Have you ever observed the natural world around you? If you have eyes to see, you’ve seen it. But have you really observed? There is much to learn. There is much to ponder. And there is so much to gain, just in getting to know the world in which we live. 

“Nature, nature, nature,” remarked my young brother on one of our family treks through the woods so many years ago, “What’s so great about nature?” He had other, “better” things to do. Or so he thought. But guess what? Now, even in the midst of the big city, he’s a watcher, too. 

I learned early. My parents taught me to spot wildlife and to identify and appreciate native birds, trees, and flowers. I tasted some of the edible plants (sour grass, sour leaves, sassafras leaves, mint, pepper grass…), and picked and ate wild berries, grapes, and persimmons. We watched crawdads in the creek. We learned to identify and respect poison ivy. We caught honeybees in our bare hands and then set them free to fly again. We dug after sand “fleas” at the beach and watched, amused, as sanderlings and ghost crabs ran along the shore. 

Did you know that you can often pass within mere feet of shore birds and ghost crabs as long as you do not look directly at them? That good news bees do not sting? That honeybees (and usually wasps, even) will not sting unless you mash them or disturb their nests? Did you know that a killdeer does not kill a deer, but that it will limp along the ground, feigning a broken wing, to lure you away from its nest or young? Have you ever noticed that, when you kick water droplets up out of the water, they are wobbly, but almost perfectly round, until gravity has time to exert its power over them?

Did you ever think about how the coquina clam knows whether to ride the wave in or out before reburying itself in the sand? Ever notice that sunlight is white in the morning and yellow in the afternoon? Ever wonder why we only ever see one side of the moon? Did you investigate? Did you think it through? 

And it’s not just the learning and knowing. Stepping out into the natural world improves our health. It gets us out of our ruts and routines, out of our own, tiresome thought patterns and sometimes small or self-focused personal worlds. Just to feel the summer breeze or the crunch of snow underneath your feet, to smell the fall leaves or spring honeysuckle, to hear the crashing of the waves or the rush of water in a mountain river, refreshes the mind and spirit. Watching the activity of a squirrel, a bird, or even ant, we are reminded that these creatures exist entirely apart from us and have their own minds and agendas. Neither do we control the weather. We can do little more, if caught out in the rain without raincoat or umbrella, than get wet. 

There’s a world out there of far greater detail and infinitude than we could ever imagine. It’s gloriously beautiful and immensely powerful. It’s often comforting and sometimes terrifying. It runs its own way. There is something, some One, outside ourselves. 

And, as finite beings with no control over our own lives but the little we’re afforded, we owe it to ourselves to open our eyes and pay attention.