A Personal Search
At birth I was born a young boy already 8 yrs. old, no responsibilities, no homework, no judging, just playing SPUD in the street, until an infrequent car came along and altered the game—and then many years later when I traveled to the west coast with my canoe and camped discovering new wonders along the way—that is when I resumed “growing up.”
Why do I mention this? Because when I search for the wonders and the mysteries of nature, the 8-yr. old boy is the metaphor for nature’s mystery. Nature is impersonal, its goal is to find a balance in a world of nature’s dualities—floods and drought, heat and ice, gale winds and stillness—sometimes it takes many years just to resume the balance.
It doesn’t know right from wrong, nor beset with the nuances of everyday life. My childhood was walking in a park called, Cobbs Hill, getting lost sometimes just out of curiosity to see where the animal tracks would lead. My imagination flooded with grizzly bears, lions and tigers, then worrying that I’d be coming home late for supper once again, and getting scolded.
And then later in my “growing up years,” when I looked out the window to see a freshly fallen, untouched 14-inch snowfall covering the pine needles and the majestic mountains in Solitude, Utah, knowing that in minutes I would be making my own ski tracks, singing my way downhill—the sheer joy and exhilaration I felt, became a true wonder of nature for me.
We need to dig deep inside ourselves to discover our relationship with nature; it’s a personal thing that touches one’s heart and soul. That is the beginning in the search for the wonders and the magic of nature.
Each month, new descriptions of the wonders of nature will be posted on this page. You are invited to share your “wonder” – a description of a unique and personal account (1-page) you’ve experienced in nature. Submit to dckielson@gmail.com.
Daniel Kielson, Ed.D.
BYNC, President