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It has been quite a year here in the States. Record
snowfalls in the East. Drought in the South. Floods
and a plague of killer tornadoes in the Mid-West.
The recent floods of the Mississippi and Missouri
rivers got me to thinking the other day about Nature
in a more general way than usual. In the ancient world,
since about the Chalcolithic, rivers have given us
the natural roads upon which to trade and from which
to pull fish, and the roads that allowed a connection
between various groups of humans who otherwise might
not have shared culture. Rivers such as the Nile flooded
and then receded, allowing the agriculture which fed
large numbers of people, thus helping to create the
first great Cultural complexes.
The relationship with Nature is and has always been
a part of our human existence, a bond. And if Nature
sometimes seems cruel, it is more often than not we
humans who are the more destructive party. But of
course there has been a little bit of wisdom employed
also. From the late 18th century on philosophers,
poets, artists and later scientists have affirmed and
reaffirmed our important place inside the natural world.
The Romantic Era and its view of Man and Nature was an
important movement, especially given that it came at
the start of the first Industrial Revolution — with all
its associated ills.
We have seen such tragedy across the past year. It
of course greatly saddens me looking upon what I call
the Killer Beauty of recent hurricanes and tornadoes
and earthquakes. But if there is any positive thing
to take with us in all of that it is perhaps a reminder
of our connections with the greater envelope of the
Earth, a reminder which might give us the opportunity
to renew our bond with it.
Even a walk around the block might give us that chance,
an opportunity to contemplate Nature. Or perhaps an
excursion into the countryside, walking with quick step
past swiftly flowing streams, through land that we clear
and tend for our crops and our livestock, listening to
the birds in the treetops, with our hands clasped behind
our backs and our eyes angled up into a sky which, to
paraphrase Dickinson, somehow never seems to fall on us
— or not entirely.
L. v. Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68,
II. Andante molto mosso.
This is a large file; it will take a minute or
so to open.
[Post photo by Richard Keeling.]
Ah yes. Unlike earthquakes or such fires are certainly something that we are very much aware of here in Washington. As the saying goes, it always hits hardest when it hits close to home. Thank you for the compliment. All I can say is that I needed to put this out there for some reason. Oh and thanks much for use of the great photo. 😀
I read your post just after reading this, so it was a timely meditation.Excellent post, Ed.:)
Nice post. Now go hug some trees…:PJust kidding. Couldn't help it.
@ Martin.:lol:Oh I don't hug them, that's ridiculous. I put my hand on their trunks and talk to them. :p
Very nice post, Ed. As for destroying our planet, this is a video made this year in one part of a river in Serbia. Really, really sad.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC1yy0c0uq4&feature=relatedTree hugging? No problem 😀
@ Darko.You'd better not hug those pines that high up. They might get excited. :pThanks for the link. I'll check it out.
Originally posted by edwardpiercy:
Yeah, me, too. Been known to hug a few trees, though. Just 'cause I could.:lol::p:heart:
@Darko Thanks for your posting the video.We have no control of natural disasters but waste paper, plastic bags, soda bottles! Very,very sad indeed!That video needs to be E -Blasted around the world as a wake up call to stop the destruction of this planet.
Carlo, after that video was broadcasted on our national TV and on You Tube, a big cleaning of those banks were organized. Also on some other rivers in Serbia. About 290.000 volunteers collected 150.000 cubic meters of garbage on June 4th. Some politicians and organisations, people from sport and culture took part in that so it was successful beyond expectations. I hope it will last and next year we will have another cleaning.
Send in The Cleaner.
@ Darko.@ Carlo.What sickens me is that ordinary people can donate their time and their money to fixing the environment; while the big oil companies and other corporations rack up trillions of dollars of damage (such as the Gulf Oil Spill) and still come out of it without it affecting either their profit line or their philosophy of doing things.
@ Star.Hugging is okay. :D:heart:
@ Martin.:lol:"I am the cleaner. I am here to clean."LMOA.
I do volunteer work in garbage removal, as you might remember. I am all into this save the world stuff. Some times I even get inmtimate with trees as our friend Darko, but that is shortly after they have departet, because people will come with newly dug up tree trunks in the back of their trucks and ask us to get rid of them, please. I know all this Green Earth stuff from the inside. Gives dirty gloves but can have its moments.Next generation will have a lot to clean up after us.
@ Martin.The next generation is going to be in totally deep shit, IMO.I applaud your efforts, Martin.
… it's a dirty you know what but somebody's gotta do it …
By the way: do be careful with those trees, guys. As you can tell from this small illustration they will kill people.
Nice image. I saved it to my computer. :up:
Naahhh, they are my friends :up:
Yeah, sure…
Wasn't there a rock group called the Killing Trees?
I've heard about The Killing Fields, but that is a movie, I believe…
I've heard about The Killing Fields, but that is a movie, I believe…