by Tiffany J. Baker

Created on: May 04, 2008

Nature

Change as it may, and change as it might, nature my friend is always in sight! As I become a slave for a day in the concrete jungle, referred to many as "work", I long for the time to be lost again. I want to be lost on a green and murky lake, adrift in a kayak with the sound of trickling water leaving my paddle blades. I want to capture an image of a flying crane as it leaves its perching limb. I wish to witness a mother duck teaching her ducklings to v-line swim neatly in a row.

You begin to notice the hands of God in the world enveloped around you. It becomes evident in the new dew on the leaves and the moss on the decaying bark. Nature becomes a sweet haven of hope, treasure, and destiny. What we are given survives around us. Around every bend. Around every curve. The gift of nature call to us.

Among many memories of nature, including daily encounters, nothing compares to childhood. Growing up in the south, there wasn't a tree that did not call to my soul to be climbed. There was not a ray of sunshine I wanted to miss. From dawn to dusk, the day light became my freedom to every blade of grass, every imaginary fortress, and every land loving rock. You find friends in exploration of the treats of nature. Your friends seem to come to you masked as a butterfly on your nose, or the slither-slide of a furry caterpillar in the palm of your hand. Other days, just staring at the billowy clouds on a blanket of cool grass becomes a magical delight.

There are many collections of nature that blaze through my memory. These memories are vivid and have been known and sought out to calm my soul. You may have had similar experiences. Let's go back to a few special moments of my own.

Imagine a warm breeze blowing across you, awakening your senses. You close your eyes to feel the warmth of the sun filtering through the trees onto the sensitive skin of your face. The sound of birds singing their songs of love resound in your clever ears. As you quicken the pace of your jog, you notice the sound of earth crunching beneath your feet and the cracking of branches in this serene scene of landscape. Your eyes capture avenues of emerald and gold. In the next moment of life, we may be taken to snowy dunes on a chilly winter day. Our ski's gliding below our bodies, all the while introducing us to nature's bounty. You drift now, side to side, down rows and hills abounding. The crisp air and wispy pines fill your nose with fresh renewal. Renewal of spirit. Renewal of faith. Renewal of love.

You are surrounded now. Surrounded by mountains of earth with flowing, fertile rivers of cool, fresh waters snaking through. The fresh mountain air fills your lungs with clarity and refreshment. The wonder of nature engulfs you in amazement. God's gift of nature is purest in the mountains. This is what I believe.

Of course, I speak only of the sunny days that seem to never end. Perhaps it is I that fills my memory of the beautiful times that nature as come to call. Who wants to remember the storms, the hurricanes, the tornadoes, or the tsunami's? Even in the midst of nature at her worst, we all gain a renewal from destruction. It is important to realize that the human spirit, in all its glory, is made upon the trials and tribulations of life and nature.

No matter my travels. No matter my work. No matter my troubles. Nature always seems to be there when I need her the most. I relish the beautiful days, because the cloudy ones are not so far away. To connect at the height of nature's beauty makes me feel as though I can survive another day. Another day at the concrete jungle. Another day of ice and sleet. Another day of love and loss. Another day of struggle. Another day of God's gift of life.

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