderful beautiful creature” shortly before it stung and killed you. There is no antivenom for this creature.

For me, that puts the whole question of nature into perspective; it is beautiful yet it is deadly therefore we MUST respect it as well as embracing it.

Thanks for another interesting insight.
Cheers
“Plastic Man”

Robin Replies
Dear PM, I just love your comments. You make me chuckle even when you aren’t trying to be funny. I so relate to your preference of the serene countryside of England. I grew up in Maine, USA, which is very much like your serene English countryside. We had nothing poisonous or deadly, unless someone died of cold in the winter. So when I went to Australia…well…needless to say you know what it’s like. LOL!!! I initially wanted to run back to safe little serene Maine. And yes, in Oz one is MUCH more aware of the “food chain”, or at least you and I both seemed to have that reaction and I think many people who venture off the beaten path (and are aware of what’s there) have the same sense. —I REALLY like what you wrote here about Nature being both beautiful and deadly and therefore we must respect it. That is the same conclusion I came to…and I think it is not only a very real conclusion but a healthy one. If we go into Nature thinking it’s all fluffy little bunnies and fluttering butterflies we may be setting ourselves up for disaster that could otherwise be prevented. Because the reality is that there are creatures who can eat or kill us. So I really LOVE your thoughts on balance. You, my friend, are both wise and funny and always a joy to connect with.

“…and moderns may at least see what their ancestors knew in their nerves and blood.” This part of the quote you posted above really struck me. I love to wander through places where man’s creations are slowly returning to Nature. There is both loss and immortality in these places familiar to the modern eye and yet saturated in the thing our ancestral mind knows so well, if we just sit still enough to listen – and to feel. There is perfection in entropy and the cycle of which it – and WE – are only one part.

Robin Replies
Dear Michelle, Yes, I remember well your spider story. So powerful. I agree that we have so much to learn from our fellow (non-human) beings. I can honestly say that I learned more about what it means to be human from my non-human friends that I did my fellow humans. I write about this more in my book. —Also I love what you wrote: ” love to wander through places where man’s creations are slowly returning to Nature. There is both loss and immortality in these places familiar to the modern eye and yet saturated in the thing our ancestral mind knows so well,…” This is SO lovely. You writing here is beautiful. We humans often see ourselves as invincible and omnipotent, but to go to place that nature had reclaimed can be both a humbling and powerful experience. Humbling because if we are open we realize our own immortality and powerful because we get to experience the true omnipotence of Nature. It remains to be seen whether humans will continue as a species and I do believe regardless that Nature will continue in one form or another. And there is a timeless peace in that for me. Thank you my dear friend. I really enjoyed this insightful comment.