Growing Up Outdoors
As a child, I spent summers swimming and hiking, and I spent winters trekking through the snow in a marshmallow suit with a sled. We only had about 3 television channels with limited cartoon content, and practically nothing for a child to watch during the Gulf War when the channels were taken over by journalists reporting the war. My love of nature developed early as I followed my father into wild places, and I was one of those kids who always wanted to know how things like memory worked or why cows ate grass. I naturally became a scientist like my father, the physicist, but focused my attention on nature and biology.
I grew up in a strict Christian household, and attended private school my whole life, so I think my eyes truly didn’t open up to the way nature actually works until my first biology class at a public university. My high school biology teacher once told us to “filter science through the Bible”, and I trusted him on that for several more years. Once my eyes were opened about biology in college, I started to question other aspects of my beliefs and the rules of my limited understanding of life. I traveled abroad and fell in love with a Muslim, to the heartache of my parents, although neither of us were really religious anymore and were both open to new ideas.
Wild Things and Places
After graduation, I found my first job in California, working first as a botanist in the desert then as a wildlife biologist, where I spent years hiking sand dunes while doing surveys. I quickly became a generalist, loving work with all creatures in the mountains and desert. I was paid to spend mornings conducting bird surveys, days chasing endangered butterflies and keying out plants, and nights wading through riparian areas listening for toads.
High in the mountains to the east of San Diego, I was camping near a creek after some biology surveys. The California tree frogs were chatty, something that often required me to use earplugs at night. Another biologist and I had just turned out the lights in our separate tents when we heard an eerie wolf howl echoing through the canyon. The frogs went silent. My heart sped up and the instinctual fear of hearing my first wolf was strange. After the howl ended I called out to my friend “Are there wolves in California?” to which she replied, “I’ve heard that a Mexican wolf sanctuary is somewhere around here.” Then there was another wolf howl, and now several wolves joined in on the chorus. That feeling of being in a wild place like that with the moonlight serenade of several wolves has stuck with me over my life as being one of the best moments of my life.
Most people have not had the privilege of experiencing the spiritual aspects of nature. I’ve gone on to work in most of the western states in the United States. I often walk miles in wild places alone with my binoculars and notebook, yet I don’t feel scared. I feel most at home outdoors. I’ve encountered mountain lions, hundreds of venomous snakes, grizzly bears, elk, and even dozens of moose without any of them harming me. I once had a young bull moose share my campsite, and we mutually respected each other. Another time around 5:30 in the morning while I was counting birds outside of Yellowstone, I thought I saw my dog running through the dark and deep forest. I chased her for about 30 seconds until I realized that it really was a wolf that I was chasing. I would go on to encounter several more wolves in Canada later, sometimes I wouldn’t even see them but could sense they were there watching me from the Bush as I went on walks or was feeding the cattle in the back pasture. It is a feeling that elevates the blood pressure and yet reminded me that I was part of nature.
Human Isolation From Nature
Why have we as humans separated ourselves so much from nature? We no longer live in jungles, except for a select few, nor do we stick things with wooden spears and live off the land. Only a small percentage of us are farmers these days and no one needs to hunt when we have cleanly packed meat and processed food lining grocery aisles. Kids today don’t know the names of vegetables and fruit while the government calls pizza a serving of vegetable. As a species we seem to be generally stressed out despite removing ourselves from human predators, securing our food supply, and living in our urban bubbles with cars and watertight houses. Have you ever wondered if there is more to life than buying things and following the traditional life trajectory of finding a mate, buying a house, having kids, and dying in a nursing home? Then this is the place for you.
As an adult I still question everything, analyzing why we humans do things rather than just accepting my born role as a female Christian consumer in my present day society. I look at all people and animals with compassion. I respect nature and it respects me back. I hope to explore topics on history, science, values, and lifestyle, and I invite you to join me on this self journey.
Land, Sea, Sky, and Stars 