Being in nature is far more than simply immersing…

An October day several years ago next to a lake where I was working for the government on a grizzly project…

The first lavender light of day is a time when the softness of shapes can barely be seen through the mist rising from the lake…

The early morning fog slowly begins to clear, revealing pastel-hued forms that seem to float on the autumn air…

I’m sitting on a dock at the edge of the lake. The day promises to be clear, sunny and calm. There is no breeze so the lake’s surface is a mauve mirror. Scattered throughout the fir and pine forest are pockets of autumn gold larch and red and yellow shrubs. I can hear the tin-whistle of a varied thrush atop a fir, worm-eating robins near the brush, the squeeze-toy bark of nuthatches climbing up and down pine trunks: all loading up on calories for the coming cold and their flights south. Last night I sat on the dock listening to the dark: a mournful-voiced animal across the lake, a bird with its sweet night-call, the lake gently tapping the edge at my feet ~ while watching the crescent sliver of a silver moon glimmer on the smooth black surface.

Yes, I was immersing during that experience at the lake, that immersion greatly amplified due to my biotic connection. I recently read Douglas Chadwick’s book, “Four Fifths a Grizzly”, a book not about grizzles but rather our relationship with the biomass. We are a part of, inseparable from, that wild and free nature. We are a member of a biotic community. Even our human bodies are an ecosystem, hosting micro-organisms in symbiotic relationships, those organisms assisting with our digestion and other body processes. Chadwick eloquently articulates the interconnectedness within biotic communities, how much humans share and have in common with other components. The biomass formed and informs us. The biomass is massively complex, and biodiversity is absolutely critical to maintain the health of biotic communities within that biomass. And loss of species results in loss of relationships among organisms. Those relationships are essential on all levels.

I’m now reading “Finding the Mother Tree” by Suzanne Simard. From The Narwal review by Matt Simmons:

Everything in an ecosystem is connected. A tiny sapling relies on a towering ancient tree, just like a newborn baby depends on its mother. And that forest giant needs the bugs in the dirt, the salmon carcass brought to its roots by wolves and bears and the death and decay of its peers. It thrives not in isolation, but because of dizzyingly complex connections with other trees and plants through vast but tiny fungal networks hidden below the forest floor.

A few days ago while trying to weave my intended theme into this essay these words came to mind: “The answer my friend is blowing in the wind…the answer is blowing in the wind.”

Yes…Wind, the movement of air, also has a hand in the health of a biotic community.

It blows branches with lichen to the ground, lichen being an important nutrient source for deer.

It blows snags to the ground that then decay on the forest floor, and during that decay process life is given back.

It blows seeds from trees, grass and flowers to germinate new life.

It blows the odor of a carcass to the nose of a bear.

Carrying the idea of species diversity and its resulting beneficial relationships further, are there lessons we can learn about our own now dangerously divided humanity, that divisiveness even existing within our own country? Can those lessons help us understand and accept social, cultural and political differences that bring acceptance of diversity to our community of humans? Maybe by watching geese fly overhead in their “V” formation this autumn we can learn:

Lessons from Geese

Various authors include: Milton Olson, John C. Maxwell and Robert McNeish

FACT 1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an “uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

LESSON 1: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

FACT 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

LESSON 2: If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

FACT 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.

LESSON 3: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.

FACT 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

LESSON 4: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one’s heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.

FACT 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.

LESSON 5: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.